Sue Fairhead's Blog, page 21

The Girl with the Louding Voice (by Abi Daré)

(Amazon UK link) One of the great thing about joining a local reading group is the variety of books that are allocated - mostly by authors I have never heard of, and most likely would not have come across. Our group aims to read books written in a range of different cultures, and I’m finding it an interesting challenge to tackle genres and styles which I would not naturally choose. 
This month’s read is ‘The Girl with the Louding Voice’ by Abi Daré. I had not heard of the author or the book, de...

The Five Love Languages (by Gary Chapman)

(Amazon UK link) I last read Gary Chapman’s excellent book ‘The Five Love Languages’ about fifteen years ago. I’m quite familiar with the concepts of love languages having read several of his books, and perused his website at length. But I thought it could be interesting to re-read his original book on the topic, and see if there was anything I had forgotten.
The principles are well-known: that people have different ways of understanding what love means. Not so much the idea of ‘falling in love’, ...

Gemma (by Noel Streatfeild)

(Amazon UK link)Although the first author whose work I loved (and reread regularly) was Enid Blyton, my second and more enduring love was for the books by Noel Streatfeild. I don’t remember which of her books I read first, or exactly when; but I know I discovered a handful of them on my grandparents’ shelves as a child, and over the years, have acquired them all. They’re intended for children, but thoroughly enjoyable to read as an adult too.
It’s over ten years since I last read ‘Gemma’, which i...

Act of Faith (by Erica James)

Rereading my large collection of Erica James books is enjoyable, in part because I have usually forgotten the storyline entirely. That was the case for ‘Act of Faith’, which I have just finished. Even though I’ve read it twice before, the last time in 2015, I had no memory at all for any of the people, or the plot. Even when I was reading, none of it felt familiar. 
I’m sure this is partly down to my increasing age. But also perhaps it’s due to the fact that the characters in these early books by...

Where the Light Fell (by Philip Yancey)

I have acquired most of the books by Philip Yancey over the years. He’s one of my favourite American Christian writers, someone who writes from the heart, with honesty, acknowledging that often there are more questions than answers. In the books he has hinted - or stated outright, at times - that his childhood was difficult, and that he grew up in a racist, fundamentalist environment which he had to throw off to understand the grace of God.
So when I saw that he had written his biography, ‘Whe...

Snuff (by Terry Pratchett)

It’s been quite a long journey, re-reading the ‘Discworld’ series by the late Terry Pratchett. I’m nearing the end now, as I’ve just finished reading ‘Snuff’, 39th in the series (including those for teenagers). I read this book in 2014, and had entirely forgotten the story nearly a decade later. 
The book mainly features Samuel Vimes, Commander of the City Watch in Ankh Morpork. I didn’t like the ‘Watch’ books when I first starting reading Discworld books, but Vimes is a well-developed and ult...

Lessons in Chemistry (by Bonnie Garmus)

The book ‘Lessons in Chemistry’ by Bonnie Garmus has been a best-seller over the past couple of years. But I doubt if I would have got hold of a copy by choice: the cover is not one that naturally appeals. But the book was chosen for this month’s read at our local reading group, so I put it on my wishlist and was given it by a relative. 
I started reading just a day before our group was meeting, after a busy period, but managed to read it in a few hours, finishing just an hour or so before the...

The Foundling (by Georgette Heyer)

I re-read my collection of Georgette Heyer novels regularly, and usually find that even if I recall the overall storyline, there’s a lot which I have forgotten. That’s certainly true of ‘The Foundling’ which I last read in 2018. I remembered that a young, beautiful and not very bright young woman was rescued by an altruistic nobleman, but I had somehow muddled the plot, in my mind, with ‘Charity Girl’. 
There are undoubtedly similarities between the two rescues, and the characters of the heroe...

The Life of Christ (by Rita & Neil McLaughlan and Trevor J Partridge)

I often begin a new year with good intentions of following a daily Bible-reading plan, with commentary or devotional passages to aid in my thoughts. I’m not always very good at following through, and when I travel I don’t usually take books with me (other than on my Kindle). However, I then attempt to catch up when I return…
In 2023, I decided to use a book we’ve had on our shelves for, probably, a couple of decades. I’ve glanced at it from time to time, but never worked through it. The author...

Victoria Line, Central Line (by Maeve Binchy)

I read the first two books in my Maeve Binchy ‘Three bestsellers in one volume’ in October and November. I wasn't too keen on 'Dublin 4', a series of four novellas, which I read in September. However I very much liked 'The Lilac Bus', which I read in November. I have just finished the third book in this large volume: ‘Victoria Line, Central Line’. I last read this in 2001, and all I recalled about it was that it was a collection of short stories, some of them a bit inconclusive.
My memory is a...