Where Is Your Bookmark? (A Peek Into Beautiful Bad)

[If you haven't already, please help me choose which book to read next by voting in my February TBR List poll!]

I am in the middle of reading Annie Ward's upcoming Beautiful Bad, which I will be featuring for an upcoming blog tour next month. It is one of those books I wish I could read in one sitting--but unfortunately life has a way of inserting itself at the most inopportune times. I am sure many of you understand. 

Things that make me scared: When Charlie cries. Hospitals and lakes. When Ian drinks vodka in the basement. ISIS. When Ian gets angry... That something is really, really wrong with me.

Maddie and Ian's romance began with a chance encounter at a party overseas; he was serving in the British army and she was a travel writer visiting her best friend, Jo. Now almost two decades later, married with a beautiful son, Charlie, they are living the perfect suburban life in Middle America. But when a camping accident leaves Maddie badly scarred, she begins attending writing therapy, where she gradually reveals her fears about Ian's PTSD; her concerns for the safety of their young son, Charlie; and the couple's tangled and tumultuous past with Jo.

From the Balkans to England, Iraq to Manhattan, and finally to an ordinary family home in Kansas, sixteen years of love and fear, adventure and suspicion culminate in The Day of the Killing, when a frantic 911 call summons the police to the scene of a shocking crime. [Goodreads Summary]

A weekly meme where readers share the first sentence of the book they are reading and say what they think. Hosted by the wonderful Gillion Dumas of Rose City Reader.

Twelve weeks before

I type, "Should I see a therapist?"

A popular Google search it seems. There's a lot of information on the topic. Pages and pages of tests you can take to help you decide if therapy is right for you. If so, what kind of therapy? Psychiatrist versus psychologist? What's your major disorder? There's so much. I could do this all night. Once Ian leaves, maybe I will. 

Although I have not asked Google that particular question, I sometimes do ask those "should I see a doctor about [insert symptom]?" I always joke that an internet search for a medical condition or symptom often results in being told I have cancer or some such deadly illness. And so, right off, I can relate to Maddie, the main character, at least in this regard.

A weekly meme in which readers share a random sentence or two from page 56 or 56% of the book they are reading. Hosted by the wonderful Freda of Freda's Voice.

"I'm waiting for you to have your little visit with me and then walk out of here with no intention of ever seeing me again, at which point in time I'll go up to my room and get drunk."

The blanket of self-doubt that settled over his face made him look vulnerable, like the younger man he'd been when we met. He wanted something. It was the same thing that I wanted. He just didn't know it yet. [56%]

I am just past this scene in the book, and really liked it. Taking into account everything the two characters have been through, especially Ian, I found this moment for them to be very moving. I still have mixed feelings about both Ian and Maddie though. There are still so many unanswered questions . . . I need to know!  

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Every Friday Coffee Addicted Writer from Coffee Addicted Writer poses a question which participants respond on their own blogs within the week (Friday through Thursday). They then share their links at the main site and visit other participants blogs.

Do you have celebrations for your blog's anniversary such as a giveaway? (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews)

​Off and on through the years, I have celebrated my blog anniversaries with a brief mention in a post, often after the fact (does that count as a celebration? I am not sure).  Twice I went so far as to hold giveaways in honor of the occasion. More often than not though, the day slips by me without any notice at all.

It is hard to believe I will have been blogging 13 years this coming July. How is that possible?! When I started, the blogging community was on the small side; we were a relatively close knit community. It has grown so much since then.There have been many changes over the years. I have changed. My little blog is my haven, a space where I can be my book crazy self and feel at home, surrounded by others who share my passion for reading.

What about you?

 I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Be sure and tell me what you are reading and are up to!

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