Tag: Currently Reading

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [19]

Dini @ dinipandareads6 Comments

It’s Sunday again already?! I don’t think I’m ever going to stop questioning how my weekends go so quickly. I only wish that the weekdays would do the same 😂 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!

I spent the majority of my day finishing my first Marina Zapata book (review coming soon!) but I’m now in a contemporary romance mood. I think I’m going to pick up From the Start (Walker Family #1) by Melissa Tagg next. I’m a sucker for small town romances and from this week’s TTT, which looked at favorite tropes, I came across quite a few other book bloggers who loved the same trope and gave some book recs that sounded up my alley.

Kate Walker used to believe in true love and happily ever after. While her own love life may have left her brokenhearted, it hasn’t kept her from churning out made-for-TV romance movie screenplays…until a major career slump and a longing to do something meaningful send her running back to her hometown of Maple Valley. 

Permanently sidelined by an injury, former NFL quarterback Colton Greene is temporarily hiding out in a friend’s hometown to avoid the media and the reminders of all he’s lost. Maple Valley seems like the perfect place to learn how to adjust to normal life. The only trouble is he’s never really done normal before.

While Kate plays things safe and Colton is all about big risks and grand gestures, they both get what it’s like to desperately need direction in life. An unexpected project gives them both a chance to jumpstart their new lives, but old wounds and new dreams are hard to ignore. Starting over wasn’t part of the plan, but could it be the best thing that’s ever happened to them? 

What are you currently reading?

I’m officially out of my book slump and this week has probably been my best reading week since August started. I spent my Saturday out and about with my bestie on the island and ended up going a little crazy with the retail therapy! I wasn’t looking to buy anything but I managed to come home with four bags full of shoes, clothes, beauty care and general knick knacks for home. I shocked myself (and my friend!) by walking into a book store and walking out without a purchase though! Who am I even?! It might’ve been the rampant shopping I’d already indulged in prior to stepping into the bookstore that made me feel a little guilty so I managed to hold myself back! I think I’m going to do a post-summer Marie Kondo of my closet and bookshelf next weekend, just to clear up the clutter that’s hanging around my tiny flat!

Overall it’s been a pretty good week. Work didn’t drive me too mental. I had some issues with my laptop that I took care of. I’ve started reading again. I’ve also been listening to Lover all weekend. I wasn’t fan of a few songs on the album when it came out on Friday, but as I expected, they’ve all mostly grown on me now. Have you been listening to the album? Do you have a new favorite track? Cornelia Street and Death by A Thousand Cuts might be new faves but Lover has really grown on me! I’ve still got quite a few reviews to catch up on but I’ll be working on posting those in the coming week! I also have quite a few book tags that I want to do from when I was tagged over the last few weeks! I find that I always just take forever to think of answers and then questions to ask 😂 It’s not been my greatest blogging week but I’m okay with that–life happens after all! On that note, here’s what I did manage to post last week, in case you missed it:

Top 5 Saturday: Dragons
Friday Favorites: Nerdy Characters
Review: The Whisper Man by Alex North
ARC Review: Probably the Best Kiss in the World by Pernille Hughes
#WWWWednesday: 21 August
#TopTenTuesday: Favorite Tropes
Goodreads Monday: 19 August

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

#WWWWednesday: 21 August

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 talking about:

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

What did you read last?

So… I think I’m finally out of my reading slump thanks to these two great books right here! Despite the wedding shenanigans over the weekend, I managed to start and finish The Whisper Man by the time I landed back in Bali at midnight on Sunday. I’ll be honest and say that based on the insane horror hype it’s been getting on bookstagram, I thought this would be a lot scarier than it was. It was still sufficiently creepy, especially that rhyme (I mean c’mon), and there were some paranormal aspects that had me cowering, but for the most part it was okay. I survived! 🙌🏽I then picked up the ARC for The Grace Year by Kim Liggett afterwards, thinking it would be something completely different, and while it was, the story was also a lot creepier and horrific in comparison to The Whisper Man! I wasn’t expecting it, so I was a little shook, but WOW. THIS BOOK. I have no words for it. It might be one of my favorite reads this year. It’s dark, horrifically gory, but also beautifully crafted and carries a strong and important message that I think many (women especially) will be able to relate to. I can’t wait for everyone to read this book when it comes out in October! I’ll be posting my review for both these books soon, so be on the look out!

What are you currently reading?

I’m not reading nothing anymore (woot!) and I’ve actually got two books that I’ve been reading at different times during the day since yesterday, and I’m adding one more to the mix for a group read for Stalking Jack the Ripper (Stalking Jack the Ripper #1) by Kerri Maniscalo that I completely forgot about! I’m hoping to start that tonight as I think we’re discussing the first book at the end of this week before starting the second book in the series on Sunday. My current reads are: Probably the Best Kiss in the World by Pernille Hughes and I’m enjoying it so far. I forgot that it’s based in Edinburgh and uhm, have I mentioned that I’m a sucker for books set there?! My other read is My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing and all I can say is it’s so twisted, holy wow. It’s had its fair share of hype too, but I’ve gone into this only knowing the blurb. I was initially a little confused by what I was reading because why do I feel a little sympathy for this guy(?), so I felt compelled to keep reading to find out if I’m just a psycho myself 🙃 or if this guy is just that good at not letting his creep and psycho shine through. The truth is slowly coming out!

What will you read next?

I was tempted to join the #Owlcrateathon since 90% of the Owlcrate books from when I started subscribing late last year have been sitting unread on my shelf (the books must hate me)! But since I’ve just come out of my reading slump, I’m trying to take it easy and go with whatever strikes my mood at the moment! I think I’m leaning towards some contemporary romance, although the one that I’m desperate to read doesn’t come out for another week! But I downloaded a few off KU that I’m looking forward to try. Also, I’m still going to try to tuck away more ARCs for #ARCAugust so… MORE BOOKS YAY!

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

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [18]

Dini @ dinipandareads12 Comments

I’M AWARE IT’S MONDAY! But I went completely MIA this weekend because of wedding shenanigans and I totally spaced on scheduling posts in advance (I’m so disorganised), so I totally missed out on Top 5 Saturday (gutted) and my weekly wrap up! I thought I’d still share my weekly wrap up anyway, and hopefully sometime this week I’ll share my Top 5 Saturday post (better late than never, amiright!?) So here’s another Sundays Mondays 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 weekend, I took a leap out of my comfort zone and start reading The Whisper Man by Alex North. Going by the title of the book, it’s supposed to be a creepy thriller and it definitely lived up to it! I was constantly getting goosebumps while reading this, and even now thinking about the book has me breaking out in shivers! It also has a touch of the paranormal in it which I usually stay away from big time, but I have no regrets reading this because I think it was the kick up the slump ass that I needed. I think switching to a completely different genre might’ve totally worked, friends! 😃Stay tuned for my review coming up this week!

If you leave a door half-open, soon you’ll hear the whispers spoken…
Still devastated after the loss of his wife, Tom Kennedy and his young son Jake move to the sleepy village of Featherbank, looking for a fresh start. But Featherbank has a dark past. Fifteen years ago a twisted serial killer abducted and murdered five young boys. Until he was finally caught, the killer was known as ‘The Whisper Man’. Of course, an old crime need not trouble Tom and Jake as they try to settle in to their new home. Except that now another boy has gone missing. And then Jake begins acting strangely.
He says he hears a whispering at his window…

What are you currently reading?

Roped my sister into helping me for the book gram with this shot! IG: @dinipandareads

As I mentioned, this weekend was insanely hectic because I was in Jakarta for my cousin’s wedding! Because I thought I’d have time during the day between the wedding and the evening’s reception, I didn’t schedule any posts, so I didn’t end up posting anything past Friday! Oops, bad planning 🙊But I had a really great time with my family, plus we hadn’t seen many of our cousins for years, so it was nice that all of us finally got the chance to come together *as adults* and party the night away! I got pretty sloshed on Saturday (I might have abducted a wine bottle or two from the bar) and it’d been a while since I drank like that, so Sunday saw me feeling pretty sluggish (although thankfully only mildly hungover)! It was totally worth it though. I’m glad that even on top of feeling a little below par and having to get up early for a Sunday brunch with the family, I still managed to finish The Whisper Man on the flight back home, so GO ME 😂Sometimes it’s just the little things in life! LOL

Due to the annoying reading slump last week, which I’m sorry I’ve been so vocal about(!), I really didn’t manage to read much, so very few reviews were posted. But I’m feeling a little bit of a reading kick now, so I hope that I’ll be reading and reviewing more in the very near future! On that note, here’s what I did manage to post last week, in case you missed it:

ARC Graphic Novel Review: Elma: A Bear’s Life: The Great Journey (Vol 1) by Ingrid Chabbert
Friday Favorites: Underrated Books
ARC Review: A Random Act of Kindness by Sophie Jenkins
ARC Graphic Novel Review: Sparrowhawk #1 by Delilah S. Dawson
#WWWWednesday: 14 August
#TopTenTuesday: Book Characters I’d Love to be Besties With!
Who Am I Book Tag
Goodreads Monday: 12 August

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

#WWWWednesday: 14 August

Dini @ dinipandareads15 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 talking about:

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

What did you read last?

So… I did manage to finish reading two books: Party Weekend (Sweet Valley High #143) by Francine Pascal and A Random Act of Kindness by Sophie Jenkins. SVH was short and I read it pretty quickly, and while A Random Act of Kindness wasn’t particularly long, it took me a good four days to finish! This book slump though, am I right?! BUT two books is definitely better than no books, so I’m just going to keep pushing my way through this! Reviews for both coming soon(ish).

What are you currently reading?

I’M READING NOTHING!!!

Well, I’m still trying to find the next book that’ll stick for me after finishing A Random Act two days ago… It’s not going so well, but there’s one thing I haven’t tried yet and that’s switching genres. So I’m going to be attempting to read a few thrillers. I’m hoping one will stick! I’m looking at: Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen M. McManus, Truly Devious (Truly Devious #1) by Maureen Johnson and TH1RT3EN (Eddie Flynn #4) by Steve Cavanagh (because YAY for finishing another overdue ARC)!

What will you read next?

I’m hoping that in the spirit of ARC August I’ll be able to get to a few more of these overdue ARCs before the month passes me by! I mean, how are we already in the double digits of this month?! I mean, what? 😒

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

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [17]

Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

Friends, how is it already practically the middle of August? How? What? When? Now 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!

After finishing This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel on Friday I found myself feeling very restless and unable to pick up another book. These are classic signs of a book slump for me and I’m sad to admit that I’m still undecided about my next read! I keep looking (read: gazing longingly) at the many books I have on my shelves and TBR carts, and I keep going back and forth between a few that I want to pick up, but when I start reading, I find myself woefully distracted by another book. I’ve also been distracted by my ARC August TBR list, which I haven’t even made the smallest of dents in! The fact that it’s already mid-August and I haven’t even really started an ARC has me feeling a little stressed out 😰 Welp. But I’m hoping to shake off this feeling in the coming week and hopefully finish (at least) one book! Here’s a list of the books that I started this weekend. Have you read any of these? What do you think I should continue with right now? A Random Act of Kindness is an ARC and Sweet Valley High is for one of my Goodreads Summer Reading Challenge prompts!

What are you currently reading?

This week and weekend has been a bit of a mad time! My parents and sister were visiting me in Bali and so I spent a lot of my time after work hanging out with them and driving them around places. It was really nice to have them here, but I definitely realized how much I appreciate some quiet time alone to decompress and read! I barely read anything at all when they were here! Of course, it’s nice to take a break from reading sometimes and perhaps with how I’ve been feeling like a book slump’s coming on, it was a good thing for me to focus on other things for a while. I’m hoping that I can finally pick and stick to a book this week! For how busy this week/end was, I think I did pretty alright with my blogging, although I still have a fair few reviews from July to catch up on! I’m hoping I’ll be able to catch up a bit this coming week. On that note, here’s a list of my posts from this week, in case you missed out!

Review: The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Top 5 Saturday: Books about Assassins
Friday Favorites: Books that Define You
Review: The Surface Breaks by Louise O’Neill
Review: A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult
#WWWWednesday: 07 August
#TopTenTuesday: Cover (Re)Designs That I Love/Hate
ARC August TBR
Goodreads Monday: 05 August

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

#WWWWednesday: 07 August

Dini @ dinipandareads14 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 talking about:

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

What did you read last?

So you know how I said in my last post that my group read for A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult probably wasn’t happening anymore? Well, coincidentally after I posted someone revived the group chat and I had to rush this read, but it was very easy to speed through. I’ve loved Jodi Picoult since I discovered her in high school so I’m very comfortable with her writing style — the detailed research that goes into her work is very obvious but she also knows how to tug on your heart strings! This wasn’t an easy read due to the topics that were covered, mainly abortion, but it was very well done. My review is coming up right after this! 😉

What are you currently reading?

So… This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel was supposed to be another group read in July, but for some reason I just kept pushing it back. I actually started it on Sunday night, while the discussion was supposed to take place Monday morning (for my time zone), so I did miss the group chat and as it turns out, I’m really struggling to get through this book. It’s not because I don’t like it. I am enjoying it but there’s something about the writing style that is making me struggle to pick it up again after putting it down for work and life things. I like the characters; Poppy is so precious, Penn is my favorite fairytale spinning and magic loving dad, and it makes my heart hurt (in a good way!) and soar when her brothers support her 100%. They’re a beautiful and incredibly sweet family although by no means are they perfect. STILL, I’m struggling to get through this. I’m so tempted to pick up something else but I have a feeling that if I do, I’ll never finish this 🥺

What will you read next?

In the spirit of kicking off ARC August well into the second week of the month (I’ve always been late for everything so of course it extends to my book life too), I’m hoping to read at least two of these by the end of this week! Let’s see how I manage because right now, it’s looking like a bit of a stay in struggle town. Yikes! …Oh no, this isn’t the makings of a book slump is it?! 😩

What are you currently reading? How do you deal with an impending book slump?! Leave me a comment and let’s chat 🙂

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [16]

Dini @ dinipandareads4 Comments

So.. Can someone please tell me where the week went? Because I swear it just started! Now 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!

So you know how on Wednesday I mentioned that my buddy read for A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult was probably cancelled because nobody was saying anything in the group chat? Well, not 30 minutes after I published my post, the mod revived the chat and everyone agreed to have the discussion this Sunday (as in today). So, I put all my other reads on hold and went full speed ahead with this one. I read the majority of it on Saturday (more accurately between the midnight hours with Sunday) and since I spent most of my day today out and about, I just finished it off this evening! There’s a reason Jodi Picoult has been a favorite since I discovered her books in high school. I had high expectations for this book and she didn’t disappoint! Be on the look out for my review of it which I’ll be posting on the blog tomorrow. My conclusion is that I highly recommend it!

SYNOPSIS: The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center—a women’s reproductive health services clinic—its staff offering care to anyone who passes through its doors. Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage.

After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. As his phone vibrates with incoming text messages he glances at it and, to his horror, finds out that his fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic.

But Wren is not alone. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her young life with a cast of unforgettable characters: A nurse who calms her own panic in order save the life of a wounded woman. A doctor who does his work not in spite of his faith but because of it, and who will find that faith tested as never before. A pro-life protester disguised as a patient, who now stands in the cross hairs of the same rage she herself has felt. A young woman who has come to terminate her pregnancy. And the disturbed individual himself, vowing to be heard.

Told in a daring and enthralling narrative structure that counts backward through the hours of the standoff, this is a story that traces its way back to what brought each of these very different individuals to the same place on this fateful day.

What are you currently reading?

Well, this week has come and gone in what literally feels like the blink of an eye! It makes me feel extra unproductive because I actually can’t recall much of what I did or read (for no particular reason other than my memory seems to be getting worse every day with this lack of sleep lol). I think I only managed to read three books, which is kind of average for me, although two of them were shortish romances. I also realize that I haven’t been posting much on my blog aside from the regular weekly memes that I do, which probably means that I’m behind on my reviews! I just haven’t had the energy to put my thoughts down into words after work lately, even though I don’t end up sleeping until the wee hours anyway! 🤦🏻‍♀️But I’m not going to harp on about this. It just is what is is! I’m hoping that I’ll get back into the blogging and review writing groove soon otherwise I probably won’t end up remembering half of what I read! LOL

Now, without further ado, here’s what I’ve posted this week, just in case you missed it.

Review: The Consequence of Falling by Claire Contreras
Review: That Second Chance (Getting Lucky #1) by Meghan Quinn
Top 5 Saturday: Books with Asian Settings
Friday Favorites: Sequels
July Monthly Wrap Up!
#WWWWednesday: 31 July
#TopTenTuesday (Freebie): Books From A Genre I Want to Read More of…
Goodreads Monday: 29 July
ARC Graphic Novel Review: The Magicians: Alice’s Story by Lilah Sturges and Lev Grossman

As an added extra, I’m sharing a song that I’ve been obsessed with since I discovered it on Friday, and which I’ve been playing non-stop ever since! It’s so, so good and just makes me wanna jump up and start dancing around my apartment (which I did do, obviously)!

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

#WWWWednesday: 31 July

Dini @ dinipandareads13 Comments

Friends, it’s August tomorrow. We’re eight months into the year and… I don’t even know what I’ve done with my year besides read! I think it’s kind of scary how quickly time is going. Don’t you think? Or is it really just me? Lol It’s time for another WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be talking about:

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

What did you read last?

My recent ‘big finish’ was Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Daisy Jones is probably one of the most hyped up books in 2019 and I admit to a great load of wariness in picking it up because even though I’ve loved everything that I’ve read by TJR so far, I was worried this one would let me down. Let me put those shameful thoughts to rest right now because wow, I really had nothing to worry about. I absolutely LOVED it. I will be posting a longer review on my blog soon (because I really can’t stop gushing about it) but for now, you can read my review up on Goodreads! After finishing Daisy Jones on Monday, I was a little worried about having an epic book hangover so I decided to read a fluffy romance (or two). I finished That Second Chance (Getting Lucky #1) by Meghan Quinn and The Consequence of Falling by Claire Contreras. Reviews coming soon!

What are you currently reading?

I’m kind of not reading anything at the moment? I really can’t decide what to pick up next after finishing The Consequences of Falling earlier today. I feel like I’m still in that ‘book hangover zone’ from Daisy, so I’m wondering if I should stick to romance (The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker), move on to some thrilling YA (Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson) or if I should just pick up a fantasy that I’ve been wanting to read for a while (We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal)? I might be reading all three of these before the night is over 😬

What will you read next?

I have a feeling that my buddy read for A Spark of Light has fallen through because nobody is saying anything in the group chat (lol) but if I’m in the mood for it, I think I’ll still pick it up. There are also some ARCs that I want to get to and I’m considering participating in ARC August(?) that I’ve seen a few people mention. I’ve got a few that are fairly overdue and my guilt is kind of eating away at me but I’m also so good at ignoring it? This is why being a mood reader can be so frustrating sometimes!

What are you currently reading? How do you avoid a book hangover?! Leave me a comment and let’s chat 🙂

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [15]

Dini @ dinipandareads9 Comments

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

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

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

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

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

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

What are you currently reading?

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

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

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

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

Here are the badges that I earned:

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

#WWWWednesday: 24 July

Dini @ dinipandareads5 Comments

Omg, is it only Wednesday?! Welp, my brain keeps tricking me into believing it’s Thursday and that there’s only one more day standing between me and my beloved weekend. Well, on that note, it’s time for another WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be talking about:

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

What did you read last?

This weekend I finished reading The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah (solid 5 stars!) and in the very early hours of this morning, I finished my first read for The Reading Rush: Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. Y’all, I’m really sorry to say this, but I didn’t love it as much as everyone else seemed to and trust me, no one is more disappointed about it than me. While the last 30% of the book really shifted my feelings about it and I did leave the book feeling, lifted, warm and happy, it still wasn’t enough for me to give it more than 3½ stars. I’ll be posting my review for both these books in the coming days, so keep your eyes out for it! Finishing RW&RB means I can tick my first prompt for the RR challenge: ☑️Read an author’s first book!

What are you currently reading?

I’m putting all my other reads aside for now and I’m focusing on these next three reads, which are also for The Reading Rush this week, not to mention my buddy read for TIHIAI is coming up this Sunday so I really gotta get going with this read! Here’s the list of challenges that I’m reading these books for:

Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan: Read a book with purple on the cover
Everyone’s an Aliebn When You’re an Aliebn Too by Jomny Sun: Read a book in the same spot the entire time and Read a book with a non-human main character
This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel: Pick a book that has five or more words in the title

What will you read next?

After my current reads, I still have two other books (three if you count reading seven books for the challenge), plus my buddy read for A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult. The other books and prompts for the RR challenge are:

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo: Read a book you meant to read last year
The Green Mile by Stephen King: Read and watch a book to movie adaptation
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein: Bonus/ Read 7 books

What are you currently reading?
Have you made good progress on your Reading Rush TBR?
Leave me a comment and let’s chat 🙂