Month: September 2019

Goodreads Monday – 09 September

Dini @ dinipandareads8 Comments

It’s the first Monday of a new month and we’re back with another Goodreads Monday, a weekly meme started by @Lauren’s Page Turners. This meme invites you to pick a book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it. Easy enough, right? Feel free to join in if you want to! I’ll be using a random number generator to pick my books from my insanely long GR Want-to-read list.

This week’s book is Serpent & Dove (Serpent & Dove #1) by Shelby Mahurin. This book was one of the more recent additions to my GR TBR back in April 2019. It was actually only released last week (03 September) so I’ve been seeing it a fair bit on my news feeds and there have been a lot of positive comments! It has a GR rating of 4.41 stars with 1,138 ratings, which IMO is pretty great!

Bound as one to love, honor, or burn.
Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.

Sworn to the Church as a Chasseur, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. His path was never meant to cross with Lou’s, but a wicked stunt forces them into an impossible union—holy matrimony.

The war between witches and Church is an ancient one, and Lou’s most dangerous enemies bring a fate worse than fire. Unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, a choice must be made.

And love makes fools of us all.

Why do I want to read it?

I mean, THAT BLURB THO? Also, that cover!? My curiosity has been piqued and I feel like I need to pick this up ASAP (especially now that I’ve refreshed my memory lol)! I’ve been skimming a lot of the reviews on Goodreads (skimming because I don’t want to know too much going into this one) and everyone has been claiming that this is either the best YA they’ve read in a long time or that it’s their favorite YA of the year. I totally get the feeling–I felt the same way after reading Sorcery of Thorns and I felt it after reading Nevernight. Will I feel it again after reading Serpent & Dove? I can’t wait to find out!

Have you read Serpent & Dove? Is it on your TBR or is it going on your list now? (Lol you’re welcome) Leave me a comment and let’s chat!

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [21]

Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve been you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!

This Sunday, I’ve been spending much of time wishing that I was actually in bed reading The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle #1) by Patrick Rothfuss. I read this book last year and it quickly escalated to the top of my favorites list. I plan to finally read Wise Man’s Fear this month as part of #SequelSeptember so I’m giving myself a refresher by re-reading the first book. With all that’s been going on this weekend with family visiting, driving up to my parent’s home town and participating in some ceremonies, I’ve had little to no concentration to spare, so it’s been hard getting into it. I’m hoping to dive into it fully over the next few days though. Already my love for Kote/Kvothe is coming back to life and I can’t wait to reacquaint myself with him and all the other characters in this story! If you like epic fantasies, I would definitely recommend it.

Told in Kvothe’s own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen. The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature.
A high-action story written with a poet’s hand, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that will transport readers into the body and mind of a wizard.

What are you currently reading?

Oohhhmygoodness. This weekend has been killer hectic and I’m both so relieved it’s Sunday but also dreading that tomorrow is already Monday because with how my body is feeling so damn exhausted right now, I can hardly fathom waking up early! My parents and sister visited me this weekend and we took a trip up to my parent’s hometown (which is about 3-hours through long uphill, downhill and winding roads North of Bali’s capital). We stayed in this beautiful villa with gorgeous pool/sea views and the Australian owners had about eight cats, five dogs and a parakeet. The cats roamed freely and one particular fella took a keen liking to my family, so he followed us around everywhere! Of course I brought along a few books (my latest haul!) with me to take some snaps when I could!

TWLOHA represent

While the stay was nice and relaxing, this time I was the one driving us there and back and it’s surprising how much driving can really take a toll out of you 😅 I don’t know what’s more tiring–winding sloping roads or endlessly straight roads? Either way, it’s definitely taken a toll an🖤d I’m now typing this up my mind shrouded in a tired fog. Sorry for rambling more than usual and for saying anything that might not make any sense! Haha

Reading & Blogging Recap

With family around it’s been a slow reading week. I managed to finish four books this week, all of which I’ve written reviews for except for the one I just finished reading Friday evening. My reviews for the books can be found below! I know I’ve already raved on about it endlessly this week on every platform I’m on, but I’m pretty sure I found a new favorite in Nevernight and I can’t wait to continue this series. Knowing that once I started I’d want to be disturbed as little as possible, I didn’t bother trying to start it this weekend, although the audiobook is just waiting for me to press play! Despite how busy I’ve been, I think I’ve done fairly well in keeping up with my blogging schedule! Almost missed a post or two but managed to post them right on time (at the very last minute 😅). I’m sad that I haven’t been able to engage as much as I wanted to this week but I’m hoping to catch up in the coming week! Now that my family has gone back to Jakarta, I can hop into bed early and get my reading on in peace before sleep drags me under and I CAN’T WAIT! On that note, here’s a recap of my posts from this week, in case you missed any:

Top 5 Saturday: Summer Romance Reads on my TBR!
Blog Tour Book Review: A Different Time by Michael K. Hill
Friday Favorites: Side Characters!
First Lines Friday: 06 September
The Blogger Recognition Award!
Review: Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1) by Jay Kristoff
#WWWWednesday: 04 September
#TopTenTuesday: Books I Enjoyed Outside My Comfort Zone!
Review: The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly Black
Goodreads Monday: 02 September

How has your week been? Hope everyone has/had a great weekend!
Let me know how you’re doing in the comments and let’s chat 🙂

Top 5 Saturday: Summer Reads on my TBR!

Dini @ dinipandareads23 Comments

It’s time for another Top 5 Saturday, a weekly meme created by Mandy @ Devouring Books and this week’s topic is: summer reads. For most of the western hemisphere, summer has come and has either gone or is slowly being eclipsed by cooler breezes and brisker climes as autumn/fall comes in. Lucky for me, I live in the tropics so summer is pretty much a year-round deal (I admit to being a little jealous of the cooler climes because I LOVE fall weather)! Last month, I did a Friday Favorites: Summer Reads post where I focused on the genres I liked to read poolside: Romance, Thrillers, and YA SFF. For this post, I thought I’d specifically look at the top five summer romance reads that are sitting high on my TBR!

Say You Still Love Me by K. A. Tucker
I’ve heard so many good things about Say You Still Love Me and its second-chance romance. I’ve heard it’s done really well, so I’m excited to check it out! I read my first Tucker book, The Simple Wild, last month and I absolutely adored it. I fell in love with the beautiful setting and while some characters took some time to grow on me, all of them eventually stole my heart!

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
I don’t think any summer would be complete without a book by Christina Lauren. They do romances so well and have written so many stories and characters I love! The Unhoneymooners has been all over everyone’s blogs and booksta feeds full of praise and love for the characters. I don’t know why I’ve been sitting on this one, but being set in Hawaii, it seems like the perfect summer read!

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
What could be better than reading about a character who’s just as much of a bookworm as you are? This has been another very hyped read over the summer and many have loved it! I can’t wait to see if I’m one of them, and I’m keen to find out just how much of myself I’ll see in Nina’s character.

The Mother Road by Meghan Quinn
Maybe it’s a little cliche but so many summer adventures start with people setting off on a road trip, so why not read a romance with a quirky family and a crazy but hilarious sounding road trip? I’ve only read two books by Meghan Quinn but have loved them both, and this one sounds really cute and fun!

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes
This is another book that I’ve seen on everyone’s bookstagram feeds over the summer and it sounds like the perfect ‘starting-over’ summer read about second chances (in life and love) and I can’t wait to read it (maybe by next summer? Lol)!

What are your top five summer reads? Any of these
Please leave me some recommendations in the comments below!

#UltimateBlogTour: A Different Time by Michael K Hill – #BookReview

Dini @ dinipandareads5 Comments

I participated in my first ever blog tour earlier this year with TheWriteReads group for Ben Galley’s books (check out my review) and now I’m participating in my second blog tour with the gang, this time for the contemporary fiction: A Different Time by Michael K. Hill. Special thanks to Dave for hosting and organising another beast of a blog tour (please check out the other bloggers who have participated as they’ve all written great reviews for this book)! I’m in awe and super appreciative of all the time and effort you dedicate to TheWriteReads gang, and for bringing such a wonderful community of supportive people together! Special thanks also goes to Michael Hill for providing us with a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review!

Goodreads: A Different Time by Michael K. Hill
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction, Magical Realism

In 1989 she spoke to the love of her life.
In 2019 he answered.
Keith Nolan falls in love with a remarkable young woman from the past, talking to him on a home video she recorded. To keep their conversation going, he must find more of her tapes – while forces work against them both – and time is running out.

About the Author

Beginning as a sketch comedy writer for American television, Michael K. Hill progressed to become an internationally published writer of fiction and non-fiction. His short story anthology, Anansi and Beyond, published in 2017, and his debut novel, A Different Time, is available now. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, kids, and 7 rescued animals. You can find out more about Michael on his website: http://michaelkhill.com/

When I first heard about this book, my first thought was OMG, IT’S LIKE THE LAKE HOUSE! You know, that movie with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves? The one with letters and past and future coming together? (The one that I may or may not be trash for…?) Yeah? No? It really doesn’t have the best ratings, but I love this duo and this movie is a definite guilty pleasure. BUT I DIGRESS!

At only 100 or so pages, this book was a very quick and easy read. The premise of this story is really fascinating and I actually haven’t read any books based on it. It’s told in alternating timelines between the past (1989) and present (2019) and focuses on Lindsey and Keith’s lives. There are few side characters so there’s not much to distract you from the storyline playing out between the MCs. I really felt for both of them. I think the strongest parts of this story were their characters; their indecision about their next steps in life and their loneliness and desire for company was extremely relatable. The doubt and loneliness make it unsurprising that they’re quick to accept the impossible the first time they connect, as they’re both desperate for connection, although the concept still requires you to suspend your disbelief.

As much as I questioned the possibility and probability of the events, I read on eagerly, wondering if they would ever find a way to be together and what that meeting would be like considering the large gap in the years between them. You can’t help but hope for a surprise that will allow them to be together. Despite being able to predict who Lindsey actually was, it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of having it confirmed in the end. It was definitely a bittersweet one that made me feel emotional.

The only thing that had me feeling a little so-so about the story was completely based on my own preference when reading. While I used to be a fan of insta-love back in my younger days *cough* I’m very much not a fan of it now and this was very much what happened between the two. I found that I struggled to get past the fact that they almost instantly fell in love. Considering that this was novella length, I understand why things happened as quickly as it did. This made me honestly wish this book was longer so the story could’ve been more developed and we would’ve had the chance to get to know these characters and their stories more because Lindsey and Keith had very interesting backstories and they deserved more development!

That said I’m very glad I got the chance to read this and that I got to be part of this blog tour!
Thanks again to TheWrtiteReads for organising this tour and to Michael Hill for the book!

Have you read A Different Time? Is it something you’d perhaps be interested in reading? Let me know in the comments and let’s chat!

First Lines Friday – 06 September

Dini @ dinipandareads2 Comments

Yayaya, HAPPY FRIYAY, book lovers and friends 😍 I’m including a new meme to my Friday post line-up today with First Lines Friday! This is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here are THE RULES:

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First lines:

The stranger came out of the sea like a water ghost, barefoot and wearing the scars of his journey. He walked as if drunk through the haze of mist that clung like spidersilk to Seiiki.
The stories of old said water ghosts were doomed to live in silence.”

Do you recognize the book these first lines come from?

Okay, okay, calm yourself Loki man... *drumroll please!*

The book is: The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samatha Shannon!

A world divided.
A queendom without an heir.
An ancient enemy awakens.
The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction—but assassins are getting closer to her door.
Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.
Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.
Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

Have you read The Priory of the Orange Tree? What’d you think of it?
Let me know in the comments below and let’s chat 🙂

Friday Favorites: Side Characters!

Dini @ dinipandareads7 Comments

It has been a helluva Friday. It’s late, I’m completely exhausted and I still need to pack for my trip up to my parent’s home town tomorrow, and we leave at the ass crack of dawn! Not at all keen for the early wake up call, but we’re going to stay at nice villa with a lovely pool, so I’m hoping to spend some time next to it! That said, sorry if I ramble even more than usual in those post, and if what I say doesn’t make sense LOL! I can barely keep my eyes open and my head is spinning, so without further ado… Here we go!

It’s time for another Friday Favorites hosted by Kibby @ Something of the Book! This weekly meme is where you get to share a list of all your favorites based on the list of prompts on Kibby’s page. Sounds fun, right? This week’s prompt is: side characters! Who doesn’t love a good side character?! I love what they can add to a story and especially to the main characters! It’s even better when I love so much that I wish they had their own separate stories (a novella at the very least)! Off the top of my head, these are some of my favorite side characters.

Mister Kindly from Nevernight. I mean, how can Mister Kindly not be on my list?! HE’S THE BEST NOT-CAT SHADOW ‘PET’ EVER. I kind of wish that I had my own shadow animal that followed me around everywhere, made hilariously dry quips at my actions and drank in all my fear!

Grey from A Curse So Dark and Lonely. I don’t know if I consider him a side character. I mean, he’s still very much one beside Harper and Ren’s character in ACSDAL but I know that his character will get attention he so very much deserves in the sequel, A Heart So Fierce and Broken. If there were ‘teams’, I’d very much be team Grey. He’s such a steadfast and loyal companion to Rhen, and eventually a friend to Harper. I can’t wait to learn more about him!

Katrien from Sorcery of Thorns. Although she’s a fairly minor character, appearing only at the start and towards the end of the story, she’s one of Elisabeth’s only friends and a very loyal one at that. I loved her quirks, her awesome experiments and how she 100% supported Elisabeth in figuring out the mystery even from so far away.

Agnes from The Simple Wild. Although Agnes was the one who got Calla to Alaska, she was a minor character next to Wren and Jonah. She’s such a sweet and soft spoken, hardworking and loyal friend. She was always there to provide wisdom when Calla needed it and I wish we saw more of her in this story!

Large Marge from The Great Alone. Large Marge was an amazing side character and whenever she made an appearance in Lenny’s story, I just wanted to know more about her history and what brought her to the last frontier. She was such an empowering woman who gave Lenny and her mother much needed strength, safety and comfort. Everyone deserves to have a Large Marge in their life!

Mitchell Turner from Vicious (Villains #1). I know he’s an escaped convict together with Victor, but I have such a soft spot for him. He’s massively built, covered in tattoos, an insanely smart hacker, is superstitious, and has a thing for chocolate milk? I love his quiet character, his smarts, and his loyalty. He was dealt a bad hand in life and my heart feels for him. I just want more Mitch!

Harry Cameron from The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I loved Harry’s character so much. He was an amazing pillar of support for Evelyn, never steering her wrong throughout her career, and their life together was the most wonderful period of the story. The reveal in his storyline had me shook and what happened at the end absolutely shattered my feels!

Roarke Richards from The Book of Essie. Oh, Roarke. He was such a sweetheart of a character and I loved how his relationship with Essie grew to something so strong in this story. He deserved so much happiness! I just wanted to give him all the hugs and support and never let go!

Who are some of your favourite side characters?
Leave me a comment below and let’s chat!

The Blogger Recognition Award!

Dini @ dinipandareads8 Comments

The amazing Emer @ A Little Haze Book Blog nominated me for the The Blogger Recognition Award last month and I was a little speechless. Thank you does not begin to cover my appreciation for being nominated, but THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! When I started this journey, I honestly didn’t expect to meet and interact with so many amazing book bloggers who have been so accepting and inspiring! Emer is one such inspiring blogger/bibliophile, so if you aren’t following her yet, I’d say GET ON IT!

Aaaand with that gushing out of the way, let’s get to the goods, eh?

The Rules

  1. Thank the blogger/s who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
  2. Write a post to show your award.
  3. Give a brief story of how your blog started.
  4. Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.
  5. Select 15 other bloggers you want to give this award to.
  6. Comment (or pingback) on each blog and let them know you have nominated them and provide the link to the post you created.

How dinipandareads came to be

Ah, the origin story! I’d been toying with starting a book blog a few months before I actually built up the courage to do it. I used to have a personal blog for years before I stopped blogging due to lack of motivation, so I was hesitant to start a book blog in case the same thing would happen again!

I started writing reviews on Goodreads mid-2018, so in the grand scheme of things, I’m still pretty much a noob, aye?! Then when I took the plunge and started a bookstagram November last year, I discovered the magic of ARCs. I won’t lie and say that had nothing to do with my motivation!

little did I know that as an international blogger living somewhere as obscure as Indonesia, where publishing rights are extremely limited if not completely non existent, it hardly makes a difference since there aren’t many I can request anyway… 👀

But I mostly started blogging because I enjoyed sharing my thoughts on books and wanted to connect with others who were on the same wavelength. I’m fairly introverted so I don’t have much of a social life and it’s hard for me to connect with people and even more rare that I meet book lovers IRL!

Obviously dinipandareads is still a major work in progress. There are tons of things I want to do to improve it and to make my posts more interesting and less monotonous, but I find there’s always so little time at the end of every day (especially with a full-time job)?! Slowly though, slowly 🙂

Advice for new bloggers

I don’t really know if I am qualified enough to give advice because it’s only been a few months and I’m very much a noob myself. But… I’d say: pace yourself and try not to get overwhelmed. Starting a new blog can be exciting but also overwhelming. When I started I felt there was so much to ‘catch up’ on–memes, tags, challenges, reviews, recommendations! It’s a lot. Starting with reviews is great, but slowly adding weekly memes so that your blog has a steady stream of content, even if it’s not every day, can help you settle into a routine. Try not to do too much at once though or you could easily burn out the blog mojo!

Blog hop. Half the fun of being part of this community is meeting others who like the same books as you and discovering new books to add to your never-ending TBRs! I’m a big believer of reciprocating the blog love–whether it’s just likes/comments. I’m pretty wordy (if you can’t tell) so I’m always peppering people with my signature long-ass comments 😂 But if you want people to make time for you, you should make time for them, no?

Be respectful and be yourself. Putting your thoughts and opinions out on the internet is scary! But everyone has different opinions and it’ll be impossible to think everyone will always like the same thing. As long as you’re respectful and not outright bashing others, don’t be afraid of sharing your thoughts. Rest assured though, you’re not the only one who’s nervous about sharing a negative or unpopular opinion! LOL

I nominate:
If There’s a Haunted House in it I’ll Read it
Sometimes Leelynn Reads
The Geekish Brunette
Nen & Jen
The Writerly Way
Something of the Book
Nut Free Nerd
Devouring Books
Wordy and Whimsical
The Bibliophagist
Finding Wonderland
Cosmic Lattes and Books
The Reading Chemist
Global Books
Perfectly Tolerable

Book Review: Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

Dini @ dinipandareads20 Comments

Goodreads: Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1)
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Panda Rating:

Destined to destroy empires, Mia Covere is only ten years old when she is given her first lesson in death. Six years later, the child raised in shadows takes her first steps towards keeping the promise she made on the day that she lost everything. But the chance to strike against such powerful enemies will be fleeting, so if she is to have her revenge, Mia must become a weapon without equal. She must prove herself against the deadliest of friends and enemies, and survive the tutelage of murderers, liars and demons at the heart of a murder cult. The Red Church is no Hogwarts, but Mia is no ordinary student. The shadows love her. And they drink her fear.

Read More »

#WWWWednesday: 04 September

Dini @ dinipandareads4 Comments

It’s time for another WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:

  1. What did you read last?
  2. What are you currently reading?
  3. What will you read next?

What did you read last?

Since last Wednesday I’ve managed to finish four books and two of them were audiobooks (I followed along to the audiobook for Nevernight and it made me love this book even more)!
That Forever Girl (Getting Lucky #2): ★★★★☆
(Audiobook) Naturally Tan: ★★★★★
(Reread) The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1): ★★★½
Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1): ★★★★½

I just finished Nevernight this morning and HOLY MOTHER. I can’t believe I waited so long to read this but now that I’ve started this series I know that I don’t want to stop. Perfect timing as well because now the final book has come out and I’ve only gone and ordered the Illumicrate box for it didn’t I? I’m planning to listen to the audiobook before then though because since I ordered the box yesterday it’ll only ship mid-October and you know I won’t be able to wait until then to read it! 😂 If the rest of the series continues to be as amazing as the first book, I think this will be one of my new favorite series! The hype was so real y’all 😍

What are you currently reading?

I’m part of TheWriteReads blog tour for A Different Time by Michael K. Hill and my tour date is this Saturday so I’m prioritizing this, no matter how much I want to be diving into Godsgrave right this very second! Pretty much everyone on the blog tour has loved this book and they’ve all said it made them emotional messes so I’M READY FOR IT! I love a book that can get me hard in the feels and since this is novella length I’m even more curious to see how hard it’ll hit!

What will you read next?

I’m joining two reading challenges this month: #SequelSeptember and #StandAloneSeptember and I’m excited to be taking part in both. For #SequelSeptember I’m planning to finally catch up on series that I’ve put off reading (for no particular reason) and finally finishing some that I don’t want to end! Since I just did a reread of The Cruel Prince, I’m planning to pick up The Wicked King while it’s still fresh in my mind. Obviously, I’m going to be starting up Godsgrave asap. #StandAloneSeptember is the first month of the year-long Hype-A-Thon reading challenge organized by Noly and Ellie, inspired by all the hyped and unread books on their shelves! Each month is going to have a different prompt, but what you read depends on the hyped books on your own shelf. I’m so excited for this–anything to knock more books off my TBR, right?

On top of those challenges, I’m also taking part in two group reads. One is organized by the amazing Leelynn (go check out her blog because she’s one of the most amazingly supportive people I’ve met in the book community) for The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. This tome has intimidated me ever since I snatched it up earlier this year, so I’m glad to be reading it with a group! My second group read is for Sleeping Giants (Themis Files #1) by Sylvain Neuvel. I’ve read this a couple of years back and I really didn’t like it, but I’m curious to try it again and see if my opinion changes because everyone seems to love it!

What are you currently reading? Leave me a comment and let’s chat 🙂

#TopTenTuesday: Books I Enjoyed Outside My Comfort Zone

Dini @ dinipandareads24 Comments

It’s that time of the week again, friends! We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: books I enjoyed outside my comfort zone. If you’ve been following me for a little while, then I’m sure you’ll have come across my mentions of the genres that I don’t read often or are out of my comfort zone: non-fiction, horror and magical realism (I know that last one isn’t a genre, but never mind that lol). As I don’t read these genres often I don’t have that many books on my lists to list. I’m always trying to read more NF though, and I’m not entirely opposed to more magical realism if it’s the right book for me!

The Ocean At the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
I think Gaiman treads a very fine line between fantasy and magical realism and sometimes I honestly don’t know which to classify his books by. Most of the time I just say it’s fantasy though because the stories are too fantastical to be otherwise. I think The Ocean falls onto the magical realism side of the spectrum. Set in the English countryside, this is one of the eeriest children’s stories I’ve read!

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
I’ve tried reading Cloud Atlas a dozen times but have struggled hard to keep going. I didn’t think Mitchell’s writing was for me, so I don’t know why I picked up The Bone Clocks. I think I was looking for something outside the box and this fit the bill. It was incredibly weird, but Mitchell’s writing quickly sucked me in and I found myself growing very fond of the characters! This has a heavier dose of magical realism than I normally enjoy, so I’m surprised that I absolutely loved it!

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
I’m pretty sure that I’ve mentioned this book a million times by now but it’s honestly one of my favorite non-fictions (disregarding the fact I hardly read NF so the list is short). It read like fiction and sucked me in completely. Never did I think I’d read a NF so fast (one night) but I couldn’t put it down!

Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come by Jessica Pan
I read this e-ARC earlier this year and it was a joy to read! It was a bit like chatting to a friend and listening to them regale their mishaps and triumphs over the last year that you haven’t seen them. Pan is absolutely hilarious, and I found myself clutching my stomach with laughter at the situations she found herself in and most especially, the thoughts that ran through her head (because same). As a (sh)introvert I related to this so much and would 100% recommend it! Check out my review.

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan
I really don’t know how I didn’t realize this book had magical realism in it but I’m glad I didn’t because otherwise I would’ve put off reading it and I would’ve missed a beautiful & heartbreaking story. I loved the Asian representation, and the exploration of grief, acceptance and healing. It was touching!

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay
This book… Was just. This book! It’s an uncomfortable and difficult read as Gay is brutally honest and doesn’t hold back in the telling of her story. But so many of her words felt like a punch in the gut with how much they hit home. Really one of the best I’ve read this year! Check out my review.

Naturally Tan by Tan France
I love Queer Eye. Like, I would do things for that show! It’s hilarious, it’s heartwarming, it’s like free therapy and I’m HERE FOR IT. With that out of the way, I’m so glad that I read Tan France’s memoir. It was funny AF and pretty inspirational. If you’re curious about Tan and want to know more about how this Brit came to be in America in QE or if you’re just looking for a light NF read, go to the bookstore and get this one now!

Born A Crime: Stories from A South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
This was my first audiobook and it blew me away. Everything about listening to Trevor Noah tell his story was perfection. I love his comedy so deciding to listen to his book wasn’t a hard decision. His stories were terrifying, hilarious, and astounding, and it was very inspiring to see how far he’s come!

Sourdough by Robin Sloan
This book brought me a surprising amount of joy! I loved Mr. Penumbra’s, my first Sloan book, but I didn’t have (m)any expectations about this one. I didn’t think I’d fall in love with the incredibly quirky characters and events, or with the weird but oddly charming elements of magical realism!

The Ruins by Scott Smith
This book was bloody terrifying. Like, I didn’t look at nature the same way again for quite a while. Despite knowing I’ll be shit scared, I’m a sucker for stories set in Mexican jungle cause you just know bad shit is gonna happen. This was gruesome and horrifying and while it’s maybe not a favorite, I can’t believe I still managed to enjoy it (while being simultaneously super duper creeped out)!

What are books you enjoyed outside your comfort zone?
If you’ve done a TTT for today, please leave your links in the comments so I can mosey over to your blog and check it out! 🙂