Mystery Blogger Award – dinipandareads.

Almost one year ago, or what more accurately feels like a lifetime now, Dedra @ A Book Wanderer tagged me for The Mystery Blogger Award! To say that I’m “behind” on tags/awards would be a slight understatement but better late than never, right? Thanks for the nomination, Dedra! ❤️ If you’re not already following her blog, please do go check it out! Dedra has some really great content and I especially love she always makes great playlists and great song connections to books! Super fun 😍

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 USED TO BE QUITE THE SHOPAHOLIC…

So… I used to rely on retail therapy for a lot and that meant that I would frequently go on major shopping binges when I was younger. This only worsened when online retailers started popping up and made it that much easier to spend money without having to do more than lift a finger. It got pretty bad! Let’s just say that I’m now a totally different person and no longer shop much–although I have to admit that I still get carried away with book buying 😂

I HAVE A DECENT EAR FOR LANGAUGES & ACCENTS

Maybe it’s because I grew up internationally and from a very young age have had friends from all over the world. Whatever it is, I’ve become pretty good at detecting languages people speak and also differentiating accents. This is something I always thought everyone could do easily and I still get surprised when people can’t 😅 But it’s fun! I love being able to tell what tourist is from where, even when I’m a tourist myself!

I WENT TO BOARDING SCHOOL IN AUSTRALIA

I went to boarding school out in the middle-of-nowhere Victoria when I was in high school. It’s always funny when I see stories set in boarding schools because they’re always so full of wicked things and the reality, while exciting at times, was so very far from those sordid tales. 😂 I had some pretty great times in boarding school!

DEDRA’S questions:

WHAT’S THE BEST READING EXPERIENCE YOU’VE EVER HAD?

The first instance that comes to mind is when I picked up Persuasion in 2012. I’d just moved to the UK to start my Masters and I was going through a pretty rough time in my personal life. I honestly can’t even remember how I got the book or when or even why I decided to pick that one up specifically but… It was just the perfect timing. You know when you read something and everything just… CLICKS? And it feels like the book was written for you and that it’s speaking to that instant in your life? Just me? Well, that’s what happened when I read Persuasion. It made me feel hopeful when I needed it and that’s why it became one of my favourite books of all-time 😊

WHERE WOULD BE YOUR FAVOURITE DESTINATION-REAL OR IMAGINED?

One real-life destination that I haven’t been to yet but I have a feeling I’ll fall madly in love with New Zealand. Just picturing the beauty of the surroundings–the wide open spaces, the lakes, the valleys, the mountains, the lush greenery… The CLEAN FRESH AIR. 😂 Yeah, I can definitely see it becoming a favourite destination! A favourite imagined world is Nevermoor–I keep coming back to that world because it’s so whimsical and magical! 😍

DO YOU FOLLOW A TBR OR ARE YOU A MOOD READER? AND WHY?

Most people who follow my blog know by now that I am 1000% a mood reader! I know nothing about that TBR life 🤣 I make “possibility piles” but even those very loose possibilities don’t have much of a chance to be read unless my mood calls for it. My moods can be quite fickle and when I read something that I’m not sure I’m in the right headspace for it simply ruins the book for me and that’s defo not fair on the book/author! 😂

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE TYPE OF BLOG POST TO CREATE?

I love me a good weekly meme and 90% of the content on my blog is basically that. Sometimes it can get tiring when I don’t feel inspired by a particular topic, but I usually have a lot of fun looking through my Goodreads TBR and rediscovering books that I forgot or revisiting my love for some of my all time faves! I think my favourite weekly meme would probably be Top Ten Tuesday (it was the first one I ever did)! But another weekly meme that I’m enjoying and that pushes me out of my comfort zone is the Let’s Talk Bookish discussion post meme!

WHAT’S A BOOK YOU DIDN’T LIKE THAT EVERYONE ELSE LOVED OR A BOOK THAT YOU LOVED AND EVERYONE ELSE HATED?

Well, this is kind of easy. While I didn’t hate the book, one book that I didn’t enjoy half as much as everyone else seemed to love was The Night Circus (don’t come for me, please). In all honesty, I was a bit bored and though it was beautifully written I just never connected to the characters or story! 🙈 A book that I ended up really loving (and with a love that grew over time lol) is Normal People and though not everyone else hated it, I know a lot of people really really didn’t like that book! 😂

my five questions

What’s one of your favourite songs of all time?
What was the last book you read and if you’d recommend it, why should people read it?
Who’s an author you recently discovered and feel like everyone should also read ASAP?
What dish or cuisine could you eat for the rest of your life and never get sick of?
What type of post is always a struggle to write?

I’M TAGGING:

If tags and awards are not your thing, please feel free to ignore this! Don’t forget to link back so I can see your answers too 😍

Mandy | Elnade | Nadine | Etta | Alexis

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?

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 😍