Sue Fairhead's Blog, page 69

The Gabriel Hounds (by Mary Stewart)

I am glad I decided to re-read my novels by Mary Stewart. The somewhat tense adventure stories she wrote in the middle of last century are not my preferred genre. Yet I read some of her books as a teenager, and re-discovered them - and others - as an adult. She created believable characters and excellent stories, with the tension never quite turning into horror.

I last read ‘The Gabriel Hounds’ in 2006 and had entirely forgotten what it was about. The main character is Christy and the book i...

One Summer in Italy (by Sue Moorcroft)

I have gradually acquired most of Sue Moorcroft’s novels after first coming across her writing about twelve years ago. She creates believable, warm characters with interesting plots, and her stories are often set in Mediterranean countries. I was given ‘One Summer in Italy’ for my birthday a few months ago, and have just finished reading it.

Sofia is the main character of this novel. She can barely remember her mother, who died when she was little, but she adores her Italian father. He becom...

A Free Woman (by Libby Purves)

I’m so glad I decided to re-read my Libby Purves novels. I am thoroughly enjoying them. It’s such a long time since I first read most of them that it’s almost like having new books to read - with the advantage that I know in advance that I am going to enjoy them.

I have just finished ‘A Free Woman’, which I read in 2003. I did not recall anything about any of the characters or the storyline when I started. It’s about two adult sisters, Sarah and Maggie, who are in their thirties. Sarah is a...

Sold to the Man with the Tin Leg (by Philip Serrell)

I was idly browsing a church book stall a few months ago when I spotted a book with the intriguing title, ‘Sold to the Man with the Tin Leg’. I had not come across the author, Philip Serrell, before; apparently he is a popular TV presenter nowadays. A quick glance at the back of the book suggested that it was in the style popularised by James Herriot. The author of this book was an auctioneer, and the book contained some of his amusing memories as a trainee.

So I paid fifty cents for it, and...

Why I Follow Jesus (by Adrian Plass)

I have liked everything I have read by Adrian Plass. He is one of my all-time favourite writers, and has produced quite an array of different kinds of book. He is best known, probably, for his humorous ‘Sacred Diary’ series, but he has written some more serious books as well. So when I saw ‘Why I Follow Jesus’ at a church book sale, I had no hesitation in acquiring it.

It’s not a long book - only 130 pages - so thought it might be an evangelistic work. Indeed, that's probably why I had not b...

Sylvester (by Georgette Heyer)

I do like Georgette Heyer’s historical romance novels. They feel authentic, the characterisation is excellent, and the stories very well crafted. I last read ‘Sylvester’ back in 2008, so it was definitely time for a re-read. I had entirely forgotten the story before I started, although I soon recalled the gist of it.

Sylvester, the Duke of Salford, is a complex and three-dimensional character whom we meet in the first chapter. He was born to wealth and aristocracy, and knew from babyhood that...

Mort (by Terry Pratchett)

Although I have read all the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett, some of them soon after publication, I have not re-read most of them. So I decided to read through the entire series, in order, this year. Not all at once, but interspersed with other authors whose works I am re-reading, and new books I have been given or have acquired second-hand.

So I came to ‘Mort’, the fourth Discworld book. This is one of the few of the series which I had read twice; the last time was in 2009. This is the...

Heaven Adjacent (by Catherine Ryan Hyde)

On the whole I have very much liked the novels I have read by Catherine Ryan Hyde. The first one I came across was ‘Love in the Present Tense’, which I read over twelve years ago. But her best-known book is probably ‘Pay it Forward’, which I read nearly a year later, and which was made into a popular film. I have put various books by this author on my wish-list, and was given ‘Heaven Adjacent’ for Christmas last year. I have just finished reading it.

The novel is about a middle-aged woman ca...

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (by JK Rowling)

There are some books which I read once and never again. Some which I reread after a period of perhaps nine or ten years. And some which I reread over and over, because they are such excellent stories. One such series is ‘Harry Potter’ by JK Rowling. The books were considered controversial in the 1990s, and the author herself attracts negative publicity from time to time. But I now consider the books to be classics, of a kind almost comparable to CS Lewis’s ‘Narnia’ series in their scope, and...

Heather Leaves School (by Elinor M Brent-Dyer)

Although I have read and reread regularly all the Chalet School books by Elinor M Brent-Dyer for over forty years, I had only read about three of her much shorter ‘La Rochelle’ series. I was delighted to learn a few years ago that they had all been reprinted by Girls Gone By, and managed to acquire them all from various sources in the past couple of years. I’m currently reading them through, interspersed with other books.

I bought ‘Heather Leaves School’ (fifth in the series) from a second-h...