Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

September 20, 2020September 20, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads9 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!

This Sunday I’ve spent my day partially in bed with Gods of Jade and Shadow… Along with about three other books that I’ve started/stopped reading since I finished my last read on Saturday 😂 I’m enjoying Gods of Jade and Shadow, but because of my crazy reading mood it’s taking me a little while to get into it. Basically, I love it while I’m reading it and I’m immersed in the richly described world, but when I put it down I’m not (yet) racing to pick it back up again. This is 100% my mood and nothing to do with the book though!

The Mayan God of Death sends a young woman on a harrowing, life-changing journey in this dark fairy tale inspired by Mexican folklore, for readers of The Song of Achilles and Uprooted.

The Jazz Age is in full swing, but Casiopea Tun is too busy cleaning the floors of her wealthy grandfather’s house to listen to any fast tunes. Nevertheless, she dreams of a life far from her dusty, small town in southern Mexico. A life she can call her own.

Yet this new life seems as distant as the stars, until the day she finds a curious wooden box in her grandfather’s room. She opens it–and accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan God of Death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother. Failure will mean Casiopea’s demise, but success could make her dreams come true.

In the company of the strangely alluring god and armed with her wits, Casiopea begins an adventure that will take her on a cross-country odyssey, from the jungles of Yucatán to the bright lights of Mexico City–and deep into the darkness of the Mayan underworld.

What are you currently reading?

Top 5 Saturday: Award Winning Books

September 20, 2020September 19, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads15 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: award winning books!

Ooh, this is a tough but fun prompt! I gotta admit that I don’t pay close attention to which books win which prizes, so it took a bit of digging to find what on my TBR fit the bill. I’m surprised to say that I actually have quite a few award winning books on my shelves! These are books that I saw hyped up through book clubs (like Oprah’s and Reese’s) and mainly through gorgeous pictures on bookstagram. They’re also mostly a departure from my go-to YA SFF and Romances and are contemporary/literary fiction books that I do enjoy and can be a good challenge to read, but sometimes they also go over my head. 😅 That said, I’ve picked five from my TBR that I’m really looking forward to reading in the (hopefully) near future!

(book covers are linked to the Goodreads pages!)

#WWWWednesday: 16 September

September 17, 2020September 16, 2020 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?

I’ve somehow managed to read seven books since last week and I honestly have no idea how. Just kidding, I do. I literally spent all my time outside of work reading (and admittedly, I also spent a little time I should’ve spent working also reading–I’m so undisciplined 🙃)! It’s been a mood.

The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life by Dani Jansen ★★½
I’m sad to say I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I’d hoped to. It had its cute moments but ultimately, the MC irritated me too much and the side characters and overall storyline weren’t fleshed out well enough. Review to come!

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara ★★★★☆
McNamara takes you on an incredible ride in this book. It’s obviously dark, gritty and compelling but at times I also felt overwhelmed with all the information she presents–it’s really a lot. It’s sad she didn’t live to see him caught, but her work definitely kept the GSK’s name in the spotlight. Review to come!

#5OnMyTBR: Red Covers

September 14, 2020September 14, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads23 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: Red Covers

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

September 13, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

This Sunday I’ve spent my day in bed with I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara. I was so sucked into the book that I almost forgot to do my weekly wrap up! But I finished the book ten minutes ago and my brain is still trying to wrap my head around my thoughts on this one. McNamara presents a lot of information and it did get overwhelming at times, but wow, what an incredible journey she takes us through. I had very little knowledge of who the Golden State Killer (GSK) was before this book, but damn, I might end up going down a Google black hole trying to find more information about the cases and arrest after this! Definitely recommended for lovers of true crime.

For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area.
Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called “the Golden State Killer.” Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was.
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark —the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death—offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a portrait of a woman’s obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth. Utterly original and compelling, it has been hailed as a modern true crime classic—one which fulfilled Michelle’s dream: helping unmask the Golden State Killer.

What are you currently reading?

Top 5 Saturday: Science Fiction Books

September 13, 2020September 12, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads23 Comments

Oof, do I have a lot of these or do I really have a lot of these on my TBR? 😅 I found a love for SF books when I first started reading Michael Crichton’s books back in 2010. I can’t even remember when I started reading more SFF but I do have quite a few that I’ve added to my TBR, especially in the last year+, thanks to all your wonderful recommendations. The five below are ones I already have on my physical/digital libraries and they’re just waiting to be read… (lol what’s new) I have to admit that I’m most excited to get to Becky Chambers’ books because I’ve heard endlessly good things about them!

(book covers are linked to the Goodreads pages!)

#WWWWednesday: 09 September

September 9, 2020September 11, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads17 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’ve managed to finish six books since last Wednesday. I guess you can say that I’ve been reading a lot lately and from looking at the books I’ve read, I guess you can also say my moods have been swinging pretty wildly. From romance to fantasy to middle grade fiction… I’m a little all over the place! 😅

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune ★★★★★
You might’ve seen me gushing about this book on Twitter and Instagram because this is hands down one of my favourite reads in 2020! This book was just… magical. It was a gem and it was the most perfectly soothing balm for my weary 2020 heart. I don’t know what else to say except that I highly recommend it! But you can also read my review! 😉

The Beast and The Bethany by Jack Meggitt-Phillips ★★★½
This was a really entertaining MG read that really reminded me of the joy I felt reading Roald Dahl’s books as a child! I loved how the relationship between Bethany and Mr. Tweezer transformed them, and it was all thanks to the evil doings of the Beast. Bethany and Tweezer were very similar in so many ways but through their scheming, they somehow managed to bring out the best in each other, and had a good lesson on kindness and family. Review to come!

#5OnMyTBR: Autumn Read

September 7, 2020September 7, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads21 Comments

This week’s prompt is: Autumn Read

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

September 6, 2020September 6, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads17 Comments

This Sunday I’ve spent the majority of the day in bed with The Extraordinaries by T.J. Klune. I haven’t been able to get that far into it yet because I’m finding it more than a little difficult to focus this weekend. What I read did have me laughing out loud at times and I can already tell what relationships I’ll be loving in this book. This is Klune’s YA debut and I’m keen to see if it’ll leave me feeling the same way I did after finishing The House in the Cerulean Sea last week. Hopefully I’ll get a bit more reading in this week.

Some people are extraordinary. Some are just extra. TJ Klune’s YA debut, The Extraordinaries, is a queer coming-of-age story about a fanboy with ADHD and the heroes he loves.
Nick Bell? Not extraordinary. But being the most popular fanfiction writer in the Extraordinaries fandom is a superpower, right? After a chance encounter with Shadow Star, Nova City’s mightiest hero (and Nick’s biggest crush), Nick sets out to make himself extraordinary. And he’ll do it with or without the reluctant help of Seth Gray, Nick’s best friend (and maybe the love of his life). Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl meets Marissa Meyer’s Renegades in TJ Klune’s YA debut.

What are you currently reading?

#WWWWednesday: 02 September

September 2, 2020September 2, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads10 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 week, I’ve managed to finish 6 books! Three of these were novella length books in a series so they were pretty fast reads. I also finally managed to tick off a highly anticipated romcom from my TBR and it was every bit as wonderful as everyone said it would be!

His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie ★★★★½
This was such a powerful and fantastic debut from Medie. I didn’t have any expectations going into it but Medie reeled me in with her witty prose and wowed me with how she brought Ghana to life. I felt so much emotion while reading this book and I became so invested in Afi’s story. This is one you shouldn’t let slip past your radar! Read my review

Fable (Fable #1) by Adrienne Young ★★★★★
Fable has been one of my most anticipated 2020 releases and it did not disappoint! Young paints a gritty cut-throat pirate ruled world and she doesn’t pull any punches. Fable is such a tough MC with a resilient spirit who I became so invested in. Unsurprisingly, I loved the found-family vibes with the crew + the romance was a satisfying slow burn. I’d definitely recommend it! Read my review

Empire of Lies Series by Whitney G. ★★★☆☆
It’s been a while since I’ve read anything by Whitney G. and while this had her touch of steaminess, it was also a big departure from her usual–which she does state at the start of each book. It was a much darker read but I did enjoy the ‘big twist’ in book one as it did surprise me! Following that though, everything became predictable. While we learn a lot more about our MCs separately, we don’t get to see how their relationship grows so quickly, so I felt their romance was more “insta” and sadly underdeveloped. Overall though, I appreciated the concept and it was the palate cleanser I needed before my next read!

Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert ★★★★☆
Your eyes are not deceiving you, friends. I have finally read this book and it was just as wonderful as everyone said it was! I loved getting to know Chloe and Red. Their awkward and hilarious internal dialogues, their cheeky banter and the sexual tension between these two were absolute fire! They both had painful pasts that made them wary of any happiness they might find in the present but I loved seeing them grow and heal together. As has been mentioned by many reviewers, the chronic illness rep in this book is pretty great and I really appreciated reading a romance about such realistic characters. Review coming soon!