Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Scarlet – by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

15 02 2014

I’m a relatively recent convert to Sherlock. I watched my first episode on New Year’s Day this year when the first episode of series 3 was aired – I was hooked! I dedicatedly watched the rest of the series and am now catching up on series 1 & 2 that I’ve been able to borrow from friends.

I was aware they’re based on the old series of books, and another friend offered to lend me the first one – I thought, why not?! Always aiming to read more, why not read something a bit more classic.

I read “A Study in Scarlet” which is the first book in the series, where Sherlock Holmes and John Watson meet, it’s also the book that the first TV episode, “A Study in Pink” was based on. It didn’t disappoint.

Considering the books were written in the 1800s I was expecting it to be hard work, but it wasn’t, the story grabbed me in and I was so keen to know what happened. I had an idea as I’d already seen the TV episode, but there’s enough difference that I didn’t really know how it would come together.

Just when it was about to resolve though I had a bit of a shock. Suddenly we were in Utah, USA, with different characters, and several chapters without any reference at all to our Hero. I messaged my friend who had leant me the book and assured me it was still the same story, but the jump was so sudden I really wasn’t sure.

In the American section of the book there’s a whole bit on the Mormons which was slightly weird for me as one of the last books I read had also had a large section on them – bizarre!

Definitely a recommended read. The book is only little and even then less than 200 pages, so it doesn’t take long, and is definitely entertaining.

sherlock holmes


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“Why doesn’t God do something?”

10 02 2014

For a couple of years now I’ve been working through the “For Everyone” Bible study books. The New Testament ones are by Tom Wright, the Old Testament by John Goldingay. The first one I ever did was Matthew for Everyone. Advent was approaching and it seemed a sensible place to start!

As I say, this was a couple of years ago now, but in that book there was one devotional that really struck me, and stayed with me. At the time I posted it on facebook, but then it was so hard to find last month when I wanted to dig it out for team devotions at work! I’ve found it again, and thought I’d share it with you on here.

The passage it’s based on is Matthew 13 vv 24-35 – The Parable of the Weeds

I don’t really want to reproduce the whole thing a) ‘cos it’s a bit long for a blog post, and b) copyright stuff, so I’ve just pulled some of the bits that stood out to me, and then the bit that really stuck with me is in bold at the end.

“Would people really like it if God were to rule the world directly and immediately, so that our every thought and action were weighed, and instandtly judged and if necessary punished, in the scales of his absolute holiness? If the price of God stepping in and stopping a campaign of genocide were that he would also have to rebuke and restrain every other evil impulse, including those we still know and cherish within ourselves, would we be prepared to pay that price? If we ask God to act on special occasions, do we really suppose that he could do that simply when we want him to, and then back off again for the rest of the time?
These parables are about waiting, and waiting is what we all find difficult.”

“At the heart of the parable of the weeds is the note of patience – not just the patience of the servants who have to wait and watch, but the patience of God himself. God didn’t and doesn’t enjoy the sight of a cornfield with weeds all over the place. But nor does he relish the thought of declaring harvest-time too soon, and destroying wheat along with weeds.”

“When today we long for God to act, to put the world to rights, we must remind ourselves that He has already done so, and that what we are now awaiting is the full outworking of those events. We wait with patience, not like people in a dark room wondering if anyone will ever come with a lighted candle, but like people in early morning who know that the sun has arisen and are now waiting for the full brightness of midday.”


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Categories : Books I've Read, Christian, Things that make you go hmm

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator – by Roald Dahl

14 01 2014

This book is utterly nuts.

Roald Dahl writes some really odd stuff. You don’t notice it as a child, but working through these as a grown up I’m seeing just how odd they are!

If you’re not sure if you’re read it before, do the words, “Vermicious Knids”, “Wonka-Vite” or “Minusland” mean anything to you? If not, you definitely haven’t read it!

In this sequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, we go into outer space, we make people younger, we go to the centre of the earth – definitely not a book of reality, but still utterly genius and grabbed me ’til I finished it.

It only takes a couple of days, give it a go if you want a break from all the heavy grown up reading you’re busy doing!

Oh, and if you were wondering why it’s not called “Charlie and the Great Glass Lift”, may I refer you to this quote from the opening chapter:

“‘Madam,’ said Mr Wonka, ‘it is not a lift any longer. Lifts only go up and down inside buildings. But now that it has taken us up into the sky, it has become an ELEVATOR. It is THE GREAT GLASS ELEVATOR.'”

charlie and the great glass elevator


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America Unchained – by Dave Gorman

8 01 2014

I have utterly loved joining in on the journey in this book.

The basic premise is that he buys an old second hand car, and tries to drive coast to coast across the USA without giving any money to chain stores. This means finding independent motels, restaurants, and petrol stations! I don’t think they even exist in the UK, and it turns out that in America they’re pretty few and far between as well!

The thing I love about Dave Gorman’s books is that they never end up being about what they’re meant to be about. His books always end up being about the people he meets on the way through his various adventures/challenges/whatever you want to call them (at least one or two fall under the heading “bets made whilst drunk”!). Plus the whole way through I had utterly no idea if he’d even manage to complete it (and I won’t spoil it for you) – I was definitely kept guessing.

One of the most fascinating sections for me, oddly, was when he visited a town with a high population of Mormons. He looked into it a bit and thoroughly explained (far beyond any level of knowledge I had previously) what they were about, what they believed, where Mormonism originates from – anything you’d ever want to know. I’ll be honest, he doesn’t portray them positively, but then from what I’ve now learnt, I do understand why! I won’t say any more as I don’t want to offend, but it’s definitely interesting, and I’m more educated than I was.

A highly recommended book. I started it in Uganda because the book I was reading at the time was too heavy to take with me, and then picked it up again last month when I finished the large book. Since then I barely put it down. It had me picking it up whenever I could, which I think is always a strong recommendation 🙂

america unchained


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A Lineage of Grace – Francine Rivers

30 12 2013

This book took a little longer than my last few books, five months to be precise, but I’ll put that down to it actually being 5 books in one!

Each book is a historical fictional telling of the life of a woman in the bible, so the book works through the lives of Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary.

I found the Tamar and Rahab books fascinating, I’d never heard their stories before – you don’t tend to cover the stories of prostitutes in Sunday School! I thought this would also be the case for Bathsheba as it’s another one I’d never heard, and it was for the first part of the story, but then it just seemed to drag and drag and go on and on!

I really struggled with the Ruth story. I know this story inside out – I’m sure we did it at least once a year at Girls’ Brigade for a while – and so some of the things she added in I found particularly noticeable. For example, she paints Elimelech to be an awful man who is to blame for everything that ever went wrong in Naomi’s life…

Mary’s story was another good one – again, a woman whose story is oh so familiar, but just to read it from her side (or at least an interpretation of) was quite refreshing.

I look forward to trying the male equivalent, Sons of Encouragement, at some point!

Lineage of Grace


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One Hundred Names – by Cecelia Ahern

29 07 2013

I was partway through a slightly heavier book, but what with the heatwave that’s been going on the last few weeks, when my pre-order of Cecelia Ahern‘s latest book arrived, I decided it was time for a break and a slightly easier read!

I have read every novel this lady has written, she’s brilliant! Best known for P.S. I Love You, most of her books have some slightly mystical element, something not quite real, but this was one of the “realistic” ones, one that could technically happen.

I was a little nervous as I started it, the blurb was a little bland. Someone has a list of 100 names and has to work out what links them, but as the book moves on I got more and more involved with what’s going on. I read the entire book in a week and was so sad for it to end!

The only criticism I’d have is that I struggled to keep up with the number of characters. Each time a name came up for the first time in a chapter I had to work out who they were and remind myself, it wasn’t til I was about 90% of the way through I got to grips with them all!

But I’d still recommend it, a really lovely story 🙂

one hundred names


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One Red Paperclip – by Kyle Macdonald

30 06 2013

I’ve utterly loved this book, reflected in how quickly I’ve read it!

This is a book about a guy who is sick of pouring his money down the drain in rent, and has no steady income, and so, inspired by a game called “Bigger and Better” from his childhood, tries to trade up from a Red Paperclip, up to a house he can call his own.

I really doesn’t sound possible does it? The book works you through each trade and how it came about, chapter by chapter. It’s a real story, the website and blog he wrote at the time all still exist! There’s not too much of a spoiler in them either as the introduction to the book says pretty much exactly where it’s going to end up!

The guy behind it all is really quite inspiring. It’s not about trading up for something of higher monetary value, it’s about the journey, about the people, and the idea that one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. Definitely worth a read!

one red paperclip


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Just a Minute – Wess Stafford

20 06 2013

We were given copies of this book at work when it was published, but unfortunately at that point I wasn’t reading much at all and it just went on my bookshelf. But when I was looking for my next book to read, I put a couple of options I had out on twitter and had a reply from Mr Wess Stafford himself! After that I didn’t really have an excuse to read anything else 🙂

Wess has been the President of Compassion International for a long time and is just in the process of retiring and handing over to his successor. He’s a great man and brilliant speaker, his first book was called Too Small To Ignore and is his story of his childhood in an African village, and how we must invest in children.

Just a minute carries on his theme of caring for those children around us. It’s a whole load of short stories of different people’s “minutes” that changed and influenced their lives, something someone said or did that affected them. Most are uplifting positive stories which inspire us to do the same, but be warned, there’s a handful that show how damaging a minute can be – Hitler’s childhood actually gets a mention….

I found this book challenging and motivating to really think about how I treat and talk to the children I know and come across regularly, how is a passing comment I make going to potentially affect them long term?

A great read, and not a tricky one either, just pick a story or two in one sitting if necessary!

just a minute


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The Time Traveler’s Wife – by Audrey Niffenegger

20 05 2013

I’d seen the film of this a long time ago, but as books are so often better and I’d picked it up cheaply in one of those bargain bookshops years ago I thought I’d knock it off my list.

I found this a bit tricky to get into. The first chunk of the book time jumps around a lot, and it was pretty hard to follow. However, once the book reached a point where there was a bit more flow to time, as in you were at least watching one of the characters timelines chronologically, it got far easier to understand what was going on!

The book got a bit dodgy in places, but only really 3-4 times max, most of it was clean or I’d’ve given up far earlier, but really it was only a couple of scenes that I could get past and move on.

Once I got into it the narrative got stronger and stronger until, as so often happens, I couldn’t put it down! I knew what was coming having seen the film, but still it’s very well written!

If you can get past a bit of smut (what a great word!) and confusion, then worth a read. I don’t know if I’d read it a second time now I’ve done it the once, especially as the film is a cleaner version! But it’s a lovely story 🙂

the time travelers wife


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Fantastic Mr Fox – Roald Dahl

8 04 2013

Boggis and Bunce and Bean
One fat, one short, one lean.
These horrible crooks
So different in looks
were none the less equally mean.

While working out what to read that could compete with The Hunger Games, I thought I may as well do another Roald Dahl! It’s only 82 pages so I did it in about 2 sittings over Sunday afternoon, but still a great story! Yes it encourages stealing and drinking…. but only in a sense of finding something to eat when your whole family is starving – the book tells us that it’s ok to thieve in that case!

fantastic mr fox

A couple of years ago a film was made of this book. I don’t know if it’s just me but I really didn’t like it – the animation style made the film look like it was 20 years old! They also added a lot to the plot – although I suppose you have to for such a short book… here’s the trailer, if you’ve read the book, see what you think!


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