Bookmarked... #28

The return of the (mostly) weekly post letting you all know what I'm reading and have lined up for the week! It's my own version of Sheila at Book Journey's It's Monday What Are You Reading (now hosted by Kathryn at Book Date) and I have her permission to rename it for my own nefarious reasons...

I'm slowly getting out of the habit of picking up all the shiny new pretties as soon as I get them and instead, I'm reaching to the back of my bookshelves and starting to read more of my poor books that have been languishing for years! #ShelfLove is going quite well so far but it does mean there will probably be quite an eclectic mix of books over the coming weeks and months. Here's what I've been reading over the last couple of weeks.

Finished

The Breakdown - B A Paris

Breaker - Kat Ellis

Hacked - Tracy Alexander

Killing Me Softly - Nicci French

The Spirit Thief - Rachel Aaron

When Rose Wakes - Christopher Golden

Started

The Dragon's Path - Daniel Abraham

The Spirit Rebellion - Rachel Aaron

Up Next

The White Tower - Cathryn Constable

Wintersong - S Jae-Jones

Book Haul #131 - January 2017

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly event hosted on Tynga's Reviews where we can share what new books we've picked up this past week be they bought, borrowed or downloaded. There are also lots of other 'book haul' memes out there for you to choose from!

Well... Apparently I haven't done a book haul post since August 2016! I certainly don't intend to show all the books I've had since then so I'm starting afresh and this is what I've received this month. In a vain effort to cut down on my book buying I'm doing the #ShelfLove challenge this year which means reading more of my own books and cutting down on the books I buy. I'll do my first wrap-up post for this on Tuesday which includes the rule of reading at least 15 of my own books a month. If I do this I'm allowed to buy no more than 3 new books a month. I figure doing it like this I won't get the urge to buy too many, plus I have my regular library book delivery every month to keep me going. Books bought will be in that post!

Physical Review Copies

Girls On Fire - Robin Wasserman

Wintersong - S Jae-Jones

The Witch's Tears - Elizabeth & Katharine Corr

With Fate Conspire - Marie Brennan

Digital Review Copies

The Black Witch - Laurie Forest

The Breakdown - B A Paris

Fir - Sharon Gosling

The Last Act Of Hattie Hoffman - Mindy Mejia

The Turn - Kim Harrison

Written In Bones - James Oswald

Top Ten Tuesday #113 - Favorite 2016 Releases So Far This Year

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the fabulous girls cover at The Broke & The Bookish. This week's topic is -
 
Top Ten Favorite 2016 Releases So Far This Year

Well, I made this a lot harder on myself than it should have been... I haven't updated Goodreads properly in nearly 3 months so I've kind of lost track of what I've read anyway, especially what of what I've read that has been published this year. The other thing conspiring against me is that I've either been reading library books or trying to clear books from my TBR pile for the TBR Challenge. Library books especially have not been published this year apart from a handful and only three were absolute favorites.

Top Ten Tuesday #109 - Recent Five Star Reads

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the fabulous girls cover at The Broke & The Bookish. This week's topic is -

Ten Of My Most Recent 5 Star Reads

As I've mentioned in previous Bookmarked... posts I've had some great reads this year, with quite a few 4 & 5 clock reads. Going through my lists though most seem to be 4 clocks, rather than 5, so my list was actually harder to put together than I thought. I didn't want to include 4 clock ratings so this is the list I came up with, I think there are 2 standalone books that aren't on here with my top rating (and half of the Skulduggery Pleasant series...) so it worked out quite well!

Behind Closed Doors - B A Paris

The perfect marriage? Or the perfect lie?

Everyone knows a couple like Jack and Grace. He has looks and wealth, she has charm and elegance. You might not want to like them, but you do.

You’d like to get to know Grace better.

But it’s difficult, because you realize Jack and Grace are never apart.

Some might call this true love. Others might ask why Grace never answers the phone. Or how she can never meet for coffee, even though she doesn't work. How she can cook such elaborate meals but remain so slim. And why there are bars on one of the bedroom windows.

Sometimes, the perfect marriage is the perfect lie.

I read this in one sitting, more or less. I had to put it down to get a train and thanks to travel sickness rearing its ugly head I had to wait to read it until I got home. It's probably just as well. Behind Closed Doors is one of the best books I have read in a while and it frightened the life out of me. Whilst reading it I couldn't settle, I had to keep getting up and walking about while continuing to read as Grace and Jack's story developed. 

Grace and Jack are the perfect couple. They met, fell in love, had a whirlwind romance and got married. Jack accepted that Grace cared for her younger sister which made Grace fall for him even faster. Scratch the surface though and not everything is as it seems. 

Alternating between past and present Behind Closed Doors paints a chilling portrait of domestic abuse, but the psychological kind - not physical, which to me is just as frightening and just as threatening. Using Millie as a means to control her everyone is awed by how amazing Grace is, the perfect hostess, the perfect wife, the perfect sister... She never goes anywhere though, and on the rare occasion she does you can guarantee Jack is not far behind. When a new couple are introduced into their social circle there is a subtle shift in power though. This coincides with Millie's upcoming 18th birthday - the day she will come to live with Grace and Jack. Grace is determined that this is never going to happen so starts to formulate a plan. What happens after that is a rollercoaster of emotions, mostly fear but also small glimmers of hope and the possibility that there might be a future for the sisters after all.

If you looked up fear, disturbed, terrifying and other similar words in the dictionary you would find perfect descriptions of Behind Closed Doors. This is one of the most disturbing books about psychological abuse I've read in recent years and I literally could not put the book down until I had finished it. It was painful to read the way Grace was treated, you could picture yourself in the same situation - locked in a tiny room, estranged from family and friends with nowhere to turn. The situation isn't helped by the irony of the fact that Jack is a prominent barrister specializing in domestic abuse cases! 

This is the author's debut novel and if her first is this brilliant I look forward to reading whatever else she writes. The writing is both gripping and chilling. Jack as a character is one of the most manipulative and deceitful I've ever met, impossible to do do anything but hate and while I didn't like Grace to start with I soon warmed to her and her battle to survive, her willingness to sacrifice everything for Millie was heartbreaking. By the time I got to the last few chapters I was literally walking around whilst reading with my mouth hanging open, I could not sit still because I was terrified about how it was all going to end. All I will say about that is that even just a little faith in other people sometimes has the biggest rewards.

If you are looking for a page turner, a stunning debut, a perfect psychological thriller, then you probably won't get much better than Behind Closed Doors. I certainly won't forget this book for a long time and I already know it's in my list of top ten books for 2016.

Behind Closed Doors - B A Paris

ISBN - 9781848454125

Publisher - Mira

Release date - February 11 2016

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

Many thanks to Mira (Harlequin UK) via Netgalley for the review copy!

Top Ten Tuesday #105 - Books I've Recently Added To My TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the fabulous girls cover at The Broke & The Bookish. This week's topic is -

Top Ten Nine Books I've Recently Added To My TBR

I pretty much cover what's added to my TBR in my book haul posts but here are some that I've forgotten to add and update on Goodreads from wishlist status to TBR pile! There's only a couple of repeats from my recent book haul and just today I was approved for Masks And Shadows, Stephanie Burgis's adult debut.

Beautiful Broken Things

Behind Closed Doors

Daddy Dearest

Drake

Into The Dim

Judged

The Maker Of Swans

Masks And Shadows

My Neighbor Totoro