Once again, but for the first time in  month, I’m joining in with Tynga at Tynga’s Reviews and Marlene of Reading Reality for Stacking Shelves, where you share the real and virtual books you have added to your shelves in the last week.

Last week, I broke my self imposed Netgalley ban and fell off the wagon in quite spectacular style…mainly because I wished for a few books I wasn’t sure I would get and then there were a few read now’s that caught my eye…you get the picture (and I’m sure you’ve been there).  I also bought a few books too, adding to the virtual shelf – which would probably fall over if it wasn’t, well, virtual!  So, without much more rambling, here are the books I picked up this week…

First up, was an Amazon bargain for a book I’ve heard a lot about on Twitter, though not seen many reviews of if I’m honest

You never know who’s watching…

Corinne’s life might look perfect on the outside, but after three failed IVF attempts it’s her last chance to have a baby. And when she finds a tiny part of a doll house outside her flat, it feels as if it’s a sign.

But as more pieces begin to turn up, Corinne realises that they are far too familiar. Someone knows about the miniature rocking horse and the little doll with its red velvet dress. Someone has been inside her house…

How does the stranger know so much about her life? How long have they been watching? And what are they waiting for…?

Then a pre-order for the latest Mel Sherratt came through – I love her books and this standalone thriller will be going to the top of the list this week.

Work colleague. Friend. Killer.

From the million seller author comes a gripping psychological thriller.

A successful businesswoman, Tamara enjoys her champagne lifestyle to the full. At least, that is the front she displays to the world. As well as being lonely, she’s running out of money. A promising new member of staff brings the injection of fresh blood needed to win the contract that will turn things around.

Working for Tamara is a perfect ruse for Esther. But, along with fake references and qualifications, she also has a plan for revenge. Sensing Tamara’s vulnerability, Esther uses their acquaintance as a way of getting close to someone who hurt her in the past.

Tamara is keeping things secret. Esther has a dark side she is trying to hide. For both of them, lying is a habit. But when mistakes begin to catch up with Esther, and people start dying, Tamara realises she’s chosen the wrong person to trust as a friend.

I also picked up a free copy of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, a series I have read before but want to revisit as I really don’t remember it.

A spellbinding amalgam of murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue.

It’s about the disappearance forty years ago of Harriet Vanger, a young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden . . . and about her octogenarian uncle, determined to know the truth about what he believes was her murder.

It’s about Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently at the wrong end of a libel case, hired to get to the bottom of Harriet’s disappearance . . . and about Lisbeth Salander, a twenty-four-year-old pierced and tattooed genius hacker possessed of the hard-earned wisdom of someone twice her age—and a terrifying capacity for ruthlessness to go with it—who assists Blomkvist with the investigation. This unlikely team discovers a vein of nearly unfathomable iniquity running through the Vanger family, astonishing corruption in the highest echelons of Swedish industrialism—and an unexpected connection between themselves.

It’s a contagiously exciting, stunningly intelligent novel about society at its most hidden, and about the intimate lives of a brilliantly realized cast of characters, all of them forced to face the darker aspects of their world and of their own lives.

And then there was the Netgalley binge, which I won’t bore you with but clicking on the images will take you to amazon or goodreads, depending on where I could find a description….

       

And that’s it for this week.  What bout you – what did you add to the shelves, virtual and otherwise?

 

Emma