First Lines Friday – 20 November

November 20, 2020November 20, 2020 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:

“The police officer’s body goes blurry, then sharpens again.
I don’t stare at him directly. I can’t really focus on one thing in this room, but when I do look, his face shimmers.”

Do you recognize the book these first lines come from?

Blog Tour Review: The Boy, the Wolf and the Stars by Shivaun Plozza

November 19, 2020August 18, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

Today is my stop on the TBR & Beyond Tours for The Boy, the Wolf and the Stars by Shivaun Plozza. Special thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an 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: The Boy, the Wolf, and the Stars
Publisher: Clarion Books
Publication Date: 17 November 2020
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

Panda Rating:

A boy and his pet fox go on a quest to find a wolf who has eaten all the stars in the sky before the Shadow Witch destroys the stars and removes good magic from the world forever.

Long ago, the land of Ulv was filled with magic. But that was before a wolf ate all the Stars in the night sky, ridding the world of magic and allowing Shadow Creatures, beasts made of shadow and evil, to flourish. Twelve-year-old Bo knows the stories but thinks the Stars and the wolf who ate them are nothing more than myths—until the day Bo’s guardian, Mads, is attacked by a giant wolf straight from the legends. With his dying breath, Mads tells Bo that Ulv is in danger and the only way to prevent the Shadow Creatures from taking over is to return the Stars to the sky. And so Bo—accompanied by his best friend, a fox called Nix, a girl named Selene who’s magic is tied to the return of the Stars, and Tam, a bird-woman who has vowed to protect Bo at all costs—sets off on a quest to find the three magical keys that will release the Stars. But Bo isn’t the only one who wants the Stars, and the friends soon find themselves fleeing angry villagers, greedy merchants, and a vengeful wolf. And all the while, an evil witch lurks in the shadows and time is running out

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

#WWWWednesday: 18 November

November 18, 2020November 18, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads22 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 Wednesday, I’ve managed to finish ~~two~~ one-ish book(s)! Whoops… I feel like I managed to read more over the last week but I guess my mind is just playing tricks on me 😂

Born at Dawn (Da’Valia Trilogy #1) by Christina Davis ★★★★☆
This was such a fun book and I sped through it so quickly! It was fast-paced and full of action from the very beginning and you can’t help but be sucked into the world that Davis creates. While the world building felt clunky at times, I really liked the characters and I’m so curious about what happens next! Check out my full review!

The Boy, the Wolf and the Stars by Shivaun Plozza ★★★★☆
Okay, I’m cheating a little bit with this one because I still have a teeny bit to finish, but unless something drastic and awful happens in the last 10% this is defo going to be a 4 star! It was so hard to put this down after my lunch break 😭 It’s such a great MG fantasy! My blog tour review is up tomorrow so be on the look out!

#TopTenTuesday: Characters I’d Name a Pet After

November 17, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads40 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: Characters I’d Name a Pet After!

When I first saw this prompt I came up against a solid wall and couldn’t think of a single character I’d like to name a pet after. In all my life, I think the only pet I’ve named after a character was my first cat when I was a kid and I very originally (cough) named her Totoro.

I was so sure that I was going to give this week a pass, but then I decided to challenge myself by having a look at my shelf to see if any names came to mind from the books staring back at me. Surprisingly, there were a few! I have two doggos in my life right now and it’s been years since I’ve had a cat, so it’s kinda funny that when I thought of these names, I actually pictured them all as names for cats? All of the characters I mention are some of my all-time favourites. Maybe one takes an animal form. Some are full of mischief. Others are very sweet and nerdy. Almost all of them have dry senses of humour and are as sarcastic as I can be IRL. Basically, they’re characters who have wormed their way into my heart and who made my reading experience that much better!

#5OnMyTBR: Books with Black Covers

November 17, 2020November 16, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads15 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: Black Covers

Goodreads Monday – Minimum Wage Magic by Rachel Aaron

November 16, 2020November 16, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads15 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.

This week’s featured book is Minimum Wage Magic (DFZ #1) by Rachel Aaron. This is an urban fantasy with magic and dragons and it has a 4.16 star rating on Goodreads with roughly 400 reviews.

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

November 15, 2020November 15, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads3 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 picked up a book for all of five minutes this Sunday but now that it’s well into the evening, I’m looking forward to spending the rest of my night in bed with The Boy, the Wolf, and the Stars! I’m reading this for the blog tour next week and I managed to read five minutes of it this morning before my day became crazy! But how good does this synopsis sound?! I’m so excited to cosy up with it tonight!

A boy and his pet fox go on a quest to find a wolf who has eaten all the stars in the sky before the Shadow Witch destroys the stars and removes good magic from the world forever.

Long ago, the land of Ulv was filled with magic. But that was before a wolf ate all the Stars in the night sky, ridding the world of magic and allowing Shadow Creatures, beasts made of shadow and evil, to flourish. Twelve-year-old Bo knows the stories but thinks the Stars and the wolf who ate them are nothing more than myths—until the day Bo’s guardian, Mads, is attacked by a giant wolf straight from the legends. With his dying breath, Mads tells Bo that Ulv is in danger and the only way to prevent the Shadow Creatures from taking over is to return the Stars to the sky.

And so Bo—accompanied by his best friend, a fox called Nix, a girl named Selene who’s magic is tied to the return of the Stars, and Tam, a bird-woman who has vowed to protect Bo at all costs—sets off on a quest to find the three magical keys that will release the Stars. But Bo isn’t the only one who wants the Stars, and the friends soon find themselves fleeing angry villagers, greedy merchants, and a vengeful wolf. And all the while, an evil witch lurks in the shadows and time is running out.

What are you currently reading?

Blog Tour Review: Born at Dawn by Christina Davis

November 14, 2020November 14, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads7 Comments

Hello, friends! Today is my stop on the TBR & Beyond Tours for Born at Dawn by Christina Davis. Special thanks to the author 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: Born at Dawn (Da’Valia Trilogy #1)
Publication Date: 15 November 2020
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Panda Rating:

In a world of secrets, the one she never expected is the one that will change her life forever.
When a heist goes terribly wrong and the binding spell holding 17-year-old Neva’s powers at bay is shattered, the half-human thief knows she’s in trouble.

Neva has always hidden her Da’Valian heritage while working risky jobs to make a name for herself and serving at her family’s tavern, but she won’t be able to hide much longer. She can either risk the safety of those she cares about or seek out her mother’s people to gain control over her emerging powers.

The Da’Valia are beautiful, brutal creatures created by the god of war, and the austere Da’Valian soldier Astiand reluctantly agrees to take Neva to his clan under his protection. She makes unexpected friends, including the handsome fighter Emiliand, and a new enemy in the clan’s ruthless leader.

Spying on her guardian, the sly heroine quickly discovers just how deep she has stumbled into a dangerous, developing clan feud. Will she be able to embrace who she is in time to keep her loved ones safe?

⚠This book is about a race of warriors and contains violent scenes, which may not be suitable for all audiences.

Buy: Amazon (US)

Let’s Talk Bookish: When It’s Time to Hit the Breaks!

November 14, 2020November 13, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads16 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 November 2020 prompts & a list of past prompts!

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

WHEN ARE READING BREAKS A GOOD IDEA?

(SUGGESTED BY LYDIA @ LYDIA SCHOCH)
Examples: Do you ever take breaks from reading? What causes you to take a reading break and how long are they typically? When would you recommend reading breaks to others? Do you think reading breaks help you to read more in the long run?

Do you ever take breaks from reading?

Just like with anything, I do think it’s good to take a break from reading every now and again. A break doesn’t necessarily have to mean taking a week or month away (and it also doesn’t necessarily mean putting a stop to perusing books in general 😉), but as a mood reader I find it really helps when I can’t settle on what to read next!

What causes you to take a break and how long are they?

Thinking back on when I’ve taken breaks, I’ve noticed that they’ve all pretty much been unplanned and I took them for various reasons. My most recent break, which happened at the start of the pandemic, was actually the longest I can recall taking and I ended up not really reading anything for about 1.5 months? And I mean I actively didn’t pick up a book during that time. This was mostly because of Animal Crossing LOL. 😂 But I know I’m not alone in saying that the pandemic stress really got to me at the beginning! Other times, I’ve taken weekend or sometimes week long breaks if I really got into a TV show that sucked up all my spare time. I don’t watch a lot of Netflix/TV so this rarely happens but when it does I zone hard on it 😅 I’ve also taken one day breaks a few times especially if I have a slight book hangover and I want to take a breather before diving into whatever I choose to read next.

When would you recommend reading breaks to others & are they helpful in the long run?

Obviously it’s pretty subjective. If you feel you need to take a break, you should definitely do it. As a mood reader, I find taking breaks helps me when nothing I pick up can hold my attention. Putting books aside for a little while does help me to feel refreshed again and eager to get back to reading. Also, as I’ve become more critical of what I read, I find that even when I’m reading something that’s not really heavy or intense, like a romcom, my mind is still always constantly buzzing, analysing and finding things to critique (if anything) and after a while, it does get pretty tiring because then everything feels unenjoyable. At that point, it does wonders to give yourself a break and let your mind rest!

I would recommend taking a break when:

Can’t decide what to read or are experiencing a book hangover, especially if it’s a big one!
You feel overwhelmed or stressed out about reading
You just feel like you need it–whether it’s because you’d rather watch TV or you want to game or whatever it is you want to do. Just do what’s best for you!

So, what do you think? I know that reading is a form of escapism for many of us, but do you ever take reading breaks? How long do they last for and do you find that breaks help you in any way?

First Lines Friday – 13 November

November 13, 2020November 13, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads13 Comments

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!