#WWWWednesday: 08 January

January 8, 2020January 8, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads15 Comments

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?

What did you read last?

My first three books of the year have been from The Great Library series by Rachel Caine. I don’t think I’ve consumed a series so fast before, although I haven’t finished it yet. I’ve still got two more of the books to go but I’m now taking a break (even though things are certainly continuing to heat up in the book)! So far I would rate this series a solid ★★★½. It was slow to start, but the pace has really picked up in the sequels. The world building continues to be exceptional, except there’s little to no character development save for the first book. Still, the characters are definitely what I love the most about this series. There are strong found family vibes and many of the characters lean towards being morally grey, which is always exciting in my book! You can check out my review for Ink and Bone, but I’ve decided that I will post an overall review for the rest of the series once I’m done with it!

#TopTenTuesday: Most Anticipated Releases 2020 (First Half)

January 7, 2020January 12, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads40 Comments

It’s that time of the week again, friends! We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: most anticipated releases for the first half of 2020. It’s amazing how one year of immersing myself in the book community has made me so aware of upcoming releases. I still don’t keep track as much as others do, but before 2019 I had zero clues. Honestly, I still don’t even know what or how I’d find books to read before then 😂 On that note, there are quite a few releases that I’m keen to get my hands on this year (unfortunately for me, I’m locking down on my spending this year so I’ll only be adding a select few to my shelves in 2020)! I’ve already mentioned five books in this post, but here are ten more that I’m super keen for:

Down the TBR Hole – 11

January 6, 2020January 12, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads15 Comments

It’s 2020 and I’m back with my first Down the TBR Hole post of the year! As of right now, my Goodreads TBR is a whopping 1,034 books and I thought I’d make it clear that just because it’s on my Goodreads TBR, that doesn’t actually mean it’s on my physical or Kindle shelves (I wish I could afford to own that many books)! With that out of the way, I’m hoping to start the year off strong and dismiss a few more books on my list. Let’s see how I do today!

Down the TBR Hole is a weekly book meme created by the wonderful Lia @ Lost in a Story that attempts to organize our ridiculously long Goodreads TBR list by choosing either to keep or eliminate the books we’ve saved on there. Here’s how it works:

Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
Order on ascending date added.
Take the first 5 (or 10 (or even more!) if you’re feeling adventurous) books. Of course, if you do this weekly, you start where you left off the last time.
Read the synopses of the books
Decide: keep it or should it go

Verdict: Keep

Goodreads Monday – The Shamer’s Daughter by Lene Kaaberbøl

January 6, 2020March 22, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads4 Comments

It’s the first Goodreads Monday of 2020, friends! 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 book is The Shamer’s Daughter (The Shamer Chronicles #1) by Lene Kaaberbøl. It’s a Scandinavian Middle Grade/Young Adult Fantasy that I added to my Goodreads TBR in September 2019. On Goodreads it has 3.91 stars with 7.9k+ ratings and 416 reviews.

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [37]

January 5, 2020December 4, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads6 Comments

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!

Today I spent the day in bed with Paper and Fire (The Great Library #2) by Rachel Caine. This is a fast paced sequel! I’m enjoying it and it has answered some of the questions I had earlier, although I’m still noticing certain inconsistencies. This series is quite entertaining though!

LET THE WORLD BURN

With an iron fist, the Great Library ruthlessly controls the knowledge of the world, forbidding the personal ownership of books in the name of the greater good.

Jess Brightwell has survived his introduction to the sinister, seductive world of the Library, but his life and the lives of those he cares for have been altered for ever. Embarking on a mission to save one of their own, Jess and his band of allies suddenly find themselves hunted by the Library’s deadly automata and forced to flee Alexandria.

But Jess’s home isn’t safe any more. The Welsh army is coming, London is burning, and soon Jess must choose between his friends, his family, or a Library willing to sacrifice anything and anyone in the search for ultimate control . . .

#WWWWednesday: 01 January!

January 1, 2020January 1, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads19 Comments

HAPPY NEW YEAR, BOOK LOVERS AND FRIENDS!!!
The last decade has been a helluva journey that’s been full of both high-highs and low-lows. I still can’t believe that we’re already starting a new decade, but I hope that it’s brilliant for all of you. I hope the year ahead is full of light, love, happiness and peace. And of course, all the very bookish things!

So it’s time for December’s last 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?

What did you read last?

With all the family time and holiday festivities fully under way over the last week, it’s not surprising that I haven’t been able to read much. I think I ended the year on a pretty good note though. I finished The Folk of the Air series and I surprisingly enjoyed The Queen of Nothing the most in the whole series.

#TopTenTuesday: Best 10 of 2019

December 31, 2019December 31, 2019 Dini @ dinipandareads38 Comments

Friends, it’s the last #TopTenTuesday of this year and decade! How insane is that?! I just wanted to say that wherever you are and whatever you do to ring in the new year, I hope you have a wonderful 2020. For those who’ve had a particularly trying 2019, I hope that the fresh year will bring more light into your life. And as always, I hope everyone has a very amazingly book-filled year ahead! – 🐼💙

It’s that time of the week again, friends! We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: favorite books I read in 2019. Last Friday I already tried to narrow down my list of favorite reads from the 200+ books that I read this year. I broke it down into categories and I managed to narrow it down to five books per category, which left me with a Top 30–it was hard 😅 Lol I think I just feel guilty because in narrowing it down I end up not mentioning the other amazing books I’ve read, and it’s like I’m ignoring them or not acknowledging the hard work the authors did? 🤣 Is that just me? I’m determined to still try and narrow it down to a Top 10 though so here goes nothing. I’m also gonna keep it short and sweet and stick to pictures.

HOLY HECK, THIS WAS SO DIFFICULT!
What books made it into your Top 10 reads of 2019?
Did we pick any of the same books as top reads this year?

Down the TBR Hole – 10

December 30, 2019December 30, 2019 Dini @ dinipandareads6 Comments

I’m back again with another Down the TBR Hole and I have a good feeling about this week. I think I’ll get rid of at least 2 or 3 books but I’m hoping to get rid of half my picks below! I’m now starting with a whopping 1,048 books on my Goodreads TBR! Yes, it has definitely increased since the last time I did this post and that’s because I’ve been busily adding 2020 books to my TBR. When people talk about never ending lists, it really is that, isn’t it?! But without further ado, let’s dive into it…

Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
Order on ascending date added.
Take the first 5 (or 10 (or even more!) if you’re feeling adventurous) books. Of course, if you do this weekly, you start where you left off the last time.
Read the synopses of the books
Decide: keep it or should it go

Goodreads Monday – 30 December

December 30, 2019December 30, 2019 Dini @ dinipandareads4 Comments

It’s the last Goodreads Monday in 2019! 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 book is I Hope You Get This Message by Farah Naz Rishi. This was added to my Goodreads TBR in April this year. I admit the cover is what drew me in at first but the synopsis also caught my attention. This book is a young adult science fiction that was released this past October and has 3.67 stars with 881 ratings and 246 reviews.

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [36]

December 29, 2019December 4, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads4 Comments

Yes, I’m well aware it’s no longer Sunday but wow, this weekend went by so quickly and didn’t feel like a weekend at all… So we’re back with 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!

Today I spent the day in bed with Queen of Nothing. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the first two books in the series, although I still did enjoy them well enough to continue on finishing the series. I’m looking forward to seeing how this series wraps up. It’s also time to mention again: I hate Taryn. The end! 😊

The finale to the New York Times bestselling Folk of Air trilogy, that started with The Cruel Prince and The Wicked King, from award-winning author Holly Black.

After being pronounced Queen of Faerie and then abruptly exiled by the Wicked King Cardan, Jude finds herself unmoored, the queen of nothing. She spends her time with Vivi and Oak, watches her fair share of reality television, and does the odd job or two, including trying to convince a cannibalistic faerie from hunting her own in the mortal world.

When her twin sister Taryn shows up asking of a favor, Jude jumps at the chance to return to the Faerie world, even if it means facing Cardan, who she loves despite his betrayal.

When a dark curse is unveiled, Jude must become the first mortal Queen of Faerie and uncover how to break the curse, or risk upsetting the balance of the whole Faerie world.