Tag: Book Community

Book Festival Book Tag!

Dini @ dinipandareads20 Comments

I was recently tagged by Siobhan to do the Book Festival Book Tag! It was originally created by the ladies over at Book Princess Reviews, when she became inspired to create a bookish tag after attending Yallfest this year. Sounds like fun, right? Let’s get to it!

THE RULES

.x. pingback to the creator of the tag, @bookprincessreviews .x.
.x. tag the person who tagged you, @siobhansnovelties .x.
.x. find an answer to match each prompt .x.
.x. have fun! .x.

Author Lineup
Name your top three authors that you would like to meet

Hmm this is a bit of a toughie but I think I’m gonna go for: Neil Gaiman, V.E. Schwab and Taylor Jenkins Reid! But there are really so many, even smaller authors

The Official Schedule
How do you determine what books you’re going to read next? 

I’m a slave to my moods! It’s particularly tough because 90% of the time I’m not even really sure what mood I’m in 😅 What happens then is I take a good, long stare at my bookshelves and see what title jumps out at me. Or I’ll start reading the first few lines/paragraphs/pages of some books and see which one hooks me in. It’s completely random!

ARC Drops
What ARC would you wait hours in line for? 

I would give so much to get my hands on an ARC (or even an eARC) of The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang or Wild at Heart by K.A. Tucker. It would be a total dream to receive an ARC of either of these (a dream because I know it’ll never happen for me lol)! But really, I’m at high risk of swooning like a fool if I could get my hands on Quan’s story 😂

The Swag!
What bookish merch/pre-order incentives/etc. is your favorite?

I’m a sucker for pretty much any book merch? I went through a phase where I was obsessed with bookish candles! I love book sleeves too. I also really enjoy special excerpts or deleted scenes or extra stories — like what Jay Kristoff did with Darkdawn and what he and Kaufman did with Memento when Aurora Rising released! So precious 😍

The Panels
What topic would you love to see some of your favorite authors talk about?

I’ve loved reading about more diverse characters this year, especially about Asian-American or “Westernized Asians”. Their struggles with their cultural identity and growing up in two “different” worlds (the home and the outside) is something that I’ve 100% related to, so it would be amazing to hear some of these authors talk about this issue. It would also be great to hear some authors discuss mental health in books, not only for YA and/or adult, but also for those “inbetweeners” (like the 30s people even though yes, I know 30s is adult…ish lol).

Yallfest, Yallwest, Bookcon/BookExpo, YALC, Etc.
What book festival/con would you go to if you had the choice?

To attend any kind of book festival I’d have to travel all the way across the world. But I’ve recently really been toying with the idea of going to Bookcon in New York either in 2020 or 2021. Luckily for me, one of my close Dutch colleagues just moved to New York and she’s a bit of a reader too, so it’d be nice to go together!
(Then I’d take advantage of being on that side of the world and visit a few famous nationwide bookstores 😉)

Ah, a short, sweet, simple and fun tag! Just what I was in the mood for 😊

I TAG…

It’s okay if you don’t like tags or don’t feel like doing this one. No pressure at all! Also, even if you’re not tagged and want to do it, consider yourself officially tagged! Don’t forget to link back so I can see your answers 😉

Jess | Mere | Emer | Joanna | | YOU!

#TopTenTuesday: Books That Surprised Me (in Both Good and Bad Ways)

Dini @ dinipandareads33 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: my December TBR. But as I’ve already written a few posts (like this one and this one here) I thought I would choose a past topic to do and I’ve chosen: books that surprised me (in both good and bad ways) focusing on the books I’ve read this year. I’m splitting the post up into ‘the good’ and ‘the not-so-good’ and for both parts, the books I listed were mostly in order read (from earliest to later in the year), so it’s not about some books being better/worse than others. It was interesting to look back on what books surprised me this year and it’s definitely making me think more about what my top reads for 2019 are going to be!

THE GOOD

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Bookish Naughty or Nice Tag!

Dini @ dinipandareads15 Comments

Since I decided on Tuesday that it’s time to bring some more festive feels to my blog, I’ve decided to kick off Tag Thursday with Jenniely’s Bookish Naughty Or Nice Book Tag! I’m sure the majority of you already follow her by now, but if you haven’t seen her posts, you should definitely check it out! Her content is top and her graphics are always gorgeous and absolute goals 😍I wasn’t tagged in this one but I saw it on Jenn’s page and then I saw Sammie did it too, so I thought I’d jump aboard too. So, let’s get to it!

The Rules

  • Tag and link the person who tagged you.
  • Link back to the creator (Jenniely).
  • Tick or cross off the ones you’ve done!
  • Tag 10 people!

✘ Received an ARC and not reviewed it ✘

NAUGHTY

Shots fired! I repeat, shots fired! Gah, my guilt alone would send me straight to the naughty list but it’s kind of comforting to know I’m not alone in this. I’m still doing my best to get them all read though!

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#TopTenTuesday: Brand New Christmassy Books!

Dini @ dinipandareads35 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: a freebie! I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with this freebie, but after some thought I decided that I would try injecting a little bit of holiday cheer to my blog, so I’m looking at the brand new holiday titles on my shelf. I’m not much of a holiday or seasonal reader so I don’t have any Christmassy books, but that is all changed today, friends! Early this morning I read Jana’s ‘A Bookish Little Christmas’ post and couldn’t help getting sucked right into the holiday mood, intense tropical heat notwithstanding! I mean, everything about the post screamed CHRISTMAS BOOK BUYING TIME…and what do you think I did? 😅 If you guessed that I went and bought all the Christmassy books then you’re spot on! Okay, I’m kidding (only a little bit). I did buy some but there are quite a few options available on Kindle Unlimited, in case you’re looking for a holiday read! I’m going to go ahead and say that pretty much 100% of these were cover buys 😍

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#TopTenTuesday: December Possibility Pile!

Dini @ dinipandareads13 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: holiday reads. BUT since I haven’t really read books to go with the season, I’ve decided to just post my December Possibility Pile! This post might seem repetitive if you’ve read this post and this post already but I’m going to focus on 10 books that I really want to read before the year is out! Obviously, I want to read a lot more than these ten before 2019 is over, but I’m going to do my best to at least see these ones through. By now you know I’m a mood reader so this is going to be tough (maybe) but I’m hoping that December will see me doing these unread books a solid by getting them off the never ending TBR! This isn’t even including the books that I want to read for Task 3 of the #Triwizardathon either but I don’t know what I’ll be reading for that yet!

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#TopTenTuesday: Bookish and Non-Bookish Things I’m Thankful For (Thankful Freebie)

Dini @ dinipandareads28 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: thankful freebie. I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving but I can’t help getting caught up in the thankful spirit that’s been going around in the book community lately. 2019 has been a year of… a lot. A lot of everything. In many ways I feel like this year has been one of extremes with either many high-highs and many low-lows, which has been incredibly trying. This basically means that I’ve been a hot-emotional-mess for 90% of the year, including right now! But before I become even more emotional, let’s get to what I’m thankful for this year. As this is a freebie, I’ve decided to keep it simple and write a list of all the bookish and non-bookish things I’m thankful for. Of course, I’ll try to keep it as bookish as possible 😉 Here we go:

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The Sunshine Blogger Award II

Dini @ dinipandareads16 Comments

Just the other day, the wonderful Mani @ Mani’s Book Corner for The Sunshine Blogger Award! Thank you so much for the nomination, Mani! Mani is one of the sweetest and most supportive bloggers that I’ve met in my time here and so I suggest that you quickly head on over to their page if you aren’t already following them! *shoo*

I’ve been nominated for this award once or twice now, but I’ve only got around to answering it once. I’m so very terrible with the tags and awards, aren’t I? But on that note, let’s get straight into it before I drive myself to complete distraction!

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This or That Book Tag

Dini @ dinipandareads11 Comments

A little while back I was nominated by the lovely Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads to do the This or That Book Tag! As you well know by now I’m pretty bad at doing tags on time but I do get around to them eventually 😅 Not sure where the original comes from but I’ve seen a few people do it and I’m excited to join the ranks. LET’S DO THIS!

READING ON THE BED OR COUCH?

BED ALL THE WAY! If I had a comfy couch I’d probably read on there most of the time but as it is, it’s covered with all the books that … I can’t fit on my shelves anymore 😬

male or female main character?

Hmm… That’s a tough one. I like both male and female main characters but I’m going to have to go with female. I usually relate to these characters more but I realize the majority of my books have female MCs! Not that I have anything against male MCs, obviously.

sweet or salty snacks while reading?

This is gonna sound like a weird realisation but… I’ve been figuring out lately that I’m much more of a salty snack panda than a sweet one! Sure, I like my chocolates, but gimme some crisps or better yet chips or cheese and crackers or salty popcorn any day! Salt bae got me covered LOL

trilogies or quartets?

Trilogies! I’m not mad at quartets but I like to get through series quickly (most of the time)! I also prefer to not wait forever for all the books to come out if it’s a new series, so the shorter it is the better it is for my impatient ass! 😂

READING AT NIGHT OR IN THE MORNING?

I’m a night owl, plus I have major sleep issues, but most of my free time is also after work, so I’m usually doing the most reading at night!

FIRST OR THIRD POV?

I don’t mind both POVs… But I like first POV more? I think? I’m so indecisive omg lol

LIBRARIES OR BOOKSTORES?

OK, first of all I’m gonna say that I wish they had libraries here because they don’t and it makes me sad. So obviously, bookstores. I mean, my bank hates it but I don’t! LOL

BOOKS THAT MAKE YOU LAUGH OR CRY?

I’m a sucker for a good cry so I’d probably pick up a book that’ll make me cry. I mean, who doesn’t love a book that’d make you cry, right?! It makes you feel all the feels and you build such a connection with the characters too. Love it!

BLACK OR WHITE BOOK COVERS?

I love white book covers. Especially when they’re brand new — it’s like they’re sparkly even though they’re not?! They picture so well too. I love white covers 😍

character driven or plot driveN?

OH, THIS IS SO HARD! 😅 I think I’m going to have to go with… Character driven! It really does depend most of the time, but I think if I can connect to the characters (and I mean really connect to them) then it’s okay if the plot is blah. Even if the plot is good, I will find myself bothered if I don’t connect to any of the characters of if I find them annoying / boring.

And that’s it folks! WASN’T THAT FUN!? I’m feeling a little lazy at the moment so I’m just going to say that if you feel like doing this tag then…

I TAG YOU!!!

Are You Ready for Sweater Weather: The Autumn Tag!

Dini @ dinipandareads19 Comments

Technically it’s still Autumn, right? So while I’m late with answering this tag I didn’t miss the party completely with this Autumn Tag, right?! 😂 I love being tagged in tags but I’m sorry I’m so shoddy at answering them! Thanks to Sara @ The Bibliophagist, Jen @ Nen & Jen, and E @ Local Bee Hunter’s Little Nook for tagging me on this one! I swear I was born in the wrong country because my favorite season is Autumn, so woe is me for living in the tropics! I’m hoping that one day I’ll once again live in a country that has more than two seasons (hot and really hot and humid) 🙄

All credit for the graphics below go to Jenn @ Jenniely, the creator of this lovely tag!

The Rules

  • Answer the questions.
  • Link back to the creator (Jenniely).
  • Tag other people!

Hot Chocolate – What is your comfort book?

My answer for all time: Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen. I know others find it really weird that this is my “comfort book” but reading this brings me comfort like no other every. single. time 💜

Pumpkin Carving – What is your favorite creative outlet?

I love playing around with graphic design stuff! I’m self-taught on Adobe InDesign and Illustrator (thanks to the power of YouTube!) and I love being able to create graphics for both work and my blog, despite not being able to draw for shit 🤣 I’m still pretty much a noob compared to real graphic designers, but it’s so much fun to experiment!

Falling Leaves – Changes that appear bad but that you secretly love

I’m going to have to agree with Sara on this one: moving. Moving can be scary and stressful AF, but it can also be really rewarding. I only have to look at my whole life experience as a Third Culture Kid to remember this! There’s always so much room for opportunities and endless possibilities when you move and ‘start fresh’. It’s as exciting as it is terrifying 🙂

Pumpkin Spiced Latte – Something you love that others tend to judge

Romance. I’ve been judged so hard by many people who look at me with such beady eyed judgement when I say that I love romance (or when they see that I have romance books on my shelf). I just don’t understand why it bothers people so much or what even makes them feel they have the right to judge me for anything? Lol

Bonfire Night – What makes you explode with joy?

Naming one thing would be impossible! Delectable food, scrumptious drinks, amazing music and dancing, reading the night away, the smell of new/old books, engaging with all you lovely book people, watching a great show/movie, spending time with my loves… All of these make me explode with joy!

Fright Night – Favorite scary book or movie

We all know that I’m the worst when it comes to scary stuff. A lot of people (annoyingly) try to force me to watch scary things but that’s where I toe a hard line. It’s no dice, home slice. That said, I did read one scary book last month that I surprisingly really enjoyed and that was Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall! Color me definitely surprised because I couldn’t put that one down and I was terrified the whole time!

Halloween Candy – Favorite thing to eat

Wow, as if I could only choose one thing for this! How?! I will say that one thing that I could probably eat every day for the rest of my life is Japanese food (I won’t limit myself to just sushi specifically but sushi for always)!

Scarves – your Autumn ‘must have’ accessory

Well… Scarves I guess? Lol I don’t really wear accessories but I do love giant scarves. Oh, but I also love beanies! A cute beanie and a scarf if it’s cold enough… Yaas! I really wish it wasn’t blazing hot while I write this because I wanna get cozy with these autumn accessories 😅

Fire – A book or film that burns your soul

What does this even mean? Lol does burning my soul mean something that makes me feel all the feels? I’ll take it as that. Tough question but I’ll go with The Nevernight Chronicle! This series though… And I haven’t even read Darkdawn yet–I’m too scared of all the burning my soul will experience! 😂 😭

Toffee Apples – A book or film that seems one thing but really has a different inside

The first book that comes to mind is Frankly In Love by David Yoon. I recently finished it and it was completely different to what I expected. It’s marketed as romance and while there are elements of it, I feel marketing it as that really did it a disservice. Not surprised people didn’t like it since they went in expecting something light and fluffy. I ended up really enjoying Frank Li’s story but the content is on a completely different vibe from the romance it’s ‘meant’ to be 😅

And that’s a wrap, folks! 🎬 Ooh, that was so much fun. I love a great tag and answering all these questions have really got me in that autumn mood where I want to cozy up in bed under my duvet with a book!

I Tag…

It’s okay if you don’t like tags or don’t feel like doing this one. No pressure at all! Also, even if you’re not tagged and want to do it, consider yourself officially tagged! Don’t forget to link back so I can see your answers 😉

Real Neat Blog Award

Dini @ dinipandareads17 Comments

I was just nominated for the Real Neat Blog Award by one of the loveliest bloggers whose book opinions never seem to agree with my book opinions, but who I absolutely love engaging with: Emer @ A Little Haze! 🤣 If you’re still not following her awesome blog by now I really don’t know what you’re doing. So go do it!

Now that’s out of the way… thanks for the nomination, Emer! When I started writing this you literally just posted three minutes ago (lmao I swear I wasn’t creeping) and who am I even posting a tag so soon after I get tagged? The energy is wild! 🤩

What is the Real Neat Blog Award?

Emer did some research about the origins of this neat award and she found that the earliest reference goes all the way back to 2014 and to a blog called Dear Kitty, Some Blog. The award came about as a way to highlight bloggers that need more attention because of their awesome content on their blogs and the first logo (above) ever created for the award is this one that was found on the same Dear Kitty, Some Blog page.

The Rules

  • Display the award logo.
  • Thank the blogger who nominated you and post a link to their blog.
  • Answer the questions of the one who nominated you.
  • Nominate some bloggers.
  • Ask them seven questions.

Emer’s Seven Questions

What country that you have not yet visited would you like to go to?

IT’S GONNA BE ME!!! a la *Nsync!

NEW ZEALAND! I’m really hoping to do a 2-4 week long trip with a campervan exploring both islands sometime in the near future. I was thinking about next year but I don’t know how likely that is considering how crazy work is gonna be. But soon… Definitely soon! And I can’t wait 😍

What is your favourite flower?

I spent the majority of my formative years living in the Philippines and right outside our house we had these wonderful sampaguita shrubs. These flowers produce one of my favorite ever scents; seriously, they smell divine and whenever I smell them I’m instantly transported to my childhood. I believe they’re also known as: Arabian Jasmine, Philippine Jasmine, Melati, The Grand Duke of Tuscany and Kampupot.

If you could go back in time, to which time period would you choose to visit?

Omg, so many places to choose from, where to begin?! Ancient Egypt when the pyramids were being built? Rome when the Colosseum was still whole and at the height of the empire?! Prohibition era in NYC?! Filthy 16th Century London?! I mean… I really don’t even know. If I could travel back to one place, that means I can travel back to other places too, right? SO… All of them! 🤣

Do you believe we are alone in the universe?

Can I be honest and say that I never really thought too long about this question? I love the idea of there being multiverses but I guess that’s not really the same thing, right? That’d just be more of us in alternate realities and that idea thrills and terrifies me at the same time. But I digress. I’m going to say no, we’re not alone, but what’s out there? Who knows!

What is your all time favourite meal?
(Include drinks, side orders, desserts etc. etc. Calories do not apply!!!!)

Holy… This is SO TOUGH. Alright… Are you ready? 🤤 (I hope I got the question right LOL)

Drink: Rekorderlig Strawberry-Lime Cider with extra ice
Side Order: Calamari Rings
Main Meal: Traditional Sunday Roast with extra yorkshire puddings!
Dessert: Molten Chocolate Lava Cake with vanilla ice cream

Omg I’m gonna cry. I SO BADLY want all of this right now! 😭

If you were writing the book of your life what title would you give it?

Ugh, I’m absolutely the worst at coming up with names for anything, so the pressure to come up with my life’s book is a terrible thing 😂I don’t know what a book about my life would be called. My life is pretty boring save for books… Third Culture Panda: The Un-adventures of A Book Panda Who Has Lived A Thousand Lives? I don’t know. Please don’t judge me for my inability to come up with good titles! LOL

What is the blog post you are most proud of writing? Share a link to it.

Argh, this is going to sound so lame but… I don’t know?! Compared to many other bloggers on here I haven’t really written anything that’s very thought provoking or made posts that lead to important or impactful discussions… For the most part this is because I’m terrified to share my thoughts as I’m so bad at putting things into words (this is why I’ll never be a writer lol) and I’m worried I’ll say something stupid or silly that might even unintentionally offend others or come off as ignorant. Writing those kinds of posts and finding the confidence to share them is something that I’d like to work up to one day though! That said, I’m still proud of all the posts I’ve made on this blog and I’m proud that I actually took the step to write my first post introducing my blog and finally joining the book community.

And that’s it folks! Thanks to Emer for those great (and tough!) questions! I might just steal one or two of them… 😬

My Seven Questions

  1. You wake up one day and find that you’re in the world of your current read. Where are you?
  2. What’s your favorite thing/part about where you live?
  3. What’s your favorite song of the moment?
  4. How much time do you spend every week blogging/bookstagramming?
  5. If you were writing the book of your life what title would you give it?
  6. Do you collect anything? If yes, what do you collect?
  7. Would you rather always be hot or cold?

I Nominate

It’s okay if you don’t like tags or don’t feel like doing this one. No pressure at all! Also, even if you’re not tagged and want to do it, consider yourself officially tagged! Don’t forget to link back so I can see your answers to the questions 😉