#WWWWednesday: 06 January

January 7, 2021June 23, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads23 Comments

Welcome, welcome to the first WWW Wednesday of 2021!

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 the last time I did one of these posts I’ve managed to read 5 books (I think?), although none of them were the ones that I was reading in my previous post and all of those are still being “currently read”. 😅

The Little Swiss Ski Chalet ★★★½
Caplin made me question why I’d yet to go to Switzerland and why it wasn’t higher up on my bucket list. She masterfully brought the setting of each location so vividly to life, and not to mention how she so enthusiastically writes about food in this book made me ridiculously hungry (and eager to bake)! Sadly, I wish the characters were better developed as I didn’t feel connected to them and it made the romance fall a bit flat for me. RTC.

Keepers of the Lost Cities (Keeper of the Lost Cities #1) by Shannon Messenger ★★★★☆
I’d heard so much about this series and I’m so glad I finally picked it up. It’s action-packed and Messenger introduces us to an interesting magical world full of vegetarian elves and a unique magical system. I loved Sophie and her journey and can’t wait to read more. Potentially a new favourite MG fantasy! RTC.

Blog Tour Review + Top 5 Reasons to Read: Glimpsed by G.F. Miller

January 6, 2021June 23, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads19 Comments

Today is my stop on the TBR & Beyond Tours for Glimpsed by G.F. Miller. Special thanks to Simon & Schuster Books for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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

Goodreads: Glimpsed
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: 05 December 2020
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary/Fantasy

Panda Rating:

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Perfect for fans of Geekerella and Jenn Bennett, this charming, sparkly rom-com follows a wish-granting teen forced to question if she’s really doing good—and if she has the power to make her own dreams come true.

Charity is a fairy godmother. She doesn’t wear a poofy dress or go around waving a wand, but she does make sure the deepest desires of the student population at Jack London High School come true. And she knows what they want even better than they do because she can glimpse their perfect futures.

But when Charity fulfills a glimpse that gets Vibha crowned homecoming queen, it ends in disaster. Suddenly, every wish Charity has ever granted is called into question. Has she really been helping people? Where do these glimpses come from, anyway? What if she’s not getting the whole picture?

Making this existential crisis way worse is Noah—the adorkable and (in Charity’s opinion) diabolical ex of one of her past clients—who blames her for sabotaging his prom plans and claims her interventions are doing more harm than good. He demands that she stop granting wishes and help him get his girl back. At first, Charity has no choice but to play along. But soon, Noah becomes an unexpected ally in getting to the bottom of the glimpses. Before long, Charity dares to call him her friend…and even starts to wish he were something more. But can the fairy godmother ever get the happily ever after?

BUY NOW: Amazon (US) | Barnes & Noble | Indigo | Indiebound

#TopTenTuesday: Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2021!

January 5, 2021August 12, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads46 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: Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2021.

Welcome, welcome back to the first Top Ten Tuesday of 2021! I hope you’re all doing well and that you’ve had a pain free start to the new year. ❤️

Last month, the blogosphere was full of lists for what’s coming out in 2021 and unsurprisingly my TBR has been growing quickly since I took the time to scour through some of them. I know I’m still missing out on a ton but I already have 50(+/-) books on my 2021-releases shelf and I have no doubt that it’s going to keep growing, especially after reading everyones posts today! Since I tend to read a lot of romances and YA fantasies, that’s mostly what this list is full of but I’m definitely keen to add some adult contemporary/literary fiction and some good ol’ thrillers/mysteries too (hint hint: any recs?)!

Now without further ado, here are some titles that I’m super excited for in the first half of 2021:

December 2020 Monthly Wrap Up!

January 4, 2021January 2, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads19 Comments

We’ve now started the first full week of January and I was debating whether to even make a December monthly wrap-up post because I’m lazy but I already did the End of Year Survey: Parts I, II & III, but I thought let’s just get it done with so… Here we are 🤪

December was both so slow and too fast and it was honestly a bit of a “surreal” month. I found myself struggling even more to stay motivated at work especially since everyone was going off on holidays and I was one of the few that stayed on until the very last day of the year. I did have a lot of wrapping up to do as I was also ending my full-time work contract and with no one around to really hand things off to, it was a bit more hectic than anticipated.

For the most part, I played a lot of Animal Crossing, read a few books and generally tried to not give in to my desire to retreat into ultimate cave-reading mode too often (especially since I still had work to do)! LOL 😂 I did get my Owlcrate mid-December and the merch and book were gorgeous–I absolutely loved it! My favourite items are the planner+stickers, the monthly pin and of course, the book itself!

In December, I read 18 books! They were a pretty good mix of fantasy and romance, although I did manage to sneak in a non-fiction and some literary/contemporary fiction as well. Despite being excited to read more holiday romances, I only ended up reading two, but I might read one or two more in January but that’s also a big might. As you’ll see in my wrap up although I’ve been reading, what I haven’t been doing is writing reviews immediately. I’m so behind and really need to catch up 😂

I loved many of my December reads and despite a few exceptions, most of them were 4-5 stars, so I would defo say it was a successful month for reading! I had two five star reads in December and they were (obviously) my faves: Bad Blood and Amari and the Night Brothers. They’re two very different books but both are equally amazing and I would highly recommend them!

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

January 4, 2021June 23, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads13 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!

This Sunday I’ve spent most of the day reading (and finishing) Glimpsed for my first blog tour of 2021 next week! This was such a fun YA contemporary set in high-school. I loved the fairy godmother aspect and although there were things that I had issues with, I had such a good time reading it. I really liked Charity and I loved the adorkable Noah! My tour date is on Wednesday so I’ll be posting my review then!

Charity is a fairy godmother. She doesn’t wear a poofy dress or go around waving a wand, but she does make sure the deepest desires of the student population at Jack London High School come true. And she knows what they want even better than they do because she can glimpse their perfect futures.

But when Charity fulfills a glimpse that gets Vibha crowned homecoming queen, it ends in disaster. Suddenly, every wish Charity has ever granted is called into question. Has she really been helping people? Where do these glimpses come from, anyway? What if she’s not getting the whole picture?

Making this existential crisis way worse is Noah—the adorkable and (in Charity’s opinion) diabolical ex of one of her past clients—who blames her for sabotaging his prom plans and claims her interventions are doing more harm than good. He demands that she stop granting wishes and help him get his girl back. At first, Charity has no choice but to play along. But soon, Noah becomes an unexpected ally in getting to the bottom of the glimpses. Before long, Charity dares to call him her friend…and even starts to wish he were something more. But can the fairy godmother ever get the happily ever after?

What are you currently reading?

#WWWWednesday: 30 December

December 30, 2020December 30, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

WHOA, IT’S THE LAST WWWWEDNESDAY FOR 2020! Shooketh.

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 managed to finish four books but I also decided to DNF one. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again now, I’m quite proud that I’m actually DNFing books this year. It’s been so hard for me to do but baby steps… We’re getting there! But also… I still have to write reviews for all of these. *le super sigh* Yay for reading lots but the struggle to review is so real! 🙃

Subversive (Clandestine Magic #1) by Colleen Crowley ★★★★☆
I was immediately intrigued by this dystopian society where males reign supreme in every aspect especially to do with magic. There were many layers to the plot(s) and it covers so many issues but the author does a fantastic job of bringing it all together: we’re advocating for women’s rights, subverting the male dominated magical system, hiding government secrets and all while getting a deliciously slow-burning enemies-to-lovers romance! Plus the characters were so easy to root for! I can’t wait to read on. Will likely do a series review for this? RTC.

Spellmaker (Spellbreaker Duology #2) by Charlie N. Holmberg ★★★★☆
This was an action-packed and ultimately satisfying conclusion to Holmberg’s latest historical fantasy duology. It was so rejoin Elsie and Bacchus as they try to beat the villain at their own game. There was more magic, murder, and mystery, and I was 100% here for it. This book is out in March 2021 so my review will be posted closer to pub day! RTC.

#TopTenTuesday: Favourite 2020 Reads!

December 29, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads33 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 Books of 2020.

I can’t believe that it’s already time to make this list because wow, what a year 2020 has been, eh? I mean, we all know what kind of year it was and although not all of us had the worst one, I think the general mood of 2020 has been pretty despondent. I’m definitely not expecting things to magically turn around in 2021 but I am hoping that it’ll at least be marginally better than this one (I’m keeping my expectations low though so that I might be pleasantly surprised)! 😂

That said, it was a pretty great year for books/reading and I’m sure many of you will agree! Although it actually wasn’t my best year, I did get to some pretty fantastic titles that I’m sure will stick with me for a while to come. Unsurprisingly, I’m notoriously bad at picking ‘favourites’ so this list was a bit of a struggle 😂 It took me way too long to narrow it down and definitely don’t be surprised by the few honorary mentions at the end! I’m really keen to see what 2021 brings in terms of reading and I’m hoping that I’ll get to even more of my backlist because let’s face it, it gets bigger with each year that passes! Now without further ado, here are my favourites for the year…

#5OnMyTBR: Planned to Read in 2020

December 29, 2020December 28, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads18 Comments

Hello Mondays, welcome back to #5OnMyTBR, a meme created by the wonderful E @ The Local Bee Hunter’s Nook. This bookish meme gets us to dig even further into our TBRs by simply posting about five books on our TBR! You can learn more about it here or in the post announcing it. You can find the full list of prompts (past and future) at the end of this post!

This week’s prompt is: Planned to read in 2020.

Goodreads Monday – The Fortunate Ones by Ed Tarkington

December 28, 2020December 28, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads3 Comments

Welcome back to Goodreads Monday! It’s been a very hot minute since I did one but I figured I might as well get back into it! This weekly meme was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners and it 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.*

*Sorry if a book has been featured twice. I need to make better note of which ones I’ve done already!

This week’s featured book is The Fortunate Ones by Ed Tarkington. This is a literary fiction that is set to be published in January 2021 and currently has a 4.0 rating on Goodreads with 32 reviews. So very early days!

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

December 28, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads8 Comments

This Sunday has seen me spend most of the day reading The Existence of Amy. I was very lucky to have the author send me a copy of the book earlier this year and I’m embarrassed to admit that I only got around to it now. I had a feeling I’d have to prepare myself to read this and I was not wrong–this was pretty emotional and I ended up tearing up a time or two (oh, who am I kidding? As an emotional reader this made the waterworks flow!). I sat down with it at 1pm and finished around 8:30pm because I didn’t want to put it down! This was a raw and intimate portrayal of what it’s like to live with mental illness and while it was an emotional read for me, I wouldn’t exactly say it was super heavy. It’s very accessible and eye-opening, plus Amy was very realistic and relatable. Would definitely recommend it! My review will come soon 😊

Amy has a normal life. That is, if you were to go by a definition of ‘no immediate obvious indicators of peculiarity’, and you didn’t know her very well. She has good friends, a good job, a nice enough home. This normality, however, is precariously plastered on top of a different life. A life that is Amy’s real life. The only one her brain will let her lead.

What are you currently reading?