Sue Fairhead's Blog, page 56

High Tide (by Veronica Henry)

I so enjoyed the first book I read by Veronica Henry last year that I put a few more of her novels on my wishlist, and was delighted to receive ‘High Tide’ for Christmas last year. Once again, a book by this author sat on my to-be-read shelf for quite a long time, but I finally started reading it a couple of days ago.  

I finished this morning, and am already looking forward to reading a couple more books by this author which are still waiting on my shelf.  It’s a lovely read, a character-ba...

Lords and Ladies (by Terry Pratchett)

In my gradual re-reading of Terry Pratchett’s classic (and very lengthy) Discworld series, I reached the fourteenth book, ‘Lords and Ladies’.  It’s a very long time since I last read it; indeed it’s possible that I have only previously read it once, shortly after acquiring it in the mid 1990s.  I recalled, vaguely, that it was about elves and that morris dancing came into it somewhere….

I had forgotten that it’s - sort of - a sequel to ‘Wyrd Sisters’ and ‘Witches Abroad’, although the latter...

Seven White Gates (by Malcolm Saville)

It’s a long time since my last read-through of Malcolm Saville’s ‘Lone Pine’ series.  In the past few years I have managed to acquire either hardback or ‘Girls Gone By’ full editions to replace the many Armada abridged versions which I had bought in my teens. I’m still thankful that Armada made these books available inexpensively, enabling people like me to collect them. But I had not realised, until recently, just how much had been cut out.

I read ‘Mystery at Witchend’ in the full edition a...

On a Beautiful Day (by Lucy Diamond)

On the whole I like Lucy Diamond’s novels. They’re unashamedly light women’s fiction, almost ‘chick-lit’, although her characters tend to be rather older than that would imply. But they’re good stories, well written, and with satisfactory endings.

I was given ‘On a Beautiful Day’ last Christmas. It has a gorgeous cover, but it sat on my to-be-read shelf for nearly eight months. However I’ve just read it over the past few days.

It’s the story of four women: India, Eve, Jo and Laura. They’re ...

Venetia (by Georgette Heyer)

I do like re-reading my Georgette Heyer novels. They are my ‘comfort reading’ if I want something that isn’t children’s or teenage fiction, and I very much like the feeling of re-meeting old friends. Regency Romance novels of this genre are light-weight, mostly set in the world of the upper classes, only skating very lightly on the serious issues of the day. But that’s what makes them great escapism, and ‘Venetia’ is no exception.  

I last read ‘Venetia’ nearly ten years ago, and thought I h...

If You Were Here (by Alice Peterson)

I have loved all the books I’ve read by Alice Peterson over the past thirteen years or so. The author was struck with a debilitating illness that changed the course of her life  in her late teens, and her books reflect that. The characters in her novels often deal with disabilities and chronic illness.  ‘If You Were Me’ is no exception. 

The book is narrated alternatively by Peggy - an independent and often lonely woman in her late 70s and Flo, Peggy’s granddaughter, who is in her late 20s. ...

All We Shall Know (by Donal Ryan)

I hadn’t heard of the Irish writer Donal Ryan. I doubt if I would ever have picked up the book ‘All we shall know’ if it hadn’t been on my reading group list for 2020. I almost didn’t buy it: I knew it wouldn’t arrive in time for the meeting where it was to be discussed. But I downloaded a ‘sample’ - the first few chapters - for my Kindle, and was intrigued. 

So as I prefer to have a book in printed form if possible, I bought it inexpensively from ‘AwesomeBooks’. That was six months ago now,...

The Moving Finger (by Agatha Christie)

We have a large collection of Agatha Christie novels, many of them bought second-hand when my sons were still living here. I still haven’t read them all, and am currently working my way through some of the unread selection. I have found some of them a bit tedious to read, but others are gripping. I’ve just finished ‘The Moving Finger’, and it’s definitely in the latter category!

The story is told in the first person by a young man called Jerry Burton. He is a pilot who was badly injured in a...

The Birdcage (by Marcia Willett)

I am so enjoying re-reading my novels by Marcia Willett.  I don’t know why I didn’t start doing so years ago.  She creates the most delightful, three dimensional people and her novels are full of interesting storylines.  I’ve just finished re-reading ‘The Birdcage’, which I haven’t read since shortly after I was given it in 2006. I loved it, and this time around I could hardly put it down once I had started.

The advantage of not having read a book for fourteen years, of course, is that I had...

The Applause of Heaven (by Max Lucado)

I had often liked brief quotations from Max Lucado, on websites or in books. So I was very pleased when I had the opportunity to acquire some of his books last year.  I’ve just finished ‘The Applause of Heaven’, which I read over the course of a couple of weeks, just one or two chapters at a time. 

When I started, I realised that this book is a series of studies on the Beatitudes, as given in Matthew’s gospel.  I wondered if there could be anything fresh in the book, as I have heard many ser...