Sue Fairhead's Blog, page 48

Jo Returns to the Chalet School (by Elinor M Brent-Dyer)

I always like re-reading the ‘Chalet School’ books by Elinor M Brent-Dyer. But in my current re-read, which will probably take about five years in all, I’m enjoying it all the more as I have several books, for the first time, in hardback or GGBP edition. The Armada ones, many of which I bought inexpensively in my teens, are abridged - some more than others. ‘Jo Returns to the Chalet School’, which I last read over ten years ago, is listed as having ‘minor frequent’ cuts. Nothing major, but ...

Digging to America (by Anne Tyler)

It’s a long time since I’ve read anything by Anne Tyler. She’s an American novelist, who writes character-based, often quirky books which rely more on observation and conversation than any real plot. In the right mood I enjoy her books very much, but don’t tend to re-read them. When I spotted ‘Digging to America’ on a church book stall, and knew I hadn’t read it, it was an easy decision to buy it, but it sat on my ‘to-read’ shelf for rather a long time.

I finally picked it up to read a few d...

Frederica (by Georgette Heyer)

Georgette Heyer’s historical novels are some of my favourite comfort reading books, and one of my top ten amongst them is ‘Frederica’. Heyer’s characterisation was always good, but in this book she created one of the most delightful families, the Merivilles, newly arrived in London and quite unused to its customs. 

Frederica is the oldest in the family, and she’s strong-minded, kind and caring. At twenty-four she sees herself as past marriageable age; since she’s never been in love, or had a...

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek (by Kim Michele Richardson)

I had never heard of Kim Michele Richardson. Nor would I likely have come across her novel ‘The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek’ had it not been the novel chosen for my local reading group this month. The title is intriguing, and I had only glanced briefly at the blurb when I acquired the book a few months ago. So I had no idea what to expect when I picked it up to read a few days ago.

It turns out to be a historical novel, very much based on reality, set in a mountainous region of Kentucky ...

The Christmas Angel (by Marcia Willett)

I am so enjoying re-reading my Marcia Willett novels. Her style is gentle, her characters warm and believable, and she tells a good story. They’re books to curl up with on a wet day… or indeed at any other time of year. It’s only seven years since I first read ‘The Christmas Angel’, but I remembered liking it very much. So despite it being very unseasonal, I have re-read it over the past few days.

The glittery, snowy cover is in fact a tad misleading; although the book starts and finishes wi...

The Growing-Up Pains of Adrian Plass (by Adrian Plass)

I so enjoy reading and re-reading Adrian Plass’s books. Originally shot to fame due to his ‘Sacred Diary’ series, which started out as a column in a magazine, he has proved himself remarkably versatile over the last thirty plus years. His books are all extremely well-written, in very different styles. Some are laugh-aloud funny, some gently amusing, some poignant and moving. 

One of his earliest literary works was an autobiographical account, originally entitled ‘Join the Company’ when it wa...

Saucers Over the Moor (by Malcolm Saville)

I am thoroughly enjoying re-reading the ‘Lone Pine’ series by Malcolm Saville, all the more because I now have the full (unabridged) editions of the books. I’ve just finished ‘Saucers over the Moor’, which is 8th in the series. I last read it in 2009 in the abridged Armada version, and had entirely forgotten the storyline. It’s not one I had as a teenager, so I haven’t read it as many times as I have some of the others.

This story opens in Rye, when the teenage cousins Penny and Jon arrive h...

The Marble Collector (by Cecelia Ahern)

On the whole I have liked the books I’ve read by Cecelia Ahern. They often have unusual themes, some of them quite quirky, bordering on fantasy. I had not come across her novel ‘The Marble Collector’, so when I spotted it at a church book sale, it wasn’t a difficult decision to spend fifty cents to acquire it.

It’s a tad complicated in structure, with two different first person narrators. It took me a few chapters to realise that those narrated by the elderly Fergus Boggs are all headed ‘Pla...

I Was Just Wondering (by Philip Yancey)

I have very much appreciated Philip Yancey’s writing over the past decade or so. He’s an American Christian writer who grew up in a fundamentalist church but has moved on from that. He sees the world from the perspective of flexibility and grace, and his books are full of wisdom and insight.

It’s nearly thirteen years since I read ‘I was just Wondering’, so it was clearly time to re-read. And, as usual, I had entirely forgotten the contents. The book is set out as forty-four articles, each o...

Feet of Clay (by Terry Pratchett)

I’m having mixed feelings about my re-reading of the late Sir Terry Pratchett’s lengthy ‘Discworld’ series. Each time I start one of the books, it seems to take awhile to get into them. I can’t say ‘a few chapters’ since these books don’t have chapters; it’s one of their quirks which I quite like. But by the time I’m around half-way through, I find myself surprised at how much I’m liking them. Each book is different, some of them covering quite important issues.

I last read ‘Feet of Clay’ in...