Sue Fairhead's Blog, page 19

Apples Never Fall (by Liane Moriarty)

(Amazon UK link) I very much liked the first few books I read by the Australian author Liane Moriarty, so put a couple more on my wishlist. I was given ‘Apples never fall’ for my birthday a year ago; for some reason I didn’t start it until last weekend, but I finished it in just three days despite it being quite a long novel close to 500 pages). 
The story involves the disappearance of a woman in her sixties called Joy. She’s married to Stan, and they have four adult children: Amy, Logan, Troy and...

The Naughtiest Girl in the School (by Enid Blyton)

(Amazon UK link) As a child, I loved Enid Blyton books. Like many Brits my age who have ended up as enthusiastic readers, I read and re-read the adventure, mystery and school stories (and others) by Enid Blyton as often as I could. Adults sometimes turned their noses up at the similar storylines, and relatively low quality of writing. Nowadays many people object to the apparent racism and obvious sexism, although they were not unusual for the middle of the 20th century, and were not intended to h...

Peter Pan (by JM Barrie)

(Amazon UK link) I was staying with my son and his family, and my 7-year-old granddaughter asked me if I would read the book ‘Peter Pan’ to her. She had seen parts of one of the films, and had heard some of the story (probably abridged) in an audio book. There was a very nice hardback edition on the shelf, so I agreed. I had no memory of ever having read the book, although parts of it are well-known and I had a rough idea of the story. 
It was written over 100 years ago so inevitably the language ...

The Party Crasher (by Sophie Kinsella)

(Amazon UK link) It’s over 15 years since I put aside my irrational bias against ‘chick-lit’ novels, and tried one by Sophie Kinsella. I liked it so much that, over the years, I have acquired many more of her books. She’s best known for the ‘Shopaholic’ series, and also writes rather raunchier novels under a pseudonym. But the ‘Kinsella’ books are, in my view, well-written, amusing, and with likeable (if slightly caricatured) people.
So when I saw ‘The Party Crasher’ on special offer for the Kindl...

Pachinko (by Min Jin Lee)

(Amazon UK link) I had not heard of the author Min Jin Lee. I most likely would not have found her epic novel ‘Pachinko’, had it not been the book chosen for April for our local reading group. I downloaded it for my Kindle, inexpensively, and started reading it at the end of March. 
I wasn’t in the country for April’s group, but like to keep up with what they are reading even if I can’t join the discussion. However this meant that I wasn’t motivated to complete it in time for the group; that was j...

The Book of Legends (by Lenny Henry)

(Amazon UK link) I knew of Lenny Henry as a comedian many years ago, but had no idea he had also written some children’s books. I would quite likely have continued in my ignorance, but for my grandson, aged 9, who asked me to read ‘The Book of Legends’ to him in evenings while I was visiting. 
I had no idea what to expect - I was imagining it might be a retelling of some classic legends, but I was wrong. My grandson said it was one of his favourite books, and he thought I would like it. He was cor...

Mr Planemaker's Flying Machine (by Sheilagh Watkins)

(Amazon UK link) I had not heard of Sheilagh Watkins, though she's apparently quite a prolific writer. However her book ‘Mr Planemaker’s Flying Machine’ was available free for the Kindle in 2011, and the title intrigued me. So I downloaded it. It sat on my Kindle for twelve years, unread, until I picked the title at random from my lengthy list of unread books, and read it on a recent flight. 
I probably shouldn’t have bothered. Or at least, I should have checked the blurb. It’s not biographical or...

Bride Leads the Chalet School (by Elinor M Brent-Dyer)

(Amazon UK link) Slowly re-reading my way through the lengthy Chalet School series by Elinor M Brent-Dyer, I reached the one which was 27th in the original series, 31st  by the time they were published in Armada paperbacks. ‘Bride Leads the Chalet School’ returns us to the main Chalet School in the UK, after a temporary diversion to Switzerland to see the new finishing branch in ‘The Chalet School in the Oberland’. 
The last time I re-read ‘Bride…’ was in 2012, so it’s not surprising that I had no...

In His Image (by Paul Brand with Philip Yancey)

(Amazon UK link) I very much liked re-reading the book ‘Fearfully and Wonderfully Made’ by Dr Paul Brand (in conjunction with Philip Yancey) about three months ago. So I decided to re-read the sequel, ‘In His Image’. I have both these in a compilation volume called ‘In the Likeness of God’, which I read at one sitting just over 17 years ago.  I recalled that both books were well-written and extremely interesting, but not much more.
‘In his image’ delves more deeply into the concept that we were ma...

The Horizontal Epistles of Andromeda Veal (by Adrian Plass)

(Amazon UK link) I’m glad I decided to re-read my fictional books by Adrian Plass; I finished the wonderful ‘Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass aged 37 ¾’  about six weeks ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it all over again. In the last couple of days I’ve re-read the sequel, ‘The Horizontal Epistles of Andromeda Veal’, which I last read in 2017.
I knew the story, such as it is, of course. Andromeda, a small and determined girl is in hospital with her leg in traction, after breaking her femur. She writes a le...