Sue Fairhead's Blog, page 6

The dandelion years (by Erica James)

(Amazon UK link) It’s over nine years since I acquired and read ‘The dandelion years’ by Erica James. I had no memory of the story at all, or any of the people, so it was definitely time for a re-read. 
The main character is a young woman called Saskia, who is celebrating her 32nd birthday as the book opens. Not that she’s out partying or drinking. She lives at home with her father and two grandfathers, and has done so since her mother and two grandmothers died in a car crash, when she was ten. 
Th...

Finding God in the fast lane (by Joyce Huggett)

(Amazon UK link) I like Joyce Huggett’s writing, and realised at the start of the year that it’s a long time since I read her books. I only have three, but liked them all when I first read them. I re-read ‘Listening to others’ in January, and decided at the start of July that it was time to try another one. I last read ‘Finding God in the fast lane’ in 2012, and hadn’t remembered what it was about, though the title certainly gives an overview.
As I started, I was reminded that this book makes a lo...

The stranding (by Kate Sawyer)

(Amazon UK link) I hadn’t heard of Kate Sawyer, and most likely would not have chosen to read her book ‘The Stranding’, as I’m not a huge fan of dystopian fiction. But it was chosen for this month’s book club read. I downloaded it for my Kindle a few months ago, as it was on special offer, and started reading it a few days ago.
I was hooked almost immediately. There’s a prologue, with two people lying in the sand talking about ‘Before’. It’s not immediately obvious what is going on, and I went bac...

The coming of age of the Chalet School (by Elinor M Brent-Dyer)

(Amazon UK link) In my slow reread of the Chalet School books by Elinor M Brent-Dyer, I reached the one numbered 39 in the original hardback series published last century. I last read ‘The coming of age of the Chalet School’ towards the end of 2015, but it’s not one that I reread regularly. It was foreshadowed through a lot of the previous book, ‘Excitements at the Chalet School’ which I reread just over a month ago. 
This is the book where the Chalet School celebrates 21 years of existence. It wa...

The gift of pain (by Philip Yancey and Paul Brand)

(Amazon UK link) It’s nearly seventeen years since I first read ‘The gift of pain’, which was co-written by Philip Yancey and the late Dr Paul Brand. I found it eye-opening when I first read it, and almost impossible to put down. I decided it was well overdue for a reread.
The book is primarily autobiographical, based on extensive journals and recollections from Paul Brand’s childhood and early experiences as a doctor. Philip Yancey has turned it into a very readable and well-structured book that ...

To the manor born (by Peter Spence)

(Amazon UK link) I watched some of the BBC sitcom ‘To the manor born’ when it first came out, towards the end of the 1970s and early 1980s. We acquired a DVD set of the complete series many years ago, although we have not watched them for a while. But I don’t think I had realised that there were accompanying books, written by Peter Spence (who also wrote most of the TV scripts). 
I found the books at a church book stall some years ago, and finally decided to read the first one which is simply enti...

Out of the shadows (by Titia Sutherland)

(Amazon UK link) One of the good things about not reading a book for nearly two decades is that I’ve usually forgotten everything about it, other than that I liked it. I first read ‘Out of the shadows’ by Titia Sutherland in 2006 and did not recall anything in it. So it was as if I were reading a book that was new to me, knowing in advance that I would enjoy it. 
Titia Sutherland creates likeable, realistic people in her novels. Rachel is the main character; she’s in her fifties and widowed but no...

The horse and his boy (by CS Lewis)

(Amazon UK link) I’m very glad I decided to re-read the Narnia series by CS Lewis. I loved them as a child, and I appreciate them more each time I read them. ‘The horse and his boy’ was probably my least favourite when I was younger; I’m not sure why. Perhaps because it didn’t have any scenes set in the ‘real’ world - or perhaps because it didn’t fit neatly into the chronology of the others. It’s set somewhere towards the end of ‘The lion, the witch and the wardrobe’, which I re-read last month. ...

The casual vacancy (by JK Rowling)

(Amazon UK link) When I learned, over a decade ago, that JK Rowling had published an ‘adult’ novel, I read a few reviews out of curiosity. Some praised the book highly; others said it was disappointing after the Harry Potter series. Some said it was realistic and insightful; others complained about the strong, crude language. I decided I probably wouldn’t bother with it.
Then I saw a copy of ‘The casual vacancy’ at a local church book sale nearly three years ago. I decided to fork out fifty cents ...

Minding Frankie (by Maeve Binchy)

(Amazon UK link) I am so enjoying re-reading my collection of novels by Maeve Binchy, some of which I’ve only read once before. One of these is ‘Minding Frankie’, which I first read in 2012, and have only just read for the second time. I knew I liked it first time around, but I had entirely forgotten the story, and the main characters.
As with several of Binchy’s books, it’s set in a small town where some of the minor characters appeared previously in other novels. Many of them live in the same st...