Sue Fairhead's Blog, page 36

Team Hero: The Battle for Shadow Sword (by Adam Blade)

My grandchildren have always loved books, and despite both of them now being fairly fluent readers, I’m often asked to read to them - something I love to do. I kept reading to my sons until they were in their late teens, and love introducing children to books they might otherwise not have read. 

However, this works both ways. My eight-year-old grandson had just bought, at a charity shop, a book called ‘Team Hero: The Battle for Shadow Sword’. The author is listed as 'Adam Blade', apparently a na...

The Indiscretions of Archie (by PG Wodehouse)

I wanted something to read on my Kindle, and found a Project Gutenberg edition of ‘The Indiscretions of Archie’ by PG Wodehouse. I had never read this before, and it’s a novel rather than a collection of short stories. It seemed ideal to read in odd moments while travelling, and then to finish on a three-hour train journey.

The hero of the book is a young man called Archie. Like the author's better-known Bertie Wooster he’s from the upper classes, not all that bright, and very kind. Unlike Berti...

Take my Breath Away (by Sally Quilford)

I’ve liked all the books I’ve read by Sally Quilford, most of them in Kindle form. I’ve downloaded quite a few at times when she offers them free or on special offer, so when I’m travelling I often take the opportunity to  read another one. With the pandemic I haven’t travelled much for nearly three years, so my Kindle has largely been unused.

But on a recent flight I decided to read another Quilford book, and selected ‘Take my Breath Away’ from those I had downloaded. I thought it would probabl...

The Wee Free Men (by Terry Pratchett)

In my gradual re-reading of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, I reached a point at which - chronologically - it was time to diverge slightly from the main books and into those written for younger readers. So I picked up ‘The Wee Free Men’ a few days ago, and have just finished reading it. I had only read it once before, nearly two decades ago, when I read it aloud to my teenage sons. I had a general recollection of the plot, but had entirely forgotten the details. 

This book is set in the ‘Cha...

Disappointment with God (by Philip Yancey)

When I find an author whose writing I enjoy or find thought-provoking, I like to collect all their books and re-read them every so often. I have appreciated the books by Philip Yancey since I first discovered him over 25 years ago, and try to re-read them about once every ten years. It was thirteen years since I last read ‘Disappointment with God’, so clearly time for e re-read.

The writing, as always with this author, is excellent - the book is well-structured, with the author’s thoughts alongs...

A Patchwork Family (by Cathy Bramley)

I’ve liked the books I’ve read so far by Cathy Bramley, so I put a couple more on my wishlist towards the end of last year and was very pleased to be given ‘A Patchwork Family’ for my birthday a few months ago. The cover is appealing, and the novel is quite big - as with others by this author, it’s in four parts, which are available separately for the Kindle. This volume, however, contains them all. 

The narrator of the story is a young woman called Gina who works as a childminder. She’s evident...

Rye Royal (by Malcolm Saville)

I’m so glad I decided to re-read Malcolm Saville’s ‘Lone Pine’ series. I discovered it first in my teens, acquired  most of the books in Amazon paperback form, and re-read them avidly at least once a decade. In the past few years I replaced many of my falling-apart paperbacks with new ‘Girls Gone By’ editions that have the added advantage of using the original full text. I had not realised, until fairly recently, that most of the Armada versions were abridged.

That’s not the case, however, with ...

Eve Green (by Susan Fletcher)

I had not heard of Susan Fletcher, but when I saw her debut novel ‘Eve Green’ at a church book sale last year, I thought the cover looked appealing, and the blurb on the back sounded interesting. 

The story is written from the first person perspective of a young, pregnant woman called Eve who is approaching her thirtieth birthday. The timeline is a tad confusing at first, because it switches - without warning - between the present and the past, when she was around eight years old, and known by h...

Death in the Stocks (by Georgette Heyer)

Re-reading my Georgette Heyer crime fiction novels in the order of publication, I’ve just finished ‘Death in the Stocks’. First published in 1935, this is the first of her books to feature the wonderful Inspector Hannasyde of Scotland Yard. I first read it (aloud to my teenage sons) back in 2003, but had quite forgotten that I re-read it as recently as 2017. That might explain why I did recall some of the story, and had no trouble working out the protagonist. 

But Heyer’s novels, as with her his...

Come Rain or Come Shine (by Jan Karon)

I have very much enjoyed re-reading Jan Karon’s ‘Mitford’ series (including the books set outside Mitford) and have just finished the 13th in the series, ‘Come rain or come shine’. I first read it five-and-a-half years ago, shortly after I was given it, and recalled it as a pleasant read. I knew the story was about Dooley and Lace’s wedding and the run-up to it - but I couldn’t remember any details.

It turns out that there wasn’t much plot; the book is essentially about the wedding, but these ar...