Summer Bucket List Book Tag!

October 3, 2019 Dini @ dinipandareads16 Comments

The very lovely Jen @ Nen & Jen tagged me ages ago for the Summer Bucket List book tag (ages back)! I know for the majority of you summer is already over, some may even be highly anticipating the coming summer (in the southern hemisphere), and since I’m in the tropics, I live in perpetual summer. Trust me, it’s not as great as it sounds when it’s 1000% hot every damn day 🥵 But I digress… Thanks for the tag, Jen! Be sure to check out her answers over on their blog because she is awesome! I only hope my choices will be half as fun as hers! Without further ado… Let’s get back to summer 😊

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
This book is set on an island and the beaches, cliffs and ocean play a big role in the character’s upbringing. Although I wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style (fragmented sentences), I was able to look past that and ended up really enjoying the story. It took me by surprise and I ended up bawling lol

Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J Maas
Caleana is such a fierce and bad ass character and although she had two fiery romances in this series, the one I’m thinking about is definitely between her and Rowan. The build up and the explosion of feelings between them was 🔥!

Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse
This is one of those underrated SFF books in my opinion. The characters do go on somewhat of a journey to solve a mystery that’s plaguing this incredible Native American folklore inspired dystopian world. Maggie, while hard to like at first, really grew on me. She’s such a bad ass! And I loved Kai 💚

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Ugh, this story y’all! I still don’t have the words for how much I loved Evelyn Hugo’s story. I was swept away by the story of this ruthless and brilliant woman in Hollywood from the 50s – 80s; and of course, the story of her seven husbands and how she fought her way to the top. I fell in love with her!

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
You’ve heard me say it once and I’ll say it again: this book was nothing like I expected in the best way possible. I picked this up on a whim after finishing SJTR and I was so glad I started it on a weekend because the next thing I knew, it was Sunday and my face was blotchy after the unexpected tears I shed reading this incredible story. So damn good, peoples. So damn good!

The Simple Wild (Wild #1) by K A Tucker
Sign me up for a sky cowboy because I’m pretty sure I fell just as much in love with Jonah’s character as Calla did herself. This covered some of my favorite tropes in romance: enemies to sort-of friends to lovers and it did not disappoint! And all of it was set against the Alaskan wild, a place that I’ve developed a very weird fascination with over the years. Theirs was a sweet romance between city girl and ‘country’ boy and I was here for it!

Nevernight (Nevernight Chronicle #1) by Jay Kristoff
What’s more refreshing than a story set against a Hogwarts for assassins? 😂 Okay no, but honestly, I know this is probably a weird pick for this category, but this book is usually filled with things that I don’t enjoy (an incredible amount of blood, guts and gore) but wow, did it blow me away! It’s safe to say that this series has become one of my new favorites and I was completely wowed by it.

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
It’s not just one character in priory that overcomes obstacles, it’s basically all of them. I don’t think I’ve read a book where shit so consistently hits the fan for such a long duration 😂I mean, if you think of something that could possibly go wrong, chances are it will for these characters. I really felt for them but in the end, they grew in very satisfying ways to conquer (all) the obstacles in their way.

Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks
This book made me SO HUNGRY. Although their main mission was to get Josie talking to his long-time crush, Deja’s personal mission was to eat her way through the Disney of pumpkin patches and it’s safe to say I was constantly drooling while they ate all the delicious festive fall foods. DELICIOUS!

Sorry I’m Late I Didn’t Want to Come… by Jessica Pan
Jessica Pan is a (sh)introvert (a shy introvert) who is in the throes of something that looks like a quarter-life crisis, when she decides to take the leap into saying “YES” to all the things she’d normally be terrified to do. I identified so much with Pan and seeing her face these challenges before her despite being utterly terrified was so inspiring! I read this book at a time when I faced a big career challenge and I had just finished a chapter where she basically head the same experience as me but on a much larger scale, and I charged ahead with her in mind. This was a hilarious and inspiring book that is definitely going on my forever shelf!

And there you have it, folks! I’m feeling completely lazy right now (it’s been a long night with sangria!) so I’m going to TAG EVERYONE! If this sounds like something you want to do, don’t forget to link back to me so I can check out your answers!

September Monthly Wrap Up!

October 2, 2019October 2, 2019 Dini @ dinipandareads16 Comments

I still can’t believe that September is already over! This year is going by way too quickly and I’m wondering if the rest of 2019 is going to speed by in the exact same way? September was a pretty mediocre reading month for me. I think I started off pretty strong but once I tucked into Priory of the Orange Tree, my reads slowed down considerably. I still managed to read 15 books though, so it wasn’t all bad! I am now sitting at 156/90 reads (this number still shocks me; being part of the book community has really increased my reading this year)!

⁍ Pumpkinheads (review)
⁍ Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1) (review)
⁍ Godsgrave (The Nevernight Chronicle #2) (review)
⁍ The Hating Game (review coming)

⁍ Two Weeks Notice (review)

⁍ The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) (review)
⁍ The Priory of the Orange Tree (review coming)

⁍ A Different Time (TheWriteReads Blog Tour Review)
⁍ Breaking Up Is Hard To Do… But You Could’ve Done Better (review)
⁍ The Ingredients of Us (review)
⁍ The Perfect Moment (review coming)
⁍ On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (Wingfeather Saga #1) (review coming)

⁍ Fake Date (Dating #2) (review)
⁍ The Stopover (The Miles High Club #1) (review)

⁍ The Love Solution (review)

My favorites out of all of these were Nevernight and Godsgrave. After finishing Nevernight (my mind was totally blown) at the start of the month, I just couldn’t resist reading the sequel as soon as possible. Kristoff is a man who does not hold back on screwing with your feelings. After the ending of Godsgrave, I’m so excited but equally terrified of finishing this series. But I know I won’t be able to resist Darkdawn so it’s gonna be happening this October!

I was planning to read a lot more sequels for Sequel September but also a few more standalone’s for Standalone September (focusing on hyped standalone’s) but both of these endeavors ended up failing pretty badly. I think I can only count one book towards the former and two books towards the latter. I think I’m going to give challenges a break for now? I’m obviously not very good at them 😂

Last time I listed a full recap of all the posts that I did for the month, but since I now have a more organized menu bar, you can find all my weekly memes, challenges, tags and thoughts in the drop down menus! I still have to fix some things up, but I think I’ve done the sorting right and hopefully all my posts will continue to be updated each time I make them! For now, I’ve still listed the other reviews that I did this month (the reviews for this months’ reads are above in the recap), just so it’s easier for you to read them, in case you missed out! I’m still trying to tweak how I do my wrap up posts–I’m sure you’ll notice that from the start they’re all quite different–but I think I’m happy with this? I don’t want to make it too long and boring for people to read! Any tips or comments? Please let me know!

Reviews

⁍ eARC Review: The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

⁍ Review: Matchmaking for Beginners by Maddie Dawson
⁍ Review: One Day in December by Josie Silver
⁍ Review: Vicious (Villains #1) by V.E. Schwab
⁍ Review: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
⁍ Review: Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
⁍ Review: The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan
⁍ Review: The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker

I hope you all had a great reading month in September and I hope that October continues to be awesome for all of us! What was your favorite read this month? Come let me know in the comments & let’s chat!

#WWWWednesday: 02 October

October 2, 2019October 2, 2019 Dini @ dinipandareads18 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:

What did you read last?
What are you currently reading?
What will you read next?

What did you read last?

🎉I FINALLY FINISHED PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE LAST WEEK! 🎉

Excuse the all caps because I was SO excited that I managed to finish that hunk of a tome before the end of September. I was so certain that I’d be reading it straight through to October. I still haven’t written my review for it because I’m still not really sure how I feel about it. I enjoyed reading it and when I had it in my hands I would be speeding(ish) through the pages; but when I put it down I didn’t feel compelled to pick it back up again. I knew that I couldn’t have set it down to just read any other book too as I’d probably never come back to it 😂But I still enjoyed it. I think? Anyway, my review will hopefully be coming soon! I binged The Perfect Moment (review coming soon) and Two Weeks Notice (my review for Two Weeks Notice). on Friday night/Saturday morning (yes, both in one night lol) because my soul was craving something super light and fluffy after Priory, and I had no regrets staying up all night reading!

What are you currently reading?

I was feeling restless not knowing what I wanted to read after binging on two contemporary romances after finishing Priory last week, but I ended up choosing The Bookish Life of Nina Hill on a whim the other day and I’ve been speeding through it! The style is not at all what I expected and I wasn’t sure how I felt about Nina at the start, but the style and characters have grown on me. There’s a lot of quirkiness going on in this book and I’m actually really here for it! I’ve laughed aloud countless times since I started and it’s giving me some lightness that I need right now.

What will you read next?

Okay y’all, I have TONS of books outside of my ‘possibility pile’ that I need to get to this October before even turning to look at the ones I want to read! These definitely fall in the ‘must read’ category because they’re eARCs. I’m gonna give priority to several eARCs that are well overdue (I’m sorry pls don’t judge me) and ones whose pub dates are very quickly approaching! I’m actually pretty annoyed at myself for thinking the Shadow Frost pub date was later this month when it was actually yesterday! 🤦🏻‍♀️Epic fail, Dini! I’ve had this e-ARC for a while so I’m annoyed at my ability to push things off until they’re overdue. Someone tell me, why isn’t this a skill we actually need in life?! Lol

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

Two Weeks Notice by Whitney G. – #BookReview

October 1, 2019October 1, 2019 Dini @ dinipandareads13 Comments

Goodreads: Two Weeks Notice
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Panda Rating:

To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing this letter to formally announce my resignation from Parker International (& the arrogant, condescending CEO) effective two weeks from today.
This was a VERY EASY decision to make, as the past two years have been utterly miserable. I wish his next executive assistant all the luck in the world (she’ll need it) and if my boss should need me to do anything over the next two weeks, kindly tell him that he can do it [his] goddamn self…
Sincerely (Not Really),
Tara Lauren

That’s the version of my two weeks’ notice I should’ve sent to my boss, because the more professional version – the one where I said I was “grateful for all the opportunities,” and “honored by all the rewarding experiences” over the years? That letter was rejected with his sexy, trademark smirk and an “I highly suggest you read the fine print of your contract…”
So, I did.
And now I’ve realized that unless I fake my death, poison him, or find a way to renegotiate my impossible contract, I’m stuck working under one of the cockiest and most ruthless bosses in New York. Then again, I thought that was the case until he called me late last night with an emergency proposition…

Oh hello steamy, slow-burn office romance! I came across Two Weeks Notice on Katie @ inbetweenspines’ book blog and her review had me wanting to pick this up right away because I was definitely in the mood for it. And before you think you know what the emergency proposition is, well, you’re probably only partially right because it’s really only half-ish of the story! 😂

Even though the old CEO gets with the intern/EA/staff trope is pretty well used in romances, I still enjoy it when it’s done well, and I thought this was one of them! The story is told in alternating perspectives between Tara and Preston, although Tara’s POV gets more time than Preston’s. Usually I find it annoying when the chapters don’t alternate evenly, but I enjoyed Tara’s chapters a lot more since Preston’s was pretty typical of the CEO in these types of romances. I will say that I was curious to know more about him though. While I wasn’t impressed by either of their characters at the start of the book, both really grew on me. Tara was a boss ass bitch who took shit from no one and I honestly loved how she whipped the whole office into shape, and although it takes her a while to find a way, I’m glad that continued to fight for what she wanted in her career without letting a man stop her!

Preston continued to be that asshole CEO throughout the story, but I loved how we slowly found out about all the things he’d done for Tara. It was very sweet and had me swooning (just a little bit). Although sometimes I found the things Preston would say to Tara a lottle OTT, I’m glad that it wasn’t with every single interaction. There was a twist to this office romance that I didn’t expect and I thought it was a nice detail that allowed for Preston’s softer side to shine through even more. What did disappoint me however was that Preston’s history was hinted at so often and yet, there was never any satisfactory explanation as to why all of this happened. It was a little underwhelming and I wish that more attention was given to it, especially if it could’ve explained his character more.

Now let’s talk about the heat. This was pretty steamy and explicit. The chemistry between these two characters was F-I-R-E! 🔥I mean, wow. I’m used to these types of romances leading to the two characters falling into bed with each other as quickly as possible, so it was surprising that nothing more than a little something happened between them for a good majority of the story! The slow burn of the romance was done so well. The author definitely knows how to keep her readers on the edge of their seats with anticipation and all that damn angst! And the wait was so worth it.

Overall, I really enjoyed this read. I devoured it in less than a night (lol) because I just couldn’t put it down (but I’m also the worst kind of insomniac) and I’m glad that I read it. I’ve read a few of Whitney G.‘s books now and I like the balance she strikes in her stories between character and plot development and steaminess, so I’m definitely looking forward to reading more of her books!

Have you read Two Weeks Notice? What do you think of this trope?
Let me know in the comments and let’s chat!

#TopTenTuesday: Books with Numbers in the Title

October 1, 2019 Dini @ dinipandareads47 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 with numbers in the title and the minute I read the prompt, my mind drew a straight blank. Had I actually read any books with numbers in the title? Thankfully I have my awesome buddy that’s known as Goodreads to help me figure this out! I found a few titles but I’m not sure if there are enough to amount to ten, so let’s see how it goes!

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Read earlier this year, it is probably one of my 2019 favorites! I had a completely different idea of the book at the start, but wow, was I pleasantly surprised by what was served. TJR has a way of making you feel everything.

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus. I devoured this story in one sitting (literally from 6pm – 4am) because I didn’t want to put this down! This was my first YA thriller and I was so pleasantly surprised with the Breakfast Club + Gossip Girl + HTGAWM vibes of the story. So good!

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. There were some minor slow spots but I was so surprised by how quickly and how much I loved this book. RPO took me on a helluva 80s trip through music and gaming and it was incredible!

Marriage for One by Ella Maise. I still haven’t written a review for this one, but rest assured I loved it. The build up was agonizingly good and the chemistry between our two MCs was so 🔥 !

A Thousand Pieces of You (Firebird #1) by Claudia Gray. I was immediately pulled by the gorgeous cover, then the title got my interest, and finally the premise just hooked me.

Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) by Leigh Bardugo. I think I read this two years ago and while I remember genuinely loving it, I also can’t remember much of it now? 🙃 Writing reviews has done wonders for my memory, so I’m looking forward to reading this again, and reviewing it this time!

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. This was probably my fifth or sixth Jodi Picoult book after I discovered her in high school. You can do a lot of things in nineteen minutes and one thing is to get revenge. This is a story about a school shooting, and it was heartbreaking and extremely hard hitting.

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. My third TJR read of the year and it certainly solidified her as one of my auto-buy and new favorite authors! I was worried the hype would let me down, but I needn’t have worried because WOWZER. I loved it (and the full-cast audiobook)!

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini. This was the second Hosseini book I read and wow, did I cry or did I cry?! Hosseini doing what he does best with this story.

That Second Chance (Getting Lucky #1) by Meghan Quinn. This was my first Quinn and won’t be my last. I’m a sucker for small town romances and this one ticked all the boxes I love!

Have you read many titles with numbers in them?
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! 🙂

Down the TBR Hole – 02

September 30, 2019September 30, 2019 Dini @ dinipandareads21 Comments

Sooo… You know how last week I started with a “Want-to-Read” list of 1,010 books? Well, this week, my list sits at 1,022 books? 😂It’s freaking sorcery I tell ya! I mean, the ‘Want-to-Read’ button is like a siren to me, I just can’t resist it, and the next thing I know I’m clicking away through lists wanting to read ALL THE BOOKS. Last week I started off with a review of 5 books and managed to remove 3. Now I’m stepping up my game and reviewing 10 books–let’s see how I do!

Down the TBR Hole is a weekly book meme created by the wonderful Lia @ Lost in a Story that attempts to organize our ridiculously long Goodreads TBR list by choosing either to keep or eliminate the books we’ve saved on there. Here’s how it works:

Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
Order on ascending date added.
Take the first 5 (or 10 (or even more!) if you’re feeling adventurous) books. Of course, if you do this weekly, you start where you left off the last time.
Read the synopses of the books
Decide: keep it or should it go

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. I’m 90% sure that I’ve read this book before in middle or high school? If my memory serves me right, the book had recipes in it and it was awesome? I think this would still be a story that I enjoy so I think I’d like to reread it.

Verdict: Keep

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I just… I enjoyed the movie well enough but I’ve tried to read the book a few times but I just couldn’t get into it? I know it’s a classic that I’d like to maybe read eventually, but for now I think I’m going to have to say…

Verdict: Bye-Bye-Bye

Beloved by Toni Morrison. This is a classic that terrifies me a little bit but I’m more determined than ever to read it now!

Verdict: Keep

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. I’ve never read this book but its opening lines are a classic. I would read this for the opening lines alone, but I’ve always been very curious about it and I’m kind of sad we didn’t read this at school? Lol

Verdict: Keep

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. I’ve been meaning to read this forever and I was even supposed to join a buddy read for this earlier this year, but I was in an epic reading slump so I bailed. But I really want to read this!

Verdict: Keep

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare. This has one of my favorite quotes that I even want to have tattooed on me somewhere, but I still haven’t read it. I MUST!

Verdict: Keep

The Pianist by Władysław Szpilman. I love historical fictions, I loved this movie, and I think I still want to read this. Adrien Brody made me bawl like a freaking baby in this movie.

Verdict: Keep

The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende. I’ve only read one Allende book and I loved it, but then I found out that it was completely different to what she normally writes! I think for now I’m going to kick this off my list because the blurb doesn’t pull me in anymore.

Verdict: Bye-bye-bye

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. I mean… This is a classic, right? I feel like this isn’t something I’m going to read anytime soon, even though I’ve got the book on my shelf, but I’ll keep it on my list.

Verdict: Keep

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. I read the synopsis and while it sounds interesting, it’s not really pulling me in. So I’m going to say…

Verdict: Bye-bye-bye

Alright, so this round was a lot harder than the first because most of these I’m interested in reading, but I don’t know when I’ll get to them. Still, it counts that I wanna read them, right? 😂 This week I removed 3/10 books.

Have you read any of these books? Do you find it easy to cull your TBR list? Leave me a comment and let’s chat!

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!

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [24]

September 29, 2019December 4, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads4 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!

It’s the last Sunday of September! I’m gonna say it again because my brain is still like WHAT, but I can’t believe we’re already walking into the tenth month of the year. 2019 is flying!
I’ve been out and about today and have been thinking about what book I want to move forward with now. I (finally) finished Priory on Thursday and I was determined to read some romance this weekend, and thanks to staying up reading ’til the early hours of Saturday, I finished not one but TWO books! It just felt so good to read something that I knew would end soon? Haha

I also started House of Salt and Sorrows because mum has been staying with me but now that she’s gone until tomorrow, I don’t know if I want to keep reading it because I’M CHICKEN AF 😂 I’m sure y’all have heard by now how much I can’t handle the ghosty stuff, right? I’m really hesitating, which means I don’t know what I want to read now? I think I might pick up another ARC since I have two that need reading before the end of October, and I don’t want to add anymore to my backlist ARC list, so the following two books might be my main contenders:

Ailsa Rae is learning how to live. She’s only a few months past the heart transplant that—just in time—saved her life. Now, finally, she can be a normal twenty-eight-year-old. She can climb a mountain. Dance. Wait in line all day for tickets to Wimbledon.

But first, she has to put one foot in front of the other. So far, things are as bloody complicated as ever. Her relationship with her mother is at a breaking point and she wants to find her father. Then there’s Lennox, whom Ailsa loved and lost. Will she ever find love again?
Her new heart is a bold heart. She just needs to learn to listen to it. From the hospital to her childhood home, on social media and IRL, Ailsa will embark on a journey about what it means to be, and feel, alive. How do we learn to be brave, to accept defeat, to dare to dream?

Former Little League champion Kimitake “Clyde” Koba finds strength in the belief that he is the reincarnation of Marilyn Monroe as he struggles to escape the ghost of his brother and his alcoholic father.

Born on Yom Kippur, teen prodigy Raphael Dweck has been told his whole life that he has a special purpose in God’s plan. The only problem is, he can’t shake off his doubts, his urges, or the trail of trouble and ruin that follow in his wake.

A decade later, Raphael and ‘Marilyn’ find each other wandering the plastic-bright streets of Hollywood and set out to make a documentary about the transmigration of souls. But when the roleplaying goes too far, they find themselves past the point of no return in their quest to prove who and what they are to their families, God, the world, and themselves.

Which do you think I should read next?
What are you currently reading?

Much the same as last week, I pretty much did nothing this weekend. As I mentioned above, mum flew over from Jakarta and has been staying with me. It was her birthday on Wednesday and us kids got her an iPad Mini that she’s been wanting for ages so that she could download an app to watch her Korean dramas on 😂 Since she unwrapped it, the iPad has been GLUED to her hands and she’s been staying up pretty late despite having early mornings, and getting headaches from staring at the screen for too long. She’s so cute?

Today saw me moving a little bit more, i.e. I left my house! I met my cousin for brunch at one of my favorite spots! I decided to try a different meal today and unfortunately, that was a hella regrettable decision 😭 Sometimes it pays to not stray from what you already know is good! Also, for the first time in a very long time, I’m not exactly dreading that Monday is around the corner. It’s a good feeling and I’m hoping that the anxiety that has taken up residence inside me lately continues to loosen its grip. Little by little, day by day. Progress!

Reading & Blogging Recap

This weekend alone I managed to finish THREE books, so I’m pretty chuffed. To be fair, I was already 65% through one and it was an easy Middle Grade read too, while the other two were fast and easy contemporaries to satisfy my need for something fluffy after finishing Priory! I’m legit SO PROUD OF MYSELF for finishing this book before September ended. It was seriously a journey. I was 80% convinced that I might’ve DNF’d this book (okay, I don’t DNF but I would’ve put it on indefinite hold) when I started it, but I’m glad I kept on. I need to write my review before every thought I had about the book disappears from my head but I’m still not sure how to review it?! I’m hoping that my discussion with my buddy readers will help me figure it out! 🙃

I’m still working on catching up on my blog hopping and responding to comments! I’ve been doing okay with keeping up with the comments in the last week, but the day(s) after catching up always see me scrambling to catch up AGAIN! *So I’m Sorry if I only respond to your comments 3-4 days after you write them!* Other than that it’s been a pretty decent blogging week; I’ve been blogging fairly consistently lately and thanks to WordPress who’ve been sending me reminders whenever I post, I know that I’m now on a 41-day streak! 🙌🏽 It helps that I’ve also added one more weekly post to my schedule. This actually makes me feel so productive 😊 On that note, you can find a list of all the posts I made this week, in case you missed it:

Review: Matchmaking for Beginners by Maddie Dawson
Top 5 Saturday: Books with Maps!
eARC Review: The Stopover by T L Swan
Friday Favorites: WORDS!
First Lines Friday: 27 September
Review: One Day in December by Josie Silver
I Dare You Tag
eARC Review: The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
Review: Vicious (Villains #1) by V.E. Schwab
WWWWednesday: 25 September
#TopTenTuesday: Books On My Autumn Possibility Pile!
Down the TBR Hole – 01
Goodreads Monday: 23 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, friends 🙂

Matchmaking for Beginners by Maddie Dawson – #BookReview

September 29, 2019September 29, 2019 Dini @ dinipandareads16 Comments

Goodreads: Matchmaking for Beginners
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Reviewed: January 2019
Panda Rating:

Marnie MacGraw wants an ordinary life—a husband, kids, and a minivan in the suburbs. Now that she’s marrying the man of her dreams, she’s sure this is the life she’ll get. Then Marnie meets Blix Holliday, her fiancé’s irascible matchmaking great-aunt who’s dying, and everything changes—just as Blix told her it would.
When her marriage ends after two miserable weeks, Marnie is understandably shocked. She’s even more astonished to find that she’s inherited Blix’s Brooklyn brownstone along with all of Blix’s unfinished “projects”: the heartbroken, oddball friends and neighbors running from happiness. Marnie doesn’t believe she’s anything special, but Blix somehow knew she was the perfect person to follow in her matchmaker footsteps.
And Blix was also right about some things Marnie must learn the hard way: love is hard to recognize, and the ones who push love away often are the ones who need it most.

“You need a mantra to help you. You can borrow mine, if you want: ‘Whatever happens, love that.”

What a seriously charming book! The characters are lovingly quirky and the situations they find themselves in are emotional and heartfelt, but not without comedy injected here and there to lighten the mood up a little bit. It’s also endlessly quotable!

Marnie McGraw doesn’t want for much except a normal life with the white picket fence, doting husband and adorable children, and she knows that being engaged to Noah (a.k.a. the man of her dreams) brings her one step closer to achieving all that. But life doesn’t always go as planned and she experiences that first hand when her world falls apart after Noah leaves her on their honeymoon, she loses her teaching job in California and has to move back home to her parent’s house in Florida. As she deals with the aftermath of her disastrously short-lived marriage, Marnie is beyond shocked to receive a letter informing her that not only has Noah’s ‘crazy aunt’ Blix passed away, but she has left her a home in Brooklyn.

Eccentric, life-of-the-party, and carefree Blix is the black sheep of her family. When she meets Marnie at a family gathering, she feels an instant kinship and spiritual connection to her and believes that Marnie is meant to take up her mantle of matchmaker once she’s gone. She tells Marnie that no matter how things work out between her and Noah, she has a big, big life ahead of her.Although she’s still reeling from recent events, and is convinced all of it is a mistake, Marnie goes to Brooklyn to fulfill the wishes of a person she remembers fondly and who gave her comfort when she needed it, despite only having met Blix all of two times.

“You need to forget what society has told you about life and expectations, and don’t let anybody make you pretend. You are enough, just the way you are—do you hear me? You have many gifts. Many, many gifts.”

What follows is an emotional, heartfelt, and comedic rollercoaster of a journey, as Marnie tries to leave the past behind and deal with an unexpected present that doesn’t quite fit with the picture she’s always had of her future. It is in Brooklyn, where she meets all the characters from Blix’s life and explores the magic of her matchmaking gift–not without plenty of mishaps along the way, that Marnie discovers the power of love and healing, and she finally finds where she truly belongs.

“It’s in the broken places where the light gets in.”

As corny as all of this sounds, I finished this book feeling so happy and comforted, and sometimes, that’s all you really need from a book, isn’t it? I’m glad that I followed along with the Audiobook because although it took me nearly three times as long to finish it, it gave me the chance to really immerse myself in the story and build a strong attachment to the characters. Although I found Marnie’s character desperate and pretty annoying at the start, her character growth throughout the story was very satisfying, and I’m happy with how she learned to embrace herself in the end. I think Amy McFadden does a wonderful job narrating Marnie, and I don’t think I could have picked a better voice than Joyce Bean for Blix. There’s something so grandmotherly and comforting about Bean’s voice and although it was only for the first few chapters, every time Blix would ‘reappear’ in subsequent chapters, I would still hear the part as if she spoke it. 😂

If you’re looking for a fun, sassy romcom, I’d definitely recommend this!

Have you read Matchmaking for Beginners? Do you like romance?
Let me know in the comments and let’s chat!

Top 5 Saturday: Books with Maps!

September 28, 2019September 28, 2019 Dini @ dinipandareads22 Comments

It’s time for another Top 5 Saturday, a weekly meme created by Mandy @ Devouring Books and this week’s topic is: books with maps. I’m a real sucker for a good map at the start of a story! If there’s a map at the front I’ll constantly flip to it as I’m reading to better situate myself; plus, I love making a trail to see where our characters have been and where they’re going next. The one thing I hate about reading SFF on my Kindle is that I can’t see the maps in as large of a scale as I want to. The zoom feature stresses me out 😂 Which is why I buy the physical book if I end up liking the story because the map is one of my favorite parts of reading SFF! I love when the maps include different details for different areas–I think the more detail in these maps the better because I just want to absorb ALL THE DETAILS. Here are five maps that I absolutely love:

Godsgrave – The Nevernight Chronicle
I mean, I couldn’t NOT include this map. I want to blow it up and hang it on my wall somewhere. Lucky for me, I think my Darkdawn Illumicrate box does come with a map (it’s not huge, but it’s bigger than the book)! The details in this map are exquisite and I kept staring at it trying to soak in EVERYTHING!

Erilea – Throne of Glass Series
I think this was one of the first fantasy series I read and even though I’m putting off reading the final book because I don’t want it to end, I love the vast world that Maas created.

The Four Corners of Civilization – The Kingkiller Chronicle
I honestly wish that this map was more detailed. I love this story and I loved flipping back and forth to the map while reading the story, but I think it would’ve been so much better if it had more detail!

Grishaverse – The Shadow and Bone Trilogy
I honestly love the details in this map. It’s not as overloaded as let’s say the Itreya map, but it’s still got awesome illustrations that depict the unique areas of the Grishaverse. I definitely flipped through to the front of the book several times while reading this series to trace the characters’ steps!

Ketterdam – Six of Crows Duology
This is the type of map that makes me want to shove it right in my face so I can make out every single curving street and minute detail that was put into creating a map of a city! I loved the description of the city of Ketterdam and this map definitely helped me to picture it better 😍