Chapter One Again by Keelia Clarkson

Oct5

Welcome Home

Chapter One Again by Keelia Clarkson is a very charming contemporary Christian novel and the first book in Avila Falls series. It is a beautiful debut novel that will leave you smiling.

The lead character, Jane, grew up in a small mountain town and moved to New York City for her dream job. Returning home for a visit, she realises that dreams are not always all you expected them to be.

As she revisits childhood haunts, she reconnects with people who have meant so much to her – like Edith, the owner of the bookshop that was Jane’s sanctuary growing up.

As Jane’s dreams come crashing down, we wonder if God is closing doors, only to open doors to something greater?

Jane feels far from God. “I didn’t feel Him with me tonight… I hadn’t for years. Had I disappointed God too much to expect anything?” God has not moved. “The God I’d heard sermons about growing up ultimately felt unreachable. Aloof. Disinterested in me and my dreams.” Nothing could be further from the truth. God is interested in our lives. He is ever present, whether we ‘feel’ Him or not. “God who’s there long before you even know Him.” While we were still in the womb, God knew us.

Jane’s experience of God was in “Sunday school and dutiful, faithful church attendance were the extent of my relationship with religion.” Jane knows all about religion but that is not the same as a living relationship with God. We find closeness with God as we seek Him out and spend time with Him.

A character has had tough times, having to abandon his dreams after his father’s accident. “There’s no way I would have survived my Dad’s accident if it hadn’t been for God.” When life hits us hard, it is relationship with God that helps us through.

Jane “wanted to ask how he could be thanking God rather than be angry at Him.” She does not yet have a relationship with God or she would not need to ask that question. At times life makes little sense, even with God – but without God, life makes no sense at all.

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Fun & Games At Malory Towers by Pamela Cox

Oct1

Rolling Back The Years

Fun & Games At Malory Towers by Pamela Cox is the tenth book in the Malory Towers series. It can be read as a stand-alone but I recommend reading the books in numerical order for character development and timeline progression. Originally penned by Enid Blyton, Pamela Cox continues the stories in the same style. The swap-over is seamlessly achieved.

In this book Felicity Rivers and her friends are in the fifth form (year 11). They have to set an example to the younger girls but June still has a sense of fun.

We drop in on the girls as they are preparing for a tennis tournament and also a music competition. Everyone is working hard. We see the importance of praise. “It wouldn’t be so bad if we got a word of praise now and again… Millicent should take a leaf out of June’s book… she encourages them [the girls playing tennis] with plenty of praise.” People work better when shown the carrot rather than the stick.

It is not all about winning. “I shall do my very best to make sure that we win”… “but even if you don’t, I hope that everyone who takes part will learn something of value from the experience.” It is good to be a part of a team and not a lone wolf.

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Five Go To Mystery Moor by Enid Blyton

Oct1

Foiled Again!

Five Go To Mystery Moor by Enid Blyton is the thirteenth book in the Famous Five series.

Though the books were penned in the 1940’s and 1950’s they still appeal to children today.

Once more, a little holiday turns into an adventure as the children stumble into crimes happening on the moor.

Timmy the dog is the hero of the day, again. His love for owner George means there is nothing he won’t do for her. The baddies are foiled again.

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The Day Our Lives Collided by Laura Pearson

Sep29

Friendship, Love, Life, & Everything In Between

The Day Our Lives Collided by Laura Pearson is a simply beautiful book set over a series of weddings from 2008 onwards. Three friends who met at Birmingham uni seventeen years earlier, share the celebrations over a number of years.

The action is told through three alternating points of view in the first person. The reader gets to know each character intimately.

We witness the highs and lows of life as we follow the wider group of friends down the years. Some are party animals; others are of a quieter nature.

We see rifts in lives. Some marriages make it; others don’t. And there is a funeral. “We couldn’t know… that one of our group would die within the year. If we’d known that, I wonder whether we would have done anything differently. Loved harder or lived more fully.” When death hits, there are always regrets. When death hits the young, it is tragic, especially if children are involved. True friends step in with a life-changing offer.

One character has a disabled sister who is in a wheelchair. “The first time they met… Tash spoke to her like she would anyone else… All too often people crouched down and spoke to Grace as if she were a little kid.” I can empathise as I used to work at the local high school and often worked with teens in wheelchairs – far too often people would speak over their heads to me, asking how the person was. I used to reply “they are sitting right here, why don’t you ask them.”

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