Tag: Goodreads

Goodreads Monday – 19 August

Dini @ dinipandareads5 Comments

We’re back with another Goodreads Monday, a weekly meme started by @Lauren’s Page Turners that invites you to pick a book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it. Easy enough, right? Feel free to join in if you’re feeling it!

The random number generator landed on book #470 so this week’s book is: Dry by Neal Shusterman & Jarrod Shusterman. I’m a little shocked/embarrassed to admit that I added this book to my GR TBR in September 2018, and since that time I’ve added another whopping 400+ books to my list! HOW INSANE?! I don’t own all the books on my list (thankfully 😅) but I think my fingers might be a little quick on the “Add to” list because that’s a ridiculous number of books!

When the California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions, one teen is forced to make life and death decisions for her family in this harrowing story of survival. The drought—or the Tap-Out, as everyone calls it—has been going on for a while now. Everyone’s lives have become an endless list of don’ts: don’t water the lawn, don’t fill up your pool, don’t take long showers. Until the taps run dry. Suddenly, Alyssa’s quiet suburban street spirals into a warzone of desperation; neighbors and families turned against each other on the hunt for water. And when her parents don’t return and her life—and the life of her brother—is threatened, Alyssa has to make impossible choices if she’s going to survive.

Why do I want to read it?

I’ve only read Neal Shusterman’s Arc of a Scythe series but I loved it so much that I knew that I wanted to read more by him! When I read the synopsis for Dry, it sounded really intriguing and frighteningly enough, this scenario isn’t impossible to imagine considering climate change and what’s been happening around the world. It’s a chilling prospect! Developing countries have been facing issues with access to clean water for decades already, but now water shortages are also becoming a problem that more developed countries are also facing too. How long will it take for us to end up in a situation where we’re fighting wars over resources such as water? And on that note, I’ll end it here before I get too serious and ramble on about the realities of the hole we’ve dug for ourselves 🙃Basically, I want to read this because I’m keen to read more by Shusterman, plus I’ve heard that they’re adapting it for the big screen?!

Have you read Dry? Is it on your TBR too?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and let’s chat books!

Friday Favorites: Underrated Books

Dini @ dinipandareads14 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 underrated books. So, I think this is a pretty interesting topic because before joining the book community towards the end of 2018, I never paid much attention to book ratings or reviews. I kind of find that hard to believe now since I rely so much on them, reviews especially, to help me pick my next read or which book to add to my shelf next! Admittedly, it was a bit tough to come up with a list (even a short one as this!) because my memory is truly the most awful thing 😅That said, here’s a quick Top 5 of some of my favorites that I think are underrated! HAPPY FRIDAY BOOK FRIENDS!

Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse
This is a dystopian fantasy based on Native American mythology. It’s a world where humans live alongside Gods and monsters. It’s a dark and raw world that only the toughest can survive in and all of it blew me away! Before I read this last year I don’t think I’ve ever read anything based on Native American mythology and I honestly wanted to smack myself over it because it’s INSANE (in the best way)! Both this book and author are so underrated and I think more people need to read it!

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James
I honestly don’t even remember how, when or where I first heard about this book but I’m really glad that I did because it’s a really creepy YA space thriller that had me gripping the edge of my cushion seats and made me want to tuck my feet up tight under me. As if the vastness of space isn’t already creepy (but mind-blowing) enough, imagine being a teenager stuck in space, completely alone and lightyears away from Earth or any kind of help, and you’ve just found out (too late!) that you’re deep in some creepy shit. Are you trapped? How do you escape? IT WAS THRILLING in the best worst way possible. The tension was so real. You can read my review here.

A Piece of Cake: A Memoir by Cupcake Brown
When I started uni I basically stopped reading because I was too busy being the worst student the world has ever seen™️ but on days when I was too hungover to do much of anything else, I did manage to pick up a few books; one of which was A Piece of Cake (the other was Twilight LOL)! I also don’t remember how I first heard about this book but ugh, it was heartbreaking and so so disturbing! It’s the story about a young woman’s journey through addiction, sexual abuse, and ultimately of survival.

Natchez Burning (Penn Cage #4) by Greg Iles
I don’t know if this would be considered ‘underrated’ because it has a fair few thousand ratings on Goodreads but I also never actually see Greg Iles mentioned much (or at all) in the book community. Natchez Burning is a thrilling historical fiction set in the south (Mississippi) that goes back between the present day and the past (1960s). There’s a big focus on the KKK faction the Double Eagles, their history in Natchez, and race relations in the south. This one really sucked me in and fast too!

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
I’ve mentioned a few times now that I’m not a big NF reader but last year I picked this up on a whim and it’s the fastest I’ve devoured a NF. I finished it in one night (hello 7am sleeping time!) but it was so worth it because my mind was blown with how much I learned. It’s disheartening and maddening how history can so easily get swept under the rug! This read like fiction and I think Grann did a fantastic job writing it! Unfortunately, I don’t see many mentions of this book, but I absolutely believe this deserves more attention!

What are some of your favorite books that define you? Would any of these make your list? Leave me a comment below and let’s chat!

Goodreads Monday – 12 August

Dini @ dinipandareads2 Comments

It’s time for another Goodreads Monday, a weekly meme started by @Lauren’s Page Turners that invites you to pick a book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it. Easy enough, right? Feel free to join in if you’re feeling it! I think from this week’s post onward, I will use a random number generator to choose the books for this weekly meme!

This week the random number generator picked #621 on my GR ‘to-read’ list, and the books is: Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan. Although this is #621 in a list of over 900 books, this is actually one of my more ‘recent-ish’ adds to my tbr, since I added it in December 2018! I guess I really add books quickly on GR don’t I? 😅This book has a rating of: 3.63 stars.

Anna Kerrigan, nearly twelve years old, accompanies her father to visit Dexter Styles, a man who, she gleans, is crucial to the survival of her father and her family. She is mesmerized by the sea beyond the house and by some charged mystery between the two men.

‎Years later, her father has disappeared and the country is at war. Anna works at the Brooklyn Naval Yard, where women are allowed to hold jobs that once belonged to men, now soldiers abroad. She becomes the first female diver, the most dangerous and exclusive of occupations, repairing the ships that will help America win the war. One evening at a nightclub, she meets Dexter Styles again, and begins to understand the complexity of her father’s life, the reasons he might have vanished.

With the atmosphere of a noir thriller, Egan’s first historical novel follows Anna and Styles into a world populated by gangsters, sailors, divers, bankers, and union men. Manhattan Beach is a deft, dazzling, propulsive exploration of a transformative moment in the lives and identities of women and men, of America and the world.

Why do I want to read it?

I’m pretty sure that I added this to my GR TBR after talking to my sister one day. She offhandedly mentioned that if I was looking for a book to read, one of her close friends had just finished reading Manhattan Beach and highly recommended it, so I should check it out too! I’m a big lover of historical fiction, I love being transported to past times, and when a mystery involving gangsters and divers and other intriguing elements, is thrown into the mix, I knew that I wanted to read this! If I’m not mistaken, this book won the 2018 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Fiction, so that’s also pretty cool. I’m definitely still keen to read this one and I’m looking forward to picking it up!

Have you read Manhattan Beach or is it also on your TBR?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and let’s chat books!

Goodreads Monday – 05 August

Dini @ dinipandareads4 Comments

It’s time for another Goodreads Monday, a weekly meme started by @Lauren’s Page Turners that invites you to pick a book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it. Easy enough, right? Feel free to join in if you’re feeling it! I think from this week’s post onward, I will use a random number generator to choose the books for this weekly meme!

This week the random number generator picked #151 on my GR ‘to-read’ list, which means the book this week is: The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O’Neill. I added this to my GR in 2017. It has a GR rating of: 3.77 stars.

The Lonely Hearts Hotel is a love story with the power of legend. An unparalleled tale of charismatic pianos, invisible dance partners, radicalized chorus girls, drug-addicted musicians, brooding clowns, and an underworld whose economy hinges on the price of a kiss. In a landscape like this, it takes great creative gifts to thwart one’s origins. It might also take true love.

Two babies are abandoned in a Montreal orphanage in the winter of 1910. Before long, their talents emerge: Pierrot is a piano prodigy; Rose lights up even the dreariest room with her dancing and comedy. As they travel around the city performing clown routines, the children fall in love with each other and dream up a plan for the most extraordinary and seductive circus show the world has ever seen.

Separated as teenagers, sent off to work as servants during the Great Depression, both descend into the city’s underworld, dabbling in sex, drugs and theft in order to survive. But when Rose and Pierrot finally reunite beneath the snowflakes after years of searching and desperate poverty the possibilities of their childhood dreams are renewed, and they’ll go to extreme lengths to make them come true. Soon, Rose, Pierrot and their troupe of clowns and chorus girls have hit New York, commanding the stage as well as the alleys, and neither the theater nor the underworld will ever look the same.

Why do I want to read it?

I’d actually forgot what this book was about until I read the synopsis just now. While I can’t say that I remember reading this synopsis before, I can now say that I really want to read this book. It’s actually said to have ‘echoes of The Night Circus‘, so I think I must’ve added it to my list before I read The Night Circus because I don’t think I would’ve added it to my list after 🙊Not saying anything against that book but I felt a bit let down by it, and didn’t end up loving it as much as everyone else. After reading the synopsis of this one, you can already see some similarities, but I think The Lonely Hearts Hotel sounds like a darker and more sinister version of TNC, and I like the sound of that! Maybe I won’t get to this one in the very near future, but I hope to get to it eventually.

Have you read The Night Circus or is it also on your TBR?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and let’s chat books!

Goodreads Monday – 29 July

Dini @ dinipandareads8 Comments

It’s time for another Goodreads Monday, a weekly meme started by @Lauren’s Page Turners that invites you to pick a book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it. Easy enough, right? Feel free to join in if you’re feeling it! I think from this week’s post onward, I will use a random number generator to choose the books for this weekly meme!

This week’s book is: What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon. This is book #747 on my GR ‘to-read’ list and it’s actually one of the more recent additions to my list (01 March 2019).

Anne Gallagher grew up enchanted by her grandfather’s stories of Ireland. Heartbroken at his death, she travels to his childhood home to spread his ashes. There, overcome with memories of the man she adored and consumed by a history she never knew, she is pulled into another time.

The Ireland of 1921, teetering on the edge of war, is a dangerous place in which to awaken. But there Anne finds herself, hurt, disoriented, and under the care of Dr. Thomas Smith, guardian to a young boy who is oddly familiar. Mistaken for the boy’s long-missing mother, Anne adopts her identity, convinced the woman’s disappearance is connected to her own.

As tensions rise, Thomas joins the struggle for Ireland’s independence and Anne is drawn into the conflict beside him. Caught between history and her heart, she must decide whether she’s willing to let go of the life she knew for a love she never thought she’d find. But in the end, is the choice actually hers to make?

Why do I want to read it?

This is a romantic historical fiction with a big time travel twist. The time travel part of the synopsis vaguely reminds me of Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, but I haven’t read that book yet so I can’t be sure. That said, I love a good romance and historical fiction, and the added element of time travel was a nice surprise because I wasn’t expecting to see that in the description! On top of that, I haven’t read many books set in Ireland but that’s one place that I’ve always been interested in reading more about it. I think this book represents a perfect combination of likes and wants!

Have you read What the Wind Knows or is it on your TBR?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and let’s chat books!

Reading Update: GR Summer Reading Challenge (June-July)

Dini @ dinipandareads9 Comments

I posted about joining the Goodreads Summer Reading Challenge earlier in June and as is pretty standard with my lazy ass, I have been really horrible at tracking my progress. Honestly, I’m just really bad at keeping up with challenges, lol–it’s not so much the reading that’s a struggle for me but the tracking (excel files hate me as much I hate them). But I’ve been thinking about the challenge lately because I just finished reading one of the books on my list and I was wondering how I’ve done so far. If you want to see a recap of what books I set for the challenge, check out my original post!

what I’ve finished so far:

Short & sweet: Read a book with less than 100 pages (or a book you can finish in one sitting) – The Woods, Vol. 1: The Arrow by James Tynion IV | (my review)

On the bandwagon: Read one of the most read books right now on Goodreads & New voices: Read a debut novel – Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens | (my review)

In the friend zone: Read a book that a friend has recommended – The Flatshare Beth O’Leary | (my review)

It takes two: Read a co-authored book – Autoboyography by Christina Lauren | (my review)

Armchair traveler: Read a book set in a destination you want to visit – The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Seeing as how I’ve not ‘intentionally’ read these books over the last month, I’m happy to see that I’ve almost ticked off half of the challenges. I still have a ways to go but hopefully my confidence isn’t misplaced when I say that I think I can complete this challenge 😃 The only book I’m nervous about picking up (again) is The Goldfinch because its been sitting half-unfinished on my shelf since February. I started it for a group/buddy read but it was admittedly the worst reading month–my book slump was epic and trying to force myself to get through this wasn’t ideal. BUT I’m hoping to get it read before the movie comes out this September. The trailer is beautiful and I’m so excited to watch the movie; plus, it’s also really good motivation to finish the book!

Are you participating in the Goodreads Summer Reading Challenge?
If you are, how’s your reading progress coming along?
Let me know in the comments and let’s chat!

Goodreads Monday – 22 July

Dini @ dinipandareads4 Comments

It’s time for another Goodreads Monday, a weekly meme started by @Lauren’s Page Turners that invites you to pick a book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it. Easy enough, right? Feel free to join in if you’re feeling it!

This week’s book is: The Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook by Christina Henry. It has been on my Goodreads TBR shelf since 22 November 2017 😅

There is one version of my story that everyone knows. And then there is the truth. This is how it happened. How I went from being Peter Pan’s first—and favorite—lost boy to his greatest enemy. Peter brought me to his island because there were no rules and no grownups to make us mind. He brought boys from the Other Place to join in the fun, but Peter’s idea of fun is sharper than a pirate’s sword. Because it’s never been all fun and games on the island. Our neighbors are pirates and monsters. Our toys are knife and stick and rock—the kinds of playthings that bite. Peter promised we would all be young and happy forever. Peter will say I’m a villain, that I wronged him, that I never was his friend. Peter Lies.

Why do I want to read it?

The story of Peter Pan wasn’t necessarily my favorite growing up (because I remember it scared me a little lol) but I always found myself drawn back to the many movie adaptations of it over the years, even until now. Hook used to always creep me out a little but as I grew older, I became more curious about him. Where did he come from? Why did he hate Peter so much? And of course, his history with that croc! The movies don’t really cover it all that much, but also, they always show Peter off in the best light. The book blurb sounds like Henry exposes a sinister side to Peter Pan that I’m actually really interested in seeing. The Lost Boy sounds deliciously dark and I’m excited to read from a traditional ‘villain’s’ POV.

Have you read The Lost Boy or is it also on your TBR?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and let’s chat books!

Goodreads Monday – The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Dini @ dinipandareads3 Comments

I’ve been looking for a weekly meme to do on Mondays and haven’t been able to find anything until now. YAY! Introducing: Goodreads Monday, which I just stumbled across on Emer’s page: A Little Haze Book Blog. This weekly meme was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners and invites you to pick a book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it. Easy enough, right? Feel free to join in if you’re feeling it!

This week’s book is: The Alice Network by Kate Quinn.

In an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption.

1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She’s also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie’s parents banish her to Europe to have her “little problem” taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.

1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she’s recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she’s trained by the mesmerizing Lili, the “Queen of Spies”, who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy’s nose.

Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn’t heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth…no matter where it leads.

Why do I want to read it?

I am a sucker for historical fiction and especially ones that are set during the WWII period, so when I heard the rave reviews for this book, I knew I had to get my hands on it immediately. I don’t recall reading many books from an American’s perspective during this period, let alone an American woman, and I like the fact that it covers both WWI and WWII. The women also sound like they’d be good, tough characters and ever since reading The Nightingale earlier this year, I’m excited to read more about the role women played during the war(s). I don’t know why I haven’t picked read this yet, especially since after The Nightingale all I wanted to do was continue my historical journey. But I am hoping to read it this year and possibly next month because I’m already pretty booked out with a lot of buddy reads this July!

Have you read The Alice Network? Is it on your TBR?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and let’s chat books!

The Goodreads Summer Reading Challenge

Dini @ dinipandareads18 Comments

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 🙂