Tag: Asian Book Blogger

#WWWWednesday: 28 October

Dini @ dinipandareads14 Comments

Ugh, I’ve been hitting struggle town real hard since last week but… is it just me or is this week lasting forever? I can’t believe it’s Wednesday but I really wish it was already Friday 😂

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:

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

It’s been a slow time for reading lately and it’s not just playing my Switch that has me distracted. I’ve been in a reading mood but haven’t been able to really settle on anything lately, and since last week I’ve only managed to finish three books.

Beneath Black Sails (Beneath Black Sails #1) by Clare Sager ★★★★☆
This was an undeniably fun, fast-paced and action-packed story that was able to fully absorb my attention and that’s why I’ve rounded up and kept my review at four stars. There are things that irritated me about the characters and the world-building was lacking, but this was the most pirate filled (romance)fantasy that I’ve ever read and I was here for its pure entertainment. Review coming soon.

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Can’t Wait Wednesday: Ever After Always by Chloe Liese

Dini @ dinipandareads1 Comment

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

This is my first week joining in on Can’t Wait Wednesday and it’s because I’m really excited to be sharing this upcoming book with everyone. I simply cannot wait until I can get my grabby little hands on it because I loved the first two books in this fun romcom series and it definitely takes one of the top spots for my favourite romance of 2020!

Note: this is the third book in the series and while it can technically be read as a standalone, trust me, you won’t want to! 😉

Goodreads: Ever After Always (Bergman Brothers #3)
Publication: 12 January 2021
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Aiden
I’ve spent twelve years loving Freya Bergman and twelve lifetimes won’t be enough to give her everything she deserves. She’s my passionate, tender-hearted wife, my best friend, and all I want is to make her happy. But the one thing that will make her happiest is the one thing I’m not sure I can give her: a baby. With the pressure of providing and planning for a family, my anxiety’s at an all-time high, and I find myself pulling away, terrified to tell my wife how I’m struggling. But when Freya kicks me out, I realize that pulling back has turned into pushing too far. Now it’s the fight of a lifetime to save our marriage.

Freya
I love my cautious, hard-working husband. He’s my partner and best friend, the person I know I can count on most. Until one day I realize the man I married is nowhere to be found. Now Aiden is quiet and withdrawn, and as the months wear on, the pain of our growing distance becomes too much. As if weathering marriage counseling wasn’t enough, we’re thrown together for an island getaway to celebrate my parents’ many years of perfect marriage while ours is on the brink of collapse. Despite my meddling siblings and a week in each other’s constant company, this trip somehow gets us working through the trouble in paradise. I just can’t help worrying, when we leave paradise and return to the real world, will trouble find us again?

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY: Amazon UK | Amazon US

Ever since stumbling across her first book, Only When It’s Us, earlier this year and absolutely loving the slow-burn romance between a fiesty sports heroine and lumberjack hero, I immediately knew I needed to read more by Chloe Liese. I was over the moon when I managed to get an ARC for her second book, Always Only You, and I fell even more in love with the characters. The whole Bergman family are a trip to read about and I dare you to not fall in love with all their loves! Chloe Liese’s books are such underrated gems and if you’re a lover of own voices and diverse romances with realistic and relatable characters, you should definitely read her sooner rather than later! 😉

If you’re not yet convinced, take a peek at my reviews for book 1 and book 2!

Have you read any books by Chloe Liese or any of the books in the Bergman Brothers series? Are you excited as me to get book three?!

#TopTenTuesday: Spooky Thrills for Chickens Like Me!

Dini @ dinipandareads31 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: Halloween Freebie!

I’ve never been a big proponent of Halloween mostly because I don’t really read “traditionally scary” books or watch scary movies. I am the Ultimate Chicken™️ after all. I was a bit stumped on what to focus on for this week’s Halloween freebie but I wanted to keep it short and simple, so I’m sharing ten books that were a little spooky or creepy, but were just the right amount for those like me who don’t really handle scary things well. Some of these lean more towards thriller creepy but it definitely still counts, right?! While these might give you a spook, they’re more on the level of “just keep a night-light on” kind of scary, so if you are curious or would like to step out of your comfort zone, I’d definitely give these a go! 😂

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Top 5 Saturday: Books on my Wishlist

Dini @ dinipandareads11 Comments

Welcome back to another Top 5 Saturday! Just in case you don’t know Top 5 Saturday is a weekly meme created by Mandy @ Devouring Books and it’s where we list the top five books (they can be books on your TBR, favourite books, books you loved/hated) based on the week’s topic. You can see the upcoming schedule at the end of my post 🙂 This week’s topic is actually: wishlist.

Wishlists! I’m actually not very good at making them and keeping them up to date. Unlike my Goodreads TBR, which has all the books under the sun that I want to read, I very rarely remember to mark a book for my wishlist when browsing either Amazon and/or Book Depository, and more often than not, only remember to do so after I’ve closed everything and am thus too lazy to go back and mark them 😂 Yay for my bank but I guess but boo for those who want to buy me books? (Just kidding, no one wants to buy me books lmao). But anyway, before I manage to wind on even longer, here are five books that are on my Book Depository wishlist! 😉

(book covers are linked to the Goodreads pages!)

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Let’s Talk Bookish: What is the meaning of diverse books?

Dini @ dinipandareads10 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! I’ve listed the upcoming topics in brief at the end of my post, but check out these pages for more information on October 2020 prompts & a list of past prompts!

Now without further ado… This week’s topic asks us about:

what is the meaning of diverse books?

(SUGGESTED BY RUKKY)
Examples: We talk a lot about diverse books and reads, but what really makes a book diverse? Are books written by authors or about characters from Eastern Europe (Lithuania, Ukraine, Hungary, etc) considered diverse? Would you consider a book set in Spain about a Spanish main character diverse? Why or why not? Does diverse mean characters or authors from South America, Asia, and Africa, or from different religious, sexual, ability, etc backgrounds only?

This is a great question and very relevant topic as more readers continue to look for diverse books, and as more diverse books also get published. I’ve been trying to consciously diversify my reads for a while now and 2020 has been my most successful year doing that! I’m a little intimidated about answering this week’s prompt because I think there are quite a few layers to the topic, and I don’t feel comfortable going too in-depth as I’m not that “knowledgeable” about it. But this post is about sharing my thoughts, so I will do that and hopefully I make some sense and don’t come off as (too) uniformed or ridiculous!

defining diversity

Diversity (noun)
: the condition of having or being composed of differing elements : VARIETY
especially : the inclusion of different types of people (such as people of different races or cultures) in a group or organization.

: an instance of being composed of differing elements or qualities

Diversity as defined by Merriam-Webster

HOW DO I CLASSIFY DIVERSE BOOKS?

When I think about diverse books, I immediately think of stories with characters who are marginalized, BIPOC, and/or LGBTQ+. Or are written by authors of colour or LGBTQ+. I also count books that have representation for different religions, ethnicities, mental health, disability, and chronic illness (among other topics) as diverse too. However, I only classify books as diverse when:

  • The main characters are BIPOC/LGBTQ+. I don’t consider it diverse when you have one or a few side characters that fall into these ‘categories’ but are barely represented. But I don’t consider stories written by authors of colour or LGBTQ+ authors as diverse if the story focuses on mainstream “straight and white” characters.
  • Same as above, the rep should concern or be focused on the main character(s) and is not used or identified as a minor sub-plot or anything like that.

is there a line and where do we draw it?

This prompt included a few guiding questions that really made me think whether I would classify certain reads as diverse. For example, if I read a book about Eastern Europe, is that considered diverse? I think if it’s set there and the story is about a straight white character, then no, I wouldn’t. But what if it’s about religion or ethnicity—would I consider it diverse then? I think I probably would because it includes people from different backgrounds. What about a book set in Spain with a Spanish cast—is that diverse? It made me think about a book I read earlier this year called Incendiary by Zoraida Córdova. It’s set during the Spanish inquisition period but in an alternate reality, and I considered it diverse because Cordova is AOC and the characters, including the MC, were diverse.

As I write this I realise that perhaps how I consider books diverse is pretty simplistic? But ultimately, I do think it’s subjective because I don’t believe diversity can be so neatly packaged into a box where it means exactly the same thing for everybody. There are many factors to consider, including our individual backgrounds and experiences, and it also depends on the book/author too.

Is it enough to consider a book diverse if it teaches you about different people, cultures, etc.? Is it enough to consider it diverse if it broadens your world view?

Sorry, I know I haven’t really answered anything in this post and it’s mostly just a bunch of brain blah and word vom that I’m not even sure makes any sense–but it has definitely got me thinking!

Now I’m really curious to know what you think. What makes a book diverse in your opinion? Do you think it’s a strict definition or do you think it’s subjective? I’m keen to know your thoughts if you’d like to share them with me!

Stuck At Home Book Tag

Dini @ dinipandareads14 Comments

Hello friends! I was in the mood to do another tag today, but instead of looking to the many (so many) tags that’ve been lingering on my ‘tagged files’, I decided to do the Stuck At Home Book Tag that Sammie @ The Bookwyrm’s Den tagged me in last month. Big thanks for the tag! 🖤If you haven’t already hopped on over to check out her blog then what are you waiting for?! Sammie’s one of my favourite bloggers and her posts never fail to make me laugh because she’s a funny one and her content is always goals (seriously)!

…So now that we’ve got that covered, let’s get straight to it!

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#WWWWednesday: 21 October

Dini @ dinipandareads17 Comments

Ugh, I’ve been hitting struggle town real hard since last week but… is it just me or is this week lasting forever? I can’t believe it’s Wednesday but I really wish it was already Friday 😂

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:

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

Since last week’s update I’ve only managed to read two books. The struggle has been super real what with work really draining my energy, and it feels like I finished reading something other than these two books but… I guess not. Perhaps I’ve just lost the plot and have started making things up? 😂

The Magic Ingredient by Lindy Miller ★★★½
The perfect autumnal romance about second chances, family and discovering what’s important. This was a super sweet and wholesome romance that’s set against the backdrop of a small community, and it has all the wonderful small-town quirkiness that I love in these types of novels! Also, this made me crave sweet desserts like never before! I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to get my hands on a whoopie pie so badly 😂 Read my review.

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Let’s Talk Bookish: The Care and Keeping of a TBR!

Dini @ dinipandareads13 Comments

I know I’m posting a bit later than Friday, but better late than never? Maybe?

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! I’ve listed the upcoming topics in brief at the end of my post, but check out these pages for more information on October 2020 prompts & a list of past prompts!

Now without further ado… This week’s topic asks us about:

The care and keeping of a tbr

(SUGGESTED BY LYDIA @ LYDIA SCHOCH)
Examples: Do you maintain a TBR physically, online or both? How do you decide which books get to go on your TBR? Do you ever “prune” your TBR to remove old books, how do you decide who stays and who goes? How big is your TBR currently?

WELCOME TO TBR Mountain: LEVEL 1,165

But that gif is literally me maniacally laughing on top of TBR mountain because… My current TBR on Goodreads is currently at 1,165 books and I haven’t even counted my actual TBR.

*takes a second to pause*

👀 👀 👀

*by the way, if anyone wants to be friends on Goodreads you can find me HERE!*

WHERE DO I KEEP A TBR?

GOODREADS

So we already know I keep a TBR on Goodreads and that’s probably my most complete list. Although I first signed up for it in 2012, I only started using it properly in 2018. I did make my way onto the site now and again before then but I guess the majority of the books have been added more recently…

But let’s be clear here…

My Goodreads TBR is a combination of books that I own and books that I wish to own, so I definitely haven’t spent all the money to purchase 1K+ books. Trust, I’d be dead broke otherwise! But I still find this number on Goodreads astonishingly and embarrassingly large. You can say I have a very good relationship with the “Want to read” button. 😂

THE ACTUAL TBR (PHYSICAL + DIGITAL)

Of course, I also have my “actual” TBR with all the books I own (physically and digitally). But I don’t have a proper record of all these books so I don’t know how many still need to be read. It’s a lot easier to keep track of my physical TBR without any kind of file (most of the time) as I can see what’s on my shelves, but books on my digital TBR tend to disappear into the void until I remember them at random.

HOW DO I CHOOSE WHAT GOES ON MY TBR?

Seeing as my GR list is over 1,000 books, I guess you can say I’m not very discerning when it comes to adding to my TBR? 😂 Here’s how I usually decide:

  • I read the synopsis. If it sounds good or like something I’ll enjoy (which let’s be honest it usually does)…
  • I check which of my friends have added it to their list (if any).
  • I then check if any of them have reviewed it, then I’ll quickly skim through a review or two.
  • If no one I know has read/reviewed it, I’ll skim through the first few ratings and reviews to decide whether it’s a go or not.

It’s not an overly complicated process. My taste in books is quite eclectic and it doesn’t take much to pique my interest. Although I do mostly read YA SFF and contemporary romance, I don’t limit myself to any particular genre. A lot of people do stick to their tried and true/comfort zone genres (and that’s cool) but I quite like bouncing around because who knows where I’ll find my next favourite, right?!

going ‘down the tbr hole’

If you can believe it (which you probably can) my GR TBR last year was actually bigger than it is now. When I felt desperately in need of a way to motivate myself to cull the list, I decided to do the “Down the TBR Hole” meme on a weekly basis. For this meme, I’d look at 10-20 books on my TBR and kick off anything that didn’t sound appealing anymore or books that might still sound interesting but I know I’ll never actually buy a copy of or read anytime soon.

I admittedly struggled to kick anything off the list at first but I know realistically I won’t be able to buy all of the books, especially with even more releases piquing my interest with every year that passes. I was doing a pretty good job of shortening the TBR and managed to kick off about 250+ books (maybe even more) until I stopped doing it because I was too busy doing other things… 😬

I rally think I’ll take time to sit down at the end of 2020 (or maybe in 2021) to do a proper clean up because I know there are plenty on this list that I can get rid of, I just really need to make time to do it! My TBR feels more than a little disorganised and I definitely want to take better control of it moving forward!

How do you manage your TBR? Do you find it easy to cull books from your list? Do you get rid of physical books you don’t want to read? What do you do with the digital books you own and are no longer interested in? Curious to see how everyone manages theirs!

Top 5 Saturday: Animal on the Cover!

Dini @ dinipandareads16 Comments

Welcome back to another Top 5 Saturday! Just in case you don’t know Top 5 Saturday is a weekly meme created by Mandy @ Devouring Books and it’s where we list the top five books (they can be books on your TBR, favourite books, books you loved/hated) based on the week’s topic. You can see the upcoming schedule at the end of my post 🙂 This week’s topic is actually: animal on the cover!

I don’t think this prompt needs a big introduction so I’m going to keep it short and sweet. I’m a big animal lover (I mean, hello pandas) so it’s no surprise that I love a cover that has an animal or many animals on the cover! These five books are on my TBR and cover a few genres from YA fantasy, MG fantasy and contemporary/literary fiction. I’m looking forward to reading all of them 🙂

(book covers are linked to the Goodreads pages!)

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#WWWWednesday: 14 October

Dini @ dinipandareads11 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:

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

Since last Wednesday I’ve managed to read 4 books. It was a pretty average week of reading…

Sisters of the Moon by Alexandrea Weis ★★★½
This was a gripping supernatural fantasy with horror elements to it. Weis does a fantastic job establishing an eerie atmosphere and creating intrigue through the mystery of the order. While the characters and world building weren’t as developed as I’d hoped they’d be, I am intrigued to see what happens next, especially after that action packed and intense ending! Read my review.

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