Leslie and I are planning two group reads in the coming months! Find more details on Leslie’s page or at the end of this post!
Hello, hello and welcome back to another episode of WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
- What did you read last?
- What are you currently reading?
- What will you read next?
Since last week, I’ve managed to finish 2 books!
The Wicked Lies of Habren Faire by Anna Fiteni ★★★★☆
Despite a bit of a rough start, I wound up really enjoying this read and I think Habren might be a new favourite YA FMC. She tested my appreciation for unlikeable characters, but I was so surprised by how much I wound up enjoying her character arc! The faerie world-building was whimsical, magical, and full of horrors, the combination of Welsh history and mythology meshed well, and I also liked how this ended—it wasn’t what I expected but I appreciated this coming-of-age story all the more for it. Defo for the fans of The Cruel Prince series but also faerie tales centering family and friendship like those by Emily Lloyd-Jones. My tour review is up tomorrow!
This Inevitable Ruin (Dungeon Crawler Carl #7) by Matt Dinniman ★★★★★
At this point, I feel like I can’t give less than 5 stars to any DCC book. I’m so heavily invested and yes, this was another one that had me an emotional crying mess by the end of it. The faction wars were every bit as horrifying, sickening, and gruesome as expected, and as always, Dinniman keeps us on our toes by throwing even more madness in the mix, but there’s also so much heart. Carl, Donut and Katia are the best ride-or-dies and I love them and the more touching/emotional scenes so very much. The humour also doesn’t miss—despite the tension, losses, and craziness, there were plenty of moments I found myself cackling especially where Donut was concerned! The balance always strikes just right for me. 🥰 Leslie and I are so sad that we don’t have more DCC books to read, but you can bet we’re already gearing up for what’s coming next and we’re so excited about our DCC group read at the start of the year!
- A Natural History of Dragons ⇢ 47% ⇢ I’ve been meaning to read this book for years now and I’m so glad that I finally started because I’m loving it already. It’s very reminiscent of Emily Wilde, but it feels a bit more personable and has more humour. Isabella is such a wonderful character and I love her relationship with her husband who is equally wonderful! 😍 Also, the audiobook is fantastic, would recommend.
- How to Steal A Galaxy ⇢ 14% ⇢ I’m not far into this but I can’t wait to see how they reunite at this gala and what happens next!
- Katabasis ⇢ 26% ⇢ The first week of the group buddy read of Katabasis is done and we’re all enjoying it! There’s so much discourse around this book and I don’t understand why. Not everyone is going to love this book and that’s OK, but that doesn’t mean everyone has to dislike it and neither does it mean it’s written with AI because it’s smart! 🤣 People are so ridiculous! But I digress. I have so many thoughts about Alice and Peter and I can’t wait to continue and learn more about what’s going on with them…
A few buddy reads but it’s mostly where the mood takes me!
As I mentioned above, Leslie and I are planning group buddy reads in the upcoming months. If you’re interested in joining, you can reach out to either of us via comments or DM us on socials!
- The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee — We’re planning a group read for the last three months of 2025. We’ll start in October and read one book per month through December. It’ll be a re-read for many but you’re welcome to join even if you haven’t read it yet and have been wanting to! 💚
- Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman — Yes, you’re seeing that right. We’re currently reading DCC but we’re planning to start (what we hope will be) a larger group read in January 2026 to prepare for the release of of book 8 in June 2026! GET EXCITED! 🧨
What are you currently reading? I hope you’re enjoying whatever book you’ve picked up, friends!
dinipandareads 
I’m glad to hear such good comments about A Natural History of Dragons. It’s one that’s sort of been on my TBR for ages but I’ve never felt really inspired to pick it up. Maybe it’s time I gave it a try.😃
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It was on my TBR for ages as well and I’m so glad I pushed myself to finally pick it up this year because it’s so good! It gives me strong Emily Wilde vibes but more… Personable? Warmer? And not as a negative to Emily Wilde because that’s one of my favourite series, but this is even more cosy and heartwarming! 💜 I hope you love it if you do pick it up soon!
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I’ve just started reading Bonded in Death by JD Robb. The final of my re reads
In the last week I’ve read:
1 Encore in Death by JD Robb
2 Payback in Death by JD Robb
3 Random in Death by JD Robb
4 Treylon by Veronica Scott
5 Passions in Death by JD Robb
So next up will be Framed in Death, the brand new JD Robb. After that, probably the new Christine Feehan.
Gill
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I’m responding a bit late but I hope you’ve enjoyed all your reads, Gill!
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Ooo what a turnaround! Glad to see you ended up liking Wicked Lies of Habren Faire (or whatever the title is, I’m on my phone lol)…maybe I’ll keep it on my tbr then.
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I was so surprised by how my feelings turned around for the book. I’m so glad I gave it a chance 🙂
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I am so curious about R.F. Kuang as an author, but at the same time, I feel super intimidated. I do know generally, they’re well-loved, so hopefully you continue to enjoy Katabasis.
How to Steal a Galaxy was fun. I liked that it was all set during a gala, it had Oceans’ vibes, but thinking back, it might be the simplest novella in the trilogy, as everything was more contained, and the setting was very different as well.
Group buddy reads sound so cool! I have missed buddy reading. Unfortunately, I do not have those books in my TBR, or I would definetely join. I have heard great things about Jade City, but it is a bit intimidating, and jumping into such a big book with the way my reading has been going might not be the smartest move, but I’ll be on the lookout for future books for sure. I’m sure you’ll have a great time reading together!
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I can understand why her books can be intimidating and I still get intimidated even though I’ve loved all of the books I’ve read by her. 🤣 Her books aren’t necessarily “easy” reads but I think they can be amazing if you give them a chance. If you ever try any of her books out, I hope you enjoy it!
Ooh, I totally agree that there’s something Oceans’ vibe about it and I had a lot of fun reading it. Ada’s sassiness mixed with Rian’s seriousness was a great combo and I loved how I could feel their chemistry even more in this! I wound up finishing it yesterday and I can’t wait to see how the book ends 🙂
I was totally intimidated by Jade City before I picked it up for the first time but I now shout about this series at the top of my lungs to anyone who’ll listen, haha. I hope that you do manage to get your hands on the books one day and enjoy them if you give them a try!
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I think if I end up trying one of her books, I should do it when I have enough time to dedicate to it, otherwise I might not get into it properly.
Only one book left then! They’re also so nice because we get right into them, because they’re novellas, so you can fly through them.
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Ooh I hadn’t heard of the Wicked Lies one but im definitely going to have to check it out. Fae, Welsh history and mythology sounds like a must read combination 😍😍 plus a new favourite YA FMC who tested your limit for unlikeable characters? How intriguing!! Am I being weird or does the cover look like shes based on Taylor Swift though? Im glad you loved the latest DCC so much too. It sounds like a wonderful balance of elements and feelings.
Ooh yay im glad youre enjoying A Natural History Of Dragons so far!! I found it so easy to fall for the style and had so much fun reading it. I hope you continue to enjoy it. Im glad youre enjoying Katabasis so far too. I hadn’t seen that people were claiming it was written by AI. I guess I’ve been a bit behind on everything recently though 🙈 anyway I look forward to seeing your full thoughts on it ans hope you continue to enjoy it.
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I actually haven’t seen a lot of people talking about it either! Despite the rough initial thoughts, I’m so glad I wound up enjoying it. It’s a great debut 🙂 Also, haha, I didn’t see your Taylor Swift until now but I did respond to your comment on it in my other post and I do agree—I thought it was just me but it does look very much like Taylor, haha. 🤣
I didn’t see the actual AI claim post as well but I’m also kinda glad that isn’t jumping on my feed because I think it would annoy me to no end! Just because someone writes smartly doesn’t mean that it’s AI. People really do need to touch grass 🤭
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Hopefully it’ll start appearing more now that it’s out 🤞 I’m surprised I didnt hear of it sooner though as Im always on the look out for fae based reads. Im glad you also see the resemblance 😅
Yeah I can see how that would annoy you. It definitely seems like an odd conclusion to jump to. Especially as there are lots of smartly written books out there 🤔
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I’d like the time to read all of these books, please and thank you! Katabasis in particular, but I keep hearing people raving about DCC – so many books, nowhere near enough hours in a day! 🙂
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Oh gosh, I totally get that. I miss the days when I had way more time to read! There are always gonna be so many books and not enough time 🤭 I hope you enjoy DCC and Katabasis whenever you get around to reading them though!
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YAAAAAYYYY!! I’m so glad you are enjoying A Natural History of Dragons! I am dying to jump into the next book and it sounds like you definitely will be joining us!! I am so sad we are at the end of DCC. I am very excited about the re-reads though! Also, we need to decide when to read A Pho Love Story this month for my Magical Readathon. haha. Oh, we need to read the next Thursday Murder Club book too! I want to finish those two and then we should tackle another series we have been trying to do. You know, we are KILLING it with the buddy read and series this year!!! Katabasis.. and the discourse is so ridiculous!! It’s not that serious. People need to go outside and touch grass. lol
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Oh gosh, it’s SO good! I’m mad at myself for putting Lady Trent off for so long but I’m so glad that I’ve picked it up now. It’s so cosy and wonderful!!! I’m so glad that I can join y’all as you continue the read 😍
And YES! I was just thinking last night about messaging you to ask when we should read A Pho Love Story! Haha, did you want to start sometime next week? And then we can continue with the Thursday Murder Club! We also really need to start The Bone Season books 🤭 We’ve only pushed that off by months, haha.
And yuh, so many people need to touch grass. Honestly. It’s unbearable, haha.
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Yay!! I know, I adore it. It gives off so many Emily Wilde and Veronica Speedwell vibes. I love both of those, so this is just fabulous! You really should read Veronica Speedwell since you enjoy this too!
Yes, we can start this week. It should be a quick one since it’s a romance… want to shoot for like … nvm.. I’m going to message you right now!
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