Family matters (by Helen Parker)

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I started reading Helen Parker’s books for teenagers because, years ago, she was part of our local writers’ group. I read ‘Hide and secret’ a few years ago and thought it both interesting and well-written. I enjoyed the stand-alone sequel, ‘Island treasure’ too, when I read that a year or so later, although I would have liked more about the characters in ‘Hide and secret’.

So when the third book, ‘Family matters’,  was published, I put it on my wishlist and was given it last Christmas. I just finished reading it. I hadn’t really remembered the characters from ‘Hide and secret’, but realised after a few chapters that some of them were in this book: in particular Ruth, whose early years were spent in Cairo. She is now 14 and goes to a high school in Edinburgh. She still doesn’t feel entirely at home there, but she’s reasonably settled. Most of her local friends are ones who also belong to her church youth group.

One of Ruth’s friends is Lucy, who is excited that her mother has a new boyfriend, Zak. He’s very generous, and she hopes he might be her stepfather. Ruth has other friends with stepfathers, and they all like them very much; some of what Lucy says feels a bit strange, however. Not that he’s behaving inappropriately to Lucy, but she isn’t quite sure how to deal with a new man in the family - and one or two of the things she says don’t quite ring true.

Blessing the church (by Clifford Hill)

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It’s over twenty years since I read the book ‘Blessing the church?' It’s written by four different people: Clifford Hill, Peter Fenwick, David Forbes and David Noakes. I acquired the book after meeting Clifford Hill briefly at our church, and the first time I read it I was very impressed. So I thought it was time for a reread.

The overall idea of the book is to give a general overview of the ‘charismatic movement’ over the course of the 20th century. It particularly looks at how it was presented and accepted in the UK, and it leads up to discussion of the ‘Toronto blessing’ which was controversial in the 1990s. 

This book was published in 1995 so it’s now thirty years out of date. But the history is well-written and interesting, as is the examination of the different streams of the charismatic movement. The authors are careful to compare everything with Scripture, looking at the work of the Holy Spirit through the book of Acts, and Paul’s advice and warnings in some of his letters. 

Shopaholic and baby (by Sophie Kinsella)

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I am thoroughly enjoying rereading the ‘Shopaholic’ series by the late Sophie Kinsella. I was surprised that I liked them when I first picked them up, around fifteen years ago; they are well-written with a lot of humour, and some quite poignant moments too. 

I finished ‘Shopaholic and sister’ last month, so it was time for the next in the series, ‘Shopaholic and baby’, which I previously read in 2012. I hadn’t remembered anything about it, other than that it was mostly about Becky’s pregnancy rather than her life as a new mother. She had just discovered that she was pregnant at the end of the previous book, so this one is set not long afterwards.

Naturally, Becky - a compulsive shopper - is excited at the thought of new purchases for her baby, even quite early in her pregnancy. She peruses catalogues and visits shops and specialist showrooms… she’s in the fortunate position of being married to a wealthy businessman, Luke, who doesn’t seem to care what she spends on baby equipment. 

In the fifth at Malory Towers (by Enid Blyton)

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I’m a bit surprised to find that it must be at least thirty years since I last read Enid Blyton’s ‘In the fifth at Malory Towers’. The six-book series was my favourite as a teenager; apparently I read it three times in the 1970s, and I’m sure I must have read it at least once or twice as an adult… but I had not remembered most of the details. 

This book takes place in the term immediately after the previous book, ‘Upper fourth at Malory Towers’, which I reread last month. Darrell and her friends have passed the School Certificate (a kind of precursor of GCSEs) and have moved up to the fifth form. Alicia and Gwendoline did not pass the exam, but Alicia was ill and Gwendoline was faking illness, and both are now too old to stay in the fourth form. 

Darrell’s younger sister Felicity is in her second term, still in the first form, and is passionate about lacrosse. Darrell is delighted to be put in charge of sports for the younger girls, but worries that she’s showing favouritism if she puts Felicity in one of the teams.

An innocent diversion (by Kathleen Rowntree)

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It’s a bit of a shock to realise that it’s twenty-four years since I first read Kathleen Rowntree’s novel ‘An innocent diversion’. So it was more than time to reread. I had, unsurprisingly, forgotten everything about it - all the people and storylines felt entirely new to me. I quite like that feeling, knowing that I did enjoy the book first time around.

There are two main characters, and the author succeeds in making them quite distinct. Fran is the one I related to the most. She’s in her fifties, and married to a farmer. She looks after the house, cooks for whoever needs meals, and also does some of the farm chores. Her husband, Steve, is a decade older than she is, and a very likeable man. The two are still close. 

Fran has some bad days, particularly the anniversaries of events from her teenage years which are still poignant to her. It’s fairly soon clear what has made her depressed at the start of the novel, though we don’t get the details until much later in the book. But Steve is understanding, and kind; and Fran appreciates him. They have two daughters: Heather, who works in an upmarket shoe shop, and Janie, who is in her mid-teens and rather geeky. Heather and Janie are totally unalike, and don’t get along.