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Dana ☀️

@dlight_reads

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📍SYD // AUS
Assistant Book Buyer @dymocksbooks
🐈🐈‍⬛Cat Mum
2026 Reads: 182
📕Kingdom of Ash

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26 in 2026 🎁

This years 26 books in 2026 looks a little different. Ive picked 26 fiction books off my shelves that I purchased for myself over the last couple of years, then wrapped and numbered them.

❌The Rules:

At the beginning of each month I’ll unwrap two books (one my partner picks and one a number generator picks), I have to read one book immediately and the other anytime during that month.
Two months out of the twelve I’ll have to pick a third book - maybe I’ll let the cats pick those! 😂

Other book challenges I’ll be aiming to complete in 2026 include:

🎞️One non fic a month - #nfpicnmix
🍷Bookclub each month
👯‍♀️Mother - daughter buddy read each month
🎨Colour palette challenge (will share soon)
🎁26 in 2026

✨should I film myself opening the books at the beginning of each month, or is photos enough?

Tagged a few to share their book challenges for 2026, including your #26in2026

#bookstagram #ausbookstagram #bookcommunity by @dlight_reads

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10 months ago

What I Read Last Week - October Week 2 🎃

October week two brought book shopping for Love Your Book Shop day, spring cleaning and my first week back at work after the op. 🧡

Books I read last week:

📘I Hope this Email Finds You in Hell - Mackenzie Reed
- demon hunter, workplace romance, magical beings
The perfect cozy, spooky season read. Set in the underworld, I Hope This Email Finds You in Hell takes you on a wild adventure filled with unexpected twists, turns, and creepy creatures lurking around every corner. A hellishly fun read that keeps you guessing!

📘Empire of Storms - Sarah J. Maas
- fantasy, adventure, fae, magical beings
Book five in the Throne of Glass series, and this one is an absolute rollercoaster of emotions. This novel is packed with incredible character depth, heart-wrenching moments, and twists that keep you on the edge of your seat. A gripping, unforgettable read that’s nearly impossible to put down. Also THE CLIFFHANGER - SHOOK!

📕Alma Vampires - Elena Armas*
- enemies to lovers, slow burn, vampires, magical beings.
Alma Vampires is the perfect paranormal romance, packed with all the tropes we know and love! From enemies to lovers and a delicious slow burn to amazing side characters and a whole world of magic, otherworldly beings, this book has it all. Fast paced, addictive and almost impossible to put down, it’s the kind of story that keeps you saying ‘one more chapter’.

📙Tower of Dawn - Sarah J. Maas
- fantasy, adventure, side quest
Book six in the Throne of Glads series and this one is all about Chaol. I was hesitant going into this novel, as I was desperate to get my continue Alein story after Empire of Storms, but I actually ended up really enjoying this sequel and felt it was very important to the series overall. Tower of Dawn was emotional, captivating and entirely a very raw novel.

✨What spooky themed books are you reading this month?

*gifted publishers tagged

#bookstagram #whatireadinaweek #bookreviews #booklover #bookrecs by @dlight_reads

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3 days ago

Letting my cats chose what books I read this month 🎃

Part 10 of my 26 in 2026 book challenge, we are finally down to the final six books!

Dexter and Noel both picked well for Spooky Season reading. 👻

Which book should I read first?

Dexter’s pick - Book 2 🐈‍⬛
Noel’s pick - Book 25 🐈

#tbrchallenge #bookstagram #booksandcats #26in2026 #bookishreel by @dlight_reads

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7 days ago

What I Read this Week - Oct Week 1 👻

My final week of operation recovery before work has been filled with days in the sun, reading and lots of spooky movie watching (swipe to see films) 🧡

Books I read last week:

📘It’s in His Kiss - Julia Quinn
- historical romance, hidden treasure
Book seven in the Bridgerton series - I cannot believe there is only one left. My mum and I have been buddy reading these for the past FIVE years! I enjoyed this read, the banter, the friendship and the treasure hunting were all so fun, unfortunately I don’t know if I was completely sold on the romance in this novel.

📙The Romance Revival - Christina Lauren
- Sci fi, second chance romance
A completely unexpected storyline for a romance, but I was so invested. It took me a few chapters to wrap my head around the sci fi elements, but once we got to the heart of the story I was captivated. I loved the dual point of views, the second chance at life and the side characters - please let this be a series.

📗The Z Word - Lindsay King-Miller
- Queer, zombie, horror
This novel was like a quirky, queer Shaun of the Dead, but in a weirdly modern way. This novel is under 300 pages, so easy to devour in one sitting. I appreciated the different type of zombie story this novel provided and the fun twists along the way.

📙Meet Cute Magic - Morgan Elizabeth
- cozy, magical, witches, enemies to lovers
The perfect cozy read for this spooky season (or fall for my northern hemisphere friends). The magic in this novel was so whimsy and sparkly. The enemies to lovers trope was done so well and made the spice extra steamy. Also he’s a sexy nerd, with glasses! 🔥

📕Kill to Love - Penny Sunday*
- soulmates, battles, dark rom com
Penny Sunday; I love whatever is wrong with you Queen. I have NEVER read anything like this. Kill to Love is hilarious, entertaining, full or banter and the right amount of slasher for this to be the perfect quirky spooky read. I will absolutely be purchasing book two - out early next year.

✨what are you currently reading?

*gifted publishers tagged

#bookstagram #booklover #bookworm #spookyseason #spookyreads by @dlight_reads

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10 days ago

Spell the Month in Books - October 👻

It’s finally the beginning of spooky season, which is one of my favourite seasons (shocking I know). 🎃

What are you doing to celebrate spooky season?
- I am reading and watching majority spooky themed movies and novels. I have hung up my Halloween lights and swipe ➡️ to see my spooky nails 🕸️

Spooky books that spell OCTOBER:

O - The Outsider
C - Click *
T - Tell Me Something True *
O - Our Dark Unravelling *
B - Beautiful Ugly (3.75⭐️)
E - (The) Eyes are the Best Part (5⭐️)
R - Rat Daniels * (4.5⭐️)

I’ve tagged a few times share their #spellthemonthinbooks stack, but as always no pressure 🧡

Gifted publishers tagged

#bookstagram #spookyseason #halloweennails #thrillerbooks by @dlight_reads

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13 days ago

Noel’s Fourth Birthday 🧡

This started out as a bookstack spelling Noel’s name, but soon became a full blown photoshoot - his request of course. 🐈

We adopted Noel from a rescue association called @lonelymiaow in 2022. He joined our little family Christmas Day and has been causing mischief ever since. Swipe to the end for baby photos of Noel 😍

Anyone who has been here since his adoption knows Dexter was very unimpressed by Noel’s arrival - but after a week they slowly became friends and now, four years later they have the most adorable little brotherly bond. 🐈‍⬛🐈

I’ve tagged a few to share bookstack spelling their fur babies // pets names, but as always no pressure 🧡

Books spelling Noel’s name:

N - (the) Night Prince*
O - Off to the Races
E - Every Bookshop Needs a Cat
L - Love from Scratch*

*gifted publishers tagged

#bookstagram #booklover #booksandcats #furbabybirthday #petsofinstagram by @dlight_reads

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17 days ago

September Wrapped Up 🩺

September was a slow month for me. With my second endo operation mid month Ive been spending a lot of time resting, recovering and reading.

In September I read 21 books, 2 audio, 2 ebooks and 17 physical books. 📚
(most of this was read in the last week)

Update on my book challenges:

🧬Book Club: Mexican Gothic (read in July)
🎨Colour Palette Challenge: MindF*ck series (black)
👯‍♀️Buddy read with mum: It’s in His Kiss (tbr)
📚26 in 2026: How to End a Love Story, King of Pride ✅ The Poppy War (tbr)
📓Non Fiction: Knife

My top reads in September were: (4⭐️ and above)

📕Queen of Shadows
📙The World Beneath Her Feet*
📓The Headmasters Rule*
🎧The Last Place You Look
📘The Love Hypothesis
📕Cross My Heart, I Hope You Die*
📘Forever Wild
📕The Correspondent
📘Running Wild
📙Chasing the Fire
🎧Under a Dark Cloud
📗Bad Boy Era
📕The Mindf*ck Series (5 novellas in 1)
📘Threshing Day

✨What was your favourite read in September?
- mine was without a doubt The World Beneath Her Feet* by @hollygoeslightly an incredibly tender and consuming novel, that will have you captivated till the final page.

*gifted publishers and authors tagged 💚

#monthlywrapup #bookstagram #bookrecs #booksandcats #booklover by @dlight_reads

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18 days ago

My Husband Guesses Bookish Terms 🐠

I hope this is as entertaining for you as it was for me.

Let me know if you want a part two, with more complex bookish acronyms - he’s a scientist he can handle it 😏

#bookstagram #bookishacronyms #bookish #bookchallange #bookishterms by @dlight_reads

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21 days ago

What I Read this Week - Sept Week 3 🏥

September week three was my first full week post op, so the week consisted of a lot of resting, movie watching and a little reading. ❤️‍🩹
Photos include Dr Dexter & Nurse Noel hard at work 🐈‍⬛🐈

The Books I read last week are:

📗Freeing the Wild - Paisley Hope
- small town, cowboy & singer/songwriter
- Book four in the Silver Pines Ranch series. This novel was a sweet and easy read, the ideal recovery read. I appreciated the anxiety representation in this novel and the solace the characters found in one another.

📙The Burn - Jessica Mansour-Nahra*
- fiction, climate, crime
- The Burn is set in the near future, post climate “lockdown”. This climate confronting novel is gripping whilst also being a little terrifyingly close to home. Alike her previous book (The Farm), the Burn is emotional, thought provoking and its engaging storyline makes it incredibly hard to put down.

📘The Love Hypothesis - Ali Hazelwood
- stem romance, grumpy/sunshine
- REREAD - originally read in 2022
- Within 30 pages I was already giggling and kicking my feet. Did I stay like that for the majority of the novel - absolutely yes. I was so worried that I wouldn’t love this as much as I did when it first came out - but this was and always will be a 5⭐️ romance book.

✨did you read / reread The Love Hypothesis before watching the movie adaptation?

*gifted publishers tagged

#bookstagram #booklover #bookish #thelovehypothesis #bookrecs by @dlight_reads

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24 days ago

Letting my cats and cameraman chose my September reads 🐈🐈‍⬛

26 in 2026 challenge - part nine

Let me know which book you think I should start first 🧡

Book 18 - Dexters pick
Book 12 - Noel’s pick
Book 16 - Husbands pick

#bookishreels #booksandcats #temptations #bookstagram #ausbookstagram by @dlight_reads

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a month ago

September Week Two Wrapped Up 📈

This week has all been about post operation rest and recovery, unfortunately that has not allowed for any reading yet - but I’m hopeful I’ll be able to pick up a book in the coming days.

I arrived home from the hospital Sunday afternoon to this generous collection of gifts from my husband, my best friends, doctors, colleagues and my in laws 💚

I feel absolutely so blessed to have so many people supporting me in both my health and to be read pile. 😂🧡

Last week I to read one book (pre hospital admission):

🎧Last Place You Look - Louisa Scarr
- thriller, mystery
This is the first novel in the Butler & West series, which came highly recommended to me by my mum. Who discovered one of our favourite authors also writes under Louisa Scarr.
Last Place You Look, was fast paced, thrilling and the perfect crime novel to hook me in to a new series. I love the multiple POV and I look forward to seeing the detectives stories unfold over the series. I have immediately borrowed the sequel from the library and am hoping to start it very soon.
Perfect for fans of Cara Hunter, Lisa Jewell and Sam Holland (of course).

#weeklywrapup #endowarrior #bookhaul #audiobook #bookstagram by @dlight_reads

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a month ago

My Booksta in Colour 🎨

Inspired by @mollywillowreads in this beautifully bright book challenge.

I thoroughly enjoyed looking back through all my old book photos, seeing how this account has grown and changed over the last six years. One thing will forever remain the same - I will always read all the colours and genres. 🌈

Tagged a few to try this #bookchallange but as always no pressure. 💚

#bookstagram #mybookstaincolor #booklover #bookish by @dlight_reads

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a month ago