Side note to the actual post: Thanks so much to everyone who was so supportive and understanding of my much needed mini-break last week. I’m back, feeling much better and less drowning-in-my-emotions, and it feels good! I’ll be taking it a bit slow but I’ve missed everyone (and blogging) so much (I know it was only one week LOL)!
So, we’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: The Last Ten Books I Abandoned (this could be books you DNFed, books you decided you were no longer interested in, etc.) (submitted by Claire @ Book Lovers Pizza).
I think we all know by now that I don’t really DNF books and it’s something that I’m (very) slowly working towards. I know, I know—”why read a book if you’re not enjoying it?” It’s a good question and honestly, I’m not going to say anything different to what other non-DNFer’s would say. I feel guilty when I think of DNF’ing and that guilt means that if I abandon the book, it’ll linger in my head for longer than if I push through it. That FOMO feeling in me also always thinks: “but what if it gets better?!” Yeah, it usually never does but 🤷🏻♀️ So instead of listing books that I abandoned, I’ll be looking at ten books that I should’ve abandoned!*
*Possible unpopular opinions ahead! I don’t intend to offend anybody but I’m sorry if anything I say offends you, but please don’t attack me! LOL
We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: books I wish I read as a child. But I don’t know.. I’m not really feeling that prompt right now. So I’m going to twist it up a bit and look at books I read as a child (kid/tween/teen) that I want to read again as an adult!
I read quite a bit as a kid in elementary school, really enjoyed my humanities classes in middle school and basically almost moved into the library in high school. The sad thing is though, I don’t really remember a lot about the books I read. I remember which ones I enjoyed but if you asked me what they were about… Well, I’d be (mostly) hard pressed to tell you 😂 So I’d love to try re-reading some of these and seeing what I’d think of them now as an adult!
We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: Titles that would make good band names (submitted by Michelle).
Ooh, this is a really fun topic! I’ve never looked at a title and thought it’d make a good band name but now that the seed has been planted, there are quite a few that pop up in my head! You might notice a trend in the types of titles that I pick… Also, for some reason when I’m thinking bands my mind doesn’t immediately think boy/girl pop bands but more like… heavy metal/rock bands? LOL Maybe it’s residual from my emo days when I used to listen to bands with names that (now) remind me of book titles 🤣 It’s weird that my brain does this but interesting. Anyway, without further ado, let’s get to it! I’m really curious to see if any other bloggers will pick the same book titles?!
A STANDALONE romantic comedy from author Melissa Williams. A hot cop and a donut baker, what could go wrong?
It was a donut emergency. A dough or die moment. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself. It would explain why, from the moment Baxter DeCavhalo comes crashing into my kitchen, I’ve been acting out of character.
Why I’m sharing secret donut recipes, licking frosting off fingers that aren’t mine, and falling for the off-limits neighbor. I know better, I need to be focusing on my bakery and my next donut creation…but there’s just something about Bax that keeps me coming back for more. It’s not the heat of the kitchen that’s getting to me, it’s Bax. And this slow burn is about to combust.
I was looking for a light and fluffy romantic comedy when I came across this book and it sounded just like what I was looking for. It didn’t hurt that it also has such a colourful and eye-catching cover! I was sold. Unfortunately, this book was not it and it didn’t work out for me.
The plot and character arcs felt very underdeveloped because everything seemed to happen off-page. There were many allusions to “something not being right” with the friendships and sibling relationships, and that’s even before we get into the police drama that stems from Bax’s work as a police detective. It felt like there was a lot happening in the story but at the same time, not much either, if that makes sense. There were no discussions to try to solve those “not right” feelings with her brother and her best friend, although something was clearly up. It all came across as very vague.
I also didn’t connect with our heroine or hero. Cassidy seems to have a history of being hurt and so has built up her walls; however, we never really learn about what made the walls go up in the first place. Again, hints of her history are dropped but we don’t get any details. Of course these walls end up being a barrier to whatever is going on with Bax, but after some not-very-nice hints from her best friend about her inability to trust anyone, Cassidy simply decidesthat she’s going to let Bax in… And she does it. Despite a rough meet-cute for our characters, Bax became very quickly “all-in” with Cassidy. He decides at one point during their second interaction that he wants all or nothing, and he’s going to make Cassidy realise that he’s serious about them. I didn’t get it. Yeah, she’s quirky and makes delicious donuts but… That’s it? Don’t tell me he’s all in, show me why! I felt very little chemistry between them and that made their steamy scenes also fall flat for me.
Overall, a fairly disappointing read. It just never clicked for me and that’s disappointing because I was expecting more… Even the part about the bakery, which I thought would leave me with endless donut cravings, didn’t even really do that… I’m glad that I did give this a try though–I don’t think I could’ve resisted such a cute cover for very long, but I’m also glad it was on Kindle Unlimited!
We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: Books I Enjoyed but Rarely Talk About (This is for the books you liked, but rarely come up in conversation or rarely fit a TTT topic, etc.)!
OK, I have to admit that I struggled a bit with this one because a lot of the books I loved/enjoyed I DO talk about quite often? I feel like maybe I talk about all of them too much? Admittedly these books are more “recent” reads over the last few years because my memory is truly terrible. It’s weird and (I know) doesn’t make sense but it is what it is! So I went digging through Goodreads and found some reads that I think qualify (sorry if I end up cheating just a little bit)! I don’t talk about these books much because there’ve never really been any prompts in tags, award questions, or TTT topics that necessarily fit it!
We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt isbooks I bought because of… bookstagram!
I’m sure by now you’re all aware that book Instagram or bookstagram exists. You might even have one and run it alongside your blog! Some days it’s hard to believe that I actually started on bookstagram and then took the big leap to start a book blog. It’s especially hard to believe now since I’ve basically all but abandoned my bookstagram 🙈 #shame But while I have you here (*shameless plug*), feel free to check out my bookstagram and follow me if you feel so inclined: @dinipandareads!
Last year I started a bookstagram and got quickly sucked into the book community! I fell hard and fast for all the beautiful hardcovers and gorgeous accounts. I tried to “keep up” with the good-looking posts by buying props etc. but it’s so hard to find quality things here I decided I didn’t want to spend all that money for it! LOL, but there’s seriously something about seeing gorgeous books in aesthetically pleasing photos that give me some serious *grabby hands* feels. Does that only happen to me?! 😂 So here are some of the books that I absolutely needed to get my hands on all thanks to the ‘gram! Honestly, if it wasn’t for bookstagram I probably would’ve never even heard of some of these, so I really can’t be that mad, right?!
Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she’s blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks–and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday.
But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor.
It’s then that Morrigan discovers Jupiter has chosen her to contend for a place in the city’s most prestigious organization: the Wundrous Society. In order to join, she must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundreds of other children, each boasting an extraordinary talent that sets them apart–an extraordinary talent that Morrigan insists she does not have. To stay in the safety of Nevermoor for good, Morrigan will need to find a way to pass the tests–or she’ll have to leave the city to confront her deadly fate.
Unsurprisingly with everything going on right now it has been more than a little difficult to focus on reading*, but apparently middle grade books are really working for me! I still remember the first time I read Harry Potter when I was 9 and this book gave me thoseexact same feelings. This was such a wonderful adventure and I’m really excited to continue it in the upcoming books!
*Also I apologise in advance if this ends up being a windy-non-sensical review because aside from finding it difficult to focus on reading, my brain’s also not having it with writing reviews 😂
We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is:signs you’re a book lover (basically, people know you’re a book lover because… i.e., you’re always carrying a book or two, your library card broke from overuse, etc.)
Friends, these last two weeks have been a time and my weary mind is finding it so hard to focus on anything (as I’m sure almost all of you can relate to). It’s insane! I think the only thing I’ve been able to focus on lately is gaming–not even reading and that’s the craziest part, right?! Maybe this week’s list will remind me why I can still call myself a book lover? 🤣 My brain is seemingly determined to forget what books are since I got my Switch Lite last week… I’m really hoping that something is going to suck me back into reading though, because right now I’m struggling to put down these games. But before I digress even further… here’s a list of 10 signs that I’m a book lover! 📖
I wasn’t tagged to do this post so of course I’m going to be doing it before all the ones I’m actually tagged in! 🙃 I saw Kirsty @ Caffeinated Fae post this on her blog today and it looked like a fun and short tag to do and since my mind is clearly not gunning for the “heavier” stuff right now I thought why not do it!? So here I am and here we go…
What do you like about buying new books?
Does “everything” count as an answer? Well, except for parting with my money… 💸 But no really, I love the new book smell, I love adding an anticipated read to my shelves, I love discovering a new book that I’ve never heard of before. I love walking out of the story with new worlds full of delicious possibilities waiting to be discovered!
Goodreads: Words in Deep Blue Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers Publication Date: 30 August 2016 Genre: YA Contemporary, YA Romance
Panda Rating:
This is a love story. It’s the story of Howling Books, where readers write letters to strangers, to lovers, to poets. It’s the story of Henry Jones and Rachel Sweetie. They were best friends once, before Rachel moved to the sea Now, she’s back, working at the bookstore, grieving for her brother Cal and looking for the future in the books people love, and the words they leave behind
So wow, I really wasn’t ready for my feels to be completely shattered reading this book. I was a quietly blubbering hot mess by the time I reached the end! I’m not even sure what I can say other than I absolutely loved it. This one reached right into my heart and gave it a big ‘ole squeeze and basically screamed at me to FEEL THINGS.
dinipandareads 