Sue Fairhead's Blog, page 16

Detection Unlimited (by Georgette Heyer)

(Amazon UK link) I’m glad I decided to re-read Georgette Heyer’s crime fiction novels, as they’re a bit different from her better-known Regency romances. I’ve just finished ‘Detection Unlimited’ which is the last of the twelve crime books she wrote. I last read it in 2017 and had a vague memory of the outcome, although I had not recalled the perpetrator. These books were written as contemporary novels set in the middle of last century. This one was first published in 1953. 
This book starts with a...

Searching for God knows what (by Donald Miller)

(Amazon UK link) It’s fifteen years since I read ‘Searching for God knows what’ by Donald Miller. I recalled liking it very much, and finding it both helpful and thought-provoking. But I couldn’t remember what it was about, or anything in it. So it was more than time for a re-read. 
Donald Miller is an American CEO and public speaker who has written a handful of Christian-themed books. He’s probably best known for ‘Blue like jazz’ which I re-read in 2021 and thought every bit as good as when I rea...

The Mermaid Chair (by Sue Monk Kidd)

(Amazon UK link) Back in the autumn of 2020 I was so pleased to have social and other activities starting again that I went to a church book fair and bought rather a lot of interesting looking books. They went on my to-be-read shelf… and there many of them stayed. However I’m making a determined effort to read some of these books, and have just finished ‘The Mermaid Chair’. I hadn’t previously read anything by Sue Monk Kidd but she’s well known for her first book, ‘The Secret Life of Bees’. 
This ...

The Chalet School and Barbara (by Elinor M Brent-Dyer)

(Amazon UK link) ‘The Chalet School and Barbara’ was written as the thirtieth book in the lengthy series by Elinor M Brent-Dyer, although the numbers changed somewhat when the abridged Armada versions were produced. I can recall reading the hardback as a young teenager, and am delighted to have one in my possession, although the abridged paperback covers the story well enough. I last read this in 2014 so had only remembered the basic outline of the plot.
This book is significant in the series as i...

Gardens of Delight (by Erica James)

(Amazon UK link) On the whole, I thoroughly enjoy Erica James’ novels. I acquire new ones as soon as they are out in paperback, and have been rereading some of the older ones in the past few months. I’m trying to reread them approximately in publication order, and arrived at ‘Gardens of Delight’, which I had only read once, back in 2007. I recalled not liking it much, but not the reasons. I vaguely thought that there was perhaps too much about gardening…
However, I sometimes change my mind about b...

The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass on Tour (by Adrian Plass)

(Amazon UK link) It’s ten years since I last read ‘The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass on Tour’. Earlier in the year, I re-read the first four books in the series, with ‘The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass, Christian Speaker’ in June. After nearly two months out of the country, and reading other books, I was pleased, finally, to pick up ‘..on tour’ again to read.
As with the other ‘Diary’ books, there can be a slight confusion between the real Adrian Plass (who wrote the books, and who does go on tour a...

The Life You've Always Wanted (by John Ortberg)

(Amazon UK link) I do like re-reading John Ortberg’s books. I last read ‘The Life you’ve always wanted’ in 2017 but had forgotten what it was about. The author explains in the introduction: it’s essentially a book about spiritual disciplines. But, he hastens to add, that doesn’t mean developing dry rituals, or becoming stuck in rigid requirements. 
To be more specific, he’s not talking about spending hours every day reading the Bible just for the sake of being more spiritual. He points out that a ...

The Asylum (by Karen Coles)

(Amazon UK link) As with so many of the books chosen for our local book group, I had not heard of the author, Karen Coles. Nor would I probably have picked this book up if I had seen it on a bookstall. The cover is attractive but it’s billed as a psychological thriller, set in the UK in 1906, and features an asylum. Not my kind of book at all. 
So it was with some reluctance that I picked it up a couple of days ago. I calculated that I would need to read 90 pages on each of the subsequent four day...

The Twins at St Clare's (by Enid Blyton)

(Amazon UK link) Like so many of my generation, I grew up reading Enid Blyton books. She appealed at so many levels, and wrote for both younger and older children as well as young teens. I started when I was about four or five with the ‘Faraway Tree’ series. I moved through Brer Rabbit, and books of short stories about fairies, and brownies and dolls that came to life. And then I discovered the school series books. I read and re-read them many times as a child, and in my teens. 
As an adult I didn...

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (by Deborah Moggach)

(Amazon UK link) We first watched the film ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ in 2013, and loved it. So when I saw the book on which the film was based, at a church book sale, I decided to buy it. I hadn’t heard of Deborah Moggach, but my edition of the book showed some of the cast of the film, and I thought it would be interesting to read the original novel. Apparently it was originally published with the title, ‘These Foolish Things’. 
I bought the book nearly four years ago and it sat on my to-re...