Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

October 19, 2020October 18, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads11 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 already Sunday evening and I’ve not done much reading today… But I will be spending the rest of my night in bed reading Legends Rise, book three in the Venators series. I read a bit of it already this morning and I’ve been enjoying it so far! It’s been a while since I read the previous book (also, my memory is weak) it took a little bit of warming up to remember what happened, but it does feel good to be back in this world and with these characters. I still feel like Grey must be protected at all costs and oh my, I’m loving Beltran even more!

The path will be forged in sweat and blood.
Rune, Grey, the shape-shifter Beltran, and willful vampire, Verida, set out to rescue their friend and mentor, Tate, from the gladiator games. But first they must navigate the perils of Eon and its warring factions. Each of this band of four carries with them a secret that threatens to tear their group apart from within. Rune now bears the mark of the promise she made to save Grey’s life-a nixie bubble lodged in her arm that could call her away to do their bidding or spell her death.
Even as their loyalty to their cause and to one another faces its greatest test, Rune’s twin brother Ryker is forging an alliance with their mortal enemy, the powerful sorceress Zio, who has plans of her own for the Venators and Eon. Hearts will be bared, secrets unveiled, and relationships made and destroyed in this stunning new installment of the Venators series

What are you currently reading?

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

October 18, 2020October 18, 2020 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!

October 18, 2020October 17, 2020 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!)

#TopTenTuesday: Books with (Super) Long Titles

October 13, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads20 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: Super Long Book Titles!

I realised five minutes ago that I’ve been working on the prompt for next week (welp 🙃) but I’m glad that this week’s prompt is quite easy and fun so I’m going to keep this short and simple! I think there are a lot of long book titles these days (especially in YA fantasy with many combination of the “A _____ of _____ and _____” or “_____ of _____ and _____” titles) but I tried not to include any of those in my list today 😉 Although I know a lot of readers are sick of the similar titles, I’m not particularly fussed by them. But I do think these longer titles are more interesting! These books are a mix of ones that I’ve already read and ones that I still need to read.

Goodreads Monday – The Survivors by Jane Harper

October 12, 2020October 11, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads6 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 The Survivors by Jane Harper. This is mystery thriller that was published a few weeks ago and has a 4.18 star rating on Goodreads.

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

October 11, 2020October 11, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads8 Comments

I have plans to spend the rest of my Sunday cosied up reading The Puppetmaster’s Apprentice. My focus has been whacky at best lately and I’ve struggled to fall into books over the last week (despite still reading a fair bit). I’ve had this one going for over 3 days now (I think) and it’s not because I’m not enjoying it, I’m just having trouble focusing. My mind has been wandering constantly! I’m hoping to tuck into it and finish it tonight though!

Pinocchio meets Frankenstein in this dark fairy tale retelling where a young girl is commissioned to build an assassin for a dark-hearted tyrant.

Impressed by the work of the puppetmaster and his apprentice, Tavia’s ruler, The Margrave, has ordered dozens of life-size marionette soldiers to be sent to Wolfspire Hall. When the orders for more soldiers come in with increasingly urgent deadlines, the puppetmaster’s health suffers and Pirouette, his daughter and protégé, is left to build in his stead. But there is something far more twisted brewing at Wolfspire—the Margrave’s son wants Pirouette to create an assassin. And he wants her to give it life.

With Tavia teetering on the brink of war and her father dying in the dungeons, Pirouette has no choice but to accept. Racing against the rise of the next blue moon—the magic that will bring her creations to life—she can’t help but wonder, is she making a masterpiece…or a monster?

What are you currently reading?

Top 5 Saturday: Feminist Themes

October 11, 2020October 11, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads8 Comments

Saturday has come and gone and I’ve only just realised that I never finished my post 🙃 So, I’m going to keep it short and simple today. I think the topic speaks for itself! But really who doesn’t love a good empowering read about women rising up against the patriarchy or simply advocating for women everywhere by speaking up about experiences that we all face? All of these are on my TBR and I’m looking forward to reading them all, but especially Roxane Gay’s book and of course, Michelle Obama’s book 😍

(book covers are linked to the Goodreads pages!)

Let’s Talk Bookish: What makes you DNF a book?

October 10, 2020April 28, 2024 Dini @ dinipandareads16 Comments

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

**What makes you DNF* a book?**

*DNF = Did Not Finish

(SUGGESTED BY RAFAELA @ THE PORTUGUESE BIBLIOPHILE)
Examples: Is there a specific trope you can’t stand? A plot twist that will make you drop instantly? How many pages do you usually give a book to capture your attention? How many books do you give a series before deciding if it’s worth your time? Do you count books as read on Goodreads if you DNF them?

Learning to DNF

Before 2020 my answer to this question would’ve been: I don’t DNF books. It wasn’t because I avoided books I knew I wouldn’t enjoy (lmao please I’m not that smart) it was more that I always thought “maybe it’ll get better”. But I also felt a lot of guilt at the thought of DNFing a book. I’ve never had a problem understanding why people decide to DNF, I just couldn’t figure out how to not let the guilt get to me. But after years of working up to it, I finally did it!

So far in 2020 I’ve chosen to DNF 4 books. I know that’s not much for regular DNFers, but for someone who would normally force myself to finish a book, even at the risk of putting myself in a reading slump, it’s an achievement! Is it still hard to DNF a book? Yes. Do I still push on for longer than I “should” because I’m fighting the guilt? Probably. But I’m slowly letting myself be okay with deciding that a book isn’t for me. It’s a WIP. Baby steps and all that, you know?

Reasons to DNF

But what makes me decide it’s time to abandon a book? NGL, I’m still working out what does and doesn’t work for me. There are tropes I don’t like but coming across disliked and overused tropes isn’t enough reason for me to DNF (currently anyway). It might make me roll me eyes and dislike a book more but unless I can’t stand another minute of it, I’ll keep reading. Looking back on the books I’ve DNF’d this year I’ve found some common reasons for why I put them down:

Unlikeable characters

Having likeable characters is a big draw for me and I find it so hard to get through a book when I can’t stand the main character, or even worse all of the characters. Even in plot driven books, characters are key to feeling invested in what happens in the story. This also applies to how a character speaks — some dialogue is just so cringeworthy I can’t take anything seriously.

All tell, no show

This is especially the case when it comes to romance. I get insta-lust and fiery sexual chemistry, but don’t tell me it’s love and expect me to believe it just because you said so. I want to see what makes a character so loveable and I want to see why these they’re good together (outside of the bedroom!).

Nothing makes sense

When I say this it’s more about the world building and info dumping. If you dump a boatload of information on me and I’m still confused about how things work after reading a good chunk of the book, I’m gonna have to reconsider finishing it.

I dread the thought of picking it back up

The reason why I’d dread picking a book back up probably has to do with a combination of all of the above, plus some other things like slow pacing or awkward writing. But once I start making excuses to avoid continuing a book, it’s a good sign I’ll probably DNF it.

How much do I read before deciding to DNF?

Based on my (limited) experience with DNFing, I tend to read up to 30% of the book before deciding it’s not for me. Again, it’s not a hard and fast rule but I like to give it a proper shot before putting it down otherwise the guilt would eat me up.

Do I count a DNF as ‘read’ on Goodreads?

I don’t count DNF books as read because, well, I didn’t really read them. As of right now, I still haven’t marked the books I DNF’d on Goodreads but I’d probably make a shelf for them whenever I get around to it. I also don’t count them as part of my weekly or monthly wrap-ups, although I mention if I have DNF’d something.

Do you DNF books? If so, what are your reasons for DNFing a book? Do you struggle with DNFing books and what makes you hesitate to DNF?

Blog signature that reads: Let's Chat! xoxo, Dini

First Lines Friday – 08 October

October 9, 2020October 8, 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:

“Casia hated thunderstorms, because they reminded her of the night she had watched her mother kill her father.“

Do you recognize the book these first lines come from?

#TopTenTuesday: Books with Fall Colours/Vibes

October 6, 2020October 8, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads50 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: Book Covers with Fall Colours/Vibes (or spring if you live in the southern hemisphere)

Although I live in the tropics, I have lived in places where there were multiple seasons and unsurprisingly, autumn was my favourite! 🍂 I’ve always preferred cold weather to warm weather because I love bundling up under my doona and fluffy throws, and covering myself in oversized cardis/jumpers. At least when it’s cold you can wear multiple layers — when it’s hot you can’t exactly go around in the nude 😂 BUT I DIGRESS!!! 🤣

When I think of autumn I think red, yellow, orange, and black, falling leaves, spooky reads thanks to Halloween, but also cosy romances too! So today’s is going to be a mix of all those, and I realised I do have more spooky reads on my TBR than I expected. Look at me branching out of my comfort zone! 🎃

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living my best bookish life.

Tag: Book Community

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp