Books read in January 2014. in A suitcase of books.

I am stealing this from my friend Moo, amongst others. I always read a bunch of books throughout the year and then by the end of the year, I've forgotten what they were about. Let's see if month-by-month helps!

Not sure if edits pop these back into the bookmarks list. I remembered I wanted to try to keep track of how much I'm spending on books. So excuse my geeky math.

1. The Husband's Secret - Liane Moriarty (3.5 stars). Cecelia finds a letter in the attic from her husband, to be opened upon his death. He's still quite alive, but she opens it anyway, and her life sort of crumbles. Her story intertwines with those of several other women. This book has received a lot of hype - I didn't think it was quite all that but it was a very captivating read. Read on iPad mini via Nook app, bought with giftcard (cost: $0)

2. What Alice Forgot - Liane Moriarty (4 stars). I read The Husband's Secret and then got on a kick reading the rest of Liane's books (bought the first one and then found the rest via the library or Oyster, so I didn't feel too guilty about it). In this one, Alice hits her head at the gym and wakes up thinking she's 29 and pregnant, despite the fact that she's actually 39. She's forgotten the last 10 years of her life. The book chronicles her struggle to get her memory back. The ending is a probably a little pat, but I really liked this one. Read on iPad mini via the library's Overdrive app (cost: $0)

3. Three Wishes - Liane Moriarty (3 stars). The story of three sisters (triplets) and their struggles. Rather predictable but a fun read. By now, I am seeing a lot of similarity in her books, but I was too hooked to stop. Read on iPad mini via Oyster app (cost $9.99/month subscription)

4. The Last Anniversary - Liane Moriarty (3 stars). Sophie's ex-boyfriend reappears, only to tell her that she's inherited his aunt's house on an island made famous for the "Alice and Jack" mystery. Featured a character named Grace who had recently had a baby and had terrible depression - I was quite intrigued by her. The ending to this one was a little trite, too, but again: addicting. Read on iPad mini via Oyster app (cost: $0 - subscription included above)

5. The Faraday Girls - Monica McInerney (4 stars). I was surprised I liked this as much as I did. The story of a father and his five daughters, whom he brings up after his wife's death. It focuses on them mostly in their adulthood. One has a baby, Maggie, and part of the novel skips forward to Maggie as a young adult. They were a very dysfunctional family, but quite fun to read about. Read on iPad mini via library's Overdrive app (cost: $0)

6. The Hypnotist's Love Story - Liane Moriarty (4 stars). As you see, I'm not an discerning rater. I rate based on pure enjoyment or not, not some sort of literary prowess. This tells about Ellen, a hypnotherapist who falls for Patrick. All is great, except Patrick has a stalker -- his ex-girlfriend. The book is mainly from Ellen's point of view, but we hear from her (the stalker) sometimes, too. Very poignant story in some ways. I really enjoyed this one. Read via an actual book (!) from the library (cost: $0)

7. If I Tell - Janet Gurtler (2.75 stars) I often just find random books via the ebook library that are available and download them immediately when I'm in-between books. This was one of those. It's a YA book that seems very YA, if that makes any sense. It might appeal more to a younger crowd, but didn't really have that cross appeal. It's about Jasmine, a biracial teen, who is struggling with a big secret about her mother's boyfriend. Parts of it were good and it probably captured the angst of high school well, but it was a bit silly for me. Read on iPad mini via the library's Overdrive app (cost: $0)

Total cost for the month: $9.99, or $1.43 per book.

So there you have it. More to come next month, hopefully.