Tag: Books

#TopTenTuesday: Settings I Want More of…

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 That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: settings I’d like to see more of. I think one of the reasons many of us love reading so much is because stories have the ability to transport us to places so far removed from our realities, whether they’re real existing places or fictional worlds that are so well built that they pretty much feel real. I mean, when you’re bogged down by #thatadultlife and can’t afford to travel to places you’re desperate to visit, there’s no better feeling than immersing yourself in a book that takes you there for a comparatively small price. 😉 Here are a few settings I’d like to see more of!

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Space à la Illuminae Files and Aurora Rising
I mean, I really just want more space. Especially when it’s space like in these two amazing books!

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Magical Libraries à la Sorcery of Thorns
Who doesn’t want more magical libraries? Especially if they’re full of magical books like in The Great Libraries of Sorcery of Thorns?! I would even take the grimoires that have all the evil power and can do bad things to a person. I’ll take it!

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Caraval
The world of Caraval is honestly like a dream. But not only full of really beautiful, fun and magical things but also dangerous and sinister things. How gorgeous is this cover of the Taiwan edition?!

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Red London of ADSOM
I’m tempted to even say that I want more of all the Londons from ADSOM? But I don’t think I’ll go that far. I just want more of Red London and Rhy, Kel, Lila and Alucard. Lol but really, I’d love more of this shade of london.

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London Below of Neverwhere
I fell so in love with the otherworldly London Below. It was so cool to see this ‘other side’ to familiar stations and locations from when I used to live in the UK (and often visited London to meet friends). I’d love to spend more time in London Below and explore its dark and dangerous side some more!

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Alaska
So maybe my view of Alaska is still on the more ‘romantic’ side but after reading The Great Alone, I’m not unaware of the harsh reality of living in such an environment. In my mind it’s a combination of terrifying nature and impossible beauty, especially with the Northern Lights! I’ve honestly always had this weird thing for Alaska!

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Edinburgh, Scotland
I’ve only been to Edinburgh but in the almost-two-years that I lived in Norwich, I think I went up to visit the city four times? I couldn’t get enough. It’s such a beautiful city and I often miss the magic of it, although I get to experience it when I read books set there. I especially love when a book talks about a place that I’ve been to, seen, or heard of in real life. It makes it feel extra special 🙂

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New York City
It’s manic but there’s a certain energy to NYC that so many people fall in love with. In reality I get incredibly overwhelmed with all the people around me, so what better way than to experience more of the city through a story? I find that stories in NYC are always so upbeat and full of hope 🙂

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New Orleans.
This is another ‘weird’ one on my part lol I think back in the day when I started reading romances of the steamier variety I read a few that were set in New Orleans and I basically ended up falling in love with my impressions of this city. It’s old charm, superstitions, vibrancy and food! I definitely always end up wanting to read more of this city.

Winter/Christmas/Snow.
I love everything about this type of setting. Despite living in the tropics, I love the cold and snow and I especially love the feeling in the air when Christmas rolls around (in Western countries), when it’s cold but everything feels extra warm and cozy. There’s a feeling of comfort that comes from these settings and I love experiencing it through books, especially if I can’t IRL!

What settings would you like to see more of? If you’ve done a TTT this week, leave your link in the comments and let’s chat favorite locations!

If I Joined the Reading Rush…

Dini @ dinipandareads22 Comments

Over the last week I’ve been seeing so many people in the book community talking about The Reading Rush. If you’re like me and have never heard of this challenge before, here’s a little bit on what it’s about:

“The Reading Rush is a week long readathon for book lovers all around the world. For one week readers gather together to read as much as they possibly can and to participate in challenges and giveaways online. Starting in 2019 the Reading Rush introduced a website, in order to allow anyone taking part in the readathon to track their reading statistics and come together in a central place. The Reading Rush started as the “BookTubeAThon” in 2013.”

You can find out more and sign up on their website. So, this totally sounds like fun, right? When I read more about it and looked up the prompts, I immediately felt the urge to sign up and join in on the fun, but I’m really not so great with sticking to TBRs and completing challenges, plus I feel that work is going to be a little bit hectic next week so I felt apprehensive about committing my time when I’m not sure I could do it. That said, I also started to get excited thinking about what I’d choose, so I decided to do a post of what I’d be reading for The Reading Rush, if I joined. 😉

READING CHALLENGES

1/ Read a book with purple on the cover

Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan

2/ Read a book in the same spot the entire time

Everyone’s an Aliebn When You’re an Aliebn Too by Jomny Sun
To be read on the couch in my reading corner at home!

3/ Read a book you meant to read last year

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

4/ Read an author’s first book

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

5/ Read a book with a non-human main character

Everyone’s an Aliebn When You’re an Aliebn Too by Jomny Sun
Yep, I’m doing a double for this read!

6/ Pick a book that has five or more words in the title

This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel

7/ Read and watch a book to movie adaptation

The Green Mile by Stephen King.
For some reason I’ve been thinking about this book/movie a lot lately. I still haven’t read the book and it’s been years since I watched the movie, but I remember how much I cried in the end.

Bonus/ Read 7 books!

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
If by some miracle I am able to finish one book per day(ish) and will be able to manage a seventh book, I’d pick this one to fulfill the prompt for a book with a non-human main character.

So there you have it, book friends! Books that I would read for The Reading Rush if I were to participate in the challenge! Honestly, I’m still really tempted to sign up and try even though I might only end up reading only two or a most three of these books! What do you think? Should I just say to hell with it and sign myself up?! 🙃

Are you joining The Reading Rush? If you are and you’ve posted about it, leave me a link in the comments. I’d love to see what books you’ve chose to do! Also leave me your username so that if I *do* sign up, I can follow you!

Friday Favorites: Summer Reads

Dini @ dinipandareads11 Comments

It’s time for another Friday Favorites hosted by Kibby @ Something of the Book! This weekly meme is where you get to share a list of all your favorites based on the list of prompts on Kibby’s page. Sounds fun, right? This week’s prompt is: summer reads. What I read very much depends on my mood so I don’t necessarily read different books according to the season. That said, summer is pretty much synonymous with the beach and pool time so when I think summer reads I always think of the types of books that I like to take with me when I’m lying under the sun. My favorite genres to read beach/pool side are: romcoms, thrillers, and occasionally YA fantasy/sci-fi.

These aren’t necessarily my *favorite* summer reads, but they’re ones that I’ve enjoyed reading from each genre! I’m going to try and name books that I’ve never mentioned on my blog before (Thank goodness for Goodreads and Kindle lol)

ROMANCE/ROMCOM:

THRILLERS:

YA FANTASY/SCI-FI:

What are some of your favorite summer genres/reads? Leave me a comment below and let’s chat summer books!

#TopTenTuesday: Autobuy Authors

Dini @ dinipandareads37 Comments

It’s that time of the week again, friends! We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: autobuy authors. I tried to diversify my list a little bit instead of repeating authors and books that I’ve already mentioned on here countless times, but you can’t avoid the inevitable because these authors are my all time faves, so they’re bound to make an appearance! It wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be to just recall all the authors I’d auto buy, so I had to do a little bit of rummaging around my memory (it’s really that bad) and came up with this list. Yay!

Neil Gaiman. Gaiman is a master of crafting words into incredibly bizarre and delightfully magical worlds within our actual world. I’m always left in awe of his stories. They’re dark, funny, did I mention bizarre, and oddly touching. When I read Neverwhere for the first time a few years ago there was no looking back. He’s been an autobuy since! I’ve really enjoyed everything of his that I’ve read including American Gods, The Graveyard Book, and The Ocean At the End of the Lane, to name a few!

Taylor Jenkins Reid. So I’ve only read two of TJR’s books: Maybe In Another Life and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Both took my feelings and ripped them to shreds and I loved every minute of it! These reads are so emotionally packed and I’ve found elements of relatability in both of them, which obviously made it more impactful.

Jodi Picoult. I’ve loved Jodi Picoult since I first discovered her in high school. I think my first book by her was The Pact and it just wowed me with the writing style and the storylines. Since I read most of her books in high school, I don’t think I fully appreciated the complexity of her characters and their situations. I’d definitely love to re-read my favorites at some point!

Robin Sloan. Sloan’s books are so odd, intriguing, and full of quirky loveable characters that worm their way into your heart! Sourdough is probably one of my all time favorite books — no joke. It just makes me feel warm and so happy. Mr. Penumbra’s was also such a fun-tastic adventure with BOOKS and who wouldn’t love that?! I wish it were easier to get my hands on more of his books!

Helen Hoang. Hoang has only put out two books (The Bride Test and The Kiss Quotient) so far but I’ve loved both of them dearly! I love the diversity of her romances. They’re awkward, funny, sweet, (so) steamy, and have left me feeling light-hearted after each read. I am also eagerly looking forward to reading about QUAN in her next book, The Heart Principle. She describes it as: “kind of a cross between a gender-swapped Sabrina and Say Anything” … I MEAN C’MON. All the 😍 emojis.

Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff. I’m a little embarrassed to mention this but I’ve only ever read anything by both authors that they’ve written together. So that’s The Illuminae Files and Aurora Rising. It’s not that I don’t want to read what they’ve written separately, there are just SO MANY books and so few waking+non-working hours! But I will buy anything these two write together. They are the ultimate dynamic writing duo and slay me with their stories and characters!

V.E. Schwab. After finishing ADSOM I immediately knew it’d be one of my all-time favorite series and Schwab immediately jumped onto my auto buy authors list. I loved the writing, storyline and characters. The magic really came to life! I’ve since read and loved her Monsters of Verity and Villains series.

Christina Lauren. It’s as simple as I love CLo and pretty much everything that I’ve read from them! Josh and Hazel‘s Guide to Not Dating is undoubtedly one of my all-time favorite romances. This duo never fail to make me laugh, swoon, squeal, and generally have the most fun reading experience with their books. I’m so looking forward to reading Twice In A Blue Moon when it comes out!

Jane Harper. I discovered Harper this year after reading The Dry and there was just no looking back. Her writing is just stunning. It’s so deeply atmospheric, reading her stories takes you straight into the punishing dry heat of the Australian outback. Although her books are classified as thrillers, I’d say they’re more mystery, but they kept me guessing right up to the end.

Brian K. Vaughan. He’s the writer of my all time favorite graphic novel series, Saga. I’ve mentioned this one countless times already on my blog but it’s seriously so freaking good. Anytime someone asks me for graphic novel recs, Saga is the first one I mention. He’s also written Paper Girls, which I enjoyed!

Who are your auto buy authors? If you’ve done a TTT this week, leave your link in the comments and let’s chat auto buy authors!

Friday Favorites: Outside of My Usual Genre

Dini @ dinipandareads4 Comments

It’s time for another Friday Favorites hosted by Kibby @ Something of the Book! This weekly meme is where you get to share a list of all your favorites based on the list of prompts on Kibby’s page. Sounds fun, right? This week’s prompt is: books outside of my usual genre. When I think of books outside my usual genre I tend to think of books outside my “comfort zone”. I’m usually open to all genres, barring horror coz I’m a scaredy, so it’s always hard for me to choose things outside of my “usual”. That said, the first ones that come to mind are: Non-Fiction and books with Magical Realism (yes, I’m counting this as a genre).

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and The Birth of the FBI by David Grann. Every year my goal is to read more non-fiction. I find a lot of non-fiction doesn’t hold my attention and I find my mind wandering about 80% of the time. But then there are times where I come across a non-fiction such as Killers of the Flower Moon and I devour it in one night. I just couldn’t put it down. It’s written like a story, it’s compelling and horrifyingly fascinating. So much history has been lost, it’s a shame that it’s only through stories such as these that we learn more about it. 1,000% recommend!

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Surprise, surprise, this book is getting another mention on my blog! I know I mention it regularly, but it’s one of my all time favorites for a reason. Surprising then (maybe?) that it appears on this list! Magical realism and I often don’t see eye-to-eye and I feel like classic Spanish authors utilize it abundantly. Unpopular opinion time: I read One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and I wanted to cry out of sheer confusion and boredom 😭 So when my friend suggested I read Shadow of the Wind, one of her all-time favorites, I was really hesitant. You can bet I was surprised by how much I loved this book and sped through the pages. It’s so captivating and Zafon has a magical way with words that transports you to wherever you are in a story.

I’m Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come: An Introvert’s Year of Living Dangerously by Jessica Pan. This is a non-fiction and ARC that I finished very recently. I finished it late and it already came out at the end of May(!!), but I’m so glad that I picked this up. Following Jessica Pan’s journey as an introvert doing all the extroverted things in one year was not only HILARIOUS but also very comforting. She did all the crazy things that I have nightmares about (talking to strangers in public, public speaking, stand-up comedy, unplanned travels alone, and guess what? She survived all of it! I loved the way she wrote this so openly and honestly, and I’m pretty sure I laughed through 90% of the book. This was 1000% relatable especially at this similar stage of life. Is it weird/creepy to say that she’s the introvert that I wish I could be? Coz she is.

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan. I was so pleasantly surprised by this book. As mentioned above, magical realism tends to confuse me 🙃 and while I wasn’t expecting to encounter it in this novel (though really, I should’ve) I really enjoyed what it brought to the book! This story was touching, so beautifully told, and I feel like elements of magical realism is such a big part of Asian culture and storytelling. It simply just worked!

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. I guess this is a bit of a bonus because it’s neither NF or magical realism, it’s sci-fi! I included Dark Matter because up until now it’s still one of the only (adult) sci-fi novels I’ve read. Even if I included the YA sci-fi books I’ve read, I don’t think the number extends beyond the singles. I’m working on remedying that but (obviously) my TBR is a million unmanageable books long. So it’ll happen, just maybe not anytime too soon?

What are your favorite books outside of your usual genre? Any of these? Leave me a comment below and let’s chat in the comments!

#TopTenTuesday: Bookish Characters I’d Like to Befriend!

Dini @ dinipandareads37 Comments

It’s that time of the week again, friends! We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week is a Character Freebie and since I’ve just finished reading a book that reminded me why I love reading about books in books and characters who are passionate about books, I thought I’d do my post today on bookish characters that I’d like to befriend. Most of these characters might be from my more recent reads, since they’re fresher in my mind. Either way, I’d love to be friends with these fellow book lovers–I think we’d have so much fun reading?! Without further ado, here we go!

Elisabeth Scrivener from Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson. This book and this lady is my inspo for choosing today’s topic. I would probably feel safe being Elisabeth’s friend in a library because I know she’s bad ass enough to protect me, if I can’t protect myself 🙃 She just seems like a really cool girl. Also, Sorcery has fast become one of my favorite reads this year so all I’m going to say is (please) READ IT!

Kya Clark aka Marsh Girl from Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. Kya is… one of the strongest characters I’ve read in recent years. Her development and growth blew me away and I would love to hang with her in the marsh, exploring the beauty of nature that she captures through her books. I think she’d be an amazing friend to have, which is one of the reasons my heart broke so much when reading this book.

Tanner Scott from Autoboyography by Christina Lauren. It’s pretty obvious Tanner is a bookish character, especially since the book revolves around him writing a book within four months. Tanner sounds like he’d be so much fun to hang out with and his heart is so pure, I’d love to have him as a friend (so we can talk about books, boys and everything else).

Cath from Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. I think the title of this book pretty much sums it up. Cath is a super relatable character (book nerd and fangirl) and I’d love to have met someone like her at uni (or even now, really). I feel your thoughts, girl.

Elizabeth Bennet from Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen. Although this book appears so often on my blog, I would be remiss to not include both the character and book in this list because Elizabeth is a classic bookworm. I love this book, and her character and I love that she values books and reading so much! I don’t know what it’d be like to befriend her, but I really want to be 😂

Penny Lee from Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi. She’s awkward, full of anxiety and totally absorbed in her make believe worlds, but I’d absolutely love to be Penny’s friend. I think she’d definitely make you work to be her friend, but it would be 100% rewarding. Buried deep under all that outer awkwardness, I think she just wants to be a cinnamon roll.

Matilda Wormwood from Matilda by Roald Dahl. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be friends with this adorable, witchy little bookworm? It’d be so much fun! Would avoid diabolical Trunchbull and her weirdo “parents” at all costs though!

Belle from In Bed with the Beast (Naughty Princess Club #2) by Tara Sivec. If you can’t tell, this is a retelling of Beauty & the Beast. This Belle works at a library and as the title suggests, gets to share a bed with a very sexy beast. I loved Belle’s nerdiness and all the facts she would spew at very inappropriate moments! If we were friends, I reckon I’d be laughing and reading 24/7, not to mention I’d learn so much!

Lazlo Strange from Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer #1) by Laini Taylor. So at the end of this book, Lazlo becomes something more than just a Junior Librarian, so it’d be amazing to have a friend with such powers. But on the real, Lazlo is such a genuinely sweet, good guy who loves books and the stories as much as all of us book lovers (if not more)!

Honorary Mentions:
(The OG) Belle and Hermione Granger. Obviously these two have to make it onto this list because they’re classics just as much as Elizabeth Bennett is and I’d love to be both their friends. Hermione would teach me so much magic (and just knowledge in general lol) and I would get lost in Belle’s (and Beast’s) library and basically end up living in that grand place.

Would you want to befriend any of these bookish characters?
What character freebie have you done for today’s Top Ten Tuesday? Leave your link in the comments and let’s chat characters!

Friday Favorites: Books about Rebellion/Freedom!

Dini @ dinipandareads3 Comments

It’s time for another Friday Favorites hosted by Kibby @ Something of the Book! This weekly meme is where you get to share a list of all your favorites based on the list of prompts on Kibby’s page. Sounds fun, right? This week’s prompt is: Books about Rebellion/Freedom. I almost didn’t write this post because I (somehow) missed this week’s prompt and only realized when I got a notification for Kibby’s post. Oops! So now it’s late, I’ve had a hellishly late night working up until 30 minutes ago (it’s now 11PM), so I’m gonna keep this short and sweet. I’m also going to not list the Lunar Chronicles for this post because I think that (and Illuminae) are my two most mentioned series for when I answer all these prompts 😂

The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins. I decided to read these books with some friends before the second movie came out and it was wow. The world, the game, the rebellion. It was definitely crazy times but I loved every minute of it!

Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth. After bingeing on the Hunger Games a few years ago, I had a hankering to keep on reading dystopian YA books, so I picked up Divergent and I honestly loved it? I didn’t enjoy all the books in this series the same, but they weren’t the worst books I’ve ever read (don’t @ me).

An Ember in the Ashes Series by Sabaa Tahir. So much rebellion. So much chaos and fighting for freedom. So much suffering and loss. But also SO MUCH FUN?! Does that make me sound awful? I’m sorry but this series is amazing! I can’t wait for the final book in this quartet to come out in 2020.

The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn #1) by Renée Ahdieh. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It was inspired by A Thousand and One Nights, which I haven’t actually read (it’s on my hugemongous TBR). The fantasy and adventure is built around a romance, but it’s also about rebellion and fighting for freedom from an absolute snake of a man.

The Mistborn Series by Brandon Sanderson. This series was the first Sanderson I read and it solidified him in my list of favorite authors. This is truly epic fantasy full of strong, rebellious characters.

What are your favorite books about rebellion/freedom? I’d love to hear recommendations if you have them to give. Let’s chat in the comments!

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [11]

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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 🙂

Friday Favorites: Books Set in Space!

Dini @ dinipandareads20 Comments

It’s time for another Friday Favorites hosted by Kibby @ Something of the Book! This weekly meme is where you get to share a list of all your favorites based on the list of prompts on Kibby’s page. Sounds fun, right? This week’s prompt is: Books set in Space. So I feel like this one should be relatively easy, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that I actually haven’t read that many books set in space? I have quite a few books set in space that are sitting on my physical / kindle shelves, but I really do acquire books faster than I can read them (#bookwormproblems)! One day though, I will get to them. For now, here are my favorite books set in space (and yes, I’m counting that last one!):

The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. Hands down one of the best sci-fi series that I’ve ever read. The humor, the romance, the creepiness, the battle for survival, AIDAN. I mean, it’s got everything and it’s set in space. It’s pretty stellar (pun intended)!

Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples. Do I even need to mention how much I love Saga? I probably don’t, but I will anyway. Saga is probably my all time favorite graphic novel–granted I don’t have the widest repertoire–but it’s true. The ending of the last volume KILLED ME, and I can’t wait for Vaughan and Staples to bring it back to life already (pretty please?)!

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. I think this series is honestly one of the best re-tellings I’ve ever read. It’s so unique and jam packed full of action. I loved how Meyer brought together all the stories, how strong the female characters are in their own ways, and of course, it’s set in space (the majority of it anyway)!

Ender’s Game by Scott Orson Card. I think this was the first sci-fi book I read as an adult and I have to admit it was after watching the movie. While the movie was interesting, I enjoyed the depth we got in the book a lot more! It’s an oldie but a goodie that I (surprisingly?) don’t see getting a lot of attention in the book world.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Does this book count? I guess I’m making it count! I mean, the little prince’s home is a planet, he also travels from planet to planet, so technically it’s set in space, right? That has to count for something! It’s one of those childhood books that still have the ability to touch my heart when I read it as an adult. This is one of the books I’m hoping gets passed down the line for generations!

What are your favorite books set in space? I’d love to hear some recommendations if you have them to give. Let’s chat in the comments!

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [10]

Dini @ dinipandareads7 Comments

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!

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 🙂