Hello friends! I’m back with another
book review. After finishing Moon Fuentez and unexpectedly love this book, I didn’t
expect to find another favorite this quick. Here I present you the book which
offers you a lot of things, and will make you crave some Indian foods! And it's available as audiobook on Storytel.
BIPOC main character, muslim main character,
hijabi main character
Trigger warnings : misogyny, racism, islamophobia,
chronic illness, men
Where to read : Storytel
BLURB
“Hana Khan’s family-run halal
restaurant is on its last legs. So when a flashy competitor gets ready to open
nearby, bringing their inevitable closure even closer, she turns to her
anonymously-hosted podcast, and her lively and long-lasting relationship with
one of her listeners, for advice. But a hate-motivated attack on their
neighbourhood complicates the situation further, as does Hana’s growing
attraction for Aydin, the young owner of the rival business. Who might not be a
complete stranger after all”
MY THOUGHTS
I love this book! First of all let’s
appreciate the narrator who did good job to make my heart flutter every time
they said Aydin’s name. It’s the most beautiful thing they read in this book
(everything else is beautiful, yes).
This is a contemporary romance but
it’s wrapped inside food, religion, and cultural difference discussion.
Our main character, Hana, loves
podcast and radio, and she has her own podcast and she found an online friend
she never met, yet she felt kinda liking him. This situation can happen to any
of us right? We can feel some sort of attraction towards people we don’t know
through their typing and online conversations. Well, the thing that motivates
me to talk about my current situation especially about my Youtube channel in my
August Bullet Journal setup is Hana’s courage and fun way to talk about brown
people living in Canada.
Spoiler alert : I didn’t get the
confidence to talk about myself and to talk in front of camera because people
who have subscribed to my channel are mostly for my bullet journal setup, and
as people of color myself, I felt the fear of rejection. I wanted to speak but
I scared that people will hate me because of my skin color or my clothes or my
language, because I want to be friends with everyone all over the world. Then I
found this book and listening to the audiobook reminds me that there are always
people who have different opinions or taste or preferences and they will
disagree with you, if I only think about the differences, I’ll be forever
staying in this scared shell and not be able to do what I want to do. So, I’m
so lucky to be able to listen to this book.
Back to the book talk. Hana, as the
main character here is not a flawless character who only did good stuff but she
made mistakes, she hated some people, she fixed her mistakes and finally she accepted
the truth. And this is the first book I read with Muslim MC which also shows
the religious practices such as prayer, going to the mosque, and attending the
funeral. I appreciate everything she included in this book and it shows that
people with strong beliefs about religion and do the prayers diligently can have problems, make mistakes and reflect upon their actions, because we are all humans, right?
If you find the act of islamophobia
is triggering, this book has some part about it, so read the trigger warning
before picking this book.
I love the support and bond among
characters in this book, not only the Muslim ones, but also everyone living
there. I love Hana’s friendship with Yusuf and Lily too. Also, I love Hana’s
cousin, Rashid. He was so funny. Yes he made mistakes too and he might make things worse, but the way he handled stuff which was different from Hana (or Aydin) was interesting, and don't forget his little love story.
Honestly, this book talks about many
things, so I might forget some important stuff I like from it. Hana’s purpose
on sharing about brown people is cool and different. She didn’t want to show
the struggle or the hate they received, but she wanted to show another side of
brown people’s family which I think it’s a way to show that we are also humans
and we have family and we have problems. We only have different language and
skin color. That’s cool for me! She is also courageous and having strong
opinion. She didn’t want to follow the idea of Radio Toronto’s senior, and she
accepted her being fired because of her idea.
For the mystery about this online
guy she found is not really a mystery for me, because I can predict who he was.
But the revelation and how everything explained still made me stick to the book
until the end.
Okay, this book also made me craving
biryani (I don’t know if biryani poutine is my kind of food).
"Then you tell me your favorite
book so I can read it just so we can argue about it."
Also, from Aydin’s side, which is
about business and his relationship with his family, is another whole
interesting topic. The business topic, is about him wanting to prove that he’s
capable of everything his father expected him to do. It is about meeting her
father’s expectation. And I want to know this book from Aydin’s POV because I
know being Aydin is not easy. He might look cool and rich and has anything he
wants, but he also has to do a lot for his father. And the story for Aydin’s
family and his relationship with his parents are just unexpected! We can see towards
the end of the book, that all characters you think are only side characters
turned out to be important people for the story. So, just stick to the book
until the end. This story about Aydin and the revelation about the truth about
his family are my favorites.
This book makes me wonder how Biryani Poutine in the real life tastes like.
Overall, this book is another
unexpected favorite of 2022, too many books I like this year, it seems, haha. So,
have you read this book? Tell me down below.
Hello friend! As I decided to make
book reviews for books I read some time ago, I wanted to make a book review for
this new release of Peng Shepherd. This book was released on March this year,
and I listened to the audiobook version on Storytel. This book is not my
favorite but the vibes and the writing are things I enjoyed the most from this
book.
The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd |
Book Review
Length: 15 H (approx) | 400 pages
Narrator : Ron Butler, Emily Woo Zeller, Nancy
Wu, Jason Culp, Brittany Pressley,
Trigger Warning: death, murder, blood, family
loss, shooting
Where to read: Storytel
BLURB
“What is the purpose of a map?
Nell Young’s whole life and greatest
passion is cartography. Her father, Dr. Daniel Young, is a legend in the field
and Nell’s personal hero. But she hasn’t seen or spoken to him ever since he
cruelly fired her and destroyed her reputation after an argument over an old,
cheap gas station highway map.
But when Dr. Young is found dead in
his office at the New York Public Library, with the very same seemingly
worthless map hidden in his desk, Nell can’t resist investigating. To her
surprise, she soon discovers that the map is incredibly valuable and
exceedingly rare. In fact, she may now have the only copy left in existence . .
. because a mysterious collector has been hunting down and destroying every
last one—along with anyone who gets in the way.
But why?
To answer that question, Nell
embarks on a dangerous journey to reveal a dark family secret and discovers the
true power that lies in maps . . .” (Goodreads)
MY THOUGHTS
First of all, I like the cover! I like the bookshelf and books and the title and author name inserted there.
This book gives me the vibes of
those Japanese detective drama series in the first few pages of the story. The
premise and the mystery introduced in the beginning of the book are intriguing
and what keeps me going to read the whole. But it then changed to be less
interesting for me as different narrators narrated the story of their college
lives. The idea behind the story is cool to be integrated into a book about
library and maps, and how the author was inspired by a real story for this book
is cool! However the way everything is unveiled is like a downturn for me,
because the main culprit will be easily known along with their motives.
I really want to love this book.
This book has library setting, investigation, and hidden enemy. The backstory
of the people who caused the crime felt like taking more spotlight from the
main character. If you watch Detective Conan, the story will not be only about
the suspect or victim or culprit, but also the main characters. Anyway this is
not detective story, but the first chapter of this book gives off that vibe so
I expected it to be similar, but I’m disappointed because of my own
expectation.
No need to worry, as Alden said (who
is Alden? Oh he’s just the handsome dad from KotLC and some said the adaptation
should have Benedict Cumberbatch as him. Forget it). It’s interesting how one
chapter in the beginning of the book could create such different expectation
from the story provided by the author. How human’s mind works is really cool. I
don’t write this blog post to say that certain book is bad because it doesn’t
meet my expectation. It’s just interesting how a book made me disappointed
because it turned out to be something else.
The plot is going back and forth
between now and the past as everyone told their own story about their past
related to Dr. Young. I think it’s too long, and even though they are not
telling the whole story, you will immediately know who did everything and it
feels like ending here even though there is one more revelation to go.
As for the characters, I want to
know more about Nell in this book.
The narration is easy to follow and
the author made it so the reader can easily create images inside their minds
especially thesetting and the filter it
used (you know, the filter when you watch movie / drama so it creates certain
vibes match with the theme). The writing made me want to read other book by
this author.
Overall this book got 3 stars as I
input the numbers on my CAWPILE spreadsheet, and I agree with that star rating,
because it’s in the middle, not bad yet
not make into my favorite list.
So, I think this is it. What do you
thing about this book? Tell me down below.
On August I’m going to participate
in Orilium Readathon hosted by G. This is a magic school based readathon where
we create our own character, choose their career, and choose the quest for them
by reading the books from particular reading prompts. This readathon has been
started last year, but you can join this one too, as G said you don’t have to
read all the books from the Novice Path to the Spring Equinox which is too many to finish in a month.
For more info, you can watch the Orilium readathon playlist in Book Roast
channel.
In this Autumn Equinox or the 2nd
semester Orilium Academy, the scholars have to continue the classes they took
before. In the first semester, I chose Story Weaver as my career, so the prompt
for August will be all the books required for Story Weaver. What’s different
from this second to the first one is we are required to past certain grade in
each school of magic.
Oh, also, you are allowed to steal some books from my TBR! Let me know if you did.
CLASS READS
School of Magic : Inscription
Required Grade : O
Course(s) : Glyph : Recollection
Reading Prompt(s) : A childhood
favorite
Book(s) : Totto-chan : Gadis Cilik
di Jendela (Madogiwa no Totto-chan) by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi
I read this book on 7th
grade and I felt it’s been 100 years ago. When I read this book, I didn’t cry
and couldn’t understand why my friend cried. Then last year I re-read this
book, and I cried. I can’t wait to cry over this book again.
This book is kind of autobiography
or memoir of Tetsuko Kuroyanagi or Totto-Chan’s childhood which first was
published on 1981 and becomes best seller in Japan. This book follows
Totto-chan who constantly dropped out of school and her mom determined to find
her a new school which wouldn’t limit Totto-chan’s freedom to express herself.
Her mom finally found Tomoe Gakuen built by Sosaku Kobayashi during the World
War II and Totto-chan’s heartwarming and precious story in this school started
here.
School of Magic : Psionics and
Divination
Required Grade : Q
Course(s) : Time Theory I, Time
Theory II
Reading Prompt(s) : Story featuring
time travel, Book with the same word in the titles as your last read
Book(s) :
1. A Wrinkle in Time – Kerutan dalam
Waktu by Madeleine L’Engle
I have the Indonesian translation
version published by Penerbit Atria, and since I didn’t get the chance to read
this book during school years, I want to read it this year. This book follows
Meg who is daughter of genius scientist parents. However she constantly gets
into problems and is punished at school. After her dad’s sudden disappearance,
rumour spreads in her school and makes everything worse. One day, on a stormy
night, Meg, her brother and her friend suddenly started a journey through time
and space and have to face the bigger enemy to save her dad.
2. I will decide the book later since
it depends on my last read
School of Magic : Lore
Required Grade : D
Course(s) : Aeldia’s Regional
Anthropology, Myth of Syldoris, Ancient Caves of Daerune
Reading prompt(s) : A book that has
the colours similar to your country’s flag, Story featuring a betrayal, Desert
setting
Book (s) :
1. Fifty Four Things Wrong with
Gwendolyn Rogers by Caela Carter
Gwendolyn has 54 problems in her
life. If she doesn’t get them under her control, she can’t participate in the
next summer camp. Nobody can her. But she remembers the 12 things that help her
mom when everything goes out of control. She will try those to be able to go to
the summer camp.
2. Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee
I have talked about this book in my
previous July Book Haul, and I’m excited to read this book on August. This book
is a middle grade science fiction which has Korean mythology in it. Dragon
Pearl follows Min, a gumiho who lives with her family in Planet Jinju. Her
brother suddenly left his post in Space Force and is rumored to run after a
dragon pearl which possesses huge amount of power. Min runs away to fin Jun and
clear her brother’s name.
3. Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn
Hamilton
I found this book in Storytel and
this book is set in a desert nation named Miraji where mythical beasts and
djinn exist. Our main character, Amani, is a gifted gunslinger and is destined
to live forever in her hometown, Dustwalk. Until she met Jin, a foreigner, in a
shooting contest which becomes the start of her adventure.
QUEST
There are more quests available, but
I have only decided the books for these quests and prioritize them as they are
the physical books I want to get into after my July book haul.
Quest : Boggus Froggus
Reward : 10 guild points
Prompt : read book with author name
started with B or F
Book : The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by
L. Frank Baum
I wanted to read this book on July
but then the reading prompts for #BanyakBacaKlasik2022 came out, and I had to
switch this book with Animal Farm so it fits the prompt. So for August, I want
to read this book which also fits to #BanyakBacaKlasik2022 August prompt which
is “story about adventure”. This book follows Dorothy and her pet dog Toto who
got swept from Kansas by a tornado. They arrived at a magical land named Oz, so
in order to go back home, they have to follow the yellow road to meet a wizard
in Emerald city.
Quest : Courier Needed
Reward : 10 guild points
Prompt : book with movie adaptation
Book : Little Women by Louisa May
Alcott
I got this book last month and I
made another post about it in my July Book Haul. This book is about the 4
daughters of March family, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. With Laurie, their childhood
friend, they tried to achieve their dreams in the midst of difficult situation.
Quest : Animal Therapy
Reward : 10 guild points
Prompt : more than one animal on the
cover / title
Book : Vespertine by Margaret
Rogerson
This book has been also mentioned in
my July Book Haul. This book is about Artemisia, a Gray Sister in-training. One
day there is an attack from possessed soldiers and Artemisia awakened an
ancient spirit but she shouldn’t lose her concentration or else it would
control her. As the bigger enemy makes appearance, Artemisia has to abandon all
her past beliefs.
So, that’s all the book I’m going to
prioritize during the month of August. How about you? Which book do you plan to
read? Let me know if you’re participating in this readathon too!
Hello friends! Kali ini kita bakal
bahas mengenai semua buku yang aku dapat di bulan Juni dan awal bulan Juli atau
bisa disebut dengan July Book Haul. Aku udah bikin versi videonya di channel
aku, silakan menonton, if you are not into reading july book haul blog post.
(Hello friends! Today we’re going to
talk about all the books I got during the month of June and the first half of
July or July Book Haul. I have made the video version of this blog post on my
channel, please watch if you are not into reading july book haul blog post)
1. Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo
Buku pertama yang aku dapet adalah Pedro
Paramo oleh Juan Rulfo, yang sudah diterjemahkan ke dalam bahasa Indonesia dan
diterbitkan oleh Gramedia. Aku pengen baca buku ini karena dikatakan buku ini
adalah sumber inspirasi bagi Gabriel Garcia Marquez untuk menulis buku 100
Years of Solitude yang menjadi salah satu all time favorite books aku. Buku ini
bercerita mengenai Juan Preciado yang pergi ke sebuah desa yang bernama Comala
yang merupakan kampung halaman ibunya yang sudah meninggal, dan ternyata desa
Comala ini sudah menjadi desa mati yang dihuni oleh hantu-hantu.
(The first book is Pedro Paramo by
Juan Rulfo, which has been translated into Indonesian and published by
Gramedia. I want to read this book because it’s said to be the inspiration for
Gabriel Garcia Marquez to write 100 Years of Solitude which is one my all time
favorite books. This book is about Juan Preciado who went to a village named
Comala, her deceased mother’s village and it turned out to be a dead village
with a lot of ghosts.)
2. Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee
Next, buku kedua adalah Dragon Pearl
oleh Yoon Ha Lee yang sudah diterjemahkan ke dalam bahasa Indonesia dan
diterbitkan oleh Penerbit Mizan Fantasi. Aku dapet buku ini dari Official Store
Mizan, dan aku pengen baca karena buku ini termasuk dalam middle grade scifi yang
ada unsur mitologi Korea di dalamnya. Buku ini ternyata adalah buku pertama
dari seri Thousand Worlds yang bercerita mengenai Min yang merupakan siluman
rubah atau dalam mitologi Korea disebut Gumiho. Min dan keluarganya tinggal di sebuah planet yang bernama Jinju,
dan mereka gak bisa menggunakan kekuatan mereka sebagai gumiho demi keselamatan
mereka sendiri. Min tentu saja sebel dengan banyaknya peraturan ini sehingga
dia gak sabar buat ikut jejak kakak laki-lakinya yang bernama Jun untuk masuk
ke dalam tentara antariksa agar bisa berpetualang. Suatu hari datang kabar
kalau Jun ini tiba-tiba meninggalkan post nya demi mencari dragon pearl yang dikatakan
memiliki kekuatan yang luar biasa. Min langsung kabur dari rumah untuk mencari
Jun dan membersihkan nama baik kakak laki-lakinya tersebut.
(Next, the second book is Dragon
Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee which is also translated to Indonesian and published by
Mizan Fantasi. I got this book from Official Store Mizan and I want to read
this book because it’s a middle grade sci-fi with Korean mythology in it. This
book is the first book in Thousand Worlds series which follows our main
character Min who is a nine tailed mythical fox or in Korean mythology is
called Gumiho. Min and her family live in a planet named Jinju and they can’t
use their fox-magic for their own safety. Min is disappointed with all the
rules so she cant wait to follow her brother, Jun, to join Space Forces to
explore the world. One day, there’s a message that told Jun suddenly left the
post to find the dragon pearl which is said to possesses great amount of power.
Min then runs away from home to find Jun and clear her brother’s name.)
3. 20.000 Leagues Under the Sea by
Jules Verne
Buku selanjutnya adalah buku
preloved klasik 20.000 Leagues Under The Sea yang karena tahun lalu aku baca
Daughter of the Deepnya Rick Riordan yang terinspirasi oleh buku klasik ini, aku
masukin buku 20.000 Leagues Under the
Sea ke dalam 22 Books I Want to read on 2022. Aku seneng banget bisa dapet
edisi Collins Classic, dan karena preloved kertasnya udah menguning kayak gini
dan somehow aku suka banget. Buku ini mengenai penampakan misterius di lautan
yang lebih besar daripada paus dengan kecepatan yang luar biasa, sehingga
kemunculannya menggemparkan seluruh dunia. Buku yang termasuk buku klasik di
genre scifi ini berisi mengenai petualangan Kapten Nemo dan kapal selamnya yang
super canggih yang bernama Nautilus.
(Next book is a preloved of Classic
book 20.000 Leagues Under the Sea. Last year I read Daughter of the Deep by
Rick Riordan which is inspired by this book, so I put this classic book to my
22 Books I want to read on 2022. I’m so happy to get this Collins Classic
edition which has yellowing pages and somehow I like it. This book is about a
mysterious figure in the ocean which is bigger than a whale with incredible
speed, so it surprised the whole world. This classic sci-fi book is filled by
Captain Nemo’s adventures with his hi-tech submarine named Nautilus.)
4. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Buku selanjutnya adalah Graceling
oleh Kristin Cashore, yang aku pengen baca karena direkomendasikan oleh Emma
dari channel emmie. Awalnya aku pengen dengerin audiobooknya aja kalau ada.
Ternyata belum ada di storytel, jadi aku lupakan sejenak bukunya. Namun suatu
hari pas browsing di shopee, buku ini nyempil di antara rekomendasi buku
preloved fantasi impor jadi langsung aku check out bukunya. Bukunya aku dapet
edisi UK dan cover yang cantik dan harga yang murah meriah. Buku ini bagian
dari seri Graceling Realm dan buku ini bersetting di dunia di mana orang-orang
bisa punya skill tertentu yang disebut Grace. Skill ini bermacam-macam, namun
tokoh utama kita yang bernama Katsa, dapat kemampuan untuk membunuh orang, dan
seiring dengan berjalannya waktu, Katsa mengetahui kenyataan mengenai Grace
yang dia miliki yang mempunyai potensi bahaya bagi tujuh kerajaan.
(The next book is Graceling by
Kristin Cashore. I want to read this book because it’s recommended by Emma from
channel emmie. At first I wanted to listen to the audiobook but it hasn’t been
available on Storytel so I forgot this book for awhile. One day when I browsed
on my Shopee acc, this book was among preloved fantasy books recommendation so
I immediately checked out this book. I get this UK edition with beautiful cover
and great price. This book is part of Graceling Realm series and this book is
set in a world where people can have certain skill named Grace. There are many
kinds of Grace, our main character is Katsa and got Grace for killing people.
As the time goes by, Katsa knows the truth behind her Grace which holds the
danger for the Seven Kingdoms.)
5. Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson
Selanjutnya ada buku Vespertine oleh
Margaret Rorgerson yang merupakan penulis Sorcery of Thorns yang menjadi buku
terfavorit aku tahun ini yang aku baca bulan lalu. Buku ini bercerita mengenai tokoh
utama kita yang bernama Artemisia yang menjadi Gray Sister in training atau
orang-orang yang bertugas membersihkan jasad orang-orang yang sudah meninggal
agar rohnya bisa terkirim alam sana, kalau tidak dibersihkan rohnya bakal
mengganggu orang-orang yang masih hidup. Suatu hari biara tempat Artemisia tinggal
diserang oleh tentara yang (( kesurupan )). Untuk mempertahankan biaranya,
Artemisia membangkitkan ancient spirit dari benda pusaka dengan syarat kalau
Artemisia kehilangan konsentrasi, maka ancient spirit akan menguasai Artemisia
sepenuhnya. Seiring berjalannya waktu maka terkuaklah kalau ada musuh yang
lebih besar, sehingga Artemisia untuk mengalahkan musuh tersebut harus
melupakan semua keyakinan yang dimilikinya sejak lama.
(Next is Vespertine by Margaret
Rogerson who is the author of Sorcery of Thorns, my favorite book this year
which I read last June. This book follows Artemisia, a Gray Sister in training,
or people who clean the body of the deceased so their soul can be sent, if not,
this soul will harm the living ones. One day her convent is attacked by
possessed soldiers and to defend herself, Artemisia awakened an ancient spirit
from a saint’s relic. If Artemisia losses her concentration, this ancient
spirit will control her fully. Then a bigger enemy makes appearance and to
defeat it, Artemisia has to abandon all her beliefs.)
6. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Selanjutnya adalah buku Little Women
oleh Loisa May Alcott yang aku dapet dari Flash Salenya Periplus. Aku dapet
edisi Wordworth Classic yang hardcover dan covernya cantik banget. Buku ini
bercerita mengenai Keluarga March dengan 4 anak perempuannya bernama Meg, Jo,
Beth dan Amy yang sudah sejak kecil bertema dengan anak tetangga yang namanya
Laurie, dan mereka berusaha untuk mewujudkan impian mereka masing-masing meski keadaan keluarga
mereka sedang susah dan berat dan ditinggal ayah mereka pergi berperang.
(Next is Little Wormen by Louisa May
Alcott which I got through Periplus Flash Sale. I got this Wordsworth Classic
edition with beautiful cover. This book is about March family with 4 daughters
named Meg, Jo, Beth, dan Amy who are friends with Laurie, neighbour’s son. They
all tried to achieve their dreams despite their difficult family situation
while their father went to a war.)
7. Keeper of the Lost Cities by
Shannon Messenger
Selanjutnya ada beberapa buku dari satu
seri yang sama yang aku beli dari beberapa seller yang berbeda karena bukunya
ini buku-buku preloved dan buku ini adalah dari Keeper of the Lost Cities
series oleh Shannon Messenger. Keeper of the Lost Cities ini adalah seri
favorit aku dan aku udah re-read 2 kali, dan biasanya aku bacanya di aplikasi
scribd, namun tahun ini aku punya satu goal sendiri untuk mengumpulkan
buku-buku fisiknya sebelum buku ke-9 dirilis akhir tahun ini.
(Next, there are some books from the
same series which I bought from different sellers because they are preloved
books and these books are Keeper of the Lost Cities series by Shannon
Messenger. Keeper of the Lost Cities is my favorite series and I have re-read
it twice on Scribd. This year I have one goal for myself to buy to physical
books before the 9th book is released by the end of 2022.)
Series ini bercerita mengenai Sophie
Foster yang berusia 12 tahun dan merasa terasing dalam kehidupannya karena dia
termasuk murid jenius dan bisa mendengarkan pikiran orang lain. Suatu hari
muncul satu cowok ganteng namanya Fitz yang mengatakan kalau Sophie ini bukan
manusia, melainkan elf. Sophie pun bingung untuk mengabaikan Fitz yang baru dia
temui, atau ikut Fitz ke dunia elf untuk menjawab semua pertanyaan-pertanyaannya
terutama kenapa dia sendiri yang elf sementara kedua orang tua dan saudara
perempuannya adalah manusia.
(This series follows Sophie Foster,
12 year old who doesn’t fit in because she is a genius and able to hear other
people’s thoughts. One day there’s a good-looking boy named Fitz who revealed
that she is an elf, not human. Sophie hesitated to ignore Fitz or follow him to
the elven world to answer her questions especially why she is the only elf
while her parents and sister are humans.)
Books I got :
7.1 Keeper of the Lost Cities
7.2 Exile
7.3 Everblaze
7.4 Neverseen
7.5 Lodestar
7.6 Flashback
Buku yang aku dapet ini kondisinya
masih bagus dan disampul, ini untuk buku pertama. Kemudian ada Everblaze, buku
ketiga yang juga masih kinclong. Kemudian ada Neverseen buku keempat, dan
disini ada Lodestar buku kelima yang dateng dalam keadaan masih dalam plastik
buku meski tulisannya buku preloved, kemudian buku ketujuh ini Flashback, ini buku
baru tapi harganya diskon, jadi aku sikat juga. Lalu ada buku kedua ini
judulnya Exile, ini juga preloved, dan ternyata hardcover dengan harga
mirip-mirip dengan yang paperback. Aku seneng banget bisa ngumpulin buku-buku di
series Keeper of the Lost Cities ini dan tinggal sekitar 3 buku yang belum aku
dapet yaitu Nightfall, Unlocked dan Legacy. Buku kesembilannya bakal dirilis
akhir tahun ini di bulan November dan udah enggak sabar buat baca buku
kesembilannya.
(I got this book in a good condition
and it has plastic sleeves for the first book. Then there is the sparkling
Everblaze, the third book. Then Neverseen, the fourth book. Then Lodestar the
fifth book which came in sealed condition even though it’s labeled as preloved.
Then there’s the seventh book, Flashback, a new book but it was on special
price. Then the second book is Exile which turned out to be hardcover edition
with similar price to the paperback ones. I’m so happy to get these books from
Keeper of the Lost Cities, there are still 3 books left which are Nightfall,
Unlocked and Legacy. The ninth book will be released by the end of 2022 on
November, and I can’t wait to read it.)
8. Uprooted – Tercerabut by Naomi
Novik
Buku selanjutnya yang aku dapet
adalah buku yang aku beli waktu berkunjung ke New Bookstore yang dibuka akhir Juni
lalu. Buku ini adalah Uprooted / Tercerabut oleh Naomi Novik. Aawalnya aku
nggak tahu kalau Uprooted ini ada terjemahan bahasa Indonesianya yang
diterbitkan oleh Gramedia dan aku seneng banget bisa ketemu buku ini yang
covernya cantik banget. Buku ini bercerita mengenai Agniezka yang tinggal di
desa yang sangat dia cintai dan setiap tahun (atau sepuluh tahun??), desanya
mengirim satu anak perempuan untuk melayani Naga selama 10 tahun agar Naga ini
melindungi desa mereka dari kekuatan Rimba. Tahun ini, penduduk desa sudah tahu
kalau Naga bakal memilih Kasia, anak perempuan yang pemberani dan memiliki
segala hal positif yang enggak dimiliki oleh Agniezka, namun ternyata yang
dipilih Naga adalah Agniezka. Meskipun begitu Naga kelihatannya juga enggak
cukup senang dengan pilihannya tersebut.
(The next book is bought when I
visited New Bookstore’s opening on last June. This book is Uprooted or
Tercerabut by Naomi Novik. I didn’t know it has Indonesian translated version
published by Gramedia and I’m so happy to get this book with this beautiful
cover. This book follows Agniezka who loves her village, and every year (or 10
years??) her village sends a girl to serve the Dragon for 10 years so Dragon
will protect them from the Wood. This year, everyone knows that The Dragon will
choose a girl named Kasia whose courage and other positive things Agniezka
doesn’t. It turned out The Dragon chooses Agniezka but seems not happy with
this choice.)
9. Kastel Terpencil di Dalam Cermin
by Mizuki Tsujimura
Selanjutnya, buku terakhir yang aku
dapet adalah Kastel Terpencil di Dalam Cermin atau Lonely Castle in the Mirror
atau Kagami no Kojo oleh Mizuki Tsujimura. Buku ini sudah cukup lama menjadi wishlist
aku, dan aku seneng banget bisa ketemu terjemahannya yang lagi diskon di
Official Store Gramedia.
(The last book is Kastel Terpencil
di Dalam Cermin atau Lonely Castle in the Mirror atau Kagami no Kojo oleh
Mizuki Tsujimura. This book has been on my wishlist for so long and I’m happy
to get the Indonesian translation edition in special price.)
Buku ini bercerita tentang Kokoro
yang merasa terasing di kelasnya sehingga dia merasa enggan pergi ke sekolah.
Suatu hari cermin di dalam kamarnya mengeluarkan cahaya dan di dalam cermin itu
muncul penampakan sebuah kastil. Dan ada tujuh anak-anak lain di dalam sana yang
juga enggan pergi ke sekolah. Mereka punya satu tugas untuk nyari satu kunci
yang tersembunyi di kastel tersebut dan siapapun yang menemukan bakal
dikabulkan satu keinginannya.
(This book is about Kokoro who
doesn’t fit in her class so she doesn’t want to go to school. One day the
mirror in her room glows and there’s a castle image in it. There are other 7
kids inside it who don’t want to go to school. They have one task to find one
key hidden in the castle, and whoever finds it will be granted one wish.)
Jadi itu semua buku-buku yang aku
dapet di bulan Juni dan awal bulan Juli, atau bisa kita sebut sebagai July Book
Haul. So, apa ada diantara buku-buku ini yang sudah pernah kamu baca, atau juga
jadi wishlist atau TBR kamu? Tell me down below yaa.
(So that’s all the books I got on
June and the first half of July or we can call it the July Book Haul. So, is
there any book among these you have read or in your wishlist or TBR? Tell me
down below.)
Hello friends! This blog post will be
more like a talk about life as the side effect of reading this book. I like
this book and it becomes my first favorite on July. This book left me thinking
about life especially after reading the robot’s opinion about life purpose, and
I need to share it in this blog.
Length: 160 pages
Date released: July 1, 2021
Date read: July 4-5, 2022
Goodreads rating: 4.28
My rating: 4.50
Keywords: Adult, Science Fiction, Novella, LGBT,
Non-binary main character, Utopia,
“It's been centuries since the
robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries
since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again;
centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend.
One day, the life of a tea monk is
upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking
in. The robot cannot go back until the question of "what do people
need?" is answered.
But the answer to that question depends
on who you ask, and how.
They're going to need to ask it a
lot.” (Goodreads)
This book is my first favorite of
the month, and it’s said to be a cozy sci-fi read, and I totally agree with
that. This book is a novella which won’t intimidate you or scare you to get
into this book.
Set in a utopia where everything was
perfect under the system which separate human’s residential area and the
wilderness. I love how humans in this book respect other species’ decisions and
not to bother them. This book is like showing the readers that even though we
live in a perfect world doesn’t mean people there live without problems. The
problems shown in this book are not those caused by other people but from
inside.
I had difficulty to picture some of
the buildings and technologies in this book however it doesn’t hinder me to
enjoy the overal book. I love the writing which analogise inanimate things to
animate ones. And the narration about nature is the one I love the most in this
book.
STUFF I THOUGHT WHEN I FINISHED THIS BOOK
It’s only my thoughts guys, if you disagree, just leave
it, okay? No hard feelings.
The book is set in a perfect world,
it’s built on good things and filled with good people. However our main
character had this uneasy and uncomfortable feelings about what they did
everyday. They felt that everything wasn’t enough. They thought they didn’t do
the best, they didn’t know what to do next, and they felt something is missing
which is fulfilment in their everyday life.
What I love from this book is the
main character told about their feeling honestly to the robot they met. The robot
didn’t come to teach him what’s right or wrong, or provide some solution to
make this book got a happy ending. No. The robot only said what it knew and
what it understood about how things worked without judging the main character. The
robot helped the main character and shared its experience and knowledge about
life as robot.
The feelings our main character felt
are so related to most of us. This book shows us that even though the world is
so perfect and people are good, human can still have uncomfortable feelings. I think
you should read this book once, beside it’s a cozy sci-fi, it feels like a
friend who will say to you that everyone in every kind of life has the same
feelings or thoughts that constantly make them feel not enough or sad or don’t know
what to do to erase it, and that’s okay.
We have lived in this world for so
long, and we have listened to some so-called positive encouragement or wise
advice from successful people that we have to know what to do in this life and
we have to be able to answer difficult questions such as : what do you want to
achieve in 5 years? Who are you? What thing do you want people to remember
about you?
If those questions work for you to
achieve something you want or help you to live, that’s okay. But, honestly,
those only stressed me out and it made me hate myself because I didn’t have the
answers. If you feel similarly, I think this book is for you. A Psalm for the
Wild-Built is like a gentle friend who reminds you that it’s okay to not know
what to do or what to say. It’s okay to not have purpose or the cool stuff to
attach to your life as a tagline.
“So, why, then, do you insist on
having a purpose for yourself, one which you are desperate to find and
miserable without?”
And, who set the standard of doing
well, doing worst, or doing enough? And if someone out there said that you have
to be someone cool or to have something great, in order to live on this Earth,
remember the robot’s saying this :
“You keep asking why your work is
not enough, and I don’t know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist
in the world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You
are allowed to just live”
So how about you? Have you read this
book? Tell me your thoughts about it.
Hello friends! Today I want to share
my thoughts about a book which unexpectedly becomes one of my 2022 favorites. It’s
so rare for a contemporary romance book to be a favorite, so I want to make it
into one blog post here. I read this book on June via Storytel app. There are
both audiobook and e-book formats for this book, and I love going between these
formats because there are some Spanish words I need to learn too. This book is
the last book I read on June, and it perfectly closed the June reading journey
nicely. So this blog post is about How Moon Fuentez Made Me Fall In Love with
This Book..
How Moon Fuentez Fell In Love with
the Universe by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland | Book Review
Length : 432 pages | 11H 51M
Narrator: Kyla Garcia
Date released: August 10, 2021
Date read: June 23-29, 2022
Goodreads rating: 4.36
My rating: 4.50
Keywords: New adult, Romance, Magical Realism,
Contemporary, Family, Friendship,
Cooking, Art, Twin Sisters, Enemies to
Lovers, LGBT, BIPOC main character,
Mental Health
Trigger warnings : Parental abuse, bullying, car
accident, depression, trauma, religious themes
Death, panic attack, misogyny, fatphobia,
sexual content, menstruation
Where to read: Storytel
BLURB
“When her twin sister reaches social
media stardom, Moon Fuentez accepts her fate as the ugly, unwanted sister
hidden in the background, destined to be nothing more than her sister’s
camerawoman. But this summer, Moon also takes a job as the “merch girl” on a
tour bus full of beautiful influencers and her fate begins to shift in the best
way possible.
Most notable is her bunkmate and new
nemesis, Santiago Phillips, who is grumpy, combative, and also the hottest guy
Moon has ever seen.
Moon is certain she hates Santiago
and that he hates her back. But as chance and destiny (and maybe, probably,
close proximity) bring the two of them in each other’s perpetual paths, Moon
starts to wonder if that’s really true. She even starts to question her destiny
as the unnoticed, unloved wallflower she always thought she was.
Could this summer change Moon’s life
as she knows it?” (Goodreads)
MY THOUGHTS
I didn’t expect to love this book so
much. I don’t usually pick a contemporary romance and I didn’t know that it has
a little bit of magical realism inside the story.
First and foremost, this book is not
only about an unwanted sister and the handsome dude romance thing, but it’s
deeper than that. This book talks about mental health, parental abuse, trauma,
loss of loved ones, bullying, body shaming and even foods. This book has
religious themes where the main character is against what her family especially
her mom and her neighborhood beliefs, so if you see this theme as uncomfortable
topic, you have been warned.
Moon is the twin sister of Star, the
famous influencer with 1 million followers. In this book, Star Fuentez is
described as beautiful without trying and has angelic look, and Moon’s thoughts
about her sister’s beauty are so related. I wonder how someone can be so
beautiful without trying, and how if they donate 1% of theirs to me. Hahaha.
Moon thought about stuff like that too, which makes me instantly feel connected
to her.
This book also talks about people who are
against make up and see people wearing make up as less than them. The good
thing is the beautiful Star without make-up is always portrayed as beautiful
here and Moon loves her as her sister even though a lot of time she gets
disappointed because Star underestimates and sees her in the similar way as her
mom does. Moon never tries to see Star as less than her even though the
principles of Star’s brand is wearing no make up and the natural beauty. Moon
honestly stated that she loves Star as her sister, and she can’t really hate
her. We can see the sibling/family bond which is created from the early age and
its effect on people until someone clearly asks them why they did what they
did.
This book made me cry in some parts
because what Moon feels and thinks are those I have ever felt in the past. That’s
why I’m so proud of Moon who is a brave and honest person, who speaks her mind
and thoughts even though it goes against her mom’s. This book also shows us how
the child of the family can’t go out of their family even though they have been
treated badly and abused because they don’t know how and because this family is
the first thing they ever know as safety and home.
The two things that make this book
got high rating from me is the topic it’s discussed and Moon’s humor. She is so
funny and creative. This is the first book which describe someone’s body in
metallic way, literally. I usually don’t like book with the main character who
constantly talks about their crush’s muscles or how the crush’s good looking
face and body. Moon adores the love interest’s appearance so much but it’s in a
way that makes me laugh.
Okay let me tell you a secret, any
book that makes me laugh in almost every chapter will always get rating 4 or
more, because I love laughing so much. Why Keefe is my number one crush? Because
he makes me laugh ALOT. So, make me
laugh and you get 4 stars or more! Haha.
There are many things that often
happen in our every day life which are picked to get some spotlight in this
book. The most common thing here, in Indonesia, is using people with certain
disability or people under the poverty line to get popularity by helping them
and sharing what we have done to help them in social media. I’m not against
sharing good things to encourage more people do more good. But, I don’t like using
people with “poor” or “disabled” labels to get popularity, views, clicks or
anything. I adore Raquel Vasquez Gilliland to include this issue into a story.
“But maybe everything is magic and
we just get used to the magic or something.”
This book has interesting title for
each chapter which can be about Moon’s past or Moon’s recent experiences, or
just about her opinion about something. It feels like someone talks to you as
their friend and it feels so natural and casual, that I don’t think about the
pace or the plot or anything. I simply listen to a friend talk about her story.
I also learned some Spanish words
from this book because Moon loves learning Spanish and one word that’s
mentioned the most is La Raiz, and I love the narrator’s way to speak this
word. It sounds so beautiful. Overall this book is one of my unexpected
favorites on 2022.
So, if you want to read a
contemporary romance with a little bit of magical realism and some discussions
about deeper things and of course food, you might like this book. Don’t forget
to check the trigger warnings before picking this book. So, have you read this
book? Tell me down below.
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.
