#WWWWednesday: 17 March

March 17, 2021June 23, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads11 Comments

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?

Wow, it really doesn’t feel like I’ve read a lot since last week but apparently I’ve managed to finish five books? Surprise to me! LOL. It might not help that I haven’t actually marked these as read on Goodreads and neither have I properly reviewed them either. Oopsies, one thing a time though… 🤣

Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries #2) by Martha Wells ★★★★☆
Repeatedly chants: I love Murderbot! Because I really really do and I would read all the books with Murderbot as the protagonist. This one was slightly less exciting than book one but we got to dive a bit more into Murderbot’s psyche and we also get to meet ART, who I also loved! 😂 Buddy reading this series with Leslie and we’re both loving it and can’t wait to continue! Series RTC.

Namesake (Fable #2) by Adrienne Young ★★★★☆
Namesake was a really satisfying conclusion to the Fable duology. The story picks up immediately where book one ends and it’s full of pirate-y goodness, many more high-seas adventures, and delicious deceptions and twists! This second book is less focused on world building and character development, but it has a very fast-paced plot that leaves little time to dwell on it. Check out my review!

#TopTenTuesday: Spring Possibility Pile!

March 16, 2021August 12, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads30 Comments

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 Spring 2021 TBR.

Oh, how wonderful would it be to experience spring… 🤔 I miss having four seasons, but I digress! If you’re not new to my blog you know by now that I don’t do TBRs, rather I try to stick with possibility piles (and even then they don’t go 90% of the time lol)! That said, it’s always fun to think of the books that I want to read soon, and actually, a few of these are blog tour reads, buddy reads, and ARCs so I *will* be reading them soon enough! Needless to say, I’m super excited for all of these titles 😍 And on that note, here are the reads I’m hoping to pick up in the coming month(s):

#5OnMyTBR: Mythology

March 16, 2021June 23, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads22 Comments

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. You can find the full list of prompts (past and future) at the end of this post!

This week’s prompt is: Mythology.

I struggled to find books for this prompt today for some reason. I’m sure I have quite a few on my list since I love books based on mythology but I’ve completely blanked on it? 😂 I tried to come up with ones that were based on non-greek or norse mythology but those take up the bulk of my ‘mythology’ TBR but I’m glad that I found at least three books based on other mythology. Without further ado… Let’s get to it!

LOVELY WAR

It’s 1917, and World War I is at its zenith when Hazel and James first catch sight of each other at a London party. She’s a shy and talented pianist; he’s a newly minted soldier with dreams of becoming an architect. When they fall in love, it’s immediate and deep–and cut short when James is shipped off to the killing fields.

Aubrey Edwards is also headed toward the trenches. A gifted musician who’s played Carnegie Hall, he’s a member of the 15th New York Infantry, an all-African-American regiment being sent to Europe to help end the Great War. Love is the last thing on his mind. But that’s before he meets Colette Fournier, a Belgian chanteuse who’s already survived unspeakable tragedy at the hands of the Germans.

Thirty years after these four lovers’ fates collide, the Greek goddess Aphrodite tells their stories to her husband, Hephaestus, and her lover, Ares, in a luxe Manhattan hotel room at the height of World War II. She seeks to answer the age-old question: Why are Love and War eternally drawn to one another? But her quest for a conclusion that will satisfy her jealous husband uncovers a multi-threaded tale of prejudice, trauma, and music and reveals that War is no match for the power of Love.

Goodreads Monday – The Songbook of Benny Lament by Amy Harmon

March 15, 2021June 23, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads7 Comments

Welcome back to Goodreads Monday! It’s been a very hot minute since I did one but I figured I might as well get back into it! 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.*

*Sorry if a book has been featured twice. I need to make better note of which ones I’ve done already!

This week’s featured book is The Songbook of Benny Lament by Amy Harmon. This is a historical fiction that comes out tomorrow (16 March)!

#WWWWednesday: 10 March

March 10, 2021June 23, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads12 Comments

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 last week I’ve managed to finish three books. I haven’t been doing a lot of reading over the last week as I’ve been too busy watching anime and playing ACNH… 🙈 Oops!

The Last Secret You’ll Ever Keep by Laurie Faria-Stolarz ★★★☆☆
I wanted to love this one but I ended up feeling very confused for a good chunk of it. I think Faria-Stolarz gave a realistic portrayal of someone dealing with PTSD but if you’re not a fan of unreliable narrators this will not be the book for you! While I definitely got creeped out at points, I found the resolution to the mystery was a bit underwhelming. Check out my review!

Happy Singles Day by Ann Marie Walker ★★½
I really thought I’d love this one but that was purely me judging the book on its cover (and okay, the synopsis too)! It’s not that I hated this book I just thought it was very unmemorable and nothing special. I’ve already forgotten quite a lot about it and I only finished it last week! Oops… Check out my review!

#TopTenTuesday: Cutting Down That Backlist!

March 9, 2021August 12, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads44 Comments

So, we’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: Spring Cleaning Freebie (for example, books you’re planning to get rid of for whatever reason, books you’d like to clean off your TBR by either reading them or deciding you’re not interested, books that feel fresh and clean to you after winter is over, etc.)

I’m sure many of you can relate when I say that I have a ton of backlist books that have been sat on my physical and digital shelves for quite some time. Many have been on countless “I want to read this one very soon” lists over the years and continue to be on those lists even until today (literally). One of my goals this year is to focus less on buying all the new books thanks to FOMO and instead focus on the many–the very very many–of my already owned and unread books. I know I tend to say that a lot on my blog posts but this year I am a determined bull. I will get this done *picture that kid with the determined face and raised fist here* 😉 So without further ado, here are ten backlist books that I am definitely going to read this year (and I’ll be focusing on titles that I don’t mention as often as other more popular ones)!

#5OnMyTBR: Retellings

March 9, 2021June 23, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads12 Comments

This week’s prompt is: Retelling*.

Goodreads Monday – The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara

March 8, 2021June 23, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads2 Comments

*Sorry if a book has been featured twice. I need to make better note of which ones I’ve done already!

This week’s featured book is The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara. This is a literary historical fiction with elements of magical realism and is Yanagihara’s debut back in 2014.

#WWWWednesday: 03 March

March 4, 2021June 23, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads16 Comments

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 last Wednesday I’ve finished five books. Three of these five reads left me with some pretty mixed feelings but it wasn’t an awful week of reading!

Aether Ones by Wendi Coffman-Porter ★★★☆☆
The first book that left me with mixed feelings last week. This was a pretty interesting sci-fi read that had one of the most kick ass heroines I’ve read about in a while! Leilani is someone you don’t want to mess with, especially when she technically has the “UN of space” on her side as she does whatever it takes to get the job done! 😉 That said, the world building and time jumps often had me re-reading and getting confused. Check out my blog tour review!

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi ★★★★½
This was an incredible and heartbreaking story about the complexities of love, sexual and gender identity, and self-acceptance in a society that doesn’t accept or acknowledge your existence. It’s about loss, grief, fear and secrets. It’s a stunningly written book that I would highly recommend! Check out my review!

#TopTenTuesday: Characters Whose Job I Wish I Had…

March 2, 2021August 12, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads38 Comments

So, we’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: Characters Whose Job I Wish I Had (maybe not even because the job sounds fun, but maybe the co-workers are cool or the boss is hot?)

I wasn’t too sure if I was feeling today’s prompt but I decided to just have fun with it and not think too hard about being serious or realistic! I honestly think being able to do what any of these characters do in their stories would not only be so amazing but also so much fun! 😍