Tag: Currently Reading

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [24]

Dini @ dinipandareads4 Comments

We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve been you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!

It’s the last Sunday of September! I’m gonna say it again because my brain is still like WHAT, but I can’t believe we’re already walking into the tenth month of the year. 2019 is flying!
I’ve been out and about today and have been thinking about what book I want to move forward with now. I (finally) finished Priory on Thursday and I was determined to read some romance this weekend, and thanks to staying up reading ’til the early hours of Saturday, I finished not one but TWO books! It just felt so good to read something that I knew would end soon? Haha

I also started House of Salt and Sorrows because mum has been staying with me but now that she’s gone until tomorrow, I don’t know if I want to keep reading it because I’M CHICKEN AF 😂 I’m sure y’all have heard by now how much I can’t handle the ghosty stuff, right? I’m really hesitating, which means I don’t know what I want to read now? I think I might pick up another ARC since I have two that need reading before the end of October, and I don’t want to add anymore to my backlist ARC list, so the following two books might be my main contenders:

Ailsa Rae is learning how to live. She’s only a few months past the heart transplant that—just in time—saved her life. Now, finally, she can be a normal twenty-eight-year-old. She can climb a mountain. Dance. Wait in line all day for tickets to Wimbledon.

But first, she has to put one foot in front of the other. So far, things are as bloody complicated as ever. Her relationship with her mother is at a breaking point and she wants to find her father. Then there’s Lennox, whom Ailsa loved and lost. Will she ever find love again?
Her new heart is a bold heart. She just needs to learn to listen to it. From the hospital to her childhood home, on social media and IRL, Ailsa will embark on a journey about what it means to be, and feel, alive. How do we learn to be brave, to accept defeat, to dare to dream?

Former Little League champion Kimitake “Clyde” Koba finds strength in the belief that he is the reincarnation of Marilyn Monroe as he struggles to escape the ghost of his brother and his alcoholic father.

Born on Yom Kippur, teen prodigy Raphael Dweck has been told his whole life that he has a special purpose in God’s plan. The only problem is, he can’t shake off his doubts, his urges, or the trail of trouble and ruin that follow in his wake.

A decade later, Raphael and ‘Marilyn’ find each other wandering the plastic-bright streets of Hollywood and set out to make a documentary about the transmigration of souls. But when the roleplaying goes too far, they find themselves past the point of no return in their quest to prove who and what they are to their families, God, the world, and themselves.

Which do you think I should read next?
What are you currently reading?

Much the same as last week, I pretty much did nothing this weekend. As I mentioned above, mum flew over from Jakarta and has been staying with me. It was her birthday on Wednesday and us kids got her an iPad Mini that she’s been wanting for ages so that she could download an app to watch her Korean dramas on 😂 Since she unwrapped it, the iPad has been GLUED to her hands and she’s been staying up pretty late despite having early mornings, and getting headaches from staring at the screen for too long. She’s so cute?

Today saw me moving a little bit more, i.e. I left my house! I met my cousin for brunch at one of my favorite spots! I decided to try a different meal today and unfortunately, that was a hella regrettable decision 😭 Sometimes it pays to not stray from what you already know is good! Also, for the first time in a very long time, I’m not exactly dreading that Monday is around the corner. It’s a good feeling and I’m hoping that the anxiety that has taken up residence inside me lately continues to loosen its grip. Little by little, day by day. Progress!

Reading & Blogging Recap

This weekend alone I managed to finish THREE books, so I’m pretty chuffed. To be fair, I was already 65% through one and it was an easy Middle Grade read too, while the other two were fast and easy contemporaries to satisfy my need for something fluffy after finishing Priory! I’m legit SO PROUD OF MYSELF for finishing this book before September ended. It was seriously a journey. I was 80% convinced that I might’ve DNF’d this book (okay, I don’t DNF but I would’ve put it on indefinite hold) when I started it, but I’m glad I kept on. I need to write my review before every thought I had about the book disappears from my head but I’m still not sure how to review it?! I’m hoping that my discussion with my buddy readers will help me figure it out! 🙃

I’m still working on catching up on my blog hopping and responding to comments! I’ve been doing okay with keeping up with the comments in the last week, but the day(s) after catching up always see me scrambling to catch up AGAIN! *So I’m Sorry if I only respond to your comments 3-4 days after you write them!* Other than that it’s been a pretty decent blogging week; I’ve been blogging fairly consistently lately and thanks to WordPress who’ve been sending me reminders whenever I post, I know that I’m now on a 41-day streak! 🙌🏽 It helps that I’ve also added one more weekly post to my schedule. This actually makes me feel so productive 😊 On that note, you can find a list of all the posts I made this week, in case you missed it:

Review: Matchmaking for Beginners by Maddie Dawson
Top 5 Saturday: Books with Maps!
eARC Review: The Stopover by T L Swan
Friday Favorites: WORDS!
First Lines Friday: 27 September
Review: One Day in December by Josie Silver
I Dare You Tag
eARC Review: The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
Review: Vicious (Villains #1) by V.E. Schwab
WWWWednesday: 25 September
#TopTenTuesday: Books On My Autumn Possibility Pile!
Down the TBR Hole – 01
Goodreads Monday: 23 September

How has your week been? Hope everyone has/had a great weekend!
Let me know how you’re doing in the comments and let’s chat, friends 🙂

#WWWWednesday: 25 September

Dini @ dinipandareads9 Comments

YO, can you believe it’s already the last Wednesday of September 2019!? What is this sorcery with the time? I feel like if I close my eyes for too long I’ll open them to find it’s already NYE and the ball’s about to drop! 🙈So it’s time for another WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:

  1. What did you read last?
  2. What are you currently reading?
  3. What will you read next?

What did you read last?

Since last Wednesday I managed to finish three other books alongside the one I’m still reading. I already posted my review for Fake Date (read it here!) but tl;dr, I was pretty disappointed and really wanted more from it! I still need to write reviews for The Hating Game (reread) and The Stopover (eARC). Oh hello, what are these things called eARCs you say?! Yah, it’s been a hot minute since I picked one up but I really needed to take a break from Priory and I decided to finally read this one contemporary romance. My review is going up soon but let me tell you, I am hella conflicted about how I feel because I know the relationship was toxic AF and the dynamic between screwing like wild bunnies to fighting over nothing got old pretty quick. BUT AT THE SAME TIME I also couldn’t put it down? Um, Like… What? Why? I don’t know. Is this how people felt when they finished reading the After series? Because if so, I think I get it now LMAO 😂

What are you currently reading?

GOOD NEWS FRIENDS! After whining about my struggle to get into The Priory of the Orange Tree, I’m now 80% of the way through and I’m really enjoying it! It does have me feeling a bit conflicted though. I’m attached to characters, but not necessarily all of the main ones (something bad just happened to one of the main characters and I felt… Nothing?). At the same time, even though I feel like I’ve sped through the last 40%, I also feel like it’s a little endless (I constantly wonder when, if ever, I’ll finish the book). But it’s really not because I’m not enjoying it, it’s just that it’s a tome 🙈 Shit hit the fan quickly and continuously in this story–literally just one thing after another going horribly wrong and it had my heart racing and me screaming out loud. I know that I don’t want to put this down until it’s over (but alas, life), especially now that I’ve made it to the final section of the book. I really can’t wait to see how it all wraps up!

What will you read next?

I’m still going to be keeping these three on here. Might pick up The Bookish Life of Nina Hill first though! I also missed the group discussion for Sleeping Giants (Themis Files #1) 😅SURPRISE! But I think I’ll still give it a re-read. I’m not sure how I’m feeling about The Light Keeper anymore, as I tried the first three chapters and it just… Wow, confused and annoyed me, and that has me feeling a little yikes about it… Let’s see how it goes!

What are you currently reading? Leave me a comment and let’s chat 🙂

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [23]

Dini @ dinipandareads16 Comments

We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve been you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!

IT’S SUNDAY. THIS SUCKS.
Okay, I’m trying not to get too upset that it’s Sunday. I’ve been procrastinating MANY THINGS outside of reading in the last week and it’s all catching up to me now! DO NOT FREAK OUT is my mantra at the moment and well, it’s not really working. But I digress… This Sunday I spent half the day in bed with The Priory of the Orange Tree and I’m making slow but steady progress. I’ve finally got the characters and storylines straight and I’m highly anticipating when it all comes together because I feel that shit hitting the fan is imminent! I think my problem so far has been that while I’m enjoying it, when I put it down to do other things I don’t feel the urgent need to pick it up again. This is a group read over on Twitter though and I’m so thankful for people like Sammie and Leelynn for keeping me extremely motivated! I’m about 40% of the way through… So maybe there’s hope that I can finish this before the end of September?!

A world divided.
A queendom without an heir.
An ancient enemy awakens.
The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction—but assassins are getting closer to her door. Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic. Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel. Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

What are you currently reading?

I pretty much did ZILCH this weekend? Like, nothing. The best thing about it has been lazing in bed. I didn’t sleep in but I also didn’t get out of bed until close to lunchtime on all weekend. Yes, I’m really a panda at heart (sleeping, eating and rolling around is my jam) 😂 I spent Saturday trying to get motivated to take bookstagram pictures. I’ve been feeling very uninspired lately and it’s not coz I don’t enjoy being part of the booksta community anymore, it’s just completely due to my mental health which hasn’t been in the best state lately. I honestly don’t even know how I spent my day yesterday coz even though I read (I also finished a reread of The Hating Game), I didn’t make that much progress with Priory? Anyway, I did make it out of the house today! Although I made grand plans at 2AM about how to spend my Sunday, I ended up lazing in bed again! I went out to get coffee and to do a bit of grocerysnack shopping though!

I have a presentation that I’ve been avoiding all week last week, and until now I’ve done the bare minimum for it, and I have to present it to my boss tomorrow. WHY AM I SO GOOD AT AVOIDING IMPORTANT SHIT?! 😭 It’s an afternoon meeting so I still have time to work on it in the morning (this is me avoiding again!) but I really thought I’d get some work done today. Instead, I’ve been catching up on blogs, doing a bit of reading and thinking about doing more reading. Le super sigh. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Reading & Blogging Recap

Being stuck on Priory means that I’ve only managed to finish two books this week: Fake Date and The Hating Game. You can find my review for Fake Date in the list below, but I still need to review The Hating Game! It was a re-read and I completely loved it all over again. It needs to be known that: I LOVE JOSH 4 EVA. Like, he’s my number one and I’m obsessed with him. He’s… I need a Josh. In my life. All that banter! All that tension! *swoon*

Other than that it’s been a pretty decent blogging week. I’ve finally caught up on the majority of comments and posts of blogs I’m subscribed to! My inbox is once again super clean and I definitely feel accomplished (if not for the fact that I did all this while avoiding the one thing that I shouldn’t be avoiding today! We can’t all be perfect though, amiright?! 😅I’m now off to make some dinner and to continue reading Priory and on that note, check out a recap of my posts this week, in case you missed any:

Review: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Top 5 Saturday: Over 500 pages!
Friday Favorites: Autumn Reads
First Lines Friday: 20 September
Bookish Thoughts: Why I Love My Kindle
Review: Fake Date (Dating #2) by Monica Murphy
WWWWednesday: 18 September
Review: The Ingredients of Us by Jennifer Good
#TopTenTuesday: Things to Eat/Drink/Listen to While Reading/Blogging!
Review: Godsgrave (The Nevernight Chronicle #2) by Jay Kristoff
Goodreads Monday: 16 September

I’m also leaving you with this song that was stuck in my head for the majority of the day. I haven’t listened to Death Cab for Cutie in ages but … You really can’t go wrong with this classic!

How has your week been? Hope everyone has/had a great weekend!
Let me know how you’re doing in the comments and let’s chat, friends 🙂

#WWWWednesday: 18 September

Dini @ dinipandareads17 Comments

It’s time for another WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:

  1. What did you read last?
  2. What are you currently reading?
  3. What will you read next?

What did you read last?

So… After writing my WWW Wednesday post last week, I managed to last ONE DAY before caving and picking up Godsgrave. That means I abandoned On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, and I do feel guilty about that, but I just couldn’t resist! I NEEDED to know what happened and I’m really glad I picked it up. Kristoff managed to really screw with my feelings yet again, and now I’m holding off on picking up Darkdawn because I know I’m going to be a wreck while/after reading it. I don’t think I’m ready for it 😂 After finishing Godsgrave in the wee hours of Saturday morning, I decided I needed to take a break before moving on to the group read that I’ve been so skilled at avoiding, and I ended up finishing three books: a short graphic novel: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do… But You Could’ve Done Better (check out my review); and two contemporary romances: The Wrong Kind of Love and The Ingredients of Us (check out my review)! The Wrong Kind of Love was my first Lexi Ryan and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would! The Ingredients of Us was a mixed read for me… There was a lot of angst and that played against my anxiety, so I didn’t enjoy that, but it was still good for a debut. Plus I always enjoy books with baking/cooking 😍

What are you currently reading?

I’ve FINALLY picked up The Priory of the Orange Tree. We all know by now that this book is a definite chunkster and I gave up on reading the physical copy the other day because my arms just couldn’t deal with how much of a work out I was giving them 😂 So I caved and bought the e-book and my arms thank me muchly. I’ve also been so intimidated by how big this book is, so I hope that reading it on my Kindle will make it easier to digest! I’m kind of really feeling in the mood for a contemporary romance/romcom as well, so I think I might read Fake Date (Dating #2) by Monica Murphy at some point while reading Priory. I didn’t realize it was part of a series, but I loved the sound of it when I came across it this morning (on Alyssa @ A Lovely Book Affair‘s page), so yeah, IMPULSE BUY!

What will you read next?

After finishing Priory I expect that I’ll be feeling the need for some lighter reads, so I was thinking about picking up The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, which has been very hyped on bookstagram, and I just remembered I also signed myself up for a group read for Sleeping Giants (Themis Files #1) 😅Woopsies! This’ll actually be a re-read for me. I didn’t like it the first time and didn’t see what everyone loved about it, but I’m wondering if I’ll feel differently this time around? Let’s see! I also need to read the ARC for The Light Keeper, which … is already out (I’m so sorry) and I just haven’t got around to it yet. Grr 😤This panda really needs to work on getting her ARC shit together!

What are you currently reading? Leave me a comment and let’s chat 🙂

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [22]

Dini @ dinipandareads15 Comments

We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve been you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!

Today finally saw me leaving the house after not even unlocking my front door yesterday? Yes, it was that kind of Saturday. BUT today I was really thinking about the book that I should be reading because I need to stop putting it off for my group read: The Orange of the Priory Tree by Samantha Shannon. Honestly? I think I’m really letting the INSANE thickness of the book get to me because every time I look at it, I am filled with dread at the thought of picking it up? I’ll be taking it to bed with me tonight though, after I write this post. I will. Really. I promise!

A world divided.
A queendom without an heir.
An ancient enemy awakens.
The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction—but assassins are getting closer to her door. Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic. Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel. Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

What are you currently reading?

How is it already Sunday evening?! I’m really gutted the weekend is already over and I dread the thought of going back to work tomorrow. I think that might be a sign that it’s time to look for something different soon? I know a lot of my dread has to do with my mental health and how I just feel consistently drained every day, even if I don’t do much, and it’s such a struggle to get out of bed every morning… But this weekend has been pretty low-key. I literally spent Saturday inside and sprawled on my couch. I finished Godsgrave on Saturday morning (5:30am to be exact!) and ugh, this series has absolutely SLAIN me. I am equal parts terrified and excited to pick up Darkdawn. How will this series end and most importantly: will my feels be ready for even MORE slaying!? Stay tuned, folks. I decided I needed a palate cleanser before starting on Priory, so…I ended up finishing two contemporary romances 😬 Despite the extremely minimal movement, my Saturday was pretty productive?

Sunday saw me spending the whole day outside. I helped my friend set up her ‘stall’ at a pop-up art market (check out her work because she’s amazing)! After working hard hammering tacks into a board and setting up, it was a pretty chill day full of coffee, people watching, smiling at strangers (lol not creepily), watching artists paint, and listening to some fantastic chilled tunes. It’s days like today that make me glad I push myself out of my ‘comfort zone’ of staying home all day. Even though I didn’t talk to a lot of people, it was still me getting out of the house!

Reading & Blogging Recap

I think I had a decent good reading and blogging week? I managed to finish five books this week, although one was a very short graphic novel, but I think five is pretty much be average for me! Obviously my favorite read this week was Godsgrave, and I’ll be posting my review tomorrow, so stay tuned 😍I’m really hoping to get into Priory when I pick it up in bed tonight. I am already falling behind on the group read, I’m just very intimidated by this book and I’m quite worried I won’t like it. BUT I don’t want to psyche myself out of reading it before I even properly try, so I’ll just say that I hope to be pleasantly surprised! On that note, check out a recap of my posts this week, in case you missed any:

Top 5 Saturday: Books Set in Space
Friday Favorites: Unfinished Series! (I felt so attacked… lol)
First Lines Friday: 13 September
Review: Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
ARC Graphic Novel Review: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do… But You Could’ve Done Better by Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell
‘Lover’ Book Tag!
Review: The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan
#WWWWednesday: 11 September
ARC Review: The Love Solution by Ashley Croft
#TopTenTuesday: Avoiding Books On My TBR!
Graphic Novel Review: Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell & Faith Erin Hicks (Illustrator)
Goodreads Monday: 09 September

Also, I leave you with this gem of a song that I can’t get out of my head. Sabrina Claudio’s voice is luscious. I feel like I could drown in it. Her music is so chilled and a little sensual (her voice tho), but so so nice to relax to. It was definitely my vibe today. Have a fabulous and relaxed Sunday, friends!

How has your week been? Hope everyone has/had a great weekend and I hope your week ahead is WONDERFUL! Let me know how you’re doing in the comments and let’s chat, friends 🙂

#WWWWednesday: 11 September

Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

It’s time for another WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:

  1. What did you read last?
  2. What are you currently reading?
  3. What will you read next?

What did you read last?

Since last Wednesday, I managed to finish reading three books: Pumpkinheads (my review), A Different Time (my blog tour review) and The Love Solution (my review). I love graphic novels and I think Pumpkinheads has become a new favourite! It’s fall all over and while it left me salivating and craving all things that I can’t get here in the tropics, the ending left me feeling so warm inside.

What are you currently reading?

I’m currently reading On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (The Wingfeather Saga #1) by Andrew Peterson, a middle-grade book I got on NetGalley. Apparently it was originally published in 2008, but a new edition will be published in March 2020, and that’s what I got the e-ARC for. I honestly requested this because of the cover and okay, it sounded cool too. I haven’t read middle-grade in an age but it’s been good so far with short chapters, which is always great! Interestingly enough, this new edition has footnotes in it and while that surprised me initially, I got used to it. Although the footnotes did remind me of Nevernight… Which then reminded me that I really want to read Godsgrave! I was planning to pick it up this week because you know how much I loved Nevernight. But I have a feeling that my ‘avoidance’ is kicking in and I’m not racing to pick it up for a reason; and the reason *probably* being that I’m worried that maybe I won’t like it as much? I don’t know. Feel free to check out my TTT post from yesterday to see just how amazing I am at avoiding reading books 🙃

What will you read next?

I really don’t know what I want to read next. I know what I SHOULD read next as it’s for a group read, but… I’m feeling wishy washy with it. I’ve tried reading the first page of the first chapter about ten times and my mind just won’t focus. So… I thought I’d try doing something new and ask for your help picking my next read! Yes, that’s right, I’m entrusting you, dear readers, friends, followers, to please help me choose what I should read next. Halp?

What are you currently reading? Leave me a comment and let’s chat 🙂

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [21]

Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve been you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!

This Sunday, I’ve been spending much of time wishing that I was actually in bed reading The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle #1) by Patrick Rothfuss. I read this book last year and it quickly escalated to the top of my favorites list. I plan to finally read Wise Man’s Fear this month as part of #SequelSeptember so I’m giving myself a refresher by re-reading the first book. With all that’s been going on this weekend with family visiting, driving up to my parent’s home town and participating in some ceremonies, I’ve had little to no concentration to spare, so it’s been hard getting into it. I’m hoping to dive into it fully over the next few days though. Already my love for Kote/Kvothe is coming back to life and I can’t wait to reacquaint myself with him and all the other characters in this story! If you like epic fantasies, I would definitely recommend it.

Told in Kvothe’s own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen. The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature.
A high-action story written with a poet’s hand, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that will transport readers into the body and mind of a wizard.

What are you currently reading?

Oohhhmygoodness. This weekend has been killer hectic and I’m both so relieved it’s Sunday but also dreading that tomorrow is already Monday because with how my body is feeling so damn exhausted right now, I can hardly fathom waking up early! My parents and sister visited me this weekend and we took a trip up to my parent’s hometown (which is about 3-hours through long uphill, downhill and winding roads North of Bali’s capital). We stayed in this beautiful villa with gorgeous pool/sea views and the Australian owners had about eight cats, five dogs and a parakeet. The cats roamed freely and one particular fella took a keen liking to my family, so he followed us around everywhere! Of course I brought along a few books (my latest haul!) with me to take some snaps when I could!

TWLOHA represent

While the stay was nice and relaxing, this time I was the one driving us there and back and it’s surprising how much driving can really take a toll out of you 😅 I don’t know what’s more tiring–winding sloping roads or endlessly straight roads? Either way, it’s definitely taken a toll an🖤d I’m now typing this up my mind shrouded in a tired fog. Sorry for rambling more than usual and for saying anything that might not make any sense! Haha

Reading & Blogging Recap

With family around it’s been a slow reading week. I managed to finish four books this week, all of which I’ve written reviews for except for the one I just finished reading Friday evening. My reviews for the books can be found below! I know I’ve already raved on about it endlessly this week on every platform I’m on, but I’m pretty sure I found a new favorite in Nevernight and I can’t wait to continue this series. Knowing that once I started I’d want to be disturbed as little as possible, I didn’t bother trying to start it this weekend, although the audiobook is just waiting for me to press play! Despite how busy I’ve been, I think I’ve done fairly well in keeping up with my blogging schedule! Almost missed a post or two but managed to post them right on time (at the very last minute 😅). I’m sad that I haven’t been able to engage as much as I wanted to this week but I’m hoping to catch up in the coming week! Now that my family has gone back to Jakarta, I can hop into bed early and get my reading on in peace before sleep drags me under and I CAN’T WAIT! On that note, here’s a recap of my posts from this week, in case you missed any:

Top 5 Saturday: Summer Romance Reads on my TBR!
Blog Tour Book Review: A Different Time by Michael K. Hill
Friday Favorites: Side Characters!
First Lines Friday: 06 September
The Blogger Recognition Award!
Review: Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1) by Jay Kristoff
#WWWWednesday: 04 September
#TopTenTuesday: Books I Enjoyed Outside My Comfort Zone!
Review: The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly Black
Goodreads Monday: 02 September

How has your week been? Hope everyone has/had a great weekend!
Let me know how you’re doing in the comments and let’s chat 🙂

#WWWWednesday: 04 September

Dini @ dinipandareads4 Comments

It’s time for another WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:

  1. What did you read last?
  2. What are you currently reading?
  3. What will you read next?

What did you read last?

Since last Wednesday I’ve managed to finish four books and two of them were audiobooks (I followed along to the audiobook for Nevernight and it made me love this book even more)!
That Forever Girl (Getting Lucky #2): ★★★★☆
(Audiobook) Naturally Tan: ★★★★★
(Reread) The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1): ★★★½
Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1): ★★★★½

I just finished Nevernight this morning and HOLY MOTHER. I can’t believe I waited so long to read this but now that I’ve started this series I know that I don’t want to stop. Perfect timing as well because now the final book has come out and I’ve only gone and ordered the Illumicrate box for it didn’t I? I’m planning to listen to the audiobook before then though because since I ordered the box yesterday it’ll only ship mid-October and you know I won’t be able to wait until then to read it! 😂 If the rest of the series continues to be as amazing as the first book, I think this will be one of my new favorite series! The hype was so real y’all 😍

What are you currently reading?

I’m part of TheWriteReads blog tour for A Different Time by Michael K. Hill and my tour date is this Saturday so I’m prioritizing this, no matter how much I want to be diving into Godsgrave right this very second! Pretty much everyone on the blog tour has loved this book and they’ve all said it made them emotional messes so I’M READY FOR IT! I love a book that can get me hard in the feels and since this is novella length I’m even more curious to see how hard it’ll hit!

What will you read next?

I’m joining two reading challenges this month: #SequelSeptember and #StandAloneSeptember and I’m excited to be taking part in both. For #SequelSeptember I’m planning to finally catch up on series that I’ve put off reading (for no particular reason) and finally finishing some that I don’t want to end! Since I just did a reread of The Cruel Prince, I’m planning to pick up The Wicked King while it’s still fresh in my mind. Obviously, I’m going to be starting up Godsgrave asap. #StandAloneSeptember is the first month of the year-long Hype-A-Thon reading challenge organized by Noly and Ellie, inspired by all the hyped and unread books on their shelves! Each month is going to have a different prompt, but what you read depends on the hyped books on your own shelf. I’m so excited for this–anything to knock more books off my TBR, right?

On top of those challenges, I’m also taking part in two group reads. One is organized by the amazing Leelynn (go check out her blog because she’s one of the most amazingly supportive people I’ve met in the book community) for The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. This tome has intimidated me ever since I snatched it up earlier this year, so I’m glad to be reading it with a group! My second group read is for Sleeping Giants (Themis Files #1) by Sylvain Neuvel. I’ve read this a couple of years back and I really didn’t like it, but I’m curious to try it again and see if my opinion changes because everyone seems to love it!

What are you currently reading? Leave me a comment and let’s chat 🙂

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [20]

Dini @ dinipandareads2 Comments

Can someone tell me how it’s already the first of September? Like… How? 👀 So we’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve been you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!

This Sunday, I wished I were in bed with two of my current reads: Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1) by Jay Kristoff and The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly Black. I’m re-reading TCP because I remember jack-nada from when I read it last year. Elements of the plot are coming back to me and while I found Jude slightly annoying at the start, she’s really growing on me? I’m listening to Nevernight on Audible while following along to it on my Kindle and I’m honestly LOVING this book so much. It took a little while to grow on me, but it’s really grown on me (at 16%). This book is surprisingly hilarious (although maybe I shouldn’t be surprised because Kristoff) and it’s making it such a pleasure to read alongside the darker and more murder-y stuff!

Destined to destroy empires, Mia Covere is only ten years old when she is given her first lesson in death.
Six years later, the child raised in shadows takes her first steps towards keeping the promise she made on the day that she lost everything.
But the chance to strike against such powerful enemies will be fleeting, so if she is to have her revenge, Mia must become a weapon without equal. She must prove herself against the deadliest of friends and enemies, and survive the tutelage of murderers, liars and demons at the heart of a murder cult.
The Red Church is no Hogwarts, but Mia is no ordinary student.
The shadows love her. And they drink her fear.

Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever. And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.
Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.
As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

What are you currently reading?

Did I already mention how baffled I am that it’s already September? I honestly don’t know where time flies to, especially on weekends! It’s like the more relaxed I am, the faster time goes? I had grand plans to bring my bookshelves/TBR carts to some semblance of order on Saturday but ended up spending all day under my doona, lost in a book. I realized at around 9pm that I had yet to eat or prepare any of my Saturday blog posts. Oops! So I sprang out of my cocoon, whipped up dinner while finishing up the audiobook for Naturally Tan, and then proceeded to write my blog posts while eating and watching Back-to-Back Chef with Carla Music on the Bon Apetit channel on YouTube. I was multitasking like a boss last night 😏 By the way, this cooking show is AWESOME (basically celebrities of all cooking abilities come on and cook with Carla with only vocal instructions from her and they can’t peek at each other’s stations)! It’s actually hilarious and I’d 100% recommend! I’ve also still been listening to Lover on repeat all week and I just can’t get myself to stop. I think my new favorite is Daylight because of how it ends on such a sweet, fresh and positive note! Contrary to what my last two posts may indicate, I’m not obsessed with Taylor Swift, but with her last two albums I’ve found that I have a great appreciation for her pop music, and Lover has certainly solidified that appreciation for me!

I think this week has been a pretty good one for reading! I managed to finish five books, including one audiobook that I’ve been listening to for a while, and I ended up having one 5★, one 4½★, one 4★, and two 3★ reads! It’s also been pretty freaking awesome on the blogging front this week! I actually didn’t realize how much I’ve posted this week and looking at the long list below, I think I’ve set myself up for failure if I want to do the same next week 😂 I also have to say sorry to everyone who has engaged with me and left comments on my blog this week. It’s been a pretty weird week in terms of my mental health and I’ve been wanting to retreat big time at the end of every work day, so even though I’ve been posting, I haven’t been engaging and I’m sorry about that! I just needed a bit more time off the laptop and the interwebs. That said, I’m hoping to catch up on more blogs and on comments in the coming week, so I’ll be getting back to you all soon 😊 On that note, here’s a recap of my posts from this week, in case you missed any:

August Monthly Wrap Up!
Review: The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker
Top 5 Saturday: Road Trip!
Friday Favorites: Books Read in School
First Lines Friday: 30 August
Graphic Novel ARC Review: The Avant-Guards Vol. 1 by Carly Usdin, Noah Hayes
Wrapping Up: Goodreads Summer Reading Challenge & ARC August
The (Double) Liebster Award!
Review: Stalking Jack the Ripper (Stalking Jack the Ripper #1) by Kerri Maniscalco
#WWWWednesday: 28 August
ARC Review: Pillow Thoughts III: Mending the Mind by Courtney Peppernell
#TopTenTuesday: Books I Want In My Physical Library
Review: Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini
Goodreads Monday: 26 August

How has your week been? Hope everyone has/had a great weekend!
Let me know how you’re doing in the comments and let’s chat 🙂

#WWWWednesday: 28 August

Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

It’s time for another WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:

  1. What did you read last?
  2. What are you currently reading?
  3. What will you read next?

What did you read last?

Over the last week I managed to read these five books. While it’s not crazy impressive, I’m happy that I managed to keep the reading momentum going! Probably the Best Kiss in the World was okay but it wasn’t what I expected and felt a bit let down by it; you can read my review here! I still have to write my reviews for Stalking Jack the Ripper, Luna and the Lie and The Simple Wild, which I only finished last night, but completely loved! Luna and the Lie was my first Mariana Zapata and holy mother of slow burns! I mean, I’m all for a slow burn romance but when it gets to 80% mark and nothing indicates something more will happen between the characters, I felt a little miffed. Did I mention that this is probably the longest romance that I’ve ever read? It comes in close to 600 pages, and yet thanks to my sleeping issues, I managed to finish it in one day! SJTR was… interesting. Different to what I expected and while I enjoyed it, I’m sorry to say that I didn’t love it 😫 All reviews coming soon (I hope)!

What are you currently reading?

Although I’m not in a slump I’m still finding it difficult to choose what to read next, which is why I’ve been sticking to contemporary romances that I know won’t give me too much bother. That Forever Girl (Getting Lucky #2) by Meghan Quinn just released yesterday and I’m planning to start it tonight! I’m trying to get out of the romance stream, so I’ve also picked up Miracle Creek on a whim! This was one of the highly anticipated additions to my physical shelf since it released and it’s still been sitting untouched for a few months now 😅 I’ve also still got My Lovely Wife going but haven’t picked it back up again since SJTR was gorier than I expected and I needed a break (is this my age speaking?)!

What will you read next?

I feel like I’ve failed epically with #ARCAugust but I’m going to continue steadily whittling my ARCs down as I go. I recently put myself on a requesting ban but a whole bunch (that I forgot about since it’s been months since I requested them) got approved last week and whelp, here we go again! 😅 But September is coming up and with it a buddy read and a blog tour that will take priority! I’ll be participating in my second TheWriteReads blog tour this time for A Different Time by Michael K. Hill and I’m really looking forward to it! My date is set for the first week of September so I have to get cracking on that read soon. I’ll also be doing a buddy read for The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, which will take place over the month of September coz have you seen the size of that tome?!

What are you currently reading? Leave me a comment and let’s chat 🙂