Top 5 Saturday: Books with Asian Settings

August 3, 2019August 3, 2019 Dini @ dinipandareads22 Comments

Hi friends, I hope everyone is having a wonderful Saturday! Just five minutes ago I discovered a ‘new’ meme on Leelynn’s blog and I’m so excited to take part in it. This Top 5 series was created by Mandy @ Devouring Books and it’s the Saturday meme I’ve been waiting for! The rules are simple:

Share your top 5 books of the current topic– these can be books that you want to read, have read and loved, have read and hated – you can do it any way you want.
Tag the original post
Tag 5 people

I won’t be tagging five people but I do tag anyone who wants to participate! This week’s topic is: books with Asian settings. I love this prompt but I’m also a little embarrassed to admit that compared to all the other books I read, I actually haven’t read many with Asian settings… It’s not that I don’t want to or that I’m not interested, I actually have quite a few sitting on my shelves, I just don’t make a conscious effort to pick them up? (that probably sounds really bad lol) BUT this year I am making more of an effort to diversify my reads and that means giving high priority to the Asian books on my shelf! For now, here are the books I’ve read and loved with Asian settings:

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
One of the best books I’ve read. It’s heartbreaking but hopeful. It’s about family, friendship, and especially forgiveness. I learned so much about the culture and norms in Afghanistan. It’s not an easy read, but it’s a good one! It’s one of my all time favorites.

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
This was one of my favorite books last year. I was really surprised by it because I had never heard of the author before and I didn’t really know what to expect. It’s a family saga set in Korea and Japan, and I learned so much about the relationship between the two countries through this book than I ever have anywhere else. It’s so good.

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan
I read this earlier this year and it broke my heart. While some of it is set in the US, the majority of it is set in Taiwan. Pan’s writing makes it easy to imagine yourself standing in the sweltering humidity of a bustling city. Plus, the food (omg the food) and the culture is so richly illustrated and adds a great deal to the atmosphere of the novel.

Monstress Series by Marjorie M. Liu
Yes I did include a graphic novel on this list. This book is set in a steampunk matriarchal Asian society in the 1900s. It has some of the craziest and darkest world building I’ve ever seen and while some of it, especially the art work, is creepy AF, it’s just so freaking cool! Since the content is pretty dark I wouldn’t say it’s for everyone but if you’re at all curious and want to appreciate stunning art work, pick this up!

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
This was one of the books that I read at uni and I remember falling deep into it. It follows the story of an escaped Australian convict that tries to disappear on the streets of Bombay (modern day Mumbai), and we follow him as he teaches in the slums, appeases the mafia, falls in love with Bombay, bollywood and an enchanting woman. It’s written so vividly that you fell yourself being pulled into the gritty streets of Bombay, and then you surprise yourself by finding that you don’t want to leave. Although it’s really long, it’s worth it.

Do you have any favorite books with Asian settings?
Let me know in the comments and let’s chat!

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [15]

July 28, 2019December 4, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads9 Comments

We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme, and this time it’s actually Sunday when I write this! 😉 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!

I’m pretty sure that we’ve all heard about one of the most hyped books of the year: Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I’ve read a few of TJR’s books this year and I’ve loved every single one of them, so I don’t know why I kept putting off reading Daisy for so long. Then I woke up this morning and I started to listen to the audiobook on a whim. It’s read by a full cast and I felt myself immediately hooked into the story. My attention span is pretty crap though and I’m still trying to find the best way to listen to audiobooks without getting distracted, so I decided to pick up the physical book to follow along. The audiobook is pretty amazing but I ended up focusing too much on wondering who was reading which character’s part and I might have ended up on a bit of a Google spree trying to figure out the who’s who. I think the narrators are perfectly cast and I love how it’s bringing the story to life even more than reading the physical book already does. I’ve found myself constantly wanting to put down the book to bring up Spotify on my phone so I can play some of their songs, only to remember that this is a fictional band! WELP. TJR doing her thing yet again! In case you don’t know about it, the synopsis is below:

Everyone knows DAISY JONES & THE SIX, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity…until now.

Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock ’n’ roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.

Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.

Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend. The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies.

What are you currently reading?

Well, it’s been a pretty funky week for me. I made a note on my late Friday Favorites post about how I had to take a break from the blog (and social media) because life and my anxiety has been particularly crippling this week. I think I really reached a ‘breaking point’ on Friday and I couldn’t muster up the energy to re-open my laptop after I got done with work, let alone finish writing my Friday post. I’ve always had issues with sleeping and it suddenly got worse two years ago, so I started to take melatonin to help me sleep. However, my metabolism is so slow that if I don’t take it at least a good 2-3 hours before I want to sleep (i.e. midnight-ish) then I won’t fall asleep until well past midnight and I’ll wake up feeling even more tired than before. Over the last two weeks I’ve not been taking melatonin because whenever I remember that I should have taken it, I find that it’s already 11PM, and because of that I’ve been running on 2-3 hours of sleep every night. For two weeks. I think my body finally gave up on me on Friday so I’ve been feeling pretty lousy and unmotivated this weekend. That said, I got a good lie in (6 hours!) on Saturday and today, so I’ feeling a bit better now. Obviously this means that my blogging has been pretty much on the ‘meh’ front this week, but thanks to the reading rush I did manage to read quite a few books this week. You’ll find a recap of what I read for the rush after my post recap below!

Friday Favorites: Tropes
ARC Graphic Novel Review: Double Vie (Rose #1) by Denis Lapière and Émilie Alibert
Review: Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (unpopular opinion time!)
Review: The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
Reading Update: Goodreads Summer Reading Challenge (June-July)
#WWWWednesday: 24 July
#TopTenTuesday: Settings I Want More of…
Goodreads Monday: 22 July

If you read my post last week, you’d know that I was thinking about joining The Reading Rush (formerly known as the Booktubeathon) but wasn’t sure because of time and life etc. But then I caved pretty quickly and jumped on the challenge wagon and I’m glad that I did! Considering my state-of-mind this last week, I’m actually quite proud that I managed to read four books for the challenge (on top of other ARC reads) and that I also earned quite a few badges (more than I actually thought I would)! I did end up reading everyone’s a aliebn to fulfill three prompts, but hey, that’s okay 🤷🏻‍♀️While I’m happy that I took part in the challenge, it made me realize just how much of a mood reader I really am. I was fighting the urge to pick up any random book by the time I finished my second book, so I’m proud that I managed to finish four. Sticking to TBR lists just isn’t my jam! Since today’s the last day of the challenge, I thought I’d call it in and I’m glad that I did.

Here are the books that I managed to read for the #ReadingRush:

Here are the badges that I earned:

How has your reading and blogging week been? Did you also join the Reading Rush Challenge? Are you happy with what you’ve read/achieved?
Come let me know in the comments and let’s have a chat 🙂

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [14]

July 21, 2019December 4, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads15 Comments

Today has been a bit of a long day. I’m in Jakarta visiting my family as my sister has just moved back from the US last week. I haven’t seen her in about a year so it was nice to spend time with her. Unfortunately though, she fell prey to the infamous stomach bug and so she’s been in bed all day and it’s just been an awful time. I didn’t get as much reading done as I hoped to, but last night I finished The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah (which left me a blubbering hot mess, thanks Kristin Hannah) and so today I finally started my second buddy read for the month: Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. I can’t really say much about it so far since I just started, however, shit just hit the fan (in the book, not IRL lol). I’m sure everyone has heard about this book by now, but just in case you haven’t, you can read the blurb below!

First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veep’s genius granddaughter, they’re the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsides—namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations.

The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince. Alex is busy enough handling his mother’s bloodthirsty opponents and his own political ambitions without an uptight royal slowing him down. But beneath Henry’s Prince Charming veneer, there’s a soft-hearted eccentric with a dry sense of humor and more than one ghost haunting him.

As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. And Henry throws everything into question for Alex, an impulsive, charming guy who thought he knew everything: What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you?

What are you currently reading?

So we’re pretty much almost to the end of July. Another month gone and really, where does the time go? My reading month has continued to be great, and I think my blogging has been pretty constant as well. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my journey into and with the book community via blogging, bookstagram and Twitter (just a bit) and I feel so grateful for all the people that I’ve met who share a passion and love for the same things as me, and who just get it. I hope that the friendships, bookships and everything else continue to flourish and stay strong as my blog gets “older”. Wow, that wasn’t meant to be as weepy as it sounded? I hope that wasn’t awkward! Haha 😂Anyway, back to the blogging bit, just in case you missed it, below are the posts I’ve made this week. Its been a pretty great blogging week, if I do say so myself 🙂

If I Joined The Reading Rush…
The Sunshine Blogger Award
Friday Favorites: Summer Reads
Review: Evidence of the Affair by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Review: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Review: The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James
#WWWWednesday: 17 July
#TopTenTuesday: Autobuy Authors
ARC Review: Sorry I’m Late I Didn’t Want to Come by Jessica Pan
Goodreads Monday: 15 July
ARC Graphic Novel Review: The Tea Dragon Festival (Tea Dragon #2) by Katie O’Neill

How has your reading and blogging week been?
Come let me know in the comments and let’s have a chat 🙂

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [13]

July 14, 2019December 4, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads3 Comments

Today I’ve spent half the day in my reading nook with The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James. I actually ended up finishing this book today and let me tell you, it was not at all what I expected! It’s YA science fiction but the author keeps the scientific details of space travel simple and to a minimum (as much as it’s possible in a book set in space), which I was really thankful for! This story was full of thrilling twists that kept me on the edge of my seat and had me quickly flipping through the pages to find out just what the hell was going on! You’ll definitely want to go into this one knowing as little as possible, but let me just say that whatever you think will happen after reading the blurb/ synopsis (below!), chances are you won’t anticipate what actually comes your way. Keep an eye out for my full review in the coming days!

The daughter of two astronauts, Romy Silvers is no stranger to life in space. But she never knew how isolating the universe could be until her parents’ tragic deaths left her alone on theInfinity, a spaceship speeding away from Earth. Romy tries to make the best of her lonely situation, but with only brief messages from her therapist on Earth to keep her company, she can’t help but feel like something is missing. It seems like a dream come true when NASA alerts her that another ship, the Eternity, will be joining the Infinity. Romy begins exchanging messages with J, the captain of theEternity, and their friendship breathes new life into her world. But as the Eternity gets closer, Romy learns there’s more to J’s mission than she could have imagined. And suddenly, there are worse things than being alone….

What book are you currently reading?

Who here can believe we’re already pretty much hitting the middle of July?! I know I can’t and I’m honestly still trying to figure out what I do with all my days! Although I haven’t been very productive this weekend, it was a pretty great reading weekend! Actually, this whole month so far has been pretty great for my reading, especially considering that I spend my weekdays at the office wishing I was in bed with a book! I think I’ve read 10 books so far and I hope to keep this streak going! I’ve struggled the past few months to really jump from one book to the other without taking at least a one-day break in between, so the fact that I’ve been able to consistently finish a book and pick up a new one right away, makes me feel good! But it also means that I’ve been slacking off a bit with writing my reviews… Oops? I’m working on it though!

That said, here’s a list of the posts I’ve done this week, just in case you missed it!

Review: Aurora Rising (Aurora Cycle #1) by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Review: The Prenup by Lauren Layne
Friday Favorites: Books Outside My Usual Genre
Graphic Novel Review: Blackbird, Vol. 1 by Sam Humphries & Jen Bartel
Review: The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary
#WWWWednesday: 10 July
Mini-Reviews: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, Field Notes On Love & I Hate Fairyland
#TopTenTuesday: Bookish Characters I’d Like to Befriend!
Review: Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

How has your reading and blogging week been?
Come let me know in the comments and let’s have a chat 🙂

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [12]

July 8, 2019December 4, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads6 Comments

I know that it’s Monday, but my Sunday ended on a really awful work-related disaster (for which I got a call at 9pm for), which absolutely drowned my mood with anxiety and anger, so I didn’t end up writing and posting my wrap up. But I still wanted to share my weekly recap. So, here we go with another ~~Sundays~~ Mondays In Bed With… meme, which dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning! This meme 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 Monday, I’m moody AF because of last night’s news combined with sleep deprivation, and I wish I was still at home reading the book that I started this morning: The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary. I finished my last read (The Bear and The Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy #1) by Katherine Arden–review coming soon!) in the wee hours of the morning today, and I felt like reading something ‘lighter’ before I have to start on some upcoming buddy reads of ‘heavier’ books. I’ve heard so many good things about the book that I’m giving myself a pat on the back for picking it up so soon after adding it to my physical shelf! 😂 I have a feeling it’s going to be a read that I’ll really love; I’m just a hopeless romantic like that. Curious to know what it’s about? Read the synopsis below:

Tiffy Moore and Leon Twomey each have a problem and need a quick fix. Tiffy’s been dumped by her cheating boyfriend and urgently needs a new flat. But earning minimum wage at a quirky publishing house means that her choices are limited in London. Leon, a palliative care nurse, is more concerned with other people’s welfare than his own. Along with working night shifts looking after the terminally ill, his sole focus is on raising money to fight his brother’s unfair imprisonment. Leon has a flat that he only uses 9 to 5. Tiffy works 9 to 5 and needs a place to sleep. The solution to their problems? To share a bed of course… As Leon and Tiffy’s unusual arrangement becomes a reality, they start to connect through Post-It notes left for each other around the flat.
Can true love blossom even in the unlikeliest of situations?
Can true love blossom even if you never see one another?
Or does true love blossom when you are least expecting it?

What book are you currently reading?

Despite the annoying ending to my Sunday, I had a pretty decent week. I traveled to Jakarta for work, got to visit my favorite bookstore (Kinokuniya) and brought home a small haul of books that I’m very pleased with! Most are recent releases that I’ve been wanting to read, but I also found In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, which I’ve been wanting to add to my shelf forever, I just couldn’t find any copies on this crazy little island! I also had a pretty decent reading week. I finished four books, but considering that I work full time, and I had a big workshop that I was preparing to facilitate last week, I’m quite happy with my reads. That said, I was pretty quiet on the blogging front but I hope to get back into the grind this week; especially since I have a few book reviews that I need to post!

Friday Favorites: Books about Rebellion/Freedom
#WWWWednesday: 03 July
#TopTenTuesday: Childhood Favorites
June Monthly Wrap Up!

How has your reading and blogging week been?
Come let me know in the comments and let’s have a chat 🙂

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [11]

June 30, 2019December 4, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareadsLeave a comment

We’re back with another Sundays In Bed With… meme, which dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning! This meme 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!

I’ve spent my Sunday in bed with The Written by Ben Galley. I read this for the #UltimateBlogTour for Ben Galley, organized by Dave @TheWriteReads on Twitter. I’ve never been part of a blog tour before, so when I got asked if I wanted to join earlier this year, I obviously said yes. I’m so glad that I did! As life really got in the way this month, I didn’t have time to read it before this weekend though. It took some time for me to get into it when I picked it up yesterday and that had me worried that I wouldn’t be able to finish it before today, but it was for nothing. I sped through this book and basically didn’t leave me house (*cough* or bed *cough*) all day! You can read the synopsis below and you can read my full review here.

His name is Farden.
They whisper that he’s dangerous.
Dangerous is only the half of it.
A spellbook has gone missing from the libraries of Arfell – a very old and extremely powerful spellbook from the time of dark elves and demons. Five scholars are dead, the magick council is running out of time and options, and the Arka is once again on the brink of war with the Siren dragon-riders.
It falls to Farden the Written mage to keep the world from falling into chaos. Entangled in a web of lies and politics, Farden must recover the spellbook before an ancient enemy rises, even if it takes journeying halfway across icy Emaneska and back. In his fight for answers, Farden will unearth a secret that not only shakes the foundations of his world, but threaten the entire future of Emaneska. Sorcery, death, drugs and the deepest of betrayals await. Welcome to Emaneska.

What book are you currently reading?

We’ve come to the end of another month, friends! How are the months going by so quickly? I don’t even understand where time goes. Outside of my reading life, this week has been pretty okay. It’s a whole lot more relaxed than last week, and I have a feeling that this last week is going to set the tone for much of the rest of the year! In terms of blogging, it’s been a pretty decent week. Here’s what I posted this week, in case you missed it:

Review: The #UltimateBlogTour: The Written by Ben Galley
Friday Favorites: Books Set in Space
Most Anticipated Releases of 2019 (Latter-Half)
#WWWWednesday: 26 June
Review: Autoboyography by Christina Lauren
#TopTenTuesday: My Summer 2019 TBR!
Review: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

How has your reading and blogging week been?
Come let me know in the comments and let’s have a chat 🙂

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [10]

June 23, 2019December 4, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads7 Comments

This Sunday, I’ve been in bed with Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Creekywood #1) by Becky Albertalli. I’ve heard a lot about this book and pretty much every review I’ve read is full of so much praise for it! I’ve already read Leah on the Offbeat, which technically comes after Simon’s book, so I kind of already know what’s going to happen at the end of this book. That said, I’m excited to learn more about the characters, especially since Simon was a favorite of mine in Leah’s book! You can read the synopsis for it below.

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised. With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

What book are you currently reading?

As mentioned in last week’s wrap-up, I pretty much went completely MIA this week because I just didn’t have the mental or physical capacity to deal with all the work stress and anxiety, as well as writing blogs throughout the week. Thankfully, I survived the week (Ha). I think I got a measly 6 hours of sleep from Mon-Thurs, and due to my already bad sleep issues, I didn’t even sleep in on the weekend because my body wouldn’t let me! Still, I’m so relieved that the nightmare weeks leading up to this is finally over. The stress left my body in a huge rush on Friday and I could’ve wept with relief if I hadn’t been surrounded by my boss(es)! Despite the high anxiety that I faced thinking about giving my presentation, I did end up enjoying myself at the conference; I met a lot of like-minded individuals, people I could even see being friends outside of work, and even an old high school classmate from Bangladesh. It’s such a small world!

Since I didn’t check in on my blog this week, I’ve only made three posts but I’m really looking forward to getting back to blogging from now. Yay! Just in case you missed them:

The Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag (2019)
ARC Review: When the Light Went Out by Bridget Morrissey
Friday Favorites: Character Deaths (That’ll Never Leave Me)

How has your reading and blogging week been?
Come let me know in the comments and let’s have a chat 🙂

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [09]

June 16, 2019December 4, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads3 Comments

This Sunday, I’ve been craving to be in bed with my latest read, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. I started this read a few weeks ago, but put it on hold to get through some ARCs and because work has been absolutely killing me with stress and anxiety, so I haven’t been in much of a mood to read. No, that’s a lie, all I want to do is ignore work and stay home in bed all day and read, but that’s not happening, so I’m trying to not start anything that’ll make the feeling worse for me 🙂 For those who haven’t read the book yet, you can read the synopsis below!

For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. She’s barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark. But Kya is not what they say. Abandoned at age ten, she has survived on her own in the marsh that she calls home. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life lessons from the land, learning from the false signals of fireflies the real way of this world. But while she could have lived in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world–until the unthinkable happens.

What book are you currently reading?

Friends, this week has been super exhausting and as I mentioned above, full of stress and anxiety. Coming up next week is a huge conference that my office is organizing together with one of our biggest donors and we’re hoping to attract about 300 people for the first day, and about 160 for the second. While organizing these things is always stressful, the reason why I’ve really been feeling the pressure this time is because I’ve been asked to do a presentation on the second day, and the thought of standing up in front of that many people, and setting the tone for a workshop discussion makes me feel sick to my stomach. I’m probably the craziest introverted communication officer the world has ever seen, and just thinking about being put under the spotlight like that is beyond terrifying. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve sunk so far into my introversion the last few years, but while I’ve always been nervous in previous presentations, this is the first time I’ve had such a visceral reaction to even the thought of this. I haven’t been able to sleep, eat, or do the things that normally relax me (such as read or listen to music) because my body just rebels at everything and all it literally wants to do is shut down. The craving to avoid everything in the face of nerves is so real, and while I know that’s not good and I’m fighting my body’s “flight mode” like hell, it’s an insanely exhausting battle. That said, I’m probably not going to find time to post much next week, and I’ve been too stressed to prepare my posts in advance this weekend. So, sorry in advance for going MIA!

That said, here’s my weekly wrap up. It hasn’t been the best blogging week, but considering my current mental state, I thought it was pretty alright! Hope everyone has had a good week and weekend. Catch you on the flip side!

ARC Review: Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner
Friday Favorites: Books Set in High School
Graphic Novel Review: The Woods (Vol 1-9) by James Tynion IV
#WWWWednesday: 12 June
Top Ten Tuesday: Unpopular Book(ish) Opinions
The Goodreads Summer Reading Challenge
Graphic Novel Review: Fence (Issues #1-12) by C.S. Pacat

How has your reading and blogging week been? Have a great week ahead!

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [08]

June 9, 2019December 4, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareadsLeave a comment

This Sunday I’ve been highly anticipating the moment I get to come home, crawl into bed, and pick up my next read: Mrs. Everything (ARC) by Jennifer Weiner. I’ve never read anything by this author before, but this book has been making small waves on bookstagram for a while now, so when I saw it on NetGalley I thought I’d request it! This book is coming out in two days, and I’m hoping that I can finish it by then. Here’s the synopsis for Mrs. Everything:

Do we change or does the world change us?

Jo and Bethie Kaufman were born into a world full of promise. Growing up in 1950s Detroit, they live in a perfect “Dick and Jane” house, where their roles in the family are clearly defined. Jo is the tomboy, the bookish rebel with a passion to make the world more fair; Bethie is the pretty, feminine good girl, a would-be star who enjoys the power her beauty confers and dreams of a traditional life.

But the truth ends up looking different from what the girls imagined. Jo and Bethie survive traumas and tragedies. As their lives unfold against the background of free love and Vietnam, Woodstock and women’s lib, Bethie becomes an adventure-loving wild child who dives headlong into the counterculture and is up for anything (except settling down). Meanwhile, Jo becomes a proper young mother in Connecticut, a witness to the changing world instead of a participant. Neither woman inhabits the world she dreams of, nor has a life that feels authentic or brings her joy. Is it too late for the women to finally stake a claim on happily ever after?

What book are you currently reading?

Can someone please tell me how it’s already Sunday? AGAIN? I mean, obviously I know this is what happens when a week passes, we get to the last day of the week, but how is it that it’s already the end of another week? I’m not ready for my days of lazing around reading to be over. Going into work is getting continuously more difficult after all these holidays/breaks! After finishing my last read, What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about, listening to and singing the songs from Hamilton! I’m so sad that I will never get to see the original cast play their roles, but I’m hoping so much that they’ll come out with a movie version, just like they did with RENT! Watching Hamilton on Broadway would be a dream come true, and it’s quite close to the top of my bucket list. I know all the lyrics by heart, and even after hundreds of listens, it still has the ability to make me laugh and cry as if it was the first time I was listening to it! Ugh, I love the music so much. Any Hamilfans here? 🙋🏻‍♀️ If you haven’t listened to the music, please do yourselves a favor and listen to it N-O-W! I’ll even make it easier for you and put the Spotify playlist below! 😉

But I digress! I’m here to share my weekly wrap up, so you can find a list of my posts from this week below. Overall, it was a pretty great week 😊 Hope you’ve had a good one too, friends!

Review: What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
Friday Favorites: Urban Fantasy Books
ARC Review: Mixed Signals by Mia Heintzelman
Pride Month Possibility Pile!
ALL THE BOOKS: My FULL Birthday Month Book Haul
Review: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
#WWWWednesday: 05 June
Top Ten Tuesday: Books from my Favorite Genres
Review: Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi

How has your reading and blogging week been?
Hope everyone has a great week ahead!

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [07]

June 2, 2019December 4, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareadsLeave a comment

I’ve spent this Sunday in bed with The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. I remember seeing this book on Kindle Unlimited a few years ago, but although it sounded interesting, I never got around to reading it. Then I joined bookstagram and saw this book receive so much hype, and as often happens, I felt a little wary about picking it up. I don’t think I would have picked this up yet if not for the buddy read I’ve joined for it. Unsurprisingly, I’m really enjoying it and have sped through it; mostly because I needed to get the reading done for our discussion of the first half tonight, but because it’s pretty easy to read. I’m a big fan of historical fictions, especially about WWII, the holocaust and the Nazi’s invasion and occupation of many countries in Europe. This is the first time I’ve read their occupation in France though so it’s been an interesting read. My mind boggles at how these people were so cruel, so fixated on their idea of purity and the need to cleanse society of millions of people just because of their ethnicity and religion. Obviously, it wasn’t just Jews that were targeted though. I’m thinking this one is going to at least be a 4-4.5 star read, but I have a feeling the really heart-wrenching stuff is coming up in the second half of the book. I can feel my tears gearing themselves up for release 😂

What book are you currently reading?

In Indonesia, the holidays have already begun for everyone as Idul Fitri/Eid is coming up next week. Unfortunately though, my office is only closed on Wednesday & Thursday, and I’m taking Friday off, which means that it’s back to work for the next two days. Oh Monday, I really thought you were still a day away! There’s a lot of family visiting right now, and I’m gutted that they’re all relaxing and I have to think about getting up early for work. The long weekend honestly can’t come soon enough! June is going to be a very busy month but I’ve got two buddy reads planned (one of which is for The Nightingale) and I’m hoping to read a lot more ARCs, and to read more LGBTQIA+ reads for Pride month! Despite my ridiculous work schedule, I have a feeling June is going to be a really great reading month! But for now, here’s a wrap up of the posts I made this week:

My May Monthly Wrap Up!
ARC Review: The Women by S.E. Lynes
Friday Favorites: Classics
Review: The Bride Test by Helen Hoang
#WWWWednesday: 29 May
Top Ten Tuesday: Books Released in the Last 10 Years
Review: Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren