Goodreads Monday – 30 September

September 30, 2019September 30, 2019 Dini @ dinipandareads4 Comments

It’s the first Monday of September 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 The Museum of Modern Art by Heather Rose. I don’t remember adding this to my list on Christmas Day last year (lol) and I also hadn’t heard of the author before this. This book has a rating of 3.98 stars with 5k+ ratings and around 700+ reviews, which I think is surprising for a book with so many ratings?

She watched as the final hours of The Artist is Present passed by, sitter after sitter in a gaze with the woman across the table. Jane felt she had witnessed a thing of inexplicable beauty among humans who had been drawn to this art and had found the reflection of a great mystery. What are we? How should we live?

If this was a dream, then he wanted to know when it would end. Maybe it would end if he went to see Lydia. But it was the one thing he was not allowed to do.

Arky Levin is a film composer in New York separated from his wife, who has asked him to keep one devastating promise. One day he finds his way to The Atrium at MOMA and sees Marina Abramovic in The Artist is Present. The performance continues for seventy-five days and, as it unfolds, so does Arky. As he watches and meets other people drawn to the exhibit, he slowly starts to understand what might be missing in his life and what he must do.

This dazzlingly original novel asks beguiling questions about the nature of art, life and love and finds a way to answer them.

Why do I want to read it?

I remember watching the YouTube videos of Abramovic’s performance art, particularly the one where her ex ended up sat in front of her and they had to stare into each other’s eyes for minutes, and I remember breaking out into tears from watching the various emotions that ran over their faces as they stared at each other. Oh, just thinking about is making my eyes misty and giving me goosebumps! It was so powerful, and I absolutely loved watching it. I guess that’s one of the reasons I got interested in this book? I’m quite picky when it comes to books about art because most of the time I’m afraid that the quirkiness of the writing/story will go right over my head 😂But after reading the synopsis again I’m keen to try this one because it sounds really good!

Have you read The Museum of Modern Love? Do you want to?
Leave me a comment and let’s chat!

Goodreads Monday – 23 September

September 23, 2019September 23, 2019 Dini @ dinipandareads13 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 When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton. I do remember adding this earlier in the year because of how much love it was getting on bookstagram. I hadn’t heard of Cleeton before though! This book has a rating of 4.05 stars with 8k+ ratings and over 1k+ reviews, so it seems like a pretty well-loved book!

In 1960s Florida, a young Cuban exile will risk her life–and heart–to take back her country in this exhilarating historical novel from the author of Next Year in Havana, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick.
Beautiful. Daring. Deadly.
The Cuban Revolution took everything from sugar heiress Beatriz Perez–her family, her people, her country. Recruited by the CIA to infiltrate Fidel Castro’s inner circle and pulled into the dangerous world of espionage, Beatriz is consumed by her quest for revenge and her desire to reclaim the life she lost.
As the Cold War swells like a hurricane over the shores of the Florida Strait, Beatriz is caught between the clash of Cuban American politics and the perils of a forbidden affair with a powerful man driven by ambitions of his own. When the ever-changing tides of history threaten everything she has fought for, she must make a choice between her past and future–but the wrong move could cost Beatriz everything–not just the island she loves, but also the man who has stolen her heart…

Why do I want to read it?

Ever since watching Dirty Dancing but especially after watching Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights, I grew a slightly smol obsession with Havana, Cuba. Yes, I was viewing this place through rose-tinted glasses, but I was still swept away. Saying that, this book sounds seriously up my alley! I’ve always loved historical fiction especially when it’s mixed with a little bit of romance, but especially when it involves strong and empowering women! Many of my booksta friends who’ve read this have really loved it and that makes me even more keen to pick it up! I don’t know if I’ll get to it this year, but it’ll definitely depend on my mood. I know that Cleeson had another Havana book that was published before this, but I don’t think they’re connected or a series? I could be wrong though, so if you’ve read either of these, please let me know!

Have you read When We Left Cuba? Is it on your Goodreads TBR too?
Leave me a comment and let’s chat!

Goodreads Monday – 16 September

September 16, 2019September 16, 2019 Dini @ dinipandareads8 Comments

This week’s book is The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. It’s been on my TBR for almost two years now (w0w, time flies). Junot Diaz is an author that I’ve heard really great things about and I think Oscar Wao is one of his most famous/popular books. It has a rating of 3.90 stars with about 214,000 ratings, so that’s quite great.

I’m very keen to try following along with the audiobook because it’s read by Lin-Manual Miranda and I’m a huge fan of his, so naturally I had to get it on Audible! 🤷🏻‍♀️

Things have never been easy for Oscar. A ghetto nerd living with his Dominican-American family in New Jersey, he’s disastrously overweight, keeps falling hopelessly in love and dreams of becoming the next Tolkien. Meanwhile his punk sister Lola wants to run away, and his resolute mother Beli can’t seem to let either of them go.
Moving across generations and continents, from Beli’s tragic past in the Dominican Republic to struggles and dreams in suburban America, this is the wondrous story of Oscar, his family and their search for love and belonging.

Why do I want to read it?

While the blurb did pull me in, I think I’ve honestly wanted to read this mostly because of the hype around it. FOMO gets me almost every time? Lol so many friends on Goodreads, and even friends who only pick up a book every now and again, have claimed to really enjoy this book, so that definitely keeps my interest piqued too! Some time last year I discovered that Lin-Manuel, who I love and adore, narrates the audiobook so you know I had to go out and pick that up to. Needless to say it’s been sitting on my Audible shelf for a while now… I’ve only ever read one of Diaz’s books, and I think I overhyped it for myself because I ended up being fairly disappointed. It was a character driven novel and I couldn’t stand the MC at all. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t develop any kind of connection or bring myself to care about any of the characters introduced. I will say though that Diaz’s writing is simply beautiful. It’s poetic and moving and that’s what I enjoyed most. I’m worried that I might feel the same about Oscar Wao, but I’m still willing to give it a go. Maybe listening to Lin-Manuel read it will make it a better experience for me 😏

Have you read The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao? Or is it on your TBR too? Leave me a comment and let’s chat!

Goodreads Monday – 09 September

September 9, 2019September 9, 2019 Dini @ dinipandareads8 Comments

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!

Goodreads Monday – 02 September

September 2, 2019September 2, 2019 Dini @ dinipandareads2 Comments

This week’s book is The Queen of Blood (The Queens of Renthia #1) by Sarah Beth Durst. This book is #321 on my list and although I have absolutely zero recollection of having done so, I apparently added it to my TBR in May 2018. 😅 I’m not surprised that I don’t remember adding this YA fantasy to my list because I have close to 1k books on there. Do I maybe have a problem with compulsively adding books that sound good to my list without a second thought? Pssh, of course not!

An idealistic young student and a banished warrior become allies in a battle to save their realm in this first book of a mesmerizing epic fantasy series, filled with political intrigue, violent magic, malevolent spirits, and thrilling adventure.
Everything has a spirit: the willow tree with leaves that kiss the pond, the stream that feeds the river, the wind that exhales fresh snow… But the spirits that reside within this land want to rid it of all humans. One woman stands between these malevolent spirits and the end of humankind: the queen. She alone has the magical power to prevent the spirits from destroying every man, woman, and child. But queens are still just human, and no matter how strong or good, the threat of danger always looms.
With the position so precarious, young women are chosen to train as heirs. Daleina, a seemingly quiet academy student, is under no illusions as to her claim to the throne, but simply wants to right the wrongs that have befallen the land. Ven, a disgraced champion, has spent his exile secretly fighting against the growing number of spirit attacks. Joining forces, these daring partners embark on a treacherous quest to find the source of the spirits’ restlessness—a journey that will test their courage and trust, and force them to stand against both enemies and friends to save their land…before it’s bathed in blood.

Why do I want to read it?

While reading the blurb didn’t cause me to recall how I came across this book and subsequently adding this to my list last year, I’m really liking the sound of this story. Nature spirits that are full of evil and want to kill all the humans (tbh not that I’d blame them because I mean, what are we doing to mama earth)? People with the ability to control these nature spirits to prevent humans from perishing (I’m getting the impression that it’s only females that can control them too)? Plus there’s no mention at all of some kind of romance that has contorted itself into the story at any point, so color me curious! Scrolling quickly through who’s read this, I saw one of my favorite book reviewers, Emily May, rated it 4-stars, so I don’t doubt that’s perhaps one reason why I wanted to read it. But also, can we give some appreciation to that book cover? It’s giving some serious Rivendell vibes and I’m here for it!

Have you read The Queen of Blood? What’d you think of it? If not, is it going on your TBR now? Let me know in the comments and let’s chat!

Goodreads Monday – 26 August

August 26, 2019August 26, 2019 Dini @ dinipandareads3 Comments

We’re back with another Goodreads Monday, a weekly meme started by @Lauren’s Page Turners that 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’re feeling it!

The random number generator landed on book #310 so this week’s book is: A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee’s Incredible Story of Love, Loss and Survival by Melissa Fleming! I added this back in April 2018, so it’s been on my list for a while…

Doaa and her family leave war-torn Syria for Egypt where the climate is becoming politically unstable and increasingly dangerous. She meets and falls in love with Bassem, a former Free Syrian Army fighter and together they decide to leave behind the hardship and harassment they face in Egypt to flee for Europe, joining the ranks of the thousands of refugees who make the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean on overcrowded and run-down ships to seek asylum overseas and begin a new life. After four days at sea, their boat is sunk by another boat filled with angry men shouting threats and insults. With no land in sight and surrounded by bloated, floating corpses, Doaa is adrift with a child’s inflatable water ring around her waist, while two little girls cling to her neck. Doaa must stay alive for them. She must not lose strength. She must not lose hope.

Why do I want to read it?

I honestly don’t remember when or how I came across this book. If you’ve been following my blog for a while now, you’ll know that I’m not shy in mentioning that I struggle with NF and I don’t read it often. I do like the *idea* of reading NF and so I’m not opposed to adding them to my TBR list whenever I stumble across one that I think I’ll like. Melissa Fleming is Head of Communications and Chief Spokesperson for the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). Whenever I think about the refugee crisis, it always breaks my heart. I cannot imagine the fear and desperation people must face to choose to leave their home and move to a completely different country and continent, just to find safety and live a better life. This sounds like a moving read, but I have heard some mixed reviews, particularly about the writing. I don’t know if I’ll get to this anytime soon, but I think I will keep it on my TBR!

Have you read A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea? Or is it on your TBR too? Let me know in the comments below and let’s chat books!

Goodreads Monday – 19 August

August 19, 2019August 19, 2019 Dini @ dinipandareads5 Comments

The random number generator landed on book #470 so this week’s book is: Dry by Neal Shusterman & Jarrod Shusterman. I’m a little shocked/embarrassed to admit that I added this book to my GR TBR in September 2018, and since that time I’ve added another whopping 400+ books to my list! HOW INSANE?! I don’t own all the books on my list (thankfully 😅) but I think my fingers might be a little quick on the “Add to” list because that’s a ridiculous number of books!

When the California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions, one teen is forced to make life and death decisions for her family in this harrowing story of survival. The drought—or the Tap-Out, as everyone calls it—has been going on for a while now. Everyone’s lives have become an endless list of don’ts: don’t water the lawn, don’t fill up your pool, don’t take long showers. Until the taps run dry. Suddenly, Alyssa’s quiet suburban street spirals into a warzone of desperation; neighbors and families turned against each other on the hunt for water. And when her parents don’t return and her life—and the life of her brother—is threatened, Alyssa has to make impossible choices if she’s going to survive.

Why do I want to read it?

I’ve only read Neal Shusterman’s Arc of a Scythe series but I loved it so much that I knew that I wanted to read more by him! When I read the synopsis for Dry, it sounded really intriguing and frighteningly enough, this scenario isn’t impossible to imagine considering climate change and what’s been happening around the world. It’s a chilling prospect! Developing countries have been facing issues with access to clean water for decades already, but now water shortages are also becoming a problem that more developed countries are also facing too. How long will it take for us to end up in a situation where we’re fighting wars over resources such as water? And on that note, I’ll end it here before I get too serious and ramble on about the realities of the hole we’ve dug for ourselves 🙃Basically, I want to read this because I’m keen to read more by Shusterman, plus I’ve heard that they’re adapting it for the big screen?!

Have you read Dry? Is it on your TBR too?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and let’s chat books!

Goodreads Monday – 12 August

August 12, 2019August 12, 2019 Dini @ dinipandareads2 Comments

It’s time for another Goodreads Monday, a weekly meme started by @Lauren’s Page Turners that 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’re feeling it! I think from this week’s post onward, I will use a random number generator to choose the books for this weekly meme!

This week the random number generator picked #621 on my GR ‘to-read’ list, and the books is: Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan. Although this is #621 in a list of over 900 books, this is actually one of my more ‘recent-ish’ adds to my tbr, since I added it in December 2018! I guess I really add books quickly on GR don’t I? 😅This book has a rating of: 3.63 stars.

Anna Kerrigan, nearly twelve years old, accompanies her father to visit Dexter Styles, a man who, she gleans, is crucial to the survival of her father and her family. She is mesmerized by the sea beyond the house and by some charged mystery between the two men.

‎Years later, her father has disappeared and the country is at war. Anna works at the Brooklyn Naval Yard, where women are allowed to hold jobs that once belonged to men, now soldiers abroad. She becomes the first female diver, the most dangerous and exclusive of occupations, repairing the ships that will help America win the war. One evening at a nightclub, she meets Dexter Styles again, and begins to understand the complexity of her father’s life, the reasons he might have vanished.

With the atmosphere of a noir thriller, Egan’s first historical novel follows Anna and Styles into a world populated by gangsters, sailors, divers, bankers, and union men. Manhattan Beach is a deft, dazzling, propulsive exploration of a transformative moment in the lives and identities of women and men, of America and the world.

Why do I want to read it?

I’m pretty sure that I added this to my GR TBR after talking to my sister one day. She offhandedly mentioned that if I was looking for a book to read, one of her close friends had just finished reading Manhattan Beach and highly recommended it, so I should check it out too! I’m a big lover of historical fiction, I love being transported to past times, and when a mystery involving gangsters and divers and other intriguing elements, is thrown into the mix, I knew that I wanted to read this! If I’m not mistaken, this book won the 2018 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Fiction, so that’s also pretty cool. I’m definitely still keen to read this one and I’m looking forward to picking it up!

Have you read Manhattan Beach or is it also on your TBR?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and let’s chat books!

Goodreads Monday – 05 August

August 5, 2019August 11, 2019 Dini @ dinipandareads4 Comments

This week the random number generator picked #151 on my GR ‘to-read’ list, which means the book this week is: The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O’Neill. I added this to my GR in 2017. It has a GR rating of: 3.77 stars.

The Lonely Hearts Hotel is a love story with the power of legend. An unparalleled tale of charismatic pianos, invisible dance partners, radicalized chorus girls, drug-addicted musicians, brooding clowns, and an underworld whose economy hinges on the price of a kiss. In a landscape like this, it takes great creative gifts to thwart one’s origins. It might also take true love.

Two babies are abandoned in a Montreal orphanage in the winter of 1910. Before long, their talents emerge: Pierrot is a piano prodigy; Rose lights up even the dreariest room with her dancing and comedy. As they travel around the city performing clown routines, the children fall in love with each other and dream up a plan for the most extraordinary and seductive circus show the world has ever seen.

Separated as teenagers, sent off to work as servants during the Great Depression, both descend into the city’s underworld, dabbling in sex, drugs and theft in order to survive. But when Rose and Pierrot finally reunite beneath the snowflakes after years of searching and desperate poverty the possibilities of their childhood dreams are renewed, and they’ll go to extreme lengths to make them come true. Soon, Rose, Pierrot and their troupe of clowns and chorus girls have hit New York, commanding the stage as well as the alleys, and neither the theater nor the underworld will ever look the same.

Why do I want to read it?

I’d actually forgot what this book was about until I read the synopsis just now. While I can’t say that I remember reading this synopsis before, I can now say that I really want to read this book. It’s actually said to have ‘echoes of The Night Circus‘, so I think I must’ve added it to my list before I read The Night Circus because I don’t think I would’ve added it to my list after 🙊Not saying anything against that book but I felt a bit let down by it, and didn’t end up loving it as much as everyone else. After reading the synopsis of this one, you can already see some similarities, but I think The Lonely Hearts Hotel sounds like a darker and more sinister version of TNC, and I like the sound of that! Maybe I won’t get to this one in the very near future, but I hope to get to it eventually.

Have you read The Night Circus or is it also on your TBR?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and let’s chat books!

Goodreads Monday – 29 July

July 29, 2019July 29, 2019 Dini @ dinipandareads8 Comments

This week’s book is: What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon. This is book #747 on my GR ‘to-read’ list and it’s actually one of the more recent additions to my list (01 March 2019).

Anne Gallagher grew up enchanted by her grandfather’s stories of Ireland. Heartbroken at his death, she travels to his childhood home to spread his ashes. There, overcome with memories of the man she adored and consumed by a history she never knew, she is pulled into another time.

The Ireland of 1921, teetering on the edge of war, is a dangerous place in which to awaken. But there Anne finds herself, hurt, disoriented, and under the care of Dr. Thomas Smith, guardian to a young boy who is oddly familiar. Mistaken for the boy’s long-missing mother, Anne adopts her identity, convinced the woman’s disappearance is connected to her own.

As tensions rise, Thomas joins the struggle for Ireland’s independence and Anne is drawn into the conflict beside him. Caught between history and her heart, she must decide whether she’s willing to let go of the life she knew for a love she never thought she’d find. But in the end, is the choice actually hers to make?

Why do I want to read it?

This is a romantic historical fiction with a big time travel twist. The time travel part of the synopsis vaguely reminds me of Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, but I haven’t read that book yet so I can’t be sure. That said, I love a good romance and historical fiction, and the added element of time travel was a nice surprise because I wasn’t expecting to see that in the description! On top of that, I haven’t read many books set in Ireland but that’s one place that I’ve always been interested in reading more about it. I think this book represents a perfect combination of likes and wants!