Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination

This is a chick romcom type of book which is usually not my style, but it was funny and kept me reading. I've ever reread it over the years!

This is a terrific offering by the author. It is different from and much more entertaining then Bridget Jones Diary (which I liked). Character development and story line are first rate. You will want to read it fast, and then share it with a friend, who will also love it. Don't miss this book. Hopefully, the author will write another book about the adventures of Olivia Joules.

Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination - Helen Fielding-------------------------------------------Put away your brain!It won't help you enjoy thislighthearted spy romp.

Olivia Joules is the most entertaining and self-effacing heroine since Bridget Jones, so it makes perfect sense that she springs, wholly formed, from the forehead of Helen Fielding. This book is hilarious, witty, and an acerbic poke in the eye at our current image obsessed culture of superficial beauty and style. Fielding is also spot on in her location descriptions. Clearly she has done some travel in between churning out bestsellers.Ms. Joules, a minimized features journalist, carving out a living and trying to keep her self esteem in the face of idiot editors and budget conscious news directors, stumbles into an apparent Al Qaeda terrorist plot to... well, you'll have to read about it for yourself. No spoilers here. From L.A.'s Standard Hotel, to Miami, Honduras, and the Sudan, Olivia Joules becomes increasingly suspicious of her new exotic romantic pursuer Pierre - is he French or Arab or both? What does he really do for a living? Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you, baby. I almost hate to write the comparison, but think: Carrie Bradshaw meets the Sheikh.Some reviewers are shocked - shocked! - to read a comedic novel that touches on current terror conflicts and - gasp!- Osama Bin Laden himself. Well, get over it. This is how we reduce the enemy. We mock it. To wit: parody posters of Hitler as a rodent during WWII; M*A*S*H; Hogan's Heros, James Bond and the Soviet KGB, and countless more. As one reviewer notes, this is a screenplay waiting to happen. And I can hardly wait.

I had to put this book down because I did not like the story. I found the book annoying and did not like the subject matter. I did not find anything funny or amusing about writing a light hearted story around Osama bin Laden and terriorism. I am really disappointed in Helen Fielding's choice of subject matter for her book. I loved Bridget Jones and can not believe how disappointing this book was. I would not recommend it to anyone.

Received it and working great

Finished the book last night, kept being surprised by the very swift changes of scene as Olivia makes incredibly fast decisions and gets from place to place very quickly! In this upbeat, fast paced adventure, surprisingly strong-minded though susceptible Olivia Joules constantly reminds herself of her rules for living, which are actually very good! One of the best and most-used is No. 1: "Never panic. Stop, breathe, think;" followed by No. 2: "No one is thinking about you. They're thinking about themselves, just like you." There are originally 14 Rules, to which she adds two last ones: "Don't regret anything. Remember, there wasn't anything else that could have happened given who you were and the state of the world at that moment. The only thing you can change is the present, so learn from the past," and "If you start regretting something and thinking, "I should have done . . ." always add, "but then I might have been run over by a lorry or blown up by a Japanese-manned torpedo." " Anyway, though using real-world political-type good-guy/bad-guys is, to me, well, ... jarring, the book is quite enjoyable in a female Indiana Jones action-packed adventure-with-travel-and-physical-exercise sort of way.

I read this book for the first time several years ago - probably in 2006 - and I have re-read it several times since then. I adore it. It is witty, fun, exciting, and a humorous send-up on much of modern culture and society. The snapshots of American culture through the eyes of a well-traveled Brit are particularly humorous. Helen Fielding, like her heroine, demonstrates a keen understanding of human nature and how who we are as people drives what happens to us in the world.Olivia as a heroine reminds me somewhat of Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next (see  The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel (Thursday Next Novels (Penguin Books)) ) - Olivia is a competent woman with problems who goes about solving them.No one will mistake this for something by Mary Shelley or Emily Bronte, to be sure. But then again, I had a hard time getting through both Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights, and I have a degree in English. I couldn't put Olivia Joules down. This is excellent chick lit. Bridget Jones spawned a field of British chick lit books involving flawed female characters dealing with their romantic lives, many of which I enjoy (though I'd like to strangle Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic character). Olivia Joules plays off this and pushes beyond it, showing that women can have goals and problems bigger than the men in their lives, even when the men contribute to both.If you want to be bored and look erudite, don't read this book. If you'd like a fun, sly read, don't miss it.

One word review: Awesome! A must buy.

A bit disappointing and not as funny as her other books

Aunque la historia es un reflejo de la sociedad del final de la década del siglo XX, sigue siendo actual en este primer cuarto del XXI. Muy entretenido. Lo recomiendo.

Ein wunderbares Buch, sofern man sich darauf einlassen kann, denn die Geschichte ist wirklich haarsträubend. Die Heldin ist nicht ganz fassbar, dennoch liebenswert. Ein Krimi, der vor Aktualität nur so strotzt, wenngleich das Ganze auch eher bizarr anmutet. Die Lebensregeln der Heldin können getrost übernommen werden, denn "Never panic. Stop, breathe, think" ist wirklich weise. Wer eine weitere Bridget Jones erwartet, wird definitiv enttäuscht, wer sich aber auf das Abenteuer einlässt, wird viel zu lachen haben.

Not exactly a work of fine literature but a thoroughly enjoyable read - totally exaggerated and unrealistic but that's part of its charm.