Sue Fairhead's Blog, page 41

Happily Ever After (by Harriet Evans)

I had not heard of Harriet Evans, but when browsing used books at a church book sale, a few months ago, I spotted her novel ‘Happily Ever After’. The cover looked quite appealing, and the blurb on the back described the book as ‘absorbing, poignant and unforgettable’. I never mind spending fifty cents to try a new author, so I bought it, and have just finished reading it.

The protagonist of this novel is a young woman called Eleanor Bee, known to her family as ‘Ellie’, but she prefers ‘Elle’...

Where is God when it Hurts? (by Philip Yancey)

I’ve very much appreciated all the books I’ve read by Philip Yancey, so I’m currently - slowly - re-reading them. He’s an American Christian writer who grew out of fundamentalist roots into an insightful, balanced and clear author. He does a lot of research, and has met some extremely interesting people in the course of his writing. 

I last read ‘Where is God when it Hurts’ in 2008, so although I recalled the general gist I had entirely forgotten the detail and the stories he tells. I’ve rea...

Home to Holly Springs (by Jan Karon)

I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading Jan Karon’s nine ‘Mitford’ books last year, culminating in ‘Light from Heaven’. I liked them even more knowing that there are another five books following Father Tim’s continued journey, one of which I haven’t yet read at all. But I’m reading in order, and have just finished ‘Home to Holly Springs’, which I previously read in 2009. 

This is mostly Father Tim travelling solo - other than  his enormous dog Barnabas - as his wife Cynthia has a leg injury. He driv...

The Chalet School goes to it (by Elinor M Brent-Dyer)

I’m glad I decided to re-read the ‘Chalet School’ books by Elinor M Brent-Dyer. It’s ten years or more since I last read through them, and while they’re not the greatest writing, they’re teenage favourites that I like to read every decade or so. I last read ‘The Chalet School goes to it’ in 2011, and all I recalled of it was that it followed on from ‘The Chalet School in Exile’.  This time I’ve also read a couple of relevant fill-ins, so in fact this follows very closely from ‘The Chalet Sc...

I ordered a Table for Six (by Noel Streatfeild)

I’ve been a fan of Noel Streatfeild’s books for children since I was about eight or nine, when I came across ‘Ballet Shoes’, and ‘Party Frock’ and others on my grandmother’s shelves. I borrowed more Streatfeild books from the library in my teens, and gradually acquired copies of as many as possible.

But I hadn’t realised until relatively recently that she also wrote some books for adults, which were out of print until Bello - an imprint of Pan Macmillan - republished them. I read a few revie...

Footsteps in the Dark (by Georgette Heyer)

I’ve been re-reading my favourite Georgette Heyer historical romances over the past few years, as I do regularly. But this year I decided, instead, to read her crime fiction books; I will probably read one a month, interspersed with other books. When I first acquired them they were from diverse sources, mostly second-hand shops, but this time since I have them all, I thought I would read them in publication order. So I began with ‘Footsteps in the Dark’, which was first published in 1932 as...

Blind Spots in the Bible (by Adrian Plass)

I like to re-read my Adrian Plass books regularly, both the fiction and the non-fiction ones. He’s quite a diverse writer, though with a somewhat distinct style that combines readability with wry humour and very interesting ways of expressing his thoughts. He is a Christian writer and that’s clear in all his books; some more overtly so. ‘Blind Spots in the Bible’, which I last read in 2012, is one that’s clearly intended for believers. 

It’s an interesting idea for a book. Adrian Plass has c...

Winning Through (by Marcia Willett)

I do love re-reading Marcia Willett’s novels. Of them all - and there are many - my favourites remain the Chadwick saga series. These were originally a trilogy, but she has published a couple more about the family in more recent years. ‘Winning Through’ is the third Chadwick book, which I last read in 2008. As it was written as the last of a trilogy, it ties up a lot of loose ends from the earlier books ‘Looking Forward’ and ‘Holding On’, which I re-read and enjoyed towards the end of last...

Sea Witch Comes Home (by Malcolm Saville)

I have been a fan of Malcolm Saville’s ‘Lone Pine’ series since my early teenage years, when I came across some of his books on my grandmother’s shelves. In the 1970s Armada books published abridged versions of this series at affordable prices for teens, and I acquired them all - or almost all of them. I re-read the series regularly, and inevitably liked some of the books better than the others. 

‘Sea Witch Comes Home’, 13th in the series, was possibly my least favourite. The reason is that ...

It's not all downhill from here (by Terry McMillan)

I hadn’t heard of Terry McMillan, and I doubt if I would have come across her book ‘It’s not all Downhill from here’ under normal circumstances. But it was allocated as the January read for the local book group I belong to. I tried to order it months ago from an online site but unfortunately the order got lost, so as time was running out, I bought a Kindle version and read it over the weekend.

The writing style took a little while to feel natural. The book is narrated in a very informal way ...