This is instalment 2 of my 2014 book List (Part 1 here), if you haven’t read that one yet I am recapping all the books I read in 2014, hopefully you will see one that takes your fancy. I set myself a goal each year on my Goodreads account and last year was 40 books, which I luckily managed, and this year is the same. But for now here is what you will find on my reading list for last year.
- Five Star Billionaire by Tash Aw – I really enjoyed this slightly unusual story set in Shanghai, where the lives of 5 strangers overlap and affect each other thanks to the mysterious figure of Walter Chao a 5 Star Billionaire. Can their dreams and hopes come true.
- Cockroaches by Jo Nesbo – I am a massive Jo Nesbo fan after reading The Snowman a few years ago and have been picking up books in the Harry Hole series whenever I can. Harry Hole is a rough around the edges murder detective who is sent to Thailand when the Norwegian Ambassador is found murdered in a Bangkok Brothel, but digging deeper just releases a whole bunch of hidden cockroaches!
- The Hundred-foot Journey by Richard C. Morais – Soon to be a Hollywood Movie starring Helen Mirren! This is a nice easy read about the life of Hassan Haji and his rise to be a successful gourmet chef. After a modest and difficult upbringing in Indian, his family moves around Europe until they finally settle in France and open an indian restaurant opposite the esteemed chef Madame Mallory.
- The Radleys by Matt Haig – I picked up this audio book because I thought it was a murder mystery, the back of the box simple said that a body was found in a sleepy town, blah blah blah, the usual. 20 minutes in it turns out its about Vampires! Awesome!! Lol! Its a very easy read, simple story and quite decent all round, I actually enjoyed it.
- Vanish by Tess Gerritsen – Again I am a pretty big fan of Tess Gerristen and listen to quite a few of her books during my commutes. This is part of the Rizzoli and Isles series and in this one Isles is about to perform an autopsy on a Jane Doe when the corpse opens her eyes, then proceeds to kill a security guard, rampage through the hospital and take hostages, including a pregnant Rizzoli! What does this desperate women want, and how did she end up in the morgue.
- Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver – This is the second in the Delirium series. In a world where love is seen as an illness, and a procedure is performed to ‘cure’ people of ever falling in love, what happens when you fall in love before the procedure and don’t want to lose that feeling or the person who causes it. Lena is on the run, hiding her emotions and feelings for fear of being found out, but there are others who feel the same as her, can they break through the ideology of society and overthrow those in charge.
- Stay Close by Harlan Coben – I discovered Harlan Coben last year and have since read a number of his books (or audiobooks!) This book is a thriller about the colliding lives and pasts of 3 unsuspecting people, Meagan a suburban Soccer Mom who used to have a wild side, Jack a retired detective who can’t let go of a cold case of a missing husband and Ray a talented documentary photographer who has found himself on hard times so is working sleazy paparazzi jobs for wealthy kids. Coben is the king of domestic thriller and this books twists and turns show how good his skills as a writer really are.
- Oh Dear Silvia by Dawn French – Silvia Shute is in a coma, she spent her life doing just as she pleased, but now must spend her time being visited by all those around her, those who like her…and those who don’t. She has a secret in her past though, and one by one her friends and family are piecing together her past and soon it will be uncovered. My first Dawn French book, and although I enjoyed it, I was hoping for more humour seeing as she wrote it.
- Entwined with You by Sylvia Day – The last in the Crossfire Trilogy, this is in the women erotica genre again, but the storyline of this trilogy to me is better than the 50 Shades of Grey (although very similar), and the books are better written! The first 2 books in the series were better, this one kind of felt like the author was running out of steam, but I still enjoyed it none the less. And the male lead has the surname Cross (my surname!) so obviously it was going to be good! hehe!
- Shopping With the Enemy by Carmen Reid – This is part of the Annie Valentine series (although I did’t know it was a series at the time) A typical chick lit, I felt like I needed something light after all the thrillers I had been listening too. Annie is having a fashion crises, she is meant to be a stylist but has lost her edgy, she no longer understands fashion and is in the process of losing her job as a TV stylist unless she can regain her mojo.
Any book catch your eye? Or got a book to recommend to me, I’m always interested in what other people are reading and what books they love, so let me know in the comments.
