#WWWWednesday: 30 December

December 30, 2020December 30, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

WHOA, IT’S THE LAST WWWWEDNESDAY FOR 2020! Shooketh.

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 managed to finish four books but I also decided to DNF one. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again now, I’m quite proud that I’m actually DNFing books this year. It’s been so hard for me to do but baby steps… We’re getting there! But also… I still have to write reviews for all of these. *le super sigh* Yay for reading lots but the struggle to review is so real! 🙃

Subversive (Clandestine Magic #1) by Colleen Crowley ★★★★☆
I was immediately intrigued by this dystopian society where males reign supreme in every aspect especially to do with magic. There were many layers to the plot(s) and it covers so many issues but the author does a fantastic job of bringing it all together: we’re advocating for women’s rights, subverting the male dominated magical system, hiding government secrets and all while getting a deliciously slow-burning enemies-to-lovers romance! Plus the characters were so easy to root for! I can’t wait to read on. Will likely do a series review for this? RTC.

Spellmaker (Spellbreaker Duology #2) by Charlie N. Holmberg ★★★★☆
This was an action-packed and ultimately satisfying conclusion to Holmberg’s latest historical fantasy duology. It was so rejoin Elsie and Bacchus as they try to beat the villain at their own game. There was more magic, murder, and mystery, and I was 100% here for it. This book is out in March 2021 so my review will be posted closer to pub day! RTC.

#5OnMyTBR: Planned to Read in 2020

December 29, 2020December 28, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads18 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 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: Planned to read in 2020.

Goodreads Monday – The Fortunate Ones by Ed Tarkington

December 28, 2020December 28, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads3 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 Fortunate Ones by Ed Tarkington. This is a literary fiction that is set to be published in January 2021 and currently has a 4.0 rating on Goodreads with 32 reviews. So very early days!

Top 5 Saturday: 2021 Releases

December 26, 2020December 25, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads26 Comments

Welcome back to another Top 5 Saturday! Just in case you don’t know Top 5 Saturday is a weekly meme created by Mandy @ Devouring Books and it’s where we list the top five books (they can be books on your TBR, favourite books, books you loved/hated) based on the week’s topic. You can see the upcoming schedule at the end of my post 🙂 This week’s topic is actually: 2021 Releases.

Unlike last year when I spent a good amount of time populating my 2020 releases list on Goodreads, I haven’t really done much of that this year so I know that what’s on my radar is fairly limited to mostly romance and some YA fantasy. These are the two genres I read most of anyway but I know I’m still missing out on *a lot* of what’s coming out next year, so I can’t wait to get caught up with that in the coming week as work slows down and I have more “free” time 😉 But I digress… Here are some books that made it onto my radar and that I’m stupid excited for!

#WWWWednesday: 23 December

December 23, 2020December 23, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads20 Comments

IT’S THE SECOND TO LAST WWWWEDNESDAY FOR 2020!!! WHAT?!

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 managed to finish five books:

Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston ★★★★★
Love love love. I wrote a pretty gushing review about this. I had a feeling I’d enjoy it when I read the blurb but I didn’t expect it to love it as much as I did. Alston creates a fantastic supernatural world in parallel to our real world, and this was fast-paced and action-packed and had a wonderful heroine! Check out my full blog tour review.

Special Delivery (Always Satisfied #5) by Lauren Blakely ★★☆☆☆
There were two stories in this book and I found both a little meh. The first one had strong insta-love feels and then the accidental pregnancy trope was thrown in at the end. It was so convenient and it was a no for me. The second story was a ‘forbidden’ sister’s best friend to lovers romance and while the chemistry was a bit stronger there, I still didn’t connect with the characters. In both stories our H/H came across as much younger than their age and it was just… “eh” 🤷🏻‍♀️ Guess you can’t win ’em all!

#5OnMyTBR: Winter Love!

December 22, 2020December 21, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads13 Comments

This week’s prompt is: Winter Celebrations.

Goodreads Monday – Among the Beasts & Briars by Ashley Poston

December 21, 2020December 21, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads17 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 Among the Beasts & Briars by Ashley Poston. This is a fairy tale inspired YA fantasy that was published in October 2020 and has a 3.88 rating on Goodreads with 600+ reviews.

Top 5 Saturday: Celebrity Authors!

December 19, 2020December 19, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads8 Comments

I’m not really sure what this week’s prompt means with ‘famous authors’ but I’ve decided to interpret it as literal famous authors, so celebrities and the like! Most of these are memoirs that I’ve been looking forward to for a while, especially JVN’s because while he can be so extra sometimes, I absolutely love him to death! I’m also really looking forward to checking out the poetry book on this list as I’m a big Halsey fan. 🥰 So without further ado, let’s get to it!

(book covers are linked to the Goodreads pages!)

#WWWWednesday: 16 December

December 16, 2020December 16, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads8 Comments

Um… How is it already mid-December? Every day this week so far has felt like a Friday and I have a feeling that’ll continue to be the case until the new year 😂 Where is time going?!

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 managed to finish five books:

Steel & Stone (The War of the North Saga #1) by Kate Haley ★★★☆☆
I really loved the concept of this story but I felt that the writing was a bit clunky, especially with changing POVs in chapters, and sadly, I found the main characters and their love-triangle angst a little too frustrating. Our characters were around the 18-21 age but really came across as much younger. That said, I’m curious to see what will happen next! Check out my full review.

Spellbreaker (Spellbreaker Duology #1) by Charlie Holmberg ★★★★☆
It took me a little while to actually get into this story but once I did I ended up really liking it! The first half was a bit slow in pace, but once the action really kicked in, I sped through in less than a day. I enjoyed the historical setting, the magic, and of course, I was a fan of Elsie and Bacchus, and their slow burn romance. There were some twists and turns that I didn’t expect and I’m so curious to see what happens next! Review coming soon.

#TopTenTuesday: December’s Likely Possibility Pile

December 15, 2020December 15, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads36 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 Winter 2020-2021 TBR (or summer if you live in the southern hemisphere)!

I’m generally terrible with TBRs and tend to half-stick to possibility piles but 2020 has seen my moods become even wilder and whackier than normal, which has resulted in me straying from all the books that I think I possibly want to read over a given period. As much as I have been reading, its still been a tough year for the books 😂 I can’t believe the year is already coming to an end and well, a lot of my bookish reading plans this year kind of got thrown to the wayside! While this prompt does include 2021, I’m focusing on December specifically as I have a few titles that I think I want to read before the year ends… But (again) it’ll depend on my mood when it comes time to pick them up! So here are some possible possibilities for the pile and yes, I’m probably being more than a little ambitious! 😜