Welcome back to Goodreads Monday! This weekly meme was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners and it 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 want to! I’ll be using a random number generator to pick my books from my insanely long GR Want-to-read list.
This week’s featured book is The Summer Children (The Collector #3) by Dot Hutchinson. This is book three in thriller/horror The Collector series and has an impressive 4.28 rating on Goodreads!
Happy Friday book lovers! We’re back with another First Lines Friday, a weekly featurefor book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?Here are the rules:
Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!
First lines:
“I have a fatal flaw. I like to think we all do. Or at least that makes it easier for me when I’m writing–building my heroines and heroes up around this one self-sabotaging trait, hinging everything that happens to them on a specific characteristic: the thing they learned to do to protect themselves and can’t let go of, even when it stops serving them.”
Do you recognize the book these first lines come from?
For the second week in a row I somehow forgot to share my #WWWWednesday posts as it completely slips my mind! Oops… So even though it’s Thursday I thought I’d still share my update!
Hello, hello and welcome back to another episode of WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
What did you read last?
What are you currently reading?
What will you read next?
Since two weeks have passed I’ve managed to read more books than has been ‘the usual’ for me this year. This is mostly because of the blog tours I’m participating in and in the last weeks, there have been quite a few! Sadly, it’s still mostly because of those books that I’m pushing myself to read, but otherwise my moods have been in such disarray that I don’t know what I feel like reading, and that’s if I feel like reading at all! 😔 But before I go off on an even bigger tangent, here’s what I’ve read over the last two weeks. I can’t believe I’m about to say this but I’m not including two books that I DNF’d–yep, you read that right! I finally made the decision to DNF two books. Perhaps it’s my erratic mood but I just couldn’t connect with them and it was such a struggle to read one page after another, so I decided to put them away. I feel pretty guilty still but I know I made the right decision!
Promises Forged (Venators #2) by Devri Walls ★★★★½ The sequel to book one was just as fast-paced and full of action, along with some very satisfying character growth! I enjoyed book one but loved book two and can’t wait for the third! Read my full review.
The Invincible Summer of Juniper Jones by Daven McQueen ★★★★½ This was equal parts heart-wrenching and heartwarming. This historical YA is so relevant to everything that’s happening right now. McQueen’s writing was wholly atmospheric and both Ethan and Juniper Jones will steal your heart. Read my full review.
Half Life by Lillian Clark ★★★½ This ended up being more of a contemporary with hints of sci-fi rather than the full-on sci-fi that I was expecting. It was still a really good read and I loved the concept and Clark’s observations on perception/truth. That said, I wanted more from the ending! Read my full review.
The Kinder Poison (The Kinder Poison #1) by Natalie Mae ★★★★½ This is probably my favourite YA fantasy read of 2020 so far. It sucked me in from the very beginning and didn’t let go until it spit me out, flabbergasted and clambering for more, at the very end! It had an interesting quest-style plot, loveable complex characters, and magic. Can has book two naow, pls? Read my full review.
The Storm Crow (Storm Crow #1) by Kalyn Josephson ★★★½ I’m so glad I finally picked this one up after having it sit on my shelf since its release! While the world building could’ve been better, I liked learning about the characters and loved the crow magic. I’m very curious to see how everything is resolved in the final book of this duology. Review coming very soon!
Royal Decoy (Fate of Eyrinthia #1) by Heather Frost ★★★☆☆ I can’t remember the last time I read a romantasy but this book has sparked up my interest in the sub-genre! It’s a fast paced fantasy with a deliciously slow burn romance. While it’s a bit cookie cutter to what’s out there in the fantasy world, it was still an enjoyable read! Read my full review.
A SERVANT blackmailed into becoming a princess’s decoy. A BODYGUARD determined to keep her alive. A PRINCE forced to execute his father’s brutal laws. A PRISONER used to keep him compliant. A WORLD on the brink of war.
In one horrible night, Clare goes from kitchen maid to royal decoy. She has three months to become the princess’s perfect double so she can ensure her betrothal to an enemy prince. Desperate to survive, Clare throws herself into self-defense training, taught by her distractingly attractive bodyguard. The danger increases when a ruthless assassin begins stalking her, intent on ending the tenuous peace.
Across the northern mountains, Prince Grayson is his father’s ultimate weapon. He carries out the king’s harsh orders because the one person he cares about is his father’s prisoner. Grayson’s silent obedience is tested when his father plans to exploit the marriage alliance between two of their greatest enemies. If Grayson submits, the blood of thousands will spill. If he resists, the girl who means everything to him will die.
The fate of Eyrinthia hangs in the balance. Some want peace. Some want war. All will be thrown into chaos.
So, we’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: Books on my Summer 2020 TBR (or winter if you’re in the southern hemisphere).
It’s already June but also how is it still only June?! Thinking about a summer possibility pile of ten books is tough because there are so many I want to read and how do I even choose?! Since last year when I really got into the book community I’ve tried focusing my June reads on LGBTQ+ books because of pride, but this year is a little different. One because I have really not been reading as much due to Animal Crossing, but mostly because as a mood reader it’s already hard having any ‘fixed’ kind of list, but it’s become even more impossible this year when my moods have been as wildly unpredictable as the year itself. I could just list the blog tour reads that I’ll be doing but I decided to pick a random mix of books that have been on my mind and that my mood has been leaning towards lately, so there’s a somewhat *high possibility* of me reading them this summer 😂
Hello Mondays, welcome back to #5OnMyTBR, a meme created by the wonderful E @ The Local Bee Hunter’s Nook. This bookish meme gets us to dig even further into our TBRs by simply posting about five books on our TBR! You can learn more about it here or in the post announcing it. You can find the full list of prompts (past and future) at the end of this post!
This week’s prompt is: Rainbow (on the cover, made from covers… be creative!) ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
Welcome back to Goodreads Monday! This weekly meme was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners and it 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 want to! I’ll be using a random number generator to pick my books from my insanely long GR Want-to-read list.
This week’s featured book is The Secret History by Donna Tartt. This contemporary mystery was published in 1993 (wow, I had no idea it was published that long ago!) and has an impressive 4.10 rating on Goodreads!
Perfect for fans of Victoria Aveyard and Holly Black, this enthralling fantasy adventure follows a teenage girl chosen to be the human sacrifice in a deadly game between three heirs who will do anything for the crown.
Zahru has long dreamed of leaving the kingdom of Orkena and having the kinds of adventures she’s only ever heard about in stories. But as a lowly Whisperer, her power to commune with animals means that her place is serving in the royal stables until the day her magic runs dry.
All that changes when the ailing ruler invokes the Crossing: a death-defying race across the desert, in which the first of his heirs to finish—and take the life of a human sacrifice at the journey’s end—will ascend to the throne and be granted unparalleled abilities.
With all of the kingdom abuzz, Zahru leaps at the chance to change her fate if just for a night by sneaking into the palace for a taste of the revelry. But the minor indiscretion turns into a deadly mistake when she gets caught up in a feud between the heirs and is forced to become the Crossing’s human sacrifice. Zahru is left with only one hope for survival: somehow figuring out how to overcome the most dangerous people in the world.
Happy Friday book lovers! We’re back with another First Lines Friday, a weekly featurefor book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?Here are the rules:
Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!
First lines:
“Can you see the girl crying? She’s not always easy to spot. She may have her head down, pretending to be on her phone, using her hair to cover her blotchy face.”
Do you recognize the book these first lines come from?
Just two months ago (yes, just) I was tagged by the very wonderful Mani of Mani’s Book Corner to do the Mystery Blogger Award! Thanks so much for the tag, lovely 💞 And sorry it has only taken me two months to get around to doing it! Go on and check out + follow Mani’s blog if you haven’t done so already — you won’t regret it 😉
So, what’s the Mystery BlogGER award?
The Mystery Blogger Award is an award for amazing bloggers with ingenious posts. Their blog not only captivates; it inspires and motivates. They are one of the best out there, and they deserve every recognition they get. This award is also for bloggers who find fun and inspiration in blogging; they do it with so much love and passion. The award was created by Okoto!
some rules…
Acknowledge the blog that gave it to you and display the award
Put the award logo/image on your blog.
List these rules!
Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
Mention the creator of the award and provide a link as well.
Tell your readers 3 things about yourself.
You have to nominate 10 – 20 people.
Notify your nominees by commenting on their blog.
Ask your nominees any 5 questions of your choice.
Share a link to your best post(s).
3 things about me…
i’m 32 years old!
I know this isn’t particularly… interesting — age is nothing but a number after all — but I do get curious about the ages of those I interact with online, so I thought I’d throw that out there. Plus, I just turned 32 about ten days ago now, so that’s fun!
i love to bake things… but I rarely eat what i make!
You’re probably thinking that I must be an awful baker… But I’ve been told that my baked goods aren’t bad (not the best obviously but still homely and delicious)! I love the whole process of baking (I am one of those people that love to measure things out precisely otherwise I’m convinced it’ll be a disaster) but the time I finish baking, I just don’t feel like eating it anymore? Is it just me? LOL! It’s a good thing my friends/colleagues/family are always more than willing to eat what I make! 😂
I don’t have a favourite number or colour…
I used to say my favourite number was 4 because it was my favourite boy band member’s favourite. I usually say my favourite colour is black because I do love black and the majority of my wardrobe is black/grey, but it also really depends on my mood. I do love everything and anything pastel though — so if I had to pick I’d just say anything pastel 😂 I’ve been leaning towards pink/purple lately! I’ve said it before but I’m really bad at picking favourites 😅
mani’s questions:
What is the best book you’ve received as a gift?
It’s kind of sad to admit but… I really don’t receive books as gifts? The last time I received a book as a gift (without asking for it or winning a giveaway or anything like that) was actually… Christmas 2012! LOL so sad. It was my first Christmas in the UK and I was staying with my bestie who was visiting Bristol at the time with her hubs. We had a secret santa at his and one of his friends gifted me this gorgeous copy of Doctor Zhivago. Ashamed to admit that I haven’t read it yet… 🙃
Do you re-read, and if so which book was your latest re-read?
I hardly ever re-read. There are a few books that I have re-read over the years and well, that’s mostly Jane Austen (my comfort read!) 😂 But earlier this year I did decide to re-read the first two books of The Arc of a Scythe series before reading the third and final book immediately after.
tell us your favourite book quote
As I’ve mentioned about a million times by now, I struggle a lot with these “favourite” questions because I’m so indecisive! 😅 So, while this may not be my number one, the quote below is definitely up there in favourites. It is from one of my all-time favourite books The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, which I’ve also mentioned a million times on my blog 😂
“Books are mirrors: you only see in them what you already have inside of you.”
Which were your favourite subjects in school?
With an answer that will surprise absolutely nobody: English/Humanities were my top favourite subjects! But I also really liked Computer Science, which was all the “back-end” related things to HTML, creating websites etc., and Environmental Science! Enviro sci ended up being a lot more practical with us doing lots of data gathering from the “field” (lol going to the river behind our school etc.) and my teacher was just grand!
As you know, if books are my first love, animals are a close second, so do you have any pets? Please feel free to share some cute photos!!!
I do have two floofs! Their names are Tripper and Cookie. We adopted them when we were living in Cambodia in 2010 and they’ve been with the family ever since. They’re actually pretty well traveled doggos and have moved with us to the Philippines and now to Indonesia, where they live with my parents in Jakarta. Leaving them to go to do my Masters in the UK was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do — pretty sure I cried more over leaving them than my parents/siblings (I can’t even say I’m joking lol) 😂 They’re no longer young but they’ll forever be my fur babies 💞 These aren’t the best photos of them but for some reason I can’t find other photos of them right now 🙃
my five questions to you
If you were forced to choose, would you eat only sweet or only savoury foods for the rest of your life? 😈
What type of content tends to inspire you and your blog content (or your instagram)?
If you could gift a person of your choice a book that holds a lot of meaning to you, which person would you give this book to and what book would it be?
You wake up one morning to find yourself in the world of the last book you read. Where are you and would you survive the day?
(partly inspired by Mani’s last question!) What fictional creature/animal would you like to have as a pet/animal friend?
I’M TAGGING:
Please feel free to ignore this post and the tag if tags aren’t your thing! No pressure at all and if you’re not tagged but want to do it, go for gold!Don’t forget to link back so I can see your answers too 😍
dinipandareads 