January books – 50 books in 2014

I’ve had a bit of a slow start to my 50 books in 2014 challenge.  I’ve managed 4 books, but those were a struggle.  I’ve just got too much blogging on my mind, so really must set out 30 minutes at least a day to read.

I used to read after my alarm went off in the morning before getting up, but N seems to have got into the habit of coming in with me after the OH’s gone out to work, so I tend to get woken earlier than my alarm.  Plus having an elbow or foot jabbed in me, as well as him trying to sleep on my pillow (it’s a kingsize bed child, move over!) doesn’t give a lot of reading space.

So the books I’ve read this month with a short view:

Notorious Nineteen – Janet Evanovich

I’m a big fan of Janet Evanovich books.  Easy and quick to read, they’re just a lot of fun, explosions and male hunks amongst the bounty hunting.  The series are a bit samey, and time seems to stand still, but this still made me laugh out loud many a time.  Worth checking out the number series if you like crime novels, but want a break from the heavy psychological stuff.

Mad About The Boy – Helen Fielding

I’ve been a Bridget Jones fan since the columns first appeared in the newspapers, so was interested to read this one.  Seems like a long time down the line, and I knew before reading vaguely what issues were going to be included in the book thanks to all the chat and publicity around it.  I really wanted to find the details out a lot earlier on in the book, but it did work where it was.

Bridget’s still as dozy as she was, there’s still lots of laughs, but quite a few tears.  It seems strange having Bridget with family life, but for me there’s more to relate to with my childhood having had my dad die when I was young and now obviously having my own child to think how similar would affect us.

If you’re a Bridget fan, it’s definitely one to read.  If you’re not, take Bridget for who she is and just enjoy it.

Trust Your Eyes – Linwood Barclay

Another author whose books I really enjoy.  This one took longer to get into, but being a map and geography lover, I was intrigued about the similarities to Google Earth and what you could see if you looked hard enough, like the brother in the book.

I found my suspicions were with the wrong person in the end, and at the beginning it was awkward catching up with what was happening with who, and where the politics fitted in, but once I’d got the hang of that, I got into it more and wanted to continue to get to the end quickly.

This is one crime book that is quite ‘clean’ rather than a gore fest of descriptions that you sometimes get.  So if you like mystery and a bit of murder stories without all the details, then this might be for you.

Undercover Economist – Tim Harford

I’m not really into economy books, but The undercover economist does relate economics to real life and what it can lead to/the implications.  I didn’t enjoy this as much as Freakonomics* which seemed a bit less focused on economy, coffee and cars, but on more consumer and anthropological reasons.  I found UE a bit repetitive  with each chapter, although still interesting and explaining more simply what economics in real life is about.

I bought the book in a 3 pack from The Book People, so let’s see what the other 2 are like.

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