#TopTenTuesday: Books with Adjectives in the Title!

March 22, 2022August 11, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads26 Comments

So, we’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week’s prompt is: Books with an Adjective in the Title (Submitted by Nicole @ How to Train a Book Dragon)

This was a fun little prompt to test my knowledge of grammar! 😂 I decided to focus today’s list on the books that are just waiting to be read on my Kindle and I was honestly surprised by how far down my list I had to go to find ten titles but we finally got there in the end! To start, let’s take a look at what the definition of an adjective is:

An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or a pronoun. In general, the purpose of an adjective is to describe a noun or pronoun and provide more information about it. Adjectives provide answers to questions such as “What kind?” “Which one?” and “Whose is it?”
Thesaurus.com

Blog Tour Spotlight: Letter to a Stranger by Colleen Kinder

March 21, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads3 Comments

Hi, friends! I’m excited to be shining a spotlight on Letters to a Stranger: Essays to the Ones Who Haunt Us by Colleen Kinder on the blog today!

When I first heard about this book, it absolutely delighted the part of me that often thinks about all the people, significant or seemingly insignificant, that I’ve met in life. I think it’s such a romantic notion and I love the idea of writing a letter to whichever person has (un)knowingly left a mark on your person. I haven’t heard of any of the featured authors in this book but I’m excited to dive into it. This seems like a collection of essays that is best taken in over an extended period of time by consuming maybe one or two stories a day to really be able to savour the experience!

Special thanks to Algonquin Books for having me on tour and for providing an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Goodreads: Letter to a Stranger: Essays to the Ones Who Haunt Us
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Publication Date: 22 March 2022
Genre: Non-Fiction

Sixty-five extraordinary writers grapple with this mystery: How can an ephemeral encounter with a stranger leave such an eternal mark?

When Colleen Kinder put out a call for authors to write a letter to a stranger about an unforgettable encounter, she opened the floodgates. The responses—intimate and addictive, all written in the second person—began pouring in. These short, insightful essays by a remarkable cast of writers, including Elizabeth Kolbert, Pico Iyer, Lauren Groff, Gregory Pardlo, Faith Adiele, Maggie Shipstead, Lia Purpura, Kiki Petrosino, and Jamil Jan Kochai, are organized around such themes as Gratitude, Wonder, and Farewell and guide us both across the globe and through the mysteries of human connection. Addressed to a first responder after a storm, a gambler encountered on jury duty, a waiter in Istanbul, a taxi driver in Paris, a roomful of travelers watching reality TV in La Paz, and dozens of others, the pieces are replete with observations about how to live and what we seek, and how a stranger’s loaded glance, shared smile, or question posed can alter the course of our lives.

Moving and unforgettable, Letter to a Stranger is an irresistible read for the literary traveler and the perfect gift for anyone who is haunted by a person they met once and will remember forever.

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Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

March 21, 2022August 13, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads20 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 spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!

I’ll be spending the rest of my Sunday night in bed with my ARC for One Timer by Teagan Hunter. I just finished book two in the Carolina Comets series last week and absolutely loved it and Hunter’s romcoms never fail to make me laugh so I’m excited to dive in! 😍

What are you currently reading?

Let’s Talk Bookish: Buying Secondhand Books

March 19, 2022August 13, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads23 Comments

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion, where we get to discuss certain topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts! You can check out these pages for March 2022 prompts & a full list of the past prompts!

Now without further ado… The topic asks us about:

BUYING SECONDHAND BOOKS

(SUGGESTED BY HASINI @ BIBLIOSINI)
Prompts: Do you buy secondhand books? Why or why not? What are the benefits of buying secondhand? What are the cons of secondhand books? What do you recommend people do to better support secondhand bookstores?

ARC Review: Royal Captive by Heather Frost

March 18, 2022April 19, 2023 Dini @ dinipandareads7 Comments

Special thanks to Heather Frost for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

🥳 HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY TO ROYAL CAPTIVE!!! 🥳

Royal Captive is book three in the Fate of Eyrinthia series.
Read my review for book one here and book two here!

Blog Tour Review: Anything But Fine by Tobias Madden

March 17, 2022March 16, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads14 Comments

Hello, friends! Today is my stop on the TBR & Beyond Tours for Anything But Fine by Tobias Madden and I’m excited to share my review and a journal spread I made with some thoughts I had and some images that came to mind while I was reading! 🩰

Special thanks to Page Street Kids for providing an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

Click here or on the banner above to check out the rest of the amazing bloggers on tour!

Goodreads: Anything But Fine
Publisher: Page Street Kids
Publication Date: 29 March 2022
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Panda Rating:

(3.5 pandas)

All it takes is one missed step for your life to change forever.

Luca Mason knows exactly who he is and what he wants: In six months, he’s going to be accepted into the Australian Ballet School, leave his fancy private high school, and live his life as a star of the stage—at least that’s the plan until he falls down a flight of stairs and breaks his foot in a way he can never recover from.

With his dancing dreams dead on their feet, Luca loses his performing arts scholarship and transfers to the local public school, leaving behind all his ballet friends and his whole future on stage.

The only bright side is that he strikes up unlikely friendships with the nicest (and nerdiest) girl at his new school, Amina, and the gorgeous, popular, and (reportedly) straight school captain, Jordan Tanaka-Jones.

As Luca’s bond with Jordan grows stronger, he starts to wonder: who is he without ballet? And is he setting himself up for another heartbreak?

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#WWWWednesday: 16 March 2022

March 16, 2022August 11, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads21 Comments

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?

Is it just me or are the days FLYING by?! Since last week I’ve read five books. Unsurprisingly, most of my reads were romances cos it seems to be the only genre I can happily read in my weird mood that I can’t shake. I admit it’s a little frustrating when I want to read the other books on my TBR and yet nothing else seems to catch! 😂

We Hunt the Flame (Sands of Arawiya #1) by Hafsah Faizal ★★★★½
This was a buddy read with Leslie @ Book Are the New Black & Julie @ One Book More! A good chunk of the beginning was quite a struggle to get through but we all ended up really enjoying the book and came up with some wild and exciting theories for book two! I’m so excited to read the sequel with them next month 😍

(ARC) Anything But Fine by Tobias Madden ★★★½
This was a well-written and engaging YA contemporary debut that sent me running down memory lane as I used to live in Australia and I’m familiar with many of the places mentioned in the book. It was fab! My blog tour review + journal spread is going up tomorrow! 😃

#TopTenTuesday: Spring 2022 Possibility Pile!

March 15, 2022August 11, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads77 Comments

So, we’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week’s prompt is: Books On My Spring 2022 ~~TBR~~ POSSIBILITY PILE!

As someone who lives in the tropics, I ask, what even is spring? 😂 Kidding… Sort of! In Indonesia, we only have two seasons, the muggy and hot and the muggier and hotter, and I miss the years when I lived somewhere with four seasons! But I digress. I’m an epic mood reader and so a TBR pile just doesn’t work for me and I tend to go with very loose “possibility piles”. I’ve got a lot of ARCs that need reading so that’s what makes up this week’s list— it’s a good chunk of YA SFF and YA Contemporary with a sprinkling of Adult Romance and Historical Mystery. I’m very excited about these releases and I can’t wait to read these books! 😍

BBNYA Blog Tour Spotlight: Our Bloody Pearl by D.N. Bryn

March 14, 2022March 15, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads11 Comments

Hello, friends! I’m excited to be shining a spotlight on Our Bloody Pearl by D.N. Bryn as part of the BBNYA blog tour hosted by The Write Reads. This fantasy filled with blood-thirsty pirates and vicious sirens was part of the top finalists of the BBNYA competition and it’s getting so much love!

More information about the BBNYA competition can be found at the end of my post!

I received this book as part of the 2021 BBNYA competition and the BBNYA tours organised by the TWR Tour team. Thanks to the author and the team for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review!

Click here or on the banner above to check out the rest of the amazing bloggers on tour!

Goodreads: Our Bloody Pearl (These Treacherous Tides #1)
Publisher: Bryn Books
Publication Date: 26 July 2018
Genre: Adult Fantasy

The ocean is uncontrollable and dangerous. But to the sirens who swim the warm island waters, it’s a home more than worth protecting from the humans and their steam-propelled ships. Between their hypnotic voices and the strength of their powerful tails, sirens have little to fear.

That is, until the ruthless pirate captain, Kian, creates a device to cancel out their songs.

Perle was the first siren captured, and while all since have either been sold or killed, Kian still keeps them prisoner. Though their song is muted and their tail paralyzed, Perle’s hope for escape rekindles as another pirating vessel seizes Kian’s ship. This new captain seems different, with his brilliant smile and his promises that Kian will never again be Perle’s master. But he’s still a human, and a captor in his own way. The compassion he and his rag-tag human family show can’t be sincere… or can it?

Soon it becomes clear that Kian will hunt Perle relentlessly, taking down any siren in her path. As the tides turn, Perle must decide whether to run from Kian forever, or ride the forming wave into battle, hoping their newfound human companions will fight with them.

This adult fantasy novel featuring an nonbinary disabled protagonist is a voyage of laughter and danger where friendships and love abound and sirens are sure to steal—or eat—your heart.

Content/Trigger Warnings: mild gore due to carnivorous sirens and sensations of drowning.

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Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

March 13, 2022August 13, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads17 Comments

The funky reading mood persists and so this Sunday I’ll be spending the night in bed finishing Trashed and hopefully, I’ll be starting my ARC of A Magic Steeped in Poison!