Goodreads Monday – To Best the Boys by Mary Weber

August 16, 2021August 9, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads8 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 To Best the Boys by Mary Weber. It’s a YA fantasy/dystopia that came out in 2019 and has an average rating of 3.71 on Goodreads.

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

August 15, 2021August 15, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads9 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 spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!

I’m spending the rest of my Sunday reading the ARC for Under the Whispering Door. I’m buddy reading this with Leslie and I’m so excited to dive in! I’ve ticked quite a few books off my TBR this year thanks to these buddy reads and I’ve been enjoying them so much, and I can’t wait to see what we both think of this book. Expectations are quite high but we do feel like we’re probably gonna love it!

When a reaper comes to collect Wallace Price from his own funeral, Wallace suspects he really might be dead.

Instead of leading him directly to the afterlife, the reaper takes him to a small village. On the outskirts, off the path through the woods, tucked between mountains, is a particular tea shop, run by a man named Hugo. Hugo is the tea shop’s owner to locals and the ferryman to souls who need to cross over.

But Wallace isn’t ready to abandon the life he barely lived. With Hugo’s help he finally starts to learn about all the things he missed in life.

When the Manager, a curious and powerful being, arrives at the tea shop and gives Wallace one week to cross over, Wallace sets about living a lifetime in seven days.

By turns heartwarming and heartbreaking, this absorbing tale of grief and hope is told with TJ Klune’s signature warmth, humor, and extraordinary empathy.

What are you currently reading?

Let’s Talk Bookish: Can Books Be Effective Horror?

August 13, 2021August 30, 2024 Dini @ dinipandareads9 Comments

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion, where we get to discuss certain topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts! You can check out these pages for more information on August 2021 prompts & a list of all prompts!

Now without further ado… The topic asks:

Can books be effective horror?

#WWWWednesday: 11 August 2021

August 11, 2021August 19, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads10 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 four books and all but one were ARCs—yay!

Tempt Thy Neighbor (Roommate Romps #4) by Teagan Hunter ★★★★☆
This was another fun, fast and super-steamy second-chance/enemies-to-lovers romance by Teagan Hunter! It was a little hard to buy into the romance at the very beginning with how vehemently Holland hated on Sutton and with how he came across as pretty douchey, but they did grow on me in the end. Hunter really built up the sexual tension in this book and it was explosive! RTC.

(ARC) Revenge of the Sluts by Natalie Walton ★★★★½
Revenge of the Sluts was an interesting YA contemporary that had a bit of a mystery to it. It’s not a fast-paced book but it was engaging enough and the writing simple enough for me to quickly work through the pages. While I didn’t think any of the characters stood out, and neither did I like the representation of the MC, I think it’s a book that can generate discussions about privacy, cyberbullying, revenge porn, slut-shaming, toxic masculinity and society’s double standards, especially amongst the targeted young readers! Check out my full review.

#TopTenTuesday: Secondary/Minor Characters Who Deserve More Love

August 10, 2021August 12, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads52 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: Secondary/Minor Characters Who Deserve More Love.

My first Top Ten Tuesday in ages and… I struggled? 😂 I didn’t expect this topic to be so difficult to answer because I love great supporting characters as they often help me connect to a main character or story even more. Thanks to my *cough* wonderful memory though, I was drawing blanks when it came down to thinking about what supporting characters deserve more love. Luckily, I looked at the prompt on Monday night so I had time to scour my shelves (and brain) for characters I wish had gotten more page time or who I think deserve their own stories, and I came up with a very random list from a mixed bag of genres!

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

August 8, 2021August 8, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads21 Comments

I spent the majority of my Sunday on my cosy couch reading my ARC of With You Forever by Chloe Liese. This is the fourth book in the Bergman Brothers series and if you’ve been following me for a little bit, you’ll know that this series is one of my all-time favourites! Chloe Liese writes such amazing inclusive romances full of emotion and so much heart, and this one about Axel and Rooney was no different. I swooned at least a thousand times and thought it was a fantastic way to wrap up my weekend. I’ll be posting my review closer to pub day (14 September).

Axel

Rooney Sullivan is sunshine incarnate. Warm, bright, always smiling, she’s everything I’m not and the last person I have any business desiring. Desperate to hide a hopeless attraction, I’ve done everything possible to keep my distance…until a charades game gone wrong brought that to a grinding halt.

Since then, steering clear of Rooney has been impossible. In a matter of months, she’s kissed me speechless, commandeered my art career, and infiltrated not only my dreams but my home. The woman who was once avoidable has become the last thing I needed: temptingly within reach.

Rooney

Axel Bergman is a gorgeous grump who doesn’t have the time of day for me. Thankfully, I’ve kept my crush under wraps…well, until I kissed him. Charades got away from me, okay? It was an accident! I haven’t seen him since, which is for the best. My life is a mess, and the last thing I need is to embarrass myself further with the man who avoids me like that’s his job rather than painting modern masterpieces.

It seems the universe, however, has a different plan. When Axel and I unexpectedly find our paths—and problems—converging, a marriage of convenience proves the perfect solution. At least, until I’m facing my most serious problem yet: a once-loveless marriage of convenience that’s inconveniently become a love match, after all.

With You Forever is a sunshine and grump, marriage of convenience romance about a shy artist on the autism spectrum*, and a smiley smartypants who has a chronic IBD. Complete with combustible cooking lessons, interfering family and friends, and a steamy slow burn, this standalone is the fourth in a series of novels about a Swedish-American family of five brothers, two sisters, and their wild adventures as they each find happily ever after.
*This is an #OwnVoices story for its portrayal of autism by an autistic author.

What are you currently reading?

Let’s Talk Bookish: What is your posting type?

August 7, 2021August 27, 2024 Dini @ dinipandareads12 Comments

Now without further ado… The topic asks:

WHAT’S YOUR POSTING TYPE?

(SUGGESTED BY NICOLE @ THOUGHTS STAINED WITH INK)
Prompts: Do you schedule posts long before they’re published, how long? Do you write several drafts of a post and edit them, or do you not edit at all? Perhaps you simply write a post and put it up for the world to see immediately? There’s no right or wrong answer!

I didn’t intend to create my first discussion post post-hiatus so quickly but when I saw today’s prompt, I felt that it was just perfect timing to get myself back into the groove of writing and posting, as it’s a topic I’ve even mentioned in my ‘I’m back’ post yesterday!

Do you schedule posts long before they’re published (& how long)?

Ahaha… That’s funny!!! I think one of lines I repeat most often in many of my posts is how I hope to be able to schedule ahead of time to reduce the pressure on myself. Le sigh, it’s been close to three years since I started blogging and… it hasn’t really happened yet! 🙊

I’m one of those people who (really) love to plan organising things but I’m also one of those people who struggle to follow through with said plans 90% of the time! I’m blaming it on my pro-procrastination skills and the fact that I do tend to thrive when I’m chasing a deadline—even if it’s one that I set for myself. I know it’s so unhealthy but it’s healthy that I acknowledge that, right? 😂 BUT I DIGRESS.

The only times I have been able to schedule posts in advance is when I finish reading an ARC months before its pub date and that has only happened a very smol number of times. I do feel pretty accomplished when this happens though, haha! I’m quite envious of the bloggers who do regularly schedule posts ahead of time, whether it’s just for the week or month ahead. Please teach 🥲

Do you write several drafts of a post and edit them, or do you not edit at all?

I don’t create multiple drafts of posts but I do have a habit of editing my posts as I write them, and once I’m done, I go through them again at least twice before previewing and then posting. This is definitely the reason why I need to spend so much time blogging because I can’t just post something without reading through it a few times, and I almost always end up removing or rewriting big chunks, and fiddling with the layout and design for way too long. This is something I do for all my posts and not just text heavy ones, so blogging anything always takes a lot of time—which is why if I ever manage to get my act together and schedule posts ahead of time, I know I’ll be making my life so much easier! 😂

So, are you like me or are you organized? 😂 If you schedule your posts ahead of time, can you pls teach me your sorcery?

Blog signature that reads: Let's Chat! xoxo, Dini

#WWWWednesday: 14 April 2021

April 22, 2021August 11, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads14 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 five books (and I’m still behind on my blog tour reads—how does time get away from me so quickly?)!

Aurora Burning (Aurora Cycle #2) by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman ★★★★☆
This was my buddy read with Sammie and we finally finished the book last week! Both of us raged just a *tiny bit* at that ending—I mean, I really love Squad 312 but oh my, how they angered me at the end 😂 What was that? Not cool, that’s what! 😒 Overall, I still really enjoyed the book as we get a good look into Zila and Kal’s histories, plus we also learn more about just what exactly the squad is dealing with. There were also some delicious twists that had me gasping. I can’t wait until the final book is out and it has lovely bb Finian on the cover! RTC (maybe)?

Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries #4) by Martha Wells ★★★★½
Yay for Murderbot! Yay for reuniting with our favourite OG humans! Yay for more feelings that we don’t want to be feeling! Honestly, at this point I’m starting to terrify myself with how much I identify with Murderbot? Just as with all the other books in this series, the intensity of the action quickly escalated and of course, Murderbot’s signature sarcastic humour was still so very on point! Leslie and I are gonna continue our buddy read for this series, and though we didn’t realise book 5 was a full-length novel, we can’t wait. 😍 Series RTC!

#TopTenTuesday: Colourful Middle Grade Covers!

April 20, 2021August 12, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads31 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: Colourful Book Covers.

For this week’s topic I decided to focus on middle grade books because they have some of the BEST colourful covers! Maybe I’m biased because I love illustrated covers and middle grade books always serve hard when it comes to those. You can bet that if I had the money and the space, I would populate a whole section of shelves with these gorgeous books and it’d be fire 😍🔥 This list is a mix of books I’ve read and a few that are still waiting for me to pick them up!

#5OnMyTBR: Anticipated Middle Grade Books!

April 20, 2021June 23, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads14 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!