Tag: Books

The 2019 Mid-Year Check-In Tag

Dini @ dinipandareads9 Comments

Happy Saturday, book friends! How is everyone doing? It’s been a helluva week and now that the big conference and presentation is over, I’m feeling so drained of energy and mostly relieved that I survived! I’ve pretty much been off the blogosphere/bookstagram world this whole week and I came back a lot of awesome posts to catch up on but also fun book tags such as this one!

I wasn’t tagged for this but I thought I’d do it anyway because it looked fun and it’ll help me get back into the blogging flow! I can hardly believe it’s already THE END OF JUNE. I’m shook by how quickly this year has flown. In terms of reading, it’s been a pretty good year although I’m looking forward to reading many more amazing books in the latter half. I’ve pretty much already completed my 2019 Goodreads Challenge of 90 books (currently: 89/90) and I’ve already upped the number once (it was originally 75). I was wondering if I should up the number again, but I think I’ll just leave it now. Without further ado, here’s my answers for the 2019 mid-year book freak out tag!

Best book you’ve read so far in 2019?

This is a really tough pick. I have a Top 4 and I want to choose them all(?!) because I love them equally but for different reasons! But I think I will go for The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah because yeah, wow. You can read my review for it here.

Best sequel so far of 2019?

Okay, this is weird (and I also just realized it but) I haven’t actually read any sequels this year. There are a few that I’m dying to get to (eventually) but until now, I’ve been reading a lot of contemporary and historical fiction. Do graphic novels count though? Because if yes, then I’d definitely say Saga Vol. 9 by Brian K. Vaughan!

New release you haven’t read yet, but want to?

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim. This is another one with a lot of hype around it and I’m meant to be reading it right now as a buddy read, but I still haven’t got around to it!

Most anticipated release for the second half of 2019?

Oh, it is really SO HARD to choose just one but the first one that came to mind is The Toll (Arc of a Scythe #3) by Neal Shusterman. That epic cliffhanger of an ending in Thunderhead shook me and I’m so curious to find out where we pick up, what has happened since and how things are going to be fixed–if they’re at all fixable!

Biggest disappointment?

The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. This was my second read of 2019 and it just really didn’t work for me. There was a lot of hype around it and I still see a lot of people praising it, but it just wasn’t my jam! While I thought the way the story was told was creative and different from anything else I’ve read, it was also confusing, and slightly boring at times. Also, so many questions left unanswered at the end!

Biggest surprise?

Normal People by Sally Rooney. I read Conversations with Friends, Rooney’s debut last year and I hated it. Like, I passionately disliked it. It’s written in Rooney’s distinctive style, and I enjoyed that, but it was just the characters that I found had no redeeming qualities. I couldn’t stand them and it frustrated me the more I read! I didn’t think I’d read Rooney again, but when Normal People came out and was a huge hit, FOMO (and #bookstagram) made me buy it. I’m so glad I did–I loved it! You can read my full review here.

Favorite new author (debut or new to you)?

Jane Harper. I’ve gone on about her in a couple of posts already but honestly, her atmospheric writing just blows me away. Also makes me miss Australia (even though I never lived in the outback lol)! You can read my review for her book The Dry here.

Newest fictional crush?

Quan from the Bride Test by Helen Hoang. I really hope that Helen Hoang writes his book next because he deserves it! He’s the typical ‘bad boy’ with the tattoos, and the bad ass bike, but he’s such a sweet, caring softie when it comes to family. I’m so ready to read an epic Quan story! You can read my review for Hoang’s fantastic second book here.

Newest favorite character?

Kya Clark aka The Marsh Girl from Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. The story of this girl was so heartbreaking but her strength and resilience in the face of all the adversity was amazing? Astounding? Simply mind blowing and I loved her character so much. She was so pure, and genuinely so good hearted and fiercely smart. Such a strong and amazing female lead! Review coming soon.

Book that made you cry?

Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys. This book gutted me. I was so scared that the ending would be so much worse than it already was, but I’m glad that Sepetys gave us a spark of light to hang on to. Books set during this period of history never ever fail to make me wail like a baby!

Book that made you happy?

Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren. This book was so funny, sassy, and just all around awesome. Hazel is such a quirky character and to be honest I’m not sure who I had more of a crush on — her or Josh. They were adorable and I’m pretty sure that my heart didn’t stop singing throughout this one! You can read my full review here.

Favorite book to movie/tv adaptation that you saw this year?

I honestly haven’t watched many movie/tv adaptations this year, although I know that I want to! The only one that comes to mind is The Umbrella Academy on Netflix. When I watched it I had no idea it was written and directed by Gerard Way, who my bestie and I was lowkey obsessed with during my uni/emo days! I haven’t read the graphic novel though, but the show was pretty fun.

Favorite review you’ve written this year?

Hmm… Probably my review for Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I related to the MC so much and I loved the serendipitous storyline and discussions about fate/destiny. That made writing this review pretty easy but also fun. Plus, I included one of my favorite quotes. You can read my full review here.

Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received)?

I’ve bought quite a few beautiful books this year and I’m so happy with all of them! I have to say though that The Binding by Bridget Collins is probably my most beautiful purchase. The jacket is already gorgeous but the naked cover and inside of the cover are also equally as beautiful.

What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

There are so many books that I’d like to have read by the end of the year–literally the list goes on forever–but I definitely need to read Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

How has your reading year been so far? I’d love to see your answers for this book tag! If you’ve done it too, leave your link down in the comments below and let’s chat 2019 reading 🙂

Friday Favourites: Character Deaths (That’ll Never Leave Me)

Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

It’s time for another Friday Favourites hosted by Kibby @ Something of the Book! This weekly meme is where you get to share a list of all your favourites based on the list of prompts on Kibby’s page. Sounds fun, right? This week’s prompt is: Character Deaths**. So, I’m not really sure how to interpret this one because well, do I really have favourite character deaths? I’m not sure. The first thing that comes to mind when I think about this prompt is the character deaths that have stuck with me/made the biggest impact; so not necessarily my favourite death but it’s up on there on the list that I’ll never forget!

**Obviously I urge you to read this post with caution because I don’t know if you’ve read these books or if you want to read them, but warning: MAJOR SPOILERS! (Duh)

All the Deaths in the Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling. All the deaths in this book, especially towards the end of the series, really gutted me while reading the book and even more so when I watched the movies. Gets me every single time and I wail like a baby.

Willem in A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. Obviously this wasn’t the only death in the book that was devastating, this book was already gut wrenching from the start, but just as we were getting a glimpse into how much better Jude’s life could be, and was slowly becoming, THIS CRAZY DEATH had to happen and basically set off an intense period of depression and death. It WRECKED me. I’m pretty sure I had to take a break from reading because the heartbreak was so real, y’all. So real. I still can’t believe Yanagihara would do us like that.

Old Yeller in Old Yeller by Fred Gipson. Dog deaths in real life, books, movies, and TV shows are the absolute worst. I can still remember how hard I wept when I read this book in school and Old Yeller died after saving his family’s life. What a good doggo boy 😭

Augustus Waters in The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. One of those tragic and unexpected twists in the book when you think one thing is going to happen and then something completely different happens. Oh, this book. I still cry whenever I reread it. I don’t think I could handle the movie (no, I haven’t watched it yet)!

Isabelle Rosignoll in The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. We were so close. SO CLOSE to a sort-of happy ending and even though, as you’re reading, you realize that this is probably not a possibility considering the physical and mental condition of the character towards the end of the book, you still can’t but feel (recklessly) hopeful that it can still happen. This was my favorite read last month and this death completely wrecked me. You can read my full review here.

Lennie Small in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Lennie’s death was a mercy killing, but his character was my favorite and it gutted me the first time I read this when I was in middle school and it was still able to slash at my emotions whenever I read it after I was out of school. Lennie was such a gentle giant who loved too much, and it really sucked that he had to die.

Werner Pfennig in All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. This was one of those shocking deaths in a book that I absolutely hated. As it was happening I felt like I was reading it in slow motion (if that even makes sense). It was horrifying and I felt so robbed of a happy ending with and for Werner. SO sad.

Bruno in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. I’m sorry to say that I didn’t particularly enjoy this book. But Bruno’s death at the end was B-R-U-T-A-L. I was reading this on the plane when I got to the end and it caused me to literally swear out loud and chant NO NO NO because for real, that ending threw me so hard. I was shook–especially considering this is a book for children?! Hell no.

Do you have any “favourite character deaths”? Or are there any character deaths that you’ll never get over!?

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [09]

Dini @ dinipandareads3 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 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!

Friday Favorites: Books Set in High School

Dini @ dinipandareads12 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: favorite books set in high school. I don’t know whether to rigidly or loosely interpret this prompt because while I’ve read a lot of books about being a high school, I don’t think I’ve read that many where the story is set in high school? Am I overthinking? Probably. I choose to blame my high anxiety and stress levels from this week because y’all, it has been a freaking week and I’m so glad it’s over! 😭 Here are some of the ones I could think of:

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. I feel like this is pretty self explanatory! THUG has received so much hype and all the praise, and it 100% lives up to it. This was one of my top reads last year. It’s a hard hitting and emotional story that I think everyone needs to read at least once in their life!

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han. Who doesn’t love a good fluffy YA romance? I was skeptical AF when I picked this book up; sure, it sounded like a fun read but it also sounded like it’d be full of potentially bad corny/cheesy YA writing. I’m glad I didn’t listen to myself and actually picked it up because I was pleasantly surprised by it! Yes, it’s cheesy & super fluffy, but it’s the perfect feel good summer read, and I’m not sorry that I loved it!

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Yo, this book. I think this is one of the only books I’ve ever reread (not because this is my favorite book of all time, I just don’t reread as much as I want to) but I think that it made me cry even harder the second time around, despite knowing exactly what happens!

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus. I didn’t put this book down until I finished it in the wee hours of the morning. This was a great YA thriller and I loved every second of the Breakfast Club/Gossip Girl/How To Get Away With Murder vibes! I’m not a newbie to thrillers but this one seriously had me wondering whodunit for a good 50-60% of the book, after which it really started to fall into place and while it was slightly outlandish, the truth was also totally fitting!

The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir. This was my first book of 2019 and even though it didn’t take the route I expected, I really enjoyed it. I can’t even fathom what it would be like to grow up in such a super conservative and religious household, let alone one that’s broadcast nationally. A lot of people said it reminded them of The Duggars, but I had no idea who they were, but that didn’t mean I enjoyed it any less/more. But apparently a lot of the family dynamics and even the “scandal” was reminiscent of this real life family.

What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera. Okay, I really don’t know if this one counts but I’m making it count because this was became a favorite of mine very recently. I honestly loved everything about it and I wrote a bit of a gushing review for it that you can read here.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. This was the third Rowell book I read and it just solidified her as a favorite for me. When I read this a few years ago, it felt like it was the first time I encountered a male protagonist/love interest with a non-Asian female protagonist. Is that sad? Maybe I’m just not well-read enough? 🤷🏻‍♀️ Either way, it was surprising but I enjoyed it! Both characters had deep-seated issues that were heartbreakingly relatable, but I loved how their relationship started and grew, and I was so there for their love story.

BONUS: The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson, and Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. These are the books set in high school that are still sitting on my TBR but I’m predicting that I will love them when I finally get to them–which is going to be soon because they’re also on my reading list for pride month! Yay! Have you read any of these books?

What are your favorite books set in high school? Do any of my faves make your list? Feel free to leave me recommendations in the comments!

The Goodreads Summer Reading Challenge

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Have you heard about the Goodreads Summer Reading Challenge? Thanks to Brenda and Norma (Traveling Sisters), who have an active The Traveling Friends group on Goodreads, I learned about this summer reading challenge over the weekend and I think I’m keen to join! To be honest, I’m pretty horrible with challenges, mostly because I’m really terrible at keeping track of what I’m reading and for what specific challenge/prompt, but this one is fairly short, so I think it’ll be a lot easier to keep track of since I’m only aiming to finish the “For Beginners” list. Also, this might sound like a silly question but what constitutes summer? When people talk summer I always assume June/July, but according to Google (yes, I Googled) the summer months are June, July, August. Here’s what the challenge looks like:

Good as gold: Read a book that won a Goodreads Choice Award.
Vengeful by V.E. Schwab. Vengeful won for the Best Science Fiction of 2018 on Goodreads. I’m excited to read the sequel to Vicious because I absolutely loved it when I read it earlier this year!

The book is better: Read a book being adapted for TV or film this year.
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. The Goldfinch movie will be coming out in August and the trailer looks seriously amazing! I’m so excited for it, so I’m hoping to have finished this book by then. I started reading this as a group read in February but I was in such a heavy slump that month, it really affected my mood and made me unable to finish the book.

Short & sweet: Read a book with less than 100 pages (or a book you can finish in one sitting).
Is it cheating if I choose a graphic novel for this prompt? I’d like to read the graphic novel The Woods, Vol. 1: The Arrow by James Tynion IV. Since we’re talking about less than 100 pages, I’m approximating that’s probably just Vol. 1.

On the bandwagon: Read one of the most read books right now on Goodreads & New voices: Read a debut novel.
I’ll be reading Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens for two of the summer challenge prompts for practical purposes. I’m so excited to finally be reading this book! It has absolutely gotten all the hype on bookstagram especially and I’m so curious to see if it will live up to all the hype.

Actually want to read: Read a book that’s been on your Want to Read shelf for more than a year.
This is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel has been on my GR Want to Read shelf since December 2017. I’ve heard so much about this book so I’m looking forward to finally ticking it off my list!

Not from around here: Read a book set in a different culture from your own.
Our Kind of People by Uzodinma Iweala. I had the privilege and pleasure to meet Iweala last year at a book festival in Bali called the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival. I wish I also got his recently released fiction novel: Speak No Evil, but I only picked up this non-fiction (signed and personalized)!

In the friend zone: Read a book that a friend has recommended.
In the Traveling Friends group there’s a thread of recommendations from reader friends for this prompt. I have chosen to go for The Flatshare Beth O’Leary.

It takes two: Read a coauthored book.
Autoboyography by Christina Lauren. Christina Lauren is probably my favorite writer duo. Their books never fail to make me laugh, cry and genuinely feel all the things. This is a fitting book for the challenge as it is also one of my planned reads for Pride month!

Wheel of format: Read a book in a format that you don’t normally read in (­a graphic novel, poetry, a play, an audiobook, etc.).
This is the perfect prompt for me to finally finish the audiobook for Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. It’s narrated by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who I stan so hard, so I honestly don’t know why I haven’t finished it yet!

Past love: Reread a book you loved when you were younger.
For this one I’m going to choose one of the Sweet Valley High by Francine Pascal books (which surprisingly are all on Kindle Unlimited right now)! I used to LOVE reading about Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield. I really wonder where all those books of mine went to. I haven’t chosen a particular book from the 100 book long series, but I’m excited to read one of them on Kindle and see how I feel about it now!

Armchair traveler: Read a book set in a destination you want to visit.
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. I’m (low key) obsessed with Alaska. I think the first time I really fell in love with Alaska was when I read a Nora Roberts novel that was set there, and after that there was no looking back. I honestly can’t even tell you why specifically because I’m sure I’m romanticizing it in my head, but one of the reasons is definitely for the natural environment.

Will you be participating in the Goodreads Summer Reading Challenge? If you are, I’d be curious to know what books you’ll be reading!
Let me know in the comments and let’s chat 🙂

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [08]

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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!

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?

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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!

Friday Favorites: Urban Fantasy Books

Dini @ dinipandareads10 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: favorite urban fantasy books. Okay, I have to be honest and say that I had a bit of trouble with this week’s prompt because I’m not really sure what constitutes “urban fantasy”. I love a good fantasy read, but I’m not very discerning with the different sub-genres; I basically just read what I like! So when asked what my favorite urban fantasy is, I had to scratch my head a little to figure out which books I’ve read that qualify as such. Looking at my read shelves, it seems that I apparently don’t read a lot of this sub-genre, so I’m not sure if the five below count, but I think so!

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. This book is making another appearance because this was honestly the first book that I could think of when thinking of urban fantasy! Also, I won’t stop recommending this book because imho everyone needs to read it.

The Dark Artifices Series by Cassandra Clare. Don’t shoot me, but I haven’t read The Mortal Instruments series yet, and after watching the movie and cringing so hard, I wasn’t really pulled to pick it up. But when I saw the cover of Lady Midnight I wanted to try reading it and, while it started off lukewarm for me, I ended up really enjoying Lord of Shadows. I still haven’t read Queen of Air and Darkness though because I don’t want this series to end!

A Dark Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V. E. Schwab. Does this count as an urban fantasy? Maybe. Maybe not. But I’m making it count. Time and again I’ve said it, and I’ll say it again, this is such a fantastic series set in three different Londons, that are completely different (and yet not) to modern day London. Please read it.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone Series by Laini Taylor. I’m also unsure whether this counts as urban fantasy, but big chunks of the series is set in modern city settings, but also, fantastical city settings. It’s beautiful. Who doesn’t love angels, demons, forbidden love and star-crossed lovers? As far as I know, this book doesn’t get a lot of hype (and tbh the other covers for the books in this series are hideous, no offense to anyone who loves them) but I remember thoroughly enjoying this series.

All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness. I remember discovering this series in the library in 2012 and I was shocked to find that only the first book had come out. I was completely taken by the idea of vampires and witches in modern-day Oxford and New York, without it being overly creepy. I absolutely loved this series when I read it years ago, but I think I need to re-read it because it was before the time I actively recorded my thoughts and ratings down on Goodreads. I wonder if I’ll still enjoy it!

Are you a big urban fantasy reader? What are your favorite urban fantasies? Any recommendations are welcome! Let me know in the comments below and let’s chat books 🙂

ALL THE BOOKS: My FULL Birthday Month Book Haul

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Early on in May I posted my Birthday Month Book Haul #1 and said that since it’s my birthday month and there were a large number of exciting new releases coming out, I was going to let myself go a little wild on the book haul front. Well… There’s no doubt that I certainly did that! I mean, my bank account isn’t even quietly raging against me after last month, but it’s shouting at me at the top of it’s very teeny tiny shrunken lungs to STOP! CEASE AND DESIST!! BUY NO MORE!!! I really think it might be time to really listen to my poor savings balance 😭 This is a judgement free zone right, book lovers!?

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I literally just tallied up all the books that I purchased and well… It’s a lot. Like, a lot a lot. *drum roll please* In May, I purchased 35 physical books and 17 e-books (Kindle) for a total of: 52 books …😅 Yaaah, is that number really correct? Do my eyes not deceive me? No, it’s true. WELP. I already have most of these as I purchased them at the store, and my bestie brought some over when she visited me from Australia, but some I’m still (not so) patiently waiting for the rest! To be fair, some of these are also bookbox books (like my Owlcrate Finale!), one was a bookstagram giveaway win, and I’ve already read some of these but didn’t have the physical copies… So technically it doesn’t really count, right? Ha ha… *crickets* 🙃 Is it really a surprise then that I am putting myself on a book buying ban starting this month onwards? I’m trying to make it through until at least mid-July, which is a pretty ambitious target for me because sometimes I just can’t control the FOMO. But at the very least I will do my very best to not buy any books in June! Wish me luck because judging from this gigantic stack, we all know I need it! So without further ado, here are the books I got this month (in no particular order because yeah, we’re not gonna do that):

So… Did you buy any books in May? What did your haul look like? Let me know in the comments below and let’s talk about MY CRAZINESS 🙂

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [07]

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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 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?

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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

How has your reading and blogging week been? Come let me know in the comments 🙂

Friday Favourites: Classics

Dini @ dinipandareads8 Comments

TGI-freaking-F, book lovers! Although I’ve also had a shorter week, as have many others, this work week felt particularly long and draining. Do you find that happens with you too, despite only working four days instead of five? I still can’t believe it’s already the last day of May though. Holy wow, time is flying! I quite like that May ends on a Friday though. I think the weekend is the perfect way to ease into a new month, don’t you think? And since it’s Friday, it’s time for another Friday Favourites is hosted by Something of the Book! This weekly meme is where you get to share a list of all your favourites based on the list of prompts on Kibby’s page. Sounds fun, right? This week’s prompt is: favourite classics.

Since it’s been a long day and I’m halfway to falling asleep, I’m going to keep this short and sweet. I’ve narrowed my list down to five favorite classics. Some of these left me swooning with the romance, crying with the raw deal the characters suffered and experienced, and basically sucker punched me in all my emotions at the end.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I’ve mentioned this one countless times on my blog already, so it’s really no surprise that it’s at the top of my favorite classics list 🙂

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. I wasn’t expecting to love this one when I picked it up but I remember being immediately hooked and unable to put it down. It was nothing at all like what I expected and my mind was blown.

Persuasion by Jane Austen. Another Austen that I’ve also mentioned countless times on here. This one got me through a particularly rough period of time and filled me with so much hope. I’m an Austen girl for life!

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. This was one of the required readings at school that I absolutely loved. Lennie broke my heart! I’m pretty sure that I “forgot to give back” and “lost” the classroom and library copies because I didn’t want to give them back. Oops 🙊 #badpanda

The Color Purple by Alice Walker. If I’m not mistaken, this was also a book that we read in our humanities class at school. Celie’s is a powerful, haunting, and heartbreaking story. The movie wrecked me just as much as the book did.

Have you read any of these classics? What are your favourite classics?