Sue Fairhead's Blog

(Amazon UK link) I had no idea what to expect when I started to read ‘Prophet song’ by Paul Lynch. It was the book allocated for this month’s local reading group, and I had downloaded it on my Kindle back in May when it was on special offer for just 99 pence. I vaguely knew that it was a dystopian novel, which is not my favourite genre. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised by other dystopian books such as ‘The stranding’, which I read a few months ago. 
‘Prophet song’ won the Booker prize in 2023, a...

(Amazon UK link) I’m rereading the novels by Titia Sutherland, which I hadn’t read for a long time. I’ve just finished ‘Running away’ which I last read in 2006. Unsurprisingly, I had forgotten the people, the story and the conclusion. But I knew I had liked the book when I read it previously.
Laura is the main character, and I found her believable and likeable. She’s married to Rick, and in many respects she’s quite contented. She’s never been passionately in love with him, but she’s extremely fon...

(Amazon UK link) One of the modern Christian songs which I have loved ever since I first heard it is the short but profound ‘Above all’, which was first sung by Michael W Smith. The writer Brennan Manning was so moved by this that he wrote a book, a kind of devotional based on the words of the song. I found the book in an online bookshop about eight years ago, and read it in 2017.
It’s a beautifully presented book. My edition is a hardback with a very attractive cover, and the inside is nicely lai...

(Amazon UK link) I’ve liked the books I’ve read by Stephanie Butland, so I put a few more on my wishlist a couple of years ago. I was given ‘The curious heart of Ailsa Rae’ for Christmas 2023, but my to-be-read shelf has so many books that it’s taken this long to pick this one up. 
I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, at first. The main character is 28-year-old Ailsa Rae. The first few pages of the book contain a blog post she has written while in hospital, waiting for a new heart. She has had ...

(Amazon UK link) Every so often I like to read - or reread - a Christian biography. Some are much more interesting than others, and one that I recalled liking very much is the biography of Philip Ilott. Most people will never have heard of him; he was a hurting child, neglected and abused, who became a Christian, and, later, was ordained. Adrian Plass met him when they were both involved in a late-night TV production, and wrote his biography. I last read ‘A smile on the face of God’ in 2010 and h...

(Amazon UK link) Earlier this year I started rereading the Narnia series by CS Lewis, about one per month. I first read them as a child, and have reread them regularly over the decades - though not for some time. I reached ‘Prince Caspian’ towards the end of July but was then out of the country during August. So I have only just reread ‘The voyage of the Dawn Treader’, which I last read in 2012.
I knew the story well, of course. Edmund and Lucy are staying with their unpleasant cousin Eustace, who...

(Amazon UK link) It’s a long time since I read the three novels by Wendy K Harris; she no longer has a website, and I can’t find much about her online. I had forgotten everything about the books other than that I enjoyed them. And whereas I read them in the ‘wrong’ order last time, I decided to read them chronologically.
I read ‘Sorrow of sisters’ back in 2008 and have just finished rereading it. The main character is 49-year-old Jane. She’s happily married to an accountant called Chas; they have ...

(Amazon UK link) I have liked all the novels I’ve read by Catherine Ryan Hyde over the past eighteen years since I first came across one of her books. The writing is always good, with believable characters, and they’re all very different. 
So when I started reading ‘When you were older’ a few days ago, I had no idea that it was set exactly 24 years ago, in September 2001. And while it’s not a short book - nearly 400 pages in paperback - I found it compulsive reading. So I finished it today, the an...

(Amazon UK link) I had not heard of John Mark Comer. He’s an American pastor, speaker and writer. I might never have come across him, but one of my sons sent us the book ‘The ruthless elimination of hurry’ for Christmas. I thought the title a clever one, and put it on my shelf of books to read at some point. I finally picked it up towards the end of last month, and have just finished it. 
It’s not a particularly long book. But whereas I read fiction, often, in large chunks, I tend to take non-fict...

(Amazon UK link) The first time I read the ‘Casson family’ series by Hilary McKay, they were spread over about a year as I gradually acquired them. This time I’ve been reading in chronological order, at a rate of about one per month. I read the third in the series (originally the second), ‘Indigo’s star’, back in July, and was travelling in August. So I’ve only just reread its sequel, ‘Permanent Rose’. I last read this in February 2012 and had forgotten almost all of it. 
Rose, youngest in the Cas...