Sue Fairhead's Blog, page 24

A Sense of Belonging (by Erica James)

I’m glad I decided to re-read my novels by Erica James, in publication order. I last read ‘A Sense of Belonging’ in 2008, fifteen years ago, and couldn’t remember anything much about it. I always like discovering a book which I know I liked, but where I’ve forgotten the characters and the story.
The book involves a new development of five houses, all of which have been bought. It’s a good device; it introduces diverse characters, all new to the neighbourhood, who are essentially thrown togethe...

Violeta (by Isabel Allende)

I had never heard of Isabel Allende, and most probably would not have come across her novel Violeta, if it had not been on our local book group list. I left it a bit late to start reading, giving myself just three days before this month’s meeting, but I finished it just in time. It was a bit slow to get started, but it wasn’t a difficult read. 
‘Violeta’ is the fictional protagonist and narrator of this book, which is told in the slightly unusual form of a letter to her grandson. But it was ea...

The Unknown Ajax (by Georgette Heyer)

I do like re-reading Georgette Heyer’s light historical romance novels regularly. It’s only five years since I last read ‘The Unknown Ajax’, but even when I recall the basic outline of a story, there are always plenty of scenes or conversations which I had entirely forgotten. There are others which I enjoy all the more for remembering them as they approach.
Hugo is the hero of this book, but we don’t meet him immediately. Instead we meet his estranged family: his grandfather, a couple of his a...

Unseen Academicals (by Terry Pratchett)

Re-reading the late Sir Terry Pratchett’s lengthy Discworld series, there have been times when I wonder whether I should give up. It often takes me a while to get into them properly, and they’re not as enjoyable reading on my own as they were reading aloud to my teenage sons. But I’ve kept going, and, as I near the end, am glad that I did.
‘Unseen Academicals’ is 37th in the series.  I first read it in 2010, having borrowed it from one of my sons; I apparently liked it so much that we acquired...

Lucas on Life (by Jeff Lucas)

I have appreciated all the books I’ve acquired and read by Jeff Lucas over the past couple of decades. He’s a cross-cultural Christian writer, born in the UK but living (and pastoring a church) in the United States. He uses humour and anecdotes to make his points, and his style is relaxed, accepting and grace-filled.
However the titles of his books are not very original. There are several with titles such as ‘Life with Lucas’ or ‘Lucas on Life’ -  perhaps they’re all similar in content, althou...

The Forgiving Hour (by Robin Lee Hatcher)

I wasn’t planning to read a Kindle book, but I had nothing much to do while waiting for some friends recently, and discovered that my phone’s Kindle app had some of my downloaded books available without me being online. I decided to try Robin Lee Hatcher’s novel ‘The Forgiving Hour’, which I picked up when it was on a free special offer three years ago. I read some of her books over a decade ago and thought she was one of the better American Christian writers, with some good storylines and no...

Dublin 4 (by Maeve Binchy)

I decided the time had come to start re-reading the large collection of books I have acquired by the late Maeve Binchy. I couldn’t recall anything about ‘Dublin 4’, possibly because I last read it in January 2000, over 23 years ago. 
Many of Binchy’s novels and short stories were set in Ireland, and this book  is no exception. It’s not a novel, but four novellas - longer than short stories, but with just one overall storyline in each.  The first, ‘Dinner in Donnybrook’ features a middle-aged w...

The Man who Died Twice (by Richard Osman)

I very much liked Richard Osman’s debut novel ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ when I read it for our local book group just over a year ago. So I put the sequel, ‘The Man who Died Twice’ on my wishlist, and was given it for my birthday a few months ago, although it’s taken me this long to decide to read it. 
The main characters are the same as those in the first book: four people in their seventies, or roughly so, who live in a retirement village. They meet regularly to discuss unsolved crimes. Eliz...

The Amateur Marriage (by Anne Tyler)

I’m mostly liking the Anne Tyler novels that I’ve been re-reading, appreciating her style and the quirky way she looks at everyday situations. So I decided to re-read ‘The Amateur Marriage’, a book I read in 2005 just a year after it was published. I had totally forgotten the characters and the story in the intervening eighteen years.
The book opens by explaining that everyone knew how Pauline and Michael got together. The year is 1941, and young men in the United States are being invited to e...

Carola Storms the Chalet School (by Elinor M Brent-Dyer)

In my gradual re-read of Elinor M Brent-Dyer’s ‘Chalet School’ series, I reached ‘Carola Storms the Chalet School’,  23rd in the original series. I have a hardback (full) edition which was once my mother’s, and I last read ‘Carola’ in 2011. As with many books that I read regularly in my teens and sporadically since, I recalled the basic outline of the story but had almost entirely forgotten the detail.
Carola is longs to go to school. She lives with her father’s cousin while her parents are wo...