Showing posts with label Bookshelf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bookshelf. Show all posts

Monday, August 28, 2023

"Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover", They Said.


EH EH EH!

Sejak awal tahun lalu, gue kan seneng baca cerita fiksi alias novel lagi ya, trus belakangan ini ada sesuatu yang mau gue ceritain. Gue nyoba untuk tulis blog post ini sejak beberapa minggu lalu, tapi berkali-kali gue revisi karena sebenernya bingung mau ceritainnya gimana dan mulai dari mana.

Flashback dulu ya, kalau gue emang sempet luamaaa banget berhenti baca cerita fiksi. Bahkan blog post terakhir di dalam tag Bookshelf ini aja adalah tentang buku business/insights, karena sejak itu gue memang lebih sering baca buku yang agak "berat" untuk mendukung pekerjaan gue. Bertepatan dengan itu, gue kayaknya ngalamin fase adulting yang gado-gado. You know, semacam pertambahan responsibility, love stories and break-ups, pindah kerjaan, dan banyak pengalaman bitter & sweet lainnya yang bikin gue susah merasa terikat dengan fiksi yang gue baca. Saat gue memaksakan beli novel dan bener-bener maksa baca, gue pun akhirnya DNF (did not finish). Setelah itu gue ngga beli novel dalam waktu yang cukup lama, tepatnya sampai awal 2022.

Waktu itu gue iseng baca sample e-book lewat Kindle di aplikasi iPad. Aiming for cerita yang "receh-receh", gue beli lah novel yang direkomendasiin #BookTok di TikTok atau yang ratingnya bagus di Goodreads. Ternyata, beberapa novel yang gue beli itu cocok dan bisa gue selesaikan semua. Beberapa novel itu bisa bikin gue mendapatkan kembali rasa happy saat baca cerita fiksi. Singkat cerita, udah 1.5 tahun terakhir ini gue seneng baca novel lagi dalam bentuk e-book, khususnya yang bergenre romcom dan mystery (spektrum gue emang item-putih banget, kalau receh ya receh, kalau berat ya sampai cerita yang puzzling abes!). Nah, genre romcom ini lumayan bercabang.. dari yang waras, sampe ehm.. nganu.. itu.. por.. spicy lah (untuk selanjutnya, gue pakai istilah yang sama dengan yang digunakan di social media, yaitu "Spicy Books").

Monday, July 14, 2014

"If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it."

- Margaret Fuller.



I have read so many biz books lately. It was one of those things that felt good and bad at the same time. It was therapeutic -there's something about being in bed with a hardcover book and a heap of chips until you fall asleep- but it was kind of toxic too, because you cannot stop.

I often wonder that I find myself reflecting on the topic of the book, wondering why we so often focus on the negative things at work, something that we-should-do, or all of the lack we feel and unfulfilled desired we have. Sometimes we fail to take into account how much we have and how far we've come. And often the company fail to thank the people (employee) who have come into their lives to make them better, or to make us better in some way, as a result of people's engagement with them.

I love the way biz book breaks down the subjects/areas, give us clear examples what it is talking about, and finally helps me think about business in a new and different way. Some books are also talking about ideas and concepts which are fresh and relevant today and how the work of almost everything has been transformed by new technologies.

I'm currently reading The Art of Communication by Thich Nhat Hanh after finished reading a dozen  other books. Not 100% biz book but I'm really liking it. It's a HUGE read but quick and easy. If you're into psychology, counselling, writing, and story-telling, you should read this book.

♥, Me.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Pretty Little Liars Theaters Preview!!



Prepare yourself everybody! It's diiiiirrtyyyyy!



Okay, gotta go to school! I'll create PLL labels on this blog as soon as I get home. I love these books so much and y' all have to read them and watch the TV show!


♥, Me.

All credit goes to ABC Family and the other PLL Producers.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

A quick post!

I watched Disney on Ice with Nadya today. Super terharu ngeliat Mickey, Minnie, and the gank di depan mata :'D Waktu kecil gua sempet 3x nonton. Tapi itu kan waktu kecil! Sekarang mah beda lagi urusannya.

Abis itu kita ke PS. Makan. Gosip. Cerita. Ngeluh. Etc. Dengan feeling yang kuat novel favorit gua Pretty Little Liars udah terbit di Kino, akhirnya kita ke Kino. Ternyata di Kino udah update toh.. Gua ini lagi rada ansos sampe jarang nongkrong di Kino lagi x( Akhirnya gua pulang dengan menenteng kresek Kino berisi 2 novel PLL, yaitu Killer & Heartless. Unfortunatelly, abis itu gua musti nunggu ibu meeting di TeeBox Wijaya. Ngga tanggung-tanggung ya.. satu jam!

So, I'm off to read Killer!

Friday, January 23, 2009

Pretty Little Liars #5: Wicked!


I HAVE WICKED! Tari knows how excited I was when I saw the book on Periplus' display. After spent the last couple of days reading Wicked, it's a good time to go back to Blue Bloods. Wicked was perfect!

And happy holiday. I'm leaving for 3 days. Awesome!

Friday, December 5, 2008

Whoa.. Lazy Me!

So blahblahblah I'm bored but happy.. What can I do?

Well hmm.. Lemme see, I've almost finished thesis. Research is done, data processing was bye-bye, data interpretation was, hopefully, okay, and what else? I have to complete theoretical foundation in order to give my thesis more superpower, but.. Do I have to dig Proquest or Emerald again? Foooooook! So I'm still working on my thesis and to give you an idea of what I'm doing with my thesis, I'm leaving up a checklist (no in progress shots will be shown, so don't ask. Just giving a vague idea what I am doing - 'big taste', huh?).

[x] Chapter 1: Introduction
[x] Chapter 2: Theoretical Foundation / Litterature Riview
[x] Chapter 3: Research Method
[x] Chapter 4: Analysis and Discussion
[x] Chapter 5: Conclusion and Suggestion
[ ] Revising Chapter 2 and 1 hypothesis (I have 3 hypothesis in my thesis)
[ ] Preface, Abstract, Reference, Table of content, etc
[ ] Finishing touch
[ ] ????

Just because 5 out 9 are done, doesn't mean that it's half complete. But I could say, it's almost done.. It's almost done. AND I HAVE NO IDEA ABOUT THESIS DEFENSE! MY GOD!

Other than thesis, one of the twins is hospitalized. Poor brother. I'll visit him tomorrow. Look at the bright side, he's in town! Look at the dark side, I'm officially alone at home :(

And I'm currently reading It Had To Be You (Gossip Girl). I'm waiting for Wicked (Pretty Little Liars) to publish. Errrrr.. Wicked have to publish like NOW at Kinokuniya, or Periplus, or Warteg, or wherever. Speaking about Gossip Girl, I'm not Gossip Girl's regular readers but I'd say both of the novel and TV series are interesting, but I won't discuss anything about Gossip Girl.

Wanted to say hi to Adhit and Adinda. And also to Tante Agnes and Abhi. And to Igor and Edgar. And to you too and to everybody who stumbled upon this.

Anyone for cake?

Monday, October 6, 2008

End of Year 'Entertainment'.

I know this is might sound lame, but I can't hardly wait!

A Pretty Little Liars Novel #5: Wicked
(On Alloy's Entertainment's website it says they're making PLL into a TV series! It'd be awesome if they did! *Picture courtesy of PLL official website*)

and
LOL.
Scary Movie 5.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Not Just a Single Life.

This is a normal thing.. it's reasonable to believe that boy meets girl, they fall in love - dating, boy proposes girl, and they get married, have a bunch of little babies, and raise them together with love.. in that particular order.

I love babies. I want babies, too. Just because they're cute, warm, fat, drool, have a big fat diaper butts, so lovely, and are made from the real love. But I'm not "Just forget education and work, and to just get married and have babies" type of woman. Hahaha.. life is not that easy.

"There's something that happens to you when you have a child. Suddenly you're not just you anymore, not just a single life. Suddenly there's someone else's life that's far, far more important than your own. This precious life is at the very centre of your being, and you know that you would die for him and if necessary you would kill for him. The love is immeasurable, Dominic. (....)" - Carla Gordon to her son, Dominic Gordon (Unique, a novel by Alison Allen-Gray).

What Carla said was simple and very common, but honestly, IDK, I was dazzled at that. You're not just you anymore, not just a single life..

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Which PLL Are You?

I am Aria Montgomery. You better watch out.

Anyway, I forgot to mention that I bought the 4th book of Pretty Little Liars called Unbelievable on July 05 and I read it like in less than 10 hours (I've been addicted with this series!). I can't hardly wait for the 5th called Wicked!

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Pretty Little Liars (Updated).


Okaaay, hadirin-hadirot! Sebelumnya gua sudah mengumumkan kalo gua baru beli 2 novel baru: Pretty Little Liars dan Flawless, selanjutnya keduanya kita sebut PLL, karena ini adalah novel seri. Kebetulan yang gua beli itu terbitan UK, jadi covernya beda. Nah, kalo terbitan US, covernya itu barbie dari tokoh-tokohnya. Tokohnya sendiri bisa diliat di foto atas, dari kiri: Hanna Marin, Spencer Hastings, Emily Fields, dan Aria Montgomerys. Untuk lebih detail liat di official website.

Gua sendiri karena akhirnya addicted buanget, sampe langsung beli PLL #3: Perfect. Gua beli versi US-nya dengan cover Aria Montgomerys. PLL #4: Unbelievable baru terbit May 2008 nanti.

Gua bisa kasih rate 5 dari 5, 10 dari 10, atau 100 dari 100. Kesimpulannya, seri ini bener-bener ah-mez-ing! Cerita dimulai dari kisah 3 tahun yang lalu, waktu keempat tokoh utamanya tersebut masih best friends dengan Alison DiLaurentis di kelas 7 (di Indo: 1 SMP). Waktu lagi sleepover, Alison tiba-tiba hilang setelah berantem sama Spencer. Mereka berlima punya 'rahasia bersama' yang disebut The Jenna Thing. Dan Alison, 'ketua' gengnya nyimpen rahasia pribadi dari temen-temennya itu (rahasia pribadinya cuma diketahui oleh tokoh tersebut dan Alison).

Tiga tahun berlalu, Alison ngga 'ditemui'. Mereka berempat udah bubaran dan ngejalanin kehidupannya masing-masing. Dari sini mulailah ada skandal. Aria Montgomerys yang baru pulang dari Iceland hook up sama seseorang yang ketemu di bar, namanya Ezra, dan ternyata Ezra itu adalah guru baru di sekolahannya. Hanna Marin yang tadinya chubby dan dork udah jadi queen bee (she was bulimc, LASIK, tanning, dll), dan dia jadi seorang klepto. Spencer Hastings si 4.0 GPA (lagi-lagi) 'ngerebut' pacar kakaknya. Dan Emily Fields mendapati kalo dia ngga straight alias.. lesbi.

Mereka mulai ngedapetin message lewat e-mail, IM, atau surat kaleng dari si A. Message tersebut cenderung nyindir rahasia yang hanya diketahui oleh orang tersebut dan Alison plus nyindir 'skandal' yang sekarang sedang mereka jalani. Is Alison back?

Well, ternyata ngga. Mayat Alison malah ditemuin di belakang rumahnya sendiri! Cerita ngga selesai sampai di situ. Di memorial service Alison, ternyata mereka berempat ngedapetin message yang sama, yang bilang kalau A masih akan menteror mereka. Cerita terus berlanjut, teror tetep jalan, skandal juga tetep jalan. Toby Cavanaugh, saksi The Jenna Thing yang jadi tertuduh sebagai A dan pembunuh Alison, di buku #2 pun akhirnya bunuh diri. Tapi masalah belum selesai juga, si A ternyata masih neror. Di buku ketiga, pelan-pelan di flashback, apa yang terjadi saat sleepover, pada malam Alison menghilang. Dan akhirnya, Hanna menemukan siapa sebenarnya si teroris A, Aria menemukan siapa yang membunuh Alison, dan Spencer ternyata punya sedikit gangguan memori! Buku #3 berakhir dengan ditabraknya Hanna ketika mereka berempat janjian ketemu untuk 'membongkar rahasia'.

Gua sendiri punya teori, asumsi, atau apalah namanya tentang siapa yang membunuh Alison dan siapa sebenarnya si A. Tapi tetep aja, gua ngerasa bahwa si penulis punya 'cerita' sendiri. Dia nulis buku ini sampe bikin chart dan map buat nentuin plotnya. Gila juga sih, soalnya tokoh di cerita ini banyak bangett dan semua ngga sesimple saat kita ngebacanya. Dan rahasia, tetep rahasia. Huhuhu.. ngga sabar banget nunggu Unbelievable!

"Never trust a pretty girl with an ugly secret."

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Pretty Little Liars; Flawless (Pretty Little Liars Novel)

I've finished reading Last Summer (Summer Boys novel #4). Yeah!

I'm supposed to buy another novel by Hailey Abbott but I've changed my mind. When I went to Kinokuniya PS just a few hours ago, I've decided to buy Pretty Little Liars and Flawless (Pretty Little Liars novel by Sara Shepard). I saw other novels those officially in my to-buy list, such as Private (#1), The It Girl: Unforgettable, and The Au Pairs: Crazy Hot (and almost bought 'em!) but my benda-bendi-ketiban-jadi method said that Pretty Little Liars is the best. Okay, I lied about the method. I was reading, re-reading, and re-re-reading the whole review of each book before choosing. So, here they are:


- Official Pretty Little Liars Website
- Pretty Little Liars Wikipedia

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Summer Boys Novel: After Summer.


After Summer adalah seri ketiga dari rangkaian novel Summer Boys karangan Hailey Abbott dan masih bercerita tentang The Tuttles (tiga orang sepupuan yang gila cowo) dengan sifat dan kisah cintanya masing-masing.

Beth mulai bete dengan George yang sex-oriented banget. Ella si flirtatious mulai gundah dengan long distance relationshipnya dengan Jeremy dan di sisi lain dia kecantol sama murid baru, Ryan, yang lebih player dari dirinya. Sementara, Kelsi berantem sama Tim karena masalah dan gosip virginity.

Seperti namanya, background cerita ini dimulai selepas summer, waktu mereka udah balik ke sekolah dan collegenya masing-masing sampai hari Thanksgiving dimana mereka bertiga dan satu sepupu lainnya, Jamie, ketemuan.

Novel ini gampang banget dicerna jalan ceritanya. Walaupun, misalnya, kita ngga baca seri 1 dan/atau 2-nya, kita tetep bisa ngikutin jalan ceritanya karena pada dasarnya setting dari tiap seri itu beda-beda. Nilai plusnya lagi terletak pada covernya yang selalu majang 'muka orang beneran' sehingga, menurut gua, imajinasinya lebih dapet. Cuma hati-hati aja kalau baca novel ini. Isinya ngga jauh-jauh dari dating, kissing and sex.

P.S: Task no. 1: Completed!

Monday, February 25, 2008

Sybil.


Novel Sybil ini adalah novel psikolgi favorit gua.

Cerita dalam novel ini adalah sebuah kisah nyata, penulisnya Flora Rheita Scheiber. Dia nyeritain perjalanan hidup seorang gadis bernama Sybil Isabel Dorsett (nama samaran) yang menderita Dissociative Identity Disorder. Kalo baca versi bahasa Inggrisnya, emang berat banget sih, tapi kalo baca versi bahasa Indonesianya malah bingungin.

Sybil sendiri adalah seseorang dengan 16 kepribadian (2 di antaranya cowo!). Diduga identitas aslinya adalah Shirley Ardell Madison. Ada beberapa penyebab kepribadiannya terpecah, mulai dari kekerasan seksual yang dilakukan nyokapnya sampe faktor keturunan. Yang jelas, banyak waktu dari hidupnya yang ngga dijalanin dengan dirinya sendiri. Tapi setelah 11 tahun melalui proses psikoanalisis, Dr. Caroline Wilbur akhirnya berhasil 'menyembuhkan' Sybil.

Kalau penasaran sama resensinya, bisa lihat di sini atau cari di Google. Gua ngga mampu nulisnya hihihi..