November 2021 Reading Plans | A Month of Reading at Gramedia Digital

Hello friends! How are you?

In this new blog post, as the title said, I’m going to share all books I’m going to read for the month of November. On November, I’m not going to participate in any readathon, so I choose some books I want to read (some are for so long in my TBR list) without any prompts. Also a little disclaimer, this is not a sponsored post. Even though the title mentioned an mobile phone app, I just find it appropriate to use it since 80% of my November books will be in digital formats and I’m reading them through Gramedia Digital app. I usually go back and forth between some reading apps, that’s a bit confusing, for this month I’m going to use only one mobile app, and maybe switch to another different app for the next month, for fun.

1. Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan

Since the first half of November is Scorpio season which is a water sign, I chose a book with ocean theme. I got this book on September, and I don’t want to wait for too long to read this exciting book.

Keyword : Middle Grade, Fantasy, Adventure, School, Nature, Ocean

Where I Got it : Owl Book Store

Blurb :

"Ujian sudah seharusnya menegangkan, tetapi bukan berarti berbahaya apalagi sampai mengancam nyawa. Namun, tepat itulah yang dialami para murid kelas 9 Akademi Harding-Pencroft (HP), sekolah yang telah menghasilkan para ilmuwan dan prajurit laut terbaik di dunia.

Sekolah rival menyerang dan perang resmi meledak. Keempat asrama Akademi HP harus bersatu untuk menguak rahasia mengenai kekuatan teknologi dahsyat yang diperebutkan kedua kubu. Ujian naik kelas itu kini menjadi misi mematikan yang dipenuhi teka-teki dan taktik militer rumit.
Namun, satu perintah resmi yang diumumkan sang profesor pembimbing membuat seluruh murid kebingungan: Ana Dakkar harus selamat, apa pun yang terjadi.

Ana hanya gadis 15 tahun biasa. Dia memang mampu membaca gerak bibir, tetapi dia jelas bukan murid unggulan. Kenapa mendadak dia menjadi sangat istimewa? Kenapa nyawanya harus dilindungi? Kenapa Ana Dakkar tidak boleh mati?" (source : Mizan Store)

English Blurb :

"Ana Dakkar is a freshman at Harding-Pencroft Academy, a five-year high school that graduates the best marine scientists, naval warriors, navigators, and underwater explorers in the world. Ana's parents died while on a scientific expedition two years ago, and the only family's she's got left is her older brother, Dev, also a student at HP. Ana's freshman year culminates with the class's weekend trial at sea, the details of which have been kept secret. She only hopes she has what it'll take to succeed. All her worries are blown out of the water when, on the bus ride to the ship, Ana and her schoolmates witness a terrible tragedy that will change the trajectory of their lives.

But wait, there's more. The professor accompanying them informs Ana that their rival school, Land Institute, and Harding-Pencroft have been fighting a cold war for a hundred and fifty years. Now that cold war has been turned up to a full broil, and the freshman are in danger of becoming fish food. In a race against deadly enemies, Ana will make amazing friends and astounding discoveries about her heritage as she puts her leadership skills to the test for the first time." (source : Goodreads)

Other place where you can buy this book :

Amazon

Mizan Store (for Indonesian translated version)

BookDepository

2. Perpustakaan Tengah Malam (The Midnight Library) by Matt Haig

Where I got it : Gramedia Digital

Blurb :

"Di antara kehidupan dan kematian terdapat sebuah perpustakaan yang jumlah bukunya tak terhingga. Tiap-tiap buku menyediakan satu kesempatan untuk mencoba kehidupan lain yang bisa dijalani sehingga kau bisa melihat apa yang terjadi kalau kau mengambil keputusan-keputusan berbeda... Akankah kau melakukan apa pun secara berbeda jika kau mendapat kesempatan untuk membatalkan penyesalan-penyesalanmu? Benarkah kehidupan lain akan jauh lebih baik?

Nora Seed harus membuat keputusan. Ia dihadapkan pada kemungkinan bisa mengubah hidupnya, memiliki karier yang berbeda, tidak putus dari mantan kekasih, dan mewujudkan mimpinya sebagai glasiolog. Ia menjelajahi Perpustakaan Tengah Malam untuk memutuskan apa sebenarnya yang menjadikan hidup pantas dijalani. Setelah kehidupan yang diisi berbagai penyesalan dan kegagalan, akankah Nora Seed akhirnya mendapatkan kehidupan yang bisa memberinya kebahagiaan sejati?" (source : Gramedia)

English Blurb :

"Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place." (source : Goodreads)

Other places where you can buy this book :

Amazon

BookDepository

Gramedia (Indonesian translation version)

3. Dua Belas Pasang Mata (Twenty Four Eyes / 二十四の瞳) by Sakae Tsuboi

Keywords : Classics, Japanese Literature, War, Children

Where I got it : Gramedia Digital

Blurb :

"Sebagai guru baru, Bu Guru Oishi ditugaskan mengajar di sebuah desa nelayan yang miskin. Di sana dia belajar memahami kehidupan sederhana dan kasih sayang yang ditunjukkan murid-muridnya. Sementara waktu berlalu, tahun-tahun yang bagai impian itu disapu oleh kenyataan hidup yang sangat memilukan. Perang memorak-porandakan semuanya, dan anak-anak ini beserta guru mereka mesti belajar menyesuaikan diri dengan perubahan zaman." (source : Gramedia)

English Blurb :

"Twenty-Four Eyes tracks the growth of twelve innocent children from childhood to adulthood through their relationship with a young school teacher. The naivetT of youth and the harsh reality of war-torn Japan clash in this honest coming-of-age story." (source : Goodreads)

Other places where you can buy this book :

Amazon

Gramedia (Indonesian translated version)

4. Circe by Madeline Miller

Keywords : Fantasy, Greek Mythology, Magic

Where I got it : Gramedia Digital

Blurb :

"Di istana Helios, dewa matahari dan yang paling berkuasa di antara Titan, lahir seorang anak perempuan. Tetapi Circe anak yang aneh---tidak berkuasa seperti ayahnya, juga tidak berbahaya dan memikat seperti ibunya. Karena tak punya teman, Circe mencarinya di dunia manusia, dan mendapati dirinya ternyata memiliki kemampuan---sebagai penyihir yang dapat mengubah lawan-lawannya menjadi monster dan membahayakan dewa-dewa. Karena merasa terancam, Zeus mengasingkannya ke pulau terpencil.

Di sana Circe mengasah bakatnya, menjinakkan hewan-hewan liar dan bertemu dengan banyak tokoh paling termasyhur dalam mitologi, di antaranya Minotaur, Daedalus dan Icarus putranya, Medea yang pembunuh, dan tentunya Odysseus yang lihai. Tetapi wanita yang hanya sendirian juga mesti menghadapi bahaya, dan Circe tanpa sengaja membangkitkan murka manusia dan dewa-dewa, sehingga dia mesti berhadapan dengan salah satu dewa Olympus yang paling menakutkan dan pendendam.

Untuk melindungi apa yang paling dicintainya, Circe harus mengerahkan seluruh kekuatannya dan memilih dengan tegas, apakah hendak berpihak kepada dewa-dewa yang telah melahirkannya, atau manusia yang telanjur disayanginya." (source : Gramedia)

English Blurb :

"In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child - not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power - the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.

Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.
But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love." (source : Goodreads)

Other places where you can buy this book :

Amazon

BookDepository

Gramedia (Indonesian translated version)

5. Menghardik Gerimis by Sapardi Djoko Damono

Keywords : Short Stories, Fiction, Indonesian Literature

Where I got it : Gramedia Digital

Blurb :

“Kalau hujan sekalian tidak apa-apa, aku suka,” katanya kepada istrinya selalu. “Tetapi gerimis selalu jatuh pelan-pelan, diam-diam, tidak memberi tahu, dan dengan licik membasahi lantai,” katanya melanjutkan. “Aku mencintai hujan sebab kalau jatuh bilang terus terang dan jelas suaranya, tidak membiarkan aku terpeleset.” (source : Gramedia)

Other places where you can buy this book :

Amazon

Gramedia

6. The Murder Before Christmas (Charlie Kingsley Mysteries #1) by Michele Pariza Wacek

Keywords : Cozy Mystery, Culinary Mystery, Women Sleuths, Twist

Where I got it : ARC provided by Love-Based Publishing and BookSirens

Blurb :

"If you've got a problem, Charlie Kingsley probably has a tea that’ll help make it right. EXCEPT when it comes to love. She does NOT do love potions.

Not even for Courtney, her pregnant new client who showed up three weeks before Christmas seeking a love potion because her husband was cheating on her. So, Courtney asked about poison, instead.

She said she was joking. That's what happens between wives and husbands. They get angry and talk about killing each other. They don't really mean it.

It seems to make sense… until Courtney’s husband turns up dead on Christmas Eve. He was poisoned, of course. And who is the number one suspect? Courtney. Of course.

But did she actually do it? Or is she being set up? It's up to Charlie to sort through all the twists and turns in a case that gets more complicated the deeper she digs." (source : Goodreads)

Other places where you can buy this book :

Amazon

BookDepository

7. Seratus Tahun Kesunyian (One Hundred Years of Solitude) by Gabriel García Márquez

Keywords : Classics, Magical Realism, Spanish Literature

Where I got it : Gramedia Digital

Blurb :

"Bertahun-tahun kemudian, saat menghadapi regu tembak yang akan mengeksekusinya, Kolonel Aureliano Buendía jadi teringat suatu sore, dulu sekali, ketika diajak ayahnya melihat es.

Riuh rendah pipa dan drum panci yang berisik mengiringi kedatangan rombongan Gipsi ke Macondo, desa yang baru didirikan, tempat José Arcadio Buendía dan istrinya yang keras kepala, Úrsula, memulai hidup baru mereka. Ketika Melquíades yang misterius memukau Aureliano Buendía dan ayahnya dengan penemuan-penemuan baru dan kisah-kisah petualangan, mereka tak tahu-menahu arti penting manuskrip yang diberikan lelaki Gipsi tua itu kepada mereka.

Kenangan tentang manuskrip itu tersisihkan oleh wabah insomnia, perang saudara, pembalasan dendam, dan hal-hal lain yang menimpa keluarga Buendía turun temurun. Hanya segelintir yang ingat tentang manuskrip itu, dan hanya satu orang yang akan menemukan pesan tersembunyi di dalamnya." (source : Gramedia)

English Blurb :

"One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendiá family. Inventive, amusing, magnetic, sad and alive with unforgettable men and women—brimming with truth, compassion, and a lyrical magic that strikes the soul—this novel is a masterpiece in the art of fiction." (source : Goodreads)

Other places where you can buy this book :

Amazon

BookDepository

Gramedia

8. Ayat-Ayat Api by Sapardi Djoko Damono

Keywords : Poetry, Indonesian Literature

Where I got it : Gramedia Digital

Blurb :

“api adalah lambang kehidupan

itu sebabnya ia tak bisa

menjadi fosil

api adalah lambang kehidupan

itu sebabnya kita luluh-lantak

dalam kobarannya” (source : Gramedia)

Other places where you can buy this book :

Gramedia

It’s fun when I look at the book covers, the first couple books are in cool toned covers, then it gets warmer and more fiery by reaching the end of this TBR list. So, that’s all for today’s blog post. If you have a November reading plans or TBR list, let me know in the comment box below. I love to see some book recommendations. See you on the next blog post, bye bye!