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Books

Collaboration

 

july tbr lailiving

Hello friends, how are you? It’s been awhile since the last time I made a monthly reading plans in this blog, the last reading plans I made were on my youtube channel in reading journal flipthrough video. This month I got some time to write a blog post specifically for reading plans, so I’m quite happy to be able to share every book I want to get into in the month of July. Like previous months, I don’t set too many books because I’m kinda a moody reader so I like picking up any books I feel right for my current mood and those might the books I didn’t include in my TBR. That would be messy if I set too many books then abandon 50% of them before the middle of the month because I find some interesting books later. For this particular month, I picked 4 books which consist of 2 physical books and 2 audiobooks, because I’m still in the addiction mode of listening to Storytel audiobooks.

 

JULY 2022 READING PLANS | MY JULY TBR

 

1. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

I have the translated version of this book published by Gramedia titled Panggilan Sang Monster. This book is among my 22 Books I Want to Read on 2022, so I want to get into this one soon. It’s a contemporary horror middle grade books which got a lot of good reviews and I’m intrigued to read a middle grade horror (since I’m a scared cat in horror genre, middle grade horror always works better on me).

Goodreads rating : 4.34

Blurb :

“Conor has the same dream every night, ever since his mother first fell ill, ever since she started the treatments that don't quite seem to be working. But tonight is different. Tonight, when he wakes, there's a visitor at his window. It's ancient, elemental, a force of nature. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor. It wants the truth.” (Goodreads)

 

2. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oz #1) of L. Frank Baum

I have a physical copy of this classic book published by Gramedia, and I didn’t know it’s part of a series, so *sigh* I’m starting another series. I have watched the animation adaptation of this book during my childhood and I only remember that I as a kid couldn’t grasp the plot and what the characters said, so I’m gonna give it another chance by reading the book version.

Goodreads rating : 3.99

Blurb :

“Dorothy thinks she's lost forever when a tornado whirls her and her dog, Toto, into a magical world. To get home, she must find the wonderful wizard in the Emerald City of Oz. On the way she meets the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion. But the Wicked Witch of the West has her own plans for the new arrival... will Dorothy ever see Kansas again?” (Goodreads)

 

3. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

This book is one of the most recommended books in the internet. Last month, for a reading challenge, I browsed book recommendations for pandemic situation or pandemic related ones, and I posted them in Books for Pandemic Time, and this book is one of them. I’m planning to listen to the audiobook version through Storytel app.

Goodreads rating : 4.06

Blurb :

“Set in the days of civilization's collapse, Station Eleven tells the story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.

One snowy night a famous Hollywood actor slumps over and dies onstage during a production of King Lear. Hours later, the world as we know it begins to dissolve. Moving back and forth in time—from the actor's early days as a film star to fifteen years in the future, when a theater troupe known as the Traveling Symphony roams the wasteland of what remains—this suspenseful, elegiac, spellbinding novel charts the strange twists of fate that connect five people: the actor, the man who tried to save him, the actor's first wife, his oldest friend, and a young actress with the Traveling Symphony, caught in the crosshairs of a dangerous self-proclaimed prophet.” (Goodreads)

 

4. The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

This is another book in my 22 Books I Want to Read on 2022. I can’t remember the reason I picked this book to include in my 2022 TBR, but I think the main character is a single mom and it mentions about a DNA-based matchmaking app, are quiet intriguing for me. I’m going to listen to the audiobook version through Storytel app.

Goodreads rating : 4.04

Blurb :

“Single mom Jess Davis is a data and statistics wizard, but no amount of number crunching can convince her to step back into the dating world. After all, her father was never around, her hard-partying mother disappeared when she was six, and her ex decided he wasn’t “father material” before her daughter was even born. Jess holds her loved ones close but working constantly to stay afloat is hard...and lonely.

But then Jess hears about GeneticAlly, a buzzy new DNA-based matchmaking company that’s predicted to change dating forever. Finding a soulmate through DNA? The reliability of numbers: This Jess understands.

At least she thought she did, until her test shows an unheard-of 98 percent compatibility with another subject in the database: GeneticAlly’s founder, Dr. River Peña. This is one number she can’t wrap her head around, because she already knows Dr. Peña. The stuck-up, stubborn man is without a doubt not her soulmate. But GeneticAlly has a proposition: Get ‘to know him and we’ll pay you. Jess—who is barely making ends meet—is in no position to turn it down, despite her skepticism about the project and her dislike for River. As the pair are dragged from one event to the next as the “Diamond” pairing that could launch GeneticAlly’s valuation sky-high, Jess begins to realize that there might be more to the scientist—and the science behind a soulmate—than she thought.”

 

So that’s all the four books I want to read next month. What about you? Do you read all the books in your monthly TBR religiously? Or do you pick your books based on your mood? How many books do you want to read on July and what are they? Tell me down below!


july books tbr lailiving


 

 

book rating sytem cawpile lailiving

Hello friends! How are you?

Several days ago, I realized that I might be in a indecisive state of mind to determine the star rating of a book I’ve just finished, if I didn’t try using CAWPILE. For example, I finished reading Amari and the Night Brothers, I like the book but this book didn’t quiet into my favorite group but I could decide the rating quickly. Then Sorcery of Thorns or The Shark Caller to be my 5 star reads without thinking how about A, B, C parts of the books. If I did it manually without CAWPILE, it might take some days to decide (haha), but using CAWPILE which I started using this year, I only need to input the score 1-10 for each aspect and I can get the final star rating.

(Beberapa hari lalu waktu aku sadar kalau aku mungkin saja masih galau menentukan rating sebuah buku yang baru aku selesaikan kalau aku gak pakai CAWPILE. Misalnya, aku selesai baca Amari and The Night Brothers yang aku expect bakal jadi favorit tapi ternyata rasanya bukan favorit namun juga gak termasuk buku yang gak aku suka. Kemudian Sorcery of Thorns atau The Shark Caller bisa mendapatkan rating 5 bintang dengan cepat tanpa mikir how about A,B,C part of the books. Kalau aku gak pakai sistem CAWPILE mungkin aku yang lama banget mengambil keputusan bakal kepikiran rating sebuah buku selama berhari-hari. Kalau pakai sistem CAWPILE yang mulai aku pakai sejak awal tahun ini, aku tinggal memasukkan skor 1-10 untuk tiap kategori dan aku langsung dapet final star rating dari buku tersebut)

 

WHAT IS CAWPILE?

CAWPILE is system to determine a book rating based on some aspects which their first letters form the CAWPILE acronym, which consist of Character, Atmosphere, Writing, Plot, Intrigue, Logic and Enjoyment which then determine the final star rating of the book we finished reading. This system was introduced by G from Book Roast channel. I knew this book rating system from her YouTube video about 4 years ago, but I just tried using it this year. We can use CAWPILE system by manually calculating all the aspects about a book which each aspect bears score between 1-10, then we calculate the average from the sum of all those aspects, then we convert it to Goodreads rating. G has explained this CAWPILE system in her video titled MY BOOK RATING SYSTEM, you can watch all the explanations there. If you don’t want to manually calculate the rating, G has included a spreadsheet file with all formulas you need which automatically convert everything into Goodreads rating. The newest version which was released January this year is CAWPILE V3 which includes .5 rating system which is suitable for someone like me who is not really into the exact 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 rating. There are 2 versions for this CAWPILE which are BASE and PLUS. CAWPILE BASE only has the basic stuff for rating a book, while CAWPILE PLUS has more complete things such as author identity, LGBTQ and disability rep and book review status. G has already created some versions of CAWPILE in spreadsheet forms, and the newest version of it (V3) came on January this year which is a perfect timing! It came in BASE and PLUS versions. The BASE version has fewer columns, or we could say it only contains the essential parts for book rating. While the PLUS version has more columns such as about LGBTQ rep, disability rep, author’s gender, author nationality and review status.

(CAWPILE adalah cara menentukan rating sebuah buku berdasarkan beberapa aspek yang huruf depannya membentuk singkatan CAWPILE itu sendiri, yang terdiri dari Characters, Atmosphere, Writing, Plot, Intrigue, Logic dan Enjoyment, yang nantinya menentukan berapa rating final dari sebuah buku yang selesai kita baca. Sistem ini dikenalkan oleh G dari channel Book Roast. Aku mengenal sistem ini ketika mbak G memperkenalkannya sekitar 4 tahun lalu namun aku baru memakainya tahun ini. Kita bisa pakai sistem CAWPILE secara manual dengan menghitung sendiri semua aspek dalam buku, di mana tiap aspek dapat skor 1-10, kemudian menghitung rata-rata dari penjumlahan semua aspek tersebut, baru mengkonvertnya menjadi rating Goodreads. Mbak G sudah bikin video mengenai CAWPILE yang bisa kamu pakai secara manual di video yang berjudul MY BOOK RATING SYSTEM, kamu bisa nonton semua penjelasannya di video tersebut ya. Kalau kamu gak mau repot ngitung-ngitung, mbak G juga menyertakan file spreadsheet yang sudah ada formula itung-itungannya yang otomatis mengkonvert rating CAWPILE ke rating goodreads. Versi terbaru dari CAWPILE yang bisa kamu gunakan spreadsheetnya baru dirilis awal tahun ini dengan nama CAWPILE V.3 yang memiliki rating .5 yang pastinya sangat cocok buat aku yang not into rating 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 aja. Ada 2 macam versi untuk CAWPILE yang ini yaitu BASE dan PLUS. CAWPILE BASE isinya hal-hal basic dalam menentukan rating buku, sedangkan CAWPILE PLUS berisi hal-hal yang lebih komplit kayak identitas author, representasi LGBTQ dan disabilitas dan juga status review buku)


WOW, WHERE CAN WE ACCESS MORE INFO?

You can watch the whole video about CAWPILE on Book Roast channel, for the newest version, you can watch CAWPILE V3 video, which covers everything she has explain the previous videos along with the star rating, what the numbers mean, and what kind of output we could have by the end of tracking our reading. G left the link to Google Drive folder where 2 versions of CAWPILE V3 are available for you to copy, in the description under their video.

(Kamu bisa nonton semua video mengenai CAWPILE di channel Book Roast, untuk versi yang terbaru tahun ini kamu bisa nonton di video CAWPILE V3, yang sudah mencakup semuanya mulai dari pengenalan CAWPILE dari video sebelumnya, arti angka-angka di dalamnya dan jenis output seperti apa yang bisa kita harapkan dari sistem ini. Bakal ada link Google Drive di bawah video tersebut dimana terdapat 2 macam file CAWPILE V3 yang bisa kamu copy)


HOW IF I CAN'T REMEMBER THESE LONG EXPLANATIONS?

In the CHEAT SHEET sheet, we can find the guide to each category along with what the numbers mean and how we can use them to rate our books.

(Sebenernya di file spreadsheet yang bisa kita akses, sudah ada sheet berjudul CHEAT SHEET yang berisi beberapa petunjuk untuk tiap aspek penilaian beserta bagaimana menentukan skor dari tiap aspek tersebut)

 cawpile cheat sheet lailiving


GOOGLE SHEETS OR EXCEL?

Here I’m using Google Sheet for tracking my reading because it’s easy to access in any device I log into and it appears just the same as the one G showed us on the video. You can download the file and edit it using your spreadsheet app but as G said it won’t have the same interface and some formulas wouldn’t work properly since Google Sheet and Microsoft Excel formulas are different. I have tried to download it and edit it in Excel but it won’t show me the charts in READING STATS sheet and the table looked a bit messy. I also want to use a formula to show top 15 books with the highest CAWPILE ratings, but I couldn’t find the right formula to do it in Excel. So choosing Google Sheet to edit this file is the best. If you decide to use Google Sheet, don’t forget to make one copy of this file for you to edit by clicking File > Make a Copy or right click on the file you want to edit and select Make a Copy, because you can’t edit straight from the one G shared for you. Your editable file will appear with title Copy of CAWPILE V3 in your Google Sheet page. Nobody will be able to read or edit your copy unless you share it.

(Di sini aku menggunakan Google Sheet untuk tracking bacaan aku karena selain akses yang mudah melalui berbagai device, tampilannya juga gak bakal berubah alias sama persis dengan yang didemonstrasikan di video youtubenya. Kamu sebenernya bisa download file spreadsheetnya dan mengeditnya di aplikasi spreadsheet di komputer atau handphone, tapi seperti yang sudah dijelaskan mbak G, tampilan dan beberapa formula yang sudah ditaruh di dalam file bakal ada yang tidak bisa bekerja karena formula dari Google Spreadsheet dan Microsoft Excel misalnya cukup berbeda. Aku sudah nyoba untuk download filenya untuk diedit di Excel, namun bagian chart di READING STATS gak mau muncul dan beberapa tampilan terlihat agak berantakan. Aku juga pengen pakai formula untuk memunculkan top 15 books yang punya CAWPILE rating tertinggi, tapi di excel aku belum nemu formula yang pas selain pakai fungsi filter di tabel (yang ternyata gak bisa digunakan di file ini. Jadi keputusan untuk mengedit CAWPILE file di Google Sheet adalah yang paling tepat. Oh iya, kalau kamu mau pakai Google Sheet, jangan lupa membuat 1 salinan file dengan klik File > Make a Copy atau klik kanan pada file yang ingin kamu gunakan kemudian pilih Make a Copy, karena tentu saja kamu gak bisa ngedit file yang dishare di google drivenya mbak G secara langsung. FIle yang bisa kamu edit, bakal muncul dengan nama Copy of CAWPILE V3 di bagian depan Google Sheet kamu. Gak bakal ada yang baca atau mengedit salinan file ini unless kamu pilih buat share file kamu ini.)


drive make copy lailiving


GOOGLE SHEETS FORMULA TO PICK YOUR TOP 15 BOOKS 

When I found the formula to show me the top 15 books which have the highest scores, it turned out to one single short formula that can show me the top 15 books with highest CAWPILE rating along with the title and score. If you are worried about the complex formula or you can’t understand some gibberish words which will do the magic for you, Google Sheet will give you the hint when you type certain formula and what each word means. You can also copy mine in the picture below. Here I made a new sheet named BOOK RANK, and typed this formula in wherever cell I want. You can customize it to the number you want, if you want to show only 5, then you only need to change the “15” to “5”. If you have any questions about this, don’t hesitate to ask me in the comment section below. Or if you know similar formula to use in Microsoft Excel, you can share yours below too.

(Waktu aku nemuin formula buat memunculkan top 15 books yang punya CAWPILE rating tertinggi, ternyata formulanya cuma sebaris (berbeda dengan rumus excel yang sepanjang Anyer-Panarukan) dan itu sudah otomatis memunculkan judul dan rating 15 buku dengan rating tertinggi. Kalau kamu khawatir dengan formula yang kompleks atau kamu gak paham istilah-istilah asing di dalam sebuah formula yang kamu ketik, Google Sheet menyediakan hint mengenai fungsi formula dan parameter beserta artinya. Kamu juga bisa mengcopy rumus yang aku pakai di gambar di bawah ini. Di sini aku bikin sheet baru berjudul BOOK RANK dan mengetik rumus ini di cell manapun yang aku inginkan. Kamu bisa kustom jumlah buku yang kamu inginkan. Misalnya kamu pengen tau top 5 books, kamu hanya perlu mengganti “15” dengan “5”. Kalau kamu punya pertanyaan, jangan ragu buat bertanya di kolom komentar ya. Jika kamu juga menemukan formula Excel yang punya fungsi sama dengan ini, share juga di kolom komentar)

query formula google sheet lailiving

 

CAN I CUSTOMIZE MY CAWPILE FILE?

You can edit the choices or lists or anything in this CAWPILE file you have copied. For me, after making my top 15 books formula, I needed to check each column especially with the dropdown list first because it might need to be added or deleted depends on my situation. In this case, I only added Storytel and Gramedia Digital in Acquired column, because I use those 2 apps beside Scribd and Library apps.

(Kamu bisa mengubah pilihan atau daftar atau apapun yang ada di dalam file CAWPILE yang sudah kamu copy. Kalau aku, setelah membuat top 15 books formula, aku perlu mengecek tiap kolom yang ada di sheet CAWPILE terutama kolom dengan dropdown list karena kemungkinan aku perlu menambah atau menghapus beberapa aspek sesuai keinginanku. Dalam hal ini, aku hanya menambahkan Storytel dan Gramedia Digital di kolom Acquired, karena aku juga menggunakan kedua aplikasi tersebut disamping Scribd dan aplikasi perpustakaan.)

cawpile dropdown list lailiving

 

Then I also changed the color theme of this spreadsheet to the one I want by clicking Format > Theme. You can choose different theme from the original one that came with the file. If you don’t want to change anything, you can leave it as it is. In this section I want my charts in READING STATS sheet to be brighter and have sans-serif type font. So I chose Streamline theme with some bright colors and edit the chart one by one. I also changed the font type to the Theme Default in the entire sheets so I won’t be confused between “coma” and “dot”.

(Aku juga mengubah warna tema dari spreadsheet ini dengan klik Format > Theme. Kamu bisa memilih tema berbeda dari file aslinya. Kalau kamu gak pengen mengubah apapun, kamu bisa skip tahap ini. Di bagian ini aku pengen warna charts di sheet READING STATS jadi lebih cerah dan punya tipe huruf sans serif. Aku memilih tema Streamline dengan beberapa warna cerah dan mengedit warna tiap chart satu per satu. Aku juga mengubah font menjadi Theme Default di seluruh bagian file ini, sehingga aku gak bakal bingung antara koma dan titik.)

google sheet theme custom lailiving

 

PLEASE SHOW ME HOW YOU USE CAWPILE TO RATE YOUR BOOKS!

Here the example of how I rate the book I just finished which is The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

Characters : I love the characters in this book, I might have complain with one or two side characters but I love 95% of them. They are memorable, I can relate to them, I do care about what they said and did. So I give this part 9.5 points.

Atmosphere : I could easily picture the setting, situation and people inside the story. It’s surprisingly so easy to get back to the last place I’ve been last in the book after a break. There were not too many narration about nature or buildings, but it’s on the right portion of the book. I give this categori 9 points.

Writing : I love Taylor Jenkins Reid’s writing, and this book made me want to pick another book by her in the future. It’s easy to follow, the conversations were natural and the narration even though it took some paragraphs to describe Evelyn’s thoughts and feelings, I kept reading the next and the next because they don’t tire me out. The writing got 9.5 points

Plot : The pacing was good, not too fast not too slow. The revelation was worth the journey and it’s not something I could expect along the reading journey, but this is not the most unique plot I read, so I give this part 8.5 points

Intrigue : This story held my attention since Evelyn talked about what she really wanted Monique to for her,  because I thought she is a cool character to follow. I didn’t have certain urge to pick this book back up, but once I read one chapter, I couldn’t stop to the next ones. So I give this 9 points.

Logic : Just like the writing, the author gives me the right amount of information about the place, time and people without information dumping. The motives of each characters were clear enough and I learned something new about Hollywood from this book. I give this 9 points.

Enjoyment : I enjoy the whole book, the good, the bad, the sad and the happy parts of it. I give this one 9 points

(Berikut ini adalah contoh bagaimana aku menentukan rating buku menggunakan CAWPILE, buku yang baru selesai aku baca adalah The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo oleh Taylor Jenkins Reid.

Characters : Aku suka semua karakter di buku ini, aku mungkin punya beberapa komplain ke satu atau dua side characters tapi aku suka 95% dari mereka. Karakter di buku ini memorable, aku bisa relate ke mereka, aku juga care ke hal-hal yang mereka lakukan dan katakan, jadi aspek ini dapat 9.5 point.

Atmosphere : Aku bisa dengan mudah membayangkan setting, situasi dan orang-orang di dalam cerita. Cukup mengagetkan sih karena aku cepet bisa balik ke tempat terakhir yang aku baca setelah beberapa saat break. Gak ada narasi mengenai alam atau bangunan yang mendetail, tapi rasanya semuanya sudah punya porsi yang pas, jadi aku kasih 9 poin.

Writing : Aku suka banget gaya penulisan Taylor Jenkins Reid dan buku ini membuat aku pengen baca buku lain dari penulis ini. Narasinya gampang diikuti, percakapannya juga natural meskipun kadang-kadang buat menjelaskan isi pikiran Evelyn tuh sampai memakan beberapa paragraf yang panjang, aku tetep baca buku ini karena gak bikin capek. Aspek ini dapet 9.5 point.

Plot : Pacing buku ini oke, gak terlalu cepat atau terlalu lambat. Pengungkapan di bagian akhir buku juga worth the journey sih dan di luar ekspektasi, meski buku ini bukan termasuk the most unique plot yang pernah aku baca, jadi aspek ini dapat 8.5 poin.

Intrigue : Cerita di buku ini stole my attention sejak Evelyn bilang kenapa dia pengen hanya Monique yang menulis buat dia, karena menurutku dia ini bakal jadi karakter yang menarik untuk diikuti. Aku gak punya keinginan yang sangat kuat buat melanjutkan membaca buku setelah break, tapi sekali aku baca satu chapter rasanya gak bisa berhenti baca selanjutnya. Jadi aku kasih 9 poin).

Logic : sama kayak bagian Writing, penulis buku ini ngasih porsi informasi mengenai tempat, waktu dan karakter yang pas tanpa info dumping. Motif dari tiap karakter juga jelas dan aku bisa belajar sesuatu mengenai kehidupan selebritis dari buku ini. Aspek ini dapat 9 poin.

Enjoyment : Aku menikmati buku ini secara keseluruhan, bagian baik, buruk, sedih, dan bahagianya. Aku kasih aspek ini 9 poin.)

 

After adding these numbers, you don’t need to anything else in the calculation part because G has already put the incredible rating and score formulas in this file.  In the rating column, it got 9.14 points, which is translated into 5 stars if you want to put the star rating into your Goodreads account. When we look at our simple BOOK RANK sheet, this book is in 6th place!

(Setelah memasukkan angka-angka ini, kamu gak perlu ngapa-ngapain lagi di bagian itung-itungan karena udah ada formula keren di dalam file ini untuk menentukan skor dan rating dari sebuah buku. Di kolom rating, buku ini dapet 9.14 poin yang diterjemahkan menjadi bintang 5 kalau kamu pengen input star rating ini ke dalam akun Goodreads kamu. Lalu ketika kita intip ke sheet BOOK RANK, ternyata buku ini masuk di ranking keenam!)

book rank lailiving
 

WOAA, THIS IS IT? SO EASY?

Yes, this CAWPILE system helps you rate your books quicker, especially if you are someone like me who take more time to decide a book rating. So, how you do rate your books? Let me know if you use CAWPILE to rate your books too!

(Ya, sistem CAWPILE membantu kamu untuk memberi rating ke buku yang kamu baca lebih cepat, terutama kalau kamu orang kayak aku yang bakal butuh banyak waktu buat menentukan rating sebuah buku. Jadi, gimana kamu kasih rating ke buku-buku yang kamu baca? Kasih tau aku kalau kamu juga pakai CAWPILE untuk menentukan rating buku ya!)

 

sorcery of thorns book review

It’s been awhile since I read YA Fantasy and I think I want to read one but I don’t want to commit on reading series. Sorcery of Thorns is one of YA fantasy in standalone which is available in both audiobook and e-book formats in Storytel. I decided to read the e-book format since the audiobook doesn’t have chapter markers. This book becomes my first five star read on June, so I want to share my thougts about this book here.

(Kayaknya udah lama aku gak bawa YA fantasy dan rasanya aku pengen baca satu aja yang enggak termasuk dalam series. Ketemulah buku Sorcery of Thorns ini yang merupakan standalone dan tersedia dalam format audiobook dan e-book di Storytel. Aku memutuskan untuk baca yang format e-book karena yang audiobook gak mau muncul penanda babnya, somehow. Buku ini pun jadi buku yang dapat bintang lima pertama di bulan Juni, jadi aku pengen share kesan dan pendapat aku tentang buku ini di sini)


Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson | Book Review

Length                              : 465 pages

Date released                    : June 4, 2019

Date read                           : June 5 – 12, 2022

Goodreads rating               : 4,08

My rating                           : 5.00

Keywords                           : Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic, Romance, Sorcerer, Demon, Library,

           Grimoire, Friendship, Adventure, Enemies to Lovers

Trigger Warning                 : death, grief, blood, panic attack, self-harm

Where to read                      : Storytel

 My review video                : Sorcery of Thorns - Book Talk (it's in Indonesian, but it has English CC)


Blurb :

“All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.

Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.” (Goodreads)

 

My Thoughts :

I thought I would never find another book crush after Keefe Sencen from Keeper of the Lost Cities series, but I was wrong. This emerald guy named Nathaniel Thorn has torn that opinion into pieces. Did it rhyme? Forget my decent humor sense.

(Kupikir aku gak bakal nemu book crush selain Keefe Sencen dari seri Keeper of the Lost Cities, tapi ternyata aku salah. Pemuda bernama Nathaniel Thorn ini sudah menghancurkan pikiran itu jadi berkeping-keping. Kalau baca bahasa Inggrisnya, bakal ngerhyme deh, baca bahasa Inggrisnya aja ya buat paragraf ini, hahaha)

 

I love this book! This book has everything I want to read or I love reading from a book. The plot, the characters, the representations, the whimsical vibes, the revelation, the beautiful writing, the libraries and every element in this book have successfully stolen my heart. So now I don't have any. My thoughts about Sorcery of Thorns in this blog post will only revolve on why I like this book. If you are like me or having similar taste with me, you might like reading this book. So, if you have read this book and you don’t like it, you can leave this blog post right now or you can share why you don't like it. It's interesting to know other people's opinions about a book.

(Aku suka buku ini! Buku ini punya semua hal yang pengen aku baca dari sebuah buku. Alur ceritanya, karakternya, representasinya, whimsical vibenya, pengungkapannya, gaya penulisan yang indah, perpustakaannya dan setiap elemen di dalam buku ini sudah sukses mencuri hatiku. Jadi sekarang aku udah gak punya hati. Tentu saja pendapatku mengenai buku Sorcery of Thorns di blog post ini bakal seputar kenapa aku suka bukunya. Kalau kamu kayak aku atau punya taste yang mirip-mirip sama aku, kamu mungkin suka juga buku ini deh. Jadi kalau kamu sudah pernah baca buku ini dan gak suka, kamu boleh tutup halaman ini atau kamu bisa share kenapa kamu gak suka buku ini. Buat aku cukup menarik sih untuk tahu pendapat orang lain mengenai sebuah buku).

 

8 REASONS I LIKE SORCERY OF THORNS BY MARGARET ROGERSON

1. The characters. We have 3 characters in this book who work together in order to defeat the evil power in Austermeer which are Elisabeth, Nathaniel Thorn (sorcerer) and Silas (demon). I love how different characters from different background coming together, creating unique and balanced relationship to be told in this book. The narration has such power to make me sympathize with these 3 people and want them to be happy together after the “war”. I also love how the source of Elisabeth’s power and identity are told and revealed throughout the book. Elisabeth is an orphan, growing up in a library and possesses way more physical power than average people. She is smart and doesn’t make decision impulsively. Then there is Nathaniel, a famous sorcerer with so many fans, he has handsome face and cool attitude, which are only the cover to hide his grief, loneliness and pain for years. Next is Silas, a demon whose dazzling appearance in human disguise and cute one in white cat disguise. Silas is always honest with who he really is, his intention as demon and always reminds Elisabeth that he can’t be trusted because in the end he will kill them all)

(1. Karakter. Di buku ini ada 3 karakter yang bekerja sama dalam mengakhiri kejahatan di Austermeer yaitu Elisabeth, Nathaniel Thorn (sorcerer) dan Silas (demon). Aku suka bagaimana karakter dengan jenis kekuatan dan latar belakang berbeda ini berkumpul jadi satu, menciptakan hubungan yang unik dan seimbang porsinya untuk diceritakan ke dalam sebuah buku. Narasinya juga punya kekuatan yang cukup membuat aku bersimpati sama ketiga orang ini dan pengen mereka bertiga tuh terus barengan setelah pertempuran. Aku suka gimana asal mula kekuatan Elisabeth dan identitasnya diceritakan dan diungkapkan sepanjang buku ini. Elisabeth adalah seorang yatim piatu yang tumbuh di perpustakaan dan memiliki kekuatan fisik melebihi orang-orang pada umumnya. Elisabeth ini juga pintar dan gak grusa-grusu mengambil keputusan. Kemudian ada Nathaniel yang seorang sorcerer yang cukup terkenal dan punya banyak fans, karena memang Nathaniel ini punya penampilan keren dan cool, yang ternyata semuanya itu hanyalah cover untuk yang menutupi semua duka, kesepian, dan kesedihannya selama bertahun-tahun. Lalu yang ketiga ada Silas, seorang demon yang punya wujud rupawan dalam bentuk manusia dan juga wujud menggemaskan dalam bentuk kucing putih. Silas ini selalu jujur mengenai identitas dirinya dan gak segan-segan mengingatkan Elisabeth mengenai siapa dirinya dan apa tujuannya yang sebenarnya sebagai demon yang membuatnya tidak bisa dipercaya karena pada akhirnya dia akan membunuh semuanya.)


sorcery of thorns quote


2. The back and forth and the failures and the plans. The battle part didn’t turn out to be the revelation scene for Elisabeth to know the source of her power nor who she really was – beyond my expectation, this part is used to show you how cool and strong the relationship among these 3 people. I used to read manga or watch anime where the main character with cool ability turned out to be the descendant of someone powerful and famous for their power (which is something I expected from this book – I thought Elisabeth is the lost Thorn family member, because of the book title), but it didn’t, which makes me adore Margaret Rogerson as the author. I’m not trying to say that being a main character who is a descendant of someone powerful is a bad thing, no. That’s equally cool, because being someone from a powerful family doesn’t automatically make your life problem-free. This book is really cool because I didn’t expect it to be like this. So if she is not descendant of SOMEONE, then how she got that immense power? You have to read this book!

(2. Bolak-balik kesana kemari, kekalahan dan rencana. Part pertarungan di buku ini juga ternyata bukan untuk mengungkapkan asal mula kekuatan Elisabeth dan siapa dirinya yang sebenarnya – malah menunjukkan gimana kerennya relationship antara ketiga tokoh ini. Biasanya kalau aku nonton anime atau baca manga kan si tokoh utama ini punya kekuatan gak biasa karena dia keturunan siapa gitu yang powerful enough dan sangat terkenal di masa lalu (which is something I expected from this book – I thought Elisabeth is the lost Thorn family member lho, soalnya judulnya kan begitu ya), ternyata enggak, dan ini membuatku kagum sama Margaret Rogerson sebagai penulisnya. Aku gak bilang kalau jadi tokoh utama dengan garis keturunan yang powerful itu gak keren ya. Sama-sama keren kok, karena sometimes jadi keturunan orang keren gak menjamin hidupmu mulus-mulus aja. Khusus buku ini, menurutku keren banget karena gak nyangka aja gitu bakal gini. Lalu kalau dia bukan keturunan orang kuat, kok bisa jadi sekuat itu? Penasaran? Baca aja bukunya)

 

3. The setting. This book took place in Austermeer, where grimoires could talk and had the ability to be monsters, and there are sorcerers who were respected (scared of – seen as evil – depends on which part of Austermeer) by the society. In this world we can make a bargain with demon which has its own side effect to us, and demons has their own classes from the lowest to the highest. The time setting is around 1600-1700-ish so there were no cars, phones or internet there. In this book we will have short adventure in different libraries with Elisabeth, which had different building and collections from each other. For someone like me who loves reading a book with library setting, I’m so happy to find Sorcery of Thorns, because it puts library as a source of power and danger at the same time.

(3. Setting. Buku ini mengambil setting di Austermeer, di mana grimoire bisa bicara dan punya kemampuan menjadi monster, serta ada golongan sorcerer yang dihormati (dan ditakuti – dan dianggap jahat, tergantung di bagian Austermeer yang mana) oleh orang-orang pada umumnya. Di dunia ini kita juga bisa bikin perjanjian dengan demon yang tentu saja ada side effectnya, dan demon itu sendiri punya kelas-kelas yang berbeda, ada yang kelas rendah hingga yang paling tinggi. Setting tahunnya sekitar 1600-1700an sehingga belum ada teknologi seperti mobil, ponsel, dan internet. Di sini kita bakal banyak ketemu sama beberapa perpustakaan yang dikunjungi Elisabeth yang berbeda satu sama lain baik dari bentuk bangunan dan koleksi grimoire di dalamnya. Buat aku yang suka baca buku yang ada setting perpustakaan dan buku-buku, rasanya seneng banget bisa ketemu satu buku fantasi yang menjadikan perpustakaan sebagai sumber kekuatan sekaligus sumber bahaya bagi dunia)

 

4. The evil side. This book shows you that the evil or people who bear the greatest threat are not those with scary appearances or those with label ‘demon’ or ‘sorcerer’, because labels don’t determine who you are and not everyone are the same even though they are under the same label.

(4.Bagian Jahatnya. Buku ini nunjukin ke pembaca kalau yang jahat atau orang-orang yang membawa ancaman bahaya bukan selalu orang-orang dengan penampilan seram atau golongan yang disebut “demon” atau “sorcerer” karena label gak menentukan siapa kamu sesungguhnya dan gak semua orang itu sama meski berada di bawah label yang sama.)

 

5. The romance. This book has the right amount of romance for me. I don’t like a fantasy book with too much romance which might defy them for their plans or makes them forget to beat the enemy. Shortly, I only want the characters to focus on their goals, if the romance part is not their priority, then it doesn’t need to take more pages of the book. I think there are books like that which might be my favorites in the future, who knows. If that happens, I’ll make the review here too)

(5. Romance. Buku ini punya porsi romance yang pas buat aku. Aku gak begitu suka buku fantasi yang romancenya kebanyakan (jadi kayaknya aku gak cocok baca buku romance ya) yang bikin si tokoh utama melenceng dari tujuan awal atau bikin mereka lupa buat ngalahin musuh. Singkatnya, aku pengen karakter di buku ini fokus ke tujuan mereka. Jika romance bukan termasuk dalam prioritas, maka bagian itu gak perlu makan terlalu banyak halaman dalam buku. Tapi mungkin ada buku yang kayak gitu dan mungkin aku suka di masa depan, let’s see. Ntar aku bikin reviewnya juga di sini)

 

6. The magic. The power to do sorcery stuff is only possessed by sorcerers, of course, and the narration about magic system in this is easy to understand since it’s introduced one by one. Uniquely, each House (or family) of sorcerer has different color for their magic power, such as emerald green for House Thorn, and gold for House Ashcroft. Their magic is not only present when they’re conscious but also during coma and sleeping. Like when Nathaniel was in coma, snow fell earlier than it should be. Beside the sorcerer’s individual power, their houses also have cool ability which activates when the house master is in danger. House Thorn will activate the statues to guard the house and grow the plants with thorns to cover the house when Nathaniel was in coma. Not only houses, the magic power is also possessed by grimoires which are saved in the libraries (some of them are shelved in special room which can’t visited by public).

(6. Magic. Kekuatan untuk melakukan kegiatan sorcery hanya dimiliki oleh sorcerer, tentu saja, dan penjelasan mengenai hal ini cukup mudah dipahami karena diperkenalkan secara bertahap. Uniknya tiap House (atau keluarga) punya warna yang berbeda buat kekuatan yang mereka miliki, kayak House Thorn warnanya hijau emerald, dan House Ashcroft warnanya emas. Kekuatan mereka juga gak hanya bisa mereka gunakan waktu sadar, namun waktu gak sadar seperti waktu koma dan tidur, kekuatan sorcerer ini punya pengaruh terhadap lingkungan di sekitarnya. Kayak waktu Nathaniel koma, di Austermeer turun salju sebelum waktunya. Selain kekuatan dari diri seorang sorcerer, kekuatan yang unik juga dimilki oleh rumah mereka, yang bakal aktif terutama saat pemilik rumah tersebut berada dalam bahaya. House Thorn bakal mengaktifkan patung-patung buat melindungi rumah dan menutupi permukaannya dengan tanaman berduri selama pemiliknya dalam masa koma. Selain rumah, kekuatan juga tentu saja dimiliki oleh para grimoire yang disimpan dalam perpustakaan (bahkan  ada yang disimpan dalam ruangan khusus yang gak bisa dikunjungi orang sembarangan).

 

7. The friendship. Not only Elisabeth’s relationship with other librarians, but also with sorcerers, demons and grimoires which makes me continue reading this book until the middle of the night. I think even though she didn’t possess any magic and couldn’t perform sorcery, the power that comes from this friendship is something that helps her in the fight.

(7. Friendship. Tidak hanya hubungan Elisabeth dengan petugas perpustakaan, namun juga dengan sorcerer, demon dan grimoire yang bikin aku terus baca buku ini hingga larut malam. Menurutku meski Elisabeth gak punya magic dan gak bisa pakai mantra apapun, kekuatan yang muncul dari persahabatan inilah yang membantunya dalam pertempuran.)

 

8. The ending. I love the ending! And I felt something is missing from me when I finished this book, so I couldn’t pick the next book immediately.

(8. Ending. Aku suka endingnya. Dan aku merasa ada yang hilang pas aku udah selesai baca buku ini jadi aku gak bisa langsung baca buku selanjutnya)

sorcery of thorns short review
you can find this picture as part of my June 2022 reading thread

 

This book taught you that in order to know the truth, we have to learn the false too. in order to defeat the evil, we have to learn about them. We can’t close ourselves completely from the knowledge about evil, because they know everything about us. In order to create smart plan, we have to gather as much as information. And having information or knowledge about the evil things doesn’t make us one of them. That’s just information. The decision is still on our minds, whether we want to be bad or good or both.

(Buku ini mengajarkan kita bahwa untuk mengetahui kebenaran, kita juga perlu mengetahui yang salah. Untuk mengalahkan yang jahat, kita juga perlu mempelajari mereka. Kita gak bisa menutup diri kita sepenuhnya dari pengetahuan mengenai kejahatan karena yang jahat sudah tahu siapa kita. Untuk menciptakan rencana yang smart, kita perlu banyak informasi baik mengenai yang baik maupun buruk. Memiliki informasi mengenai hal-hal yang dianggap jahat pun tidak otomatis membuat kita jahat kok. Semua itu hanya informasi. Keputusan tetep ada pada kita sendiri, mau jadi jahat, jadi baik atau jadi keduanya.)

Another thing I learned from this book is that since I found a new book crush here which is Nathaniel Thorn, I can learn about myself that I only have 2 book crushes so far which both have green stuff as their colors. I learned that I always like someone cool or someone with weird humor sense which are only stuff to hide their pain and sadness. I could sympathize and relate to them so deeply because I might be like them in some way or another since the people you have stronger feelings whether it's love or hate have similarities to yours. So, those similarities trigger something inside your soul and create a reaction (I don't know what I'm trying to say here, hahahaha, forget it).

(Hal lain yang aku pelajari dari buku ini adalah karena aku menemukan book crush baru yaitu Nathaniel Thorn, aku dapat mempelajari mengenai diriku sendiri yang hanya punya 2 book crush sejauh ini yang keduanya mengandung unsur kehijauan (haha - bisa berfotosintesis mungkin?). Aku juga kayaknya suka orang orang yang cool atau punya selera humor aneh yang ternyata hanya cover untuk menutupi kesedihan mereka. Aku bisa bersimpati dan relate ke mereka karena aku mungkin kayak mereka dalam satu hal atau hal lainnya karena saat kamu punya perasaan yang kuat terhadap orang tertentu baik suka maupun benci, kemungkinan mereka punya kesamaan denganmu. Jadi kesamaan itu bakal memicu sesuatu dalam jiwamu dan menciptakan sebuah reaksi (mbuh aku mau ngomong apa ini, lupakan saja guys))

In conclusion, Sorcery of Thorns is a book for me, and if you love a book with magic, library, grimoires, and handsome sorcerers (with less romance), you might love this one. Let me know if you have read this book, what do you think about it. Tell me in the comment section. If you have book recs which are similar to Sorcery of Thorns, share them below ya!

(Kesimpulannya, Sorcery of Thorns adalah buku yang tercipta buat aku, dan kalau kamu suka buku yang ada magic, library, grimoire dan sorcerer tampan (dengan porsi romance yang lebih sedikit), kamu mungkin suka yang satu ini. Kasih tau pendapatmu kalau kamu udah pernah baca buku ini di kolom komentar ya. Dan kalau kamu punya rekomendasi buku yang mirip-mirip sama Sorcery of Thorns, bisa juga taruh di bawah sana.)

 

storytel app review

Hi! As you might read millions of times here in my blog, I’ve been addicted to audiobooks because I can do other things while enjoying the books I want to read, so here I want to share an audiobook app that has been supplying some great audiobooks for my addiction. March and April were my busiest months, but at the same time I managed to read a lot of books just like the other ordinary months. I changed my opinion about audiobooks where some time ago I might feel intimidated by them because I thought I was bad at listening in English (was traumatized by those English listening exams during high school days) but then I tried my first audiobook narrated by Emily Woo Zeller and I like it! I love how she narrated the story and brought the emotions to the listeners. Then I decided I should listen to more audiobooks.

(Halo! Seperti yang sudah kamu baca berjuta-juta kali di blog ini bahwa aku lagi ketagihan dengerin audiobook karena aku bisa melakukan hal lain sambil menikmati buku yang ingin aku baca, maka kali ini aku bakal share app yang sudah menyuplai audiobook yang keren-keren untuk ketagihan yang aku alami ini. Bulan Maret dan April adalah bulan-bulan tersibuk buat aku, namun pada saat yang sama aku bisa membaca buku sama banyaknya dengan bulan-bulan lainnya. Aku sudah mengubah pendapatku mengenai audiobook dimana beberapa waktu yang lalu aku merasa terintimidasi oleh mereka semua karena aku merasa sangat payah dalam hal listening bahasa Inggris (ujian listening bahasa Inggris jaman sekolah memang bikin trauma) tapi ketika aku mencoba mendengarkan audiobook pertama yang dinarasikan oleh Emily Woo Zeller lewat app Libby, aku suka banget! Aku suka cara dia menceritakan dan membawa emosi dari cerita itu kepada pendengar. Sehingga aku memutuskan untuk mendengar lebih banyak audiobook)

 

Around March, I found Storytel app through social media, when someone retweeted Storytel tweet and I was interested to this phone app because I never heard about this app before which provided audiobook in both Indonesian and English. I then go straight to Google Play to install this app. This Sweden-based app is also available in other 25 countries, and starting on March 11, Storytel is available here in Indonesia with more than 100.000 audiobooks from famous authors, narrators and publishers.  Cool right?

(Sekitar bulan Maret, aku menemukan aplikasi Storytel lewat twitter ketika salah satu akun yang aku follow meretweet Storytel dan seketika aku tertarik dengan aplikasi ponsel ini karena aku belum pernah denger sama sekali aplikasi yang menyediakan audiobook dalam bahasa Indonesia dan bahaa Inggris. Aku langsung buka Google Play untuk menginstal aplikasi ini. Aplikasi yang berbasis di Swedia ini juga tersedia di 25 negara lainnya dan mulai tanggal 11 Maret tahun ini, Storytel resmi tersedia di Indonesia dengan lebih dari 100.000 audiobook dari berbagai penulis, narator dan penerbit ternama di Indonesia. Keren kan?)

 

 

USER INTERFACE

For the use interface, it’s easy to understand and to use.

(User interfacenya sangat mudah dioperasikan dan dipahami)


first page storytel

We got details about the audiobooks here such as book cover, title, author, narrator, and series name. It also provides information about book's rating, length, language and categories.

(Kita bisa lihat detail tentang audiobook di sini seperti cover buku, judul, penulis, narator, dan nama seriesnya. Selain itu juga disediakan informasi mengenai rating buku, durasi, bahasa dan kategori)


book info storytel

If you scroll down the book info page, you will find these tags related to the book which can help you decide whether this book is the one you want to listen to or not. You can also click the author, narrator and tags under the description to find other books listed under the same categories.

(Kalau kamu scroll halamannya ke bawah, kamu bakal menemukan tag-tag yang berkaitan dengan buku ini yang membantumu untuk menentukan apakah ini buku yang ingin kamu dengarkan atau tidak. Kamu juga bisa klik nama penulis, narator dan tag di bawah deskripsi untuk menemukan buku-buku lain di bawah kategori yang sama)


book info storytel

If you click the narrator, author, or the tags of the book, this app will bring you to another page that contains other books under the same category. For example this is the page that appeared when I clicked the narrator's name and it shows all books narrated by this narrator.

(Jika kamu tap nama penulis, narator atau tag di bawah bukunya, app ini akan membawamu ke halaman lain yang berisi buku-buku di bawah kategori yang sama. Contohnya ini adalah halaman yang muncul ketika aku tap nama narrator dengan menunjukkan semua buku yang dinarasikan oleh narator ini)


book tags storytel

If you want to “save” or “mark” a book you want to read in the future, you can tap the love button and that book will immediately listed in your bookshelf. This is the bookshelf page where all the books you "loved" appeared based on date modified (default). You can also sort them or filter them using the features on the top of the page.

(Jika kamu ingin nge-save atau menandai sebuah buku yang ingin kamu baca di masa mendatang, kamu bisa tap love dan bukunya bakal langsung masuk bookshelf kamu. Ini adalah halaman bookshelf dimana semua buku yang sudah kamu love muncul berdasarkan date modified (default). Kamu juga bisa mengurutkannya atau memfilternya menggunakan fitur yang ada di bagian atas)


bookshelf storytel

Not only audiobooks, but this app also provides some e-books for you to read. So you can search any books you want to listen to or read both in English and Indonesia in the search page. This page also provides you some popular categories to help you find the books you want.

(Tidak hanya audiobook, aplikasi ini juga menyediakan e-book untuk dibaca. Jadi kamu bisa mencari buku apapun yang ingin kamu baca atau dengarkan dalam bahasa Inggris dan Indonesia di halaman pencarian ini. Halaman ini juga menyediakan kategori populer yang membantumu mencari buku-buku yang kamu inginkan)


book search storytel

In your profile page, you can find your profile photo, you name and following. You can also go to the app setting by tapping the setting button on top right corner and it brings you this scroll up setting menu. 

(Di halaman profil, kamu bisa menemukan foto profilmu, nama, dan following. Kamu juga bisa menuju setting aplikasi dengan tap tombol setting di kanan atas dan akan memunculkan setting menu seperti ini)


app setting storytel

The things they need to improve are information about series. There are some books in a series which don’t have info, and I thought it was a standalone, such as Dear Sweet Pea which turned out to be book 2,5 of Dumplin’ series, or the series Keeper of the Lost Cities where all their books are marked book 1. Another minor thing that’s needed to fix is loading the chapters for the audiobook. So far, I only found this one book which doesn’t have the chapter marker, so I switched to the e-book version. Everything else is great and every month there are always new audiobooks which the schedule you can find on their social media accounts.

(Beberapa hal yang harus ditingkatkan adalah informasi mengenai series. Ada beberapa buku yang berada dalam series namun tidak dicantumkan nama seriesnya seperti buku Dear Sweet Pea yang ternyata buku ke 2,5 dari Dumplin’ series atau buku-buku dalam seri Keeper of the Lost Cities semuanya bertanda buku pertama. Hal minor lainnya yang perlu diperbaiki adalah penanda bab untuk audiobook. Selama ini aku belum pernah menemukan penanda chapter yang tidak mau muncul kecuali untuk buku Sorcery of Thorns ini. Sehingga aku beralih ke versi e-book. Semua hal yang lainnya sudah keren dan setiap bulan selalu ada audiobook baru yang jadwalnya bisa kamu lihat akun media sosial mereka)

 

SUBSCRIPTION

IDR 39.000 / month (+ tax)

Since Google Play has the option for ShopeePay, I use this payment method for subscribing Storytel so it can be renewed automatically without worrying whether or not I have enough points.

(Karena Google Play punya opsi ShopeePay, aku pakai metode pembayaran ini untuk berlangganan Storytel sehingga bisa diperbarui otomatis tanpa khawatir aku udah isi saldo atau belum)

 

MY EXPERIENCE

When I signed up for the first time, I used the one month free trial offer and I love it! So I decided to subscribe for the next month. But I couldn’t click anything to renew my subscription, while the page didn’t show anything other than loading symbol.

I opened Storytel page on Google Play to find the email address that could provide me some information and help about this problem. I emailed them on the night, and expected them to reply the next day during the working hours, but they replied back within minutes and said that the problem would be fixed in maximum 3 days.

It’s not three days, but only a few hours. When I woke up in the next day, I found my Storytel app working perfectly and I could renew my subscription. Excellent and quick response!

(Ketika aku daftar pertama kali, aku pakai free trial sebulan dan aku suka banget! Jadi aku memutuskan untuk berlangganan di bulan selanjutnya. Namun aku tidak bisa klik apapun untuk memperbarui langganan menjadi premium dan halamannya tidak memunculkan apapun selain tanda loading.

Aku buka halaman Storytel di Google Play untuk menemukan alamat email yang bisa memberiku informasi dan membantuku dalam menyelesaikan masalah ini. Aku kirim email di malam hari dan memperkirakan bakal dibales besoknya saat jam kerja, tapi ternyata mereka bales emailku dalam hitungan menit dan bilang problemnya bakal terselesaikan maksimal 3 hari.

Ternyata gak dalam 3 hari, namun dalam hitungan jam. Ketika aku bangun di hari berikutnya, aplikasi Storytelku bekerja dengan baik dan aku bisa memperbarui langganan Storytelku. Gercep!)

 

 AUDIOBOOK AND E-BOOK

Storytel has both audiobook and e-book. If you are lucky, your favorite books have both version in this app. Even though I use this app for the audiobooks, but sometimes I want to read the foreign words myself by switching to the e-book version. Not all books have both versions, some are in e-book only, the others are in audiobook only. Here is the interface for audiobook version. You can fast forward or backward the audiobook by 15 seconds, change the narration speed, set sleep timer, download and use other features available in the three dot menu)

(Storytel menyediakan audiobook dan e-book lho. Jika kamu beruntung, kamu bakal nemuin buku favoritmu dalam kedua format ini. Meskipun aku pakai app ini untuk audiobook, namun terkadang aku pengen baca kata-kata asing yang kudengar dengan menggantinya ke format e-book. Tidak semua buku punya kedua format ini, beberapa hanya dalam format e-book, dan banyak lainnya hanya dalam format audiobook. Ini contoh tampilan audiobook yang sedang kamu dengarkan. Kamu bisa memajukan atau memundurkan 15 detik, mengubah kecepatan narasi, mengeset sleep timer, download audiobook, dan menggunakan fitur lain di menu tiga titik di bawah)

audiobook storytel

When you tap the three dots, it brings you this additional menu on top of your audiobook without interfering your current listening.

(Ketika kamu tap menu tiga titik, bakal muncul menu tambahan seperti ini tanpa mengganggu audiobook yang sedang kamu dengarkan)

audiobook menu

If you want to read an e-book, you can find the books with this format on search page. The interface for the e-book is clean and it has some features such as showing chapters, bookmark, find on page and switch to audiobook (if it has audiobook version).

(Jika kamu pengen baca e-book, kamu bisa cari buku dalam format ini di halaman pencarian. Tampilan untuk e-booknya bersih dan ada fitur seperti menampilkan chapter, bookmar, mencari kata-kata dalam buku, dan switch ke audiobook (jika ada formatnya))

ebook storytel

Then this chapter page is available for both e-book and audiobook. You can jump right into your desired chapter from this page too.

(Kemudian halaman chapter ini tersedia untuk kedua format baik audiobook dan e-book. Kamu bisa melompat ke chapter yang kamu inginkan lewat halaman ini juga lho)

chapter storytel


AUDIOBOOK RECOMMENDATION

I have listened to some audiobook through this app and I want to share some of my favorites both in English and Indonesian during March and April.

1. Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan (narrated by Natalie Naudus) (ENG)

2. The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina by Zoraida Cordova (narrated by Frankie Corzo) (ENG)

3. Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (narrated by Kristin Atherton ) (ENG)

4. Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga (narrated by Vaneh Assadourian) (ENG)

5. Mereka Bilang Ada Toilet di Hidungku by Ruwi Meita (narrated by Dina Amalina) (INA)

6. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (narrated by Anes Wibowo) (INA)

7. Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland by C.S. Lewis (narrated by Ella Arlika) (INA)

8. The Shark Caller by Zillah Bethell (narrated by Kathryn Drysdale) (ENG)

 

Let me know if you also enjoy audiobooks below in the comment box and recommend me some of your favorites. Or if you have any experience using this app, you can always share them below.


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Hello, I'm Lala, a lifestyle blogger from Malang, Indonesia. I share some stuff here in lailiving such as books I enjoy reading, songs I love listening to, bullet journal, and many other thing I like as well as my thoughts about life in general, in Bahasa Indonesia and/or English. For more information, reach me through some links below and above and everywhere in this blog. Feel free to leave your comments in the comment box for this blog improvement.

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