#TopTenTuesday: My Favourite Places to Be…

October 12, 2021August 12, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads41 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: Favourite Book Settings

So… This topic was decidedly difficult? 🤔 It could be that my brain just wasn’t in a thinking mood and the brain fog was admittedly working extra hard today (lol, of course I’m making the post on the day of!), so I couldn’t decide on whether I wanted to focus it on a few specific places from my favourite books or whether I wanted to focus on the setting and highlight books based on those. In the end, I decided to go with the former because I thought it would be easier? It wasn’t. There are just too many settings I love so this is simply a tiny taste of my favourites. Sorry in advance cos this post is just a hot mess 😂

First Impressions Spotlight: Dim Stars by Brian P. Rubin

October 11, 2021December 3, 2024 Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

I’m back with the The Storytellers on Tour today with a Book Blitz for Dim Stars by Brian P. Rubin and I’ll be sharing my first impressions of the book so far. Thanks to the author for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review!

Don’t forget to scroll to the end of the post to enter the GIVEAWAY (International) for the chance to win a signed paperback copy of the book!

Goodreads: Dim Stars
Publisher: Critical Eye Publishing
Publication Date: 20 October 2020
Genre: Young Adult Sci-Fi

Kenzie Washington, fourteen-year-old girl genius, signs up for a two-week tour as a cadet on the spaceship of her idol, Captain Dash Drake. Too bad Dash, who once saved the galaxy from the evil Forgers, is a broke loser and much less than meets the eye. But when an intergalactic evil appears and launches an attack, Dash, Kenzie, and the ship’s crew escape, making them the next target. On the run and low on gas, Dash and Kenzie encounter cannibal space-pirates, catastrophic equipment failure, and a cyborg who’s kind of a jerk. Kenzie is determined to discover the bad guys’ secret plan. But for her to succeed, Dash needs to keep his brilliant, annoying cadet from getting killed …which is a lot harder than it sounds.

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Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

October 10, 2021October 10, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads10 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’m in a bit of a restless reading mood so I’ve struggled to focus on books this week/end. 😔 It’s giving me some pre-slump feels but I’m trying to push through, which means reading bits of books on rotation. Here’s what I’ve got going on so far:

I’m about 35% through Dim Stars and it’s so much fun! I love this quirky crew and I’ll be sharing my first impressions for the Storytellers on Tour book blitz starting tomorrow!

This cover kinda freaks me out? But the premise has me intrigued plus it’s so short (~90pgs), so it won’t take long to finish once I get into Games We Play!

I’m about 40% through The Bastard’s Betrayal and I’m loving Rose and Dante! I don’t know why I stopped but I think I’ll try to finish it tonight!

What are you currently reading?

Top 5 Saturday: Books with Bones on the Cover!

October 9, 2021October 9, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads15 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: Bones on the Cover

It’s been a hot minute since I did a Top 5 Saturday post but of course I had to come back on the day when the topic is a toughie (for me!) LOL. 😂 It took a little bit of digging on Goodreads but I managed to find 5 books that are on my TBR that have bones on the cover and that I can’t wait to read! ☠️

If We Were Villains

Oliver Marks has just served ten years in jail – for a murder he may or may not have committed. On the day he’s released, he’s greeted by the man who put him in prison. Detective Colborne is retiring, but before he does, he wants to know what really happened a decade ago.

As one of seven young actors studying Shakespeare at an elite arts college, Oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress, ingenue, extra. But when the casting changes, and the secondary characters usurp the stars, the plays spill dangerously over into life, and one of them is found dead. The rest face their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, and themselves, that they are blameless.

#FirstLinesFriday: 08 October 2021

October 8, 2021October 23, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads11 Comments

Happy Friday book lovers! We’re back with another First Lines Friday, a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here are the rules:

Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!

First lines:

“It was the exploding unicorn that finally broke him.
Until she accidentally brained the most eminent pastry chef in London with a projectile hoof, Sylvie Fairchild had been casually speculating whether—like her ill-fated unicorn cake—Dominic De Vere also contained a hidden robotic mechanism.”

Do you recognise the book these first lines come from?

#WWWWednesday: 06 October 2021

October 6, 2021October 6, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads16 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?

Since last week I’ve read seven books. This past week I discovered one of my favourite reads of the year and I can’t recommend it enough—especially if you’re a fan of Norse mythology and unapologetically queer characters! 😍

The Sweetest Oblivion (Made #1) by Danielle Lori ★★★★☆
I didn’t expect to enjoy this mafia romance as much as I did but the characters, the slow burn romance and absolutely explosive sexual tension made this a delightfully heart-pounding read. My review

As Good As Dead (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #3) by Holly Jackson ★★★½
This is the third and final book in the AGGGTM series and although Pippa’s story took a wild turn that was outrageous and had me really suspending my disbelief, I appreciated how Jackson tied in all the stories and had everything come full circle. My review

The Goddess of Nothing at All by Cat Rector ★★★★★
This is an amazing Norse Mythology retelling told from the perspective of the lesser known deity Sigyn Odindottir, aka Loki’s wife (and so much more in her own right). This dark fantasy is as much a love story as it is a tragedy that ripped my feelings to shreds, and if you love mythology, queer retellings, and morally grey characters, then defo give this a try! My review

#TopTenTuesday: Bookish Pet Peeves!

October 5, 2021August 12, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads45 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: Bookish Pet Peeves

I wasn’t totally enthusiastic about this topic when I drafted this post but once the ball got rolling it didn’t take long for me to come up with ten! I guess I have a lot of things that I like to whine about when it comes to books/reading! 😂

Book Review: Seducing the Sorcerer by Lee Welch

October 5, 2021August 13, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads6 Comments

Goodreads: Seducing the Sorcerer
Publisher: Self-published
Published: 23 September 2021
Genre: Fantasy Romance

Panda Rating:

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Homeless and jobless, Fenn Todd has nearly run out of hope. All he has left is his longing for horses and the strength of his own two hands. But when he’s cheated into accepting a very ugly sackcloth horse, he’s catapulted into a world of magic, politics and desire.

Fenn’s invited to stay at the black tower, home of the most terrifying man in the realm: Morgrim, the court sorcerer. Morgrim has a reputation as a scheming villain, but he seems surprisingly charming—and sexy—and Fenn falls hard for him.

However, nothing is as it seems and everyone at the tower is lying about something. Beset by evil hexes, violent political intrigue and a horse that eats eiderdowns, Fenn must make the hardest choices of his life.
Can a plain man like Fenn ever find true love with a scheming sorcerer?

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

October 4, 2021October 3, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads14 Comments

I’ll be spending the rest of my Sunday finishing Seducing the Sorcerer by Lee Welch. I’ve never heard of this author before but I picked it up cos I saw Nick @ The Infinite Limits of Love review it and since it sounded like a fun MM romance, I thought I’d give it a try! It took a while for me to get into it but I’m enjoying it so far! These two are such softies (outside of the bedroom) and I they’re so awkwardly sweet together! ❤️

Homeless and jobless, Fenn Todd has nearly run out of hope. All he has left is his longing for horses and the strength of his own two hands. But when he’s cheated into accepting a very ugly sackcloth horse, he’s catapulted into a world of magic, politics and desire.

Fenn’s invited to stay at the black tower, home of the most terrifying man in the realm: Morgrim, the court sorcerer. Morgrim has a reputation as a scheming villain, but he seems surprisingly charming—and sexy—and Fenn falls hard for him.

However, nothing is as it seems and everyone at the tower is lying about something. Beset by evil hexes, violent political intrigue and a horse that eats eiderdowns, Fenn must make the hardest choices of his life.

Can a plain man like Fenn ever find true love with a scheming sorcerer?

What are you currently reading?

Blog Tour Review: The Goddess of Nothing at All by Cat Rector

October 3, 2021October 2, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads20 Comments

I’m back with another blog tour with The Storytellers on Tour for The Goddess of Nothing at All by Cat Rector. Thanks to the author for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Be sure to click on the banner below to check out the rest of the bloggers on tour!

Goodreads: The Goddess of Nothing at All
Publication Date: 01 October 2021
Genre: Dark Fantasy, Retelling

Panda Rating:

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A dark fantasy Norse myth retelling for fans of Circe, The Witch’s Heart, and The Silence of the Girls

Perhaps you know the myths.
Furious, benevolent Gods.
A tree that binds nine realms.
A hammer stronger than any weapon.
And someday, the end of everything.

But few have heard of me.

Looking back, it’s easy to know what choices I might have made differently. At least it feels that way. I might have given up on my title. Told my father he was useless, king of Gods or no, and left Asgard. Made a life somewhere else.

Maybe I would never have let Loki cross my path. Never have fallen in love.
But there’s no going back.
We were happy once.
And the price for that happiness was the end of everything.