Fiction re-read

I took the opportunity while on holidays to re-read a number of books I had enjoyed in the past. They included:

• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Still charming 8 years later, I thoroughly enjoyed this the second time round. A novel written in the form of letters, it drags you in immediately and the characters take a hold of you.
• The Uncommon Reader, Alan Bennett. An endearing short book about the Queen who takes up reading. Only takes a hour or so to read, but is a lovely escape into what might happen if the Queen found herself absorbed in books to the detriment of her duties.
• The Mark of the Lion trilogy (Francine Rivers) was enjoyable to return to again: the story of epic love and sacrifice in the Roman Empire in the first century. It was more complicated than I recalled with characters facing real challenges to live faithfully in the brutal world around them. The story of Hadassah, faithful slave girl, and Artretes, German gladiator keep interest and also provoke thought about how we live out our own faith. Some aspects of Rivers writing don’t always sit quite right, but it’s still a good thought provoking read.

All worth trying if you haven't gotten to them yet!