Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

April 4, 2021June 23, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads2 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’ll be spending the rest of my Sunday in Bed with Crave Thy Neighbor and I’m excited to start it as I’ve really enjoyed Hunter’s Roommate Romps series so far! I’m reading this one in prep for the release date next week 😍

Don’t fall for your roommate…especially when it’s only temporary.

Nolan Brooks is off limits.
Sure, he’s insanely attractive and funny and I might have almost gone home with him one night to relieve a little stress.
Big deal.
It was all just a momentary lapse in judgment…just like the kiss we shared.

He’s my temporary roommate while I wait for my new apartment to be ready. That’s it.
He’s doesn’t do relationships, and he doesn’t do attachments.
So what if I have a crush on him? We’ll only be there for two months.
Surely I can survive that long

What are you currently reading?

Top 5 Saturday: Books with Diverse Characters

April 3, 2021June 23, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads20 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: books with diverse characters.

Well, this is gonna be tough because I can pick way more than five books with diverse characters off my TBR, and I’m looking forward to reading all of them soon! In recent years, I’ve made an active effort to diversify my reads because I realised that many of the books I had access to in the main bookstores in Indonesia tended to feature mostly white authors writing white characters. I also never questioned what I was reading and never actively sought out diverse reads—well, not anymore! It has been amazing to read more stories with characters of different ethnicities, nationalities, religions, LGBTQ+ and abilities in contemporaries, romances, and even SFF and I can’t wait to read even more in the future! For this prompt I decided to focus on books with Asian characters because I love to see the Asian rep! So without further ado, here are five books with diverse characters that I’m really excited for.

#WWWWednesday: 31 March

March 31, 2021June 23, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads19 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?

I had a lot of reading that I should’ve done this past week but I… Really did none of that 😂 I ended up reading one book that I needed to read for tomorrow’s blog tour and that’s basically it out of the 5 books I finished. I can definitely say it has been a weird month for reading and I’m not feeling the weird vibes!

Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries #3) by Martha Wells ★★★★½
It felt so good to be back with Murderbot in this book 😍 At this point I would pretty much read anything to do with them? Even though I missed ART’s company in this book, I really liked all the new characters we meet and this is every bit as action packed as the previous books. The ending sets up really nicely for the next one and I can’t wait to find out what happens! Series RTC when Leslie and I finish the books!

Devil’s Playground Duology: The Devil & The Devil’s Advocate by Ashley Jade ★★★ (average)
I don’t even know how I stumbled across these books but I ended up bingeing the duology in less than two days. I’m gonna start by saying this was completely different to any kind of romance/erotica that I’ve ever read, not only in terms of the ‘sex play’ but also the characters. To put it simply, the steaminess was off-the-charts and if you’re looking for a book that keeps it high, this is it! 🥵😂 That said, the characters are all semi- and even full-on psychotic? Plus, there’s a lot of traumatic and completely fcked up situations/relationships, physical and mental abuse, taboo relationships, and plenty of betrayals and twists. Also, angst. A lot of angst! Basically, there’s plenty of hot mess in this book and it’s probably the darkest erotica I’ve ever read (it honestly makes 50 Shades look like child’s play) but I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it!

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

March 28, 2021June 23, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads11 Comments

I’ll be spending the rest of my Sunday in Bed hopefully finishing Ranger’s Oath. I actually started this book a while back but whenever I’d pick it up when I got into bed I’d fall asleep almost immediately? 😳 It’s weird because I know I enjoy it whenever I pick it up I think the pace was just a bit slow at the start and it took a little while to get into the book. That said, I really like the characters and the world building is well done! Not to mention that I really love this cover 😍 I think this also won fourth or fifth place in the BBNYA 2020 Awards and I defo get the love for it!

The barrier between worlds is broken. Only he knows the truth…

Magic has protected Tarsynium for a thousand years, shielding its people from being ravaged by bloodthirsty demons. When a young ranger’s apprentice named Owyn Lund discovers that the Arc of Radiance has been breached, he tries to warn anybody who will listen.
But legends aren’t supposed to be real.

When a village is mysteriously destroyed, rangers, mages, and rebels all point the finger, blaming each other for the demons’ brutality. However, Zara Dennel, a mage’s ward, has heard Owyn’s tale—and she’s inclined to believe him. Together, they must prove that friendship is greater than intolerance, unity is more important than division, and that even the most powerful magic can sometimes not be enough.
Failure means the end of all things. A second—and lasting—Doom.

What are you currently reading?

Top 5 Saturday: Books Set in the Desert

March 27, 2021June 23, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads23 Comments

I’ve missed a couple Saturday posts but last week’s topic was love triangles and I would’ve struggled hard to have come up with any books cos love triangles are not my jam. It is one of my most hated tropes because the angst is so real and I’m not for that. But I digress! I’m glad be back and posting for today’s desert prompt. All of these are on my TBR although I’ve heard great things about the books and am looking forward to checking them out. They’re all (unsurprisingly) of the fantasy genre and surprisingly, none of them are retellings of the one thousand and one nights (at least I don’t think so but please let me know in the comments if I’m wrong)! I’m not particularly fussed about desert settings–I don’t seek out books with this setting but I also don’t mind reading stories set in the desert. Admittedly, I can actually only recall one desert fantasy and that’s The Kinder Poison (which is awesome and I would highly recommend btw)! On that note, here are five books with desert settings that I’d love to read (soonish):

#WWWWednesday: 24 March

March 24, 2021June 23, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads19 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?

It has been another weird reading week and I still feel like I’ve not read anything but I finished five books? Good news is I’ve found my favourite of the month and a contender for one of my faves of the year! 🥳 Also, if you can’t tell by all the “RTCs” below, although I’ve been reading some I haven’t been doing my best when it comes to writing reviews… 🙈

The Hunter (Boston Belles #1) by L.J. Shen ★★★★☆
After reading my first Shen romance last week I went ahead and picked up another one of her books (as they’re all available on Kindle Unlimited) and sped through this one. I can understand when people say Shen’s books are formulaic as the H/H are almost carbon copies of the previous book I read of hers? That said, I liked Hunter and Sailor! Hunter was intensely douchey at the start but I enjoyed his ‘growing up’ and I loved how ‘take no shit’ Sailor was and how she stood up for Hunter against his shady ass family. There were definitely some corny and cliche moments but they were cute together!

The Villain (Boston Belles #2) by L.J. Shen ★★½
I thought I’d love this one the most since Cillian was the kind of broody/rude that intrigued me. In the end, Persy was the big surprise here–still a good girl, still ‘pure’ but she has a backbone! That said, there was such a lack of communication between them that it was unreal. I get Cillian’s reasons for being as he is and though his history was upsetting/sad I also thought that it was too much and not a great representation of someone with his condition (based on personal experience anyway). No spoilers though, so I won’t go on about it but ultimately, this didn’t end up working for me. I also don’t think I’ll continue with the story because these alpha-holes are getting too next level for my liking 😂 Series RTC.

#5OnMyTBR: Green Covers

March 23, 2021June 23, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads9 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. You can find the full list of prompts (past and future) at the end of this post!

This week’s prompt is: Green Covers.

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

March 21, 2021June 23, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

I’ll be spending the rest of my Sunday in bed reading Lost in the Never Woods. I’m reading this for my spot on the blog tour next week and I’m really enjoying it. I’ve never read a Peter Pan fanfic or re-telling before so this already has that uniqueness going for it. I’m about 40% through now and I’m enjoying it but it’s definitely a lot creepier than I thought it’d be! 😂

When children go missing in the small coastal town of Astoria, people look to Wendy for answers.

It’s been five years since Wendy and her two brothers went missing in the woods, but when the town’s children start to disappear, the questions surrounding her brothers’ mysterious circumstances are brought back into light. Attempting to flee her past, Wendy almost runs over an unconscious boy lying in the middle of the road, and gets pulled into the mystery haunting the town. Peter, a boy she thought lived only in her stories, claims that if they don’t do something, the missing children will meet the same fate as her brothers. In order to find them and rescue the missing kids, Wendy must confront what’s waiting for her in the woods

What are you currently reading?

#WWWWednesday: 17 March

March 17, 2021June 23, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads11 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?

Wow, it really doesn’t feel like I’ve read a lot since last week but apparently I’ve managed to finish five books? Surprise to me! LOL. It might not help that I haven’t actually marked these as read on Goodreads and neither have I properly reviewed them either. Oopsies, one thing a time though… 🤣

Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries #2) by Martha Wells ★★★★☆
Repeatedly chants: I love Murderbot! Because I really really do and I would read all the books with Murderbot as the protagonist. This one was slightly less exciting than book one but we got to dive a bit more into Murderbot’s psyche and we also get to meet ART, who I also loved! 😂 Buddy reading this series with Leslie and we’re both loving it and can’t wait to continue! Series RTC.

Namesake (Fable #2) by Adrienne Young ★★★★☆
Namesake was a really satisfying conclusion to the Fable duology. The story picks up immediately where book one ends and it’s full of pirate-y goodness, many more high-seas adventures, and delicious deceptions and twists! This second book is less focused on world building and character development, but it has a very fast-paced plot that leaves little time to dwell on it. Check out my review!

#5OnMyTBR: Mythology

March 16, 2021June 23, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads22 Comments

This week’s prompt is: Mythology.

I struggled to find books for this prompt today for some reason. I’m sure I have quite a few on my list since I love books based on mythology but I’ve completely blanked on it? 😂 I tried to come up with ones that were based on non-greek or norse mythology but those take up the bulk of my ‘mythology’ TBR but I’m glad that I found at least three books based on other mythology. Without further ado… Let’s get to it!

LOVELY WAR

It’s 1917, and World War I is at its zenith when Hazel and James first catch sight of each other at a London party. She’s a shy and talented pianist; he’s a newly minted soldier with dreams of becoming an architect. When they fall in love, it’s immediate and deep–and cut short when James is shipped off to the killing fields.

Aubrey Edwards is also headed toward the trenches. A gifted musician who’s played Carnegie Hall, he’s a member of the 15th New York Infantry, an all-African-American regiment being sent to Europe to help end the Great War. Love is the last thing on his mind. But that’s before he meets Colette Fournier, a Belgian chanteuse who’s already survived unspeakable tragedy at the hands of the Germans.

Thirty years after these four lovers’ fates collide, the Greek goddess Aphrodite tells their stories to her husband, Hephaestus, and her lover, Ares, in a luxe Manhattan hotel room at the height of World War II. She seeks to answer the age-old question: Why are Love and War eternally drawn to one another? But her quest for a conclusion that will satisfy her jealous husband uncovers a multi-threaded tale of prejudice, trauma, and music and reveals that War is no match for the power of Love.