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~ some books to share from my little library

Category Archives: my story

2018: Reading Challenges!

05 Friday Jan 2018

Posted by astrid.lim in challenge, list, my story

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

2018, challenges, popsugar RC 2018, reading challenge, reading list, TBR, whats in a name 2018

I enjoyed doing my reading challenges last year so I decided to do a couple of them this year. Not too many that made me anxious and not enjoying my reading, but still I need something to challenge and motivate me to reach my goals.

Because I love doing the Popsugar Reading Challenge so much last year, I decided to do it again this year. The prompts look interesting and challenging, without making it too hard to accomplish. And I think there are some books that I can read from my ever growing TBR pile 😀

Here’s the list for Popsugar Reading Challenge 2018: 

  1. A book made into a movie you’ve already seen: Holes (Louis Sachar)
  2. True crime: In Cold Blood (Truman Capote)
  3. The next book in a series you started: A Dance with Dragons (George RR Martin)
  4. A book involving a heist: Pangeran Pencuri (Cornelia Funke)
  5. Nordic noir: The Bat/Harry Holes #1 (Jo Nesbo)
  6. A novel based on a real person: The Other Boleyn Girl (Philippa Gregory)
  7. A book set in a country that fascinates you: TBD
  8. A book with a time of day in the title: Midnight Feast (Meg Cabot)
  9. A book about a villain or antihero: Heartless (Marissa Meyer)
  10. A book about death or grief: My Sister Lives on a Mantelpiece (Annabel Pitcher)
  11. A book with your favorite color in the title: The Mystery of The Blue Train (Agatha Christie)
  12. A book with alliteration in the title: Magpie Murders (Anthony Horowitz)
  13. A book about time travel: The Time Traveler’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
  14. A book with a weather element in the title: The Snow Child (Eowyn Ivey)
  15. A book set at sea: The Woman in Cabin 10 (Ruth Ware)
  16. A book with an animal in the title: Lily and the Octopus (Steven Rowley)
  17. A book set on a different planet: The Gunslinger (Stephen King)
  18. A book with song lyrics in the title: Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Truman Capote)
  19. A book about or set on Halloween: The Halloween Tree (Ray Bradbury)
  20. A book with characters who are twins: The Memory Keeper’s Daughter (Kim Edwards)
  21. A book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym: Middlemarch (George Elliot)
  22. A book with an LGBTQ+ protagonist: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Benjamin Alire Saenz)
  23. A book that is also a stage play or musical: The Phantom of the Opera (Gaston Leroux)
  24. A book by an author of a different ethnicity than you: Beloved (Toni Morrison)
  25. A book about feminism: The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
  26. A book about mental health: The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath)
  27. A book you borrowed or that was given to you as a gift: TBD
  28. A book by two authors: The Screaming Statue/The Curiosity House #2 (Lauren Oliver, H.C. Chester)
  29. A book about or involving a sport: Quidditch Through the Ages (Kennilworthy Whisp)
  30. A book by a local author: Gelombang (Dee)
  31. A book mentioned in another book: Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison)
  32. A book from a celebrity book club: Little Fires Everywhere (Celeste Ng)
  33. A childhood classic you’ve never read: Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
  34. A book that’s published in 2018: TBD
  35. A past Goodreads Choice Awards winner: Trigger Warning (Neil Gaiman)
  36. A book set in the decade you were born: Dear Mr. Henshaw (Beverly Cleary)
  37. A book you meant to read in 2017 but didn’t get to: TBD
  38. A book with an ugly cover: TBD
  39. A book that involves a bookstore or library: Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore (Matthew J. Sullivan)
  40. Your favorite prompt from the 2015, 2016, or 2017 Popsugar Reading Challenges: A book you bought on a trip: TBD

 

And, to spice things up a bit. I will also join one of my favorite challenges, What’s in a Name, hosted by The Worm Hole. Here are the categories:

  • The word ‘the’ used twice (The Secret By The Lake; The End Of The Day, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time)
  • A fruit or vegetable (The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society; The Particular Sadness Of Lemon Cake)
  • A shape (The Ninth Circle, The Square Root Of Summer, Circle Of Friends)
  • A title that begins with Z – can be after ‘The’ or ‘A’ (Zen In The Art Of Writing; The Zookeeper’s Wife, Zelda)
  • A nationality (Anna And The French Kiss; How To Be A Kosovan Bride; Norwegian Wood)
  • A season (White Truffles In Winter; The Spring Of Kasper Meier; The Summer Queen; Before I Fall; The Autumn Throne)

I’ll update the reading list later, and probably will move the challenges into separate pages.

So what do you think? Are these challenges still feasible for me? Do you have any reading challenge you’d like to join this year?

Good luck everyone and may 2018 bring the best books for you!

2017: A Year in Books

04 Thursday Jan 2018

Posted by astrid.lim in challenge, list, my story

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

2017, bbi review reading 2017, list, popsugar RC 2017, reading challenge, reading list, wrap up, wrap up post

Happy new year!!! Hopefully everyone has a good start of 2018 and ready to kick off the reading list 🙂

Before we move on to the new year, new goals and new challenges, I would like to reminisce a little bit about my reading life in 2017. Enjoy the list!

Most “great book, but why you do dis ending??”: Church of Marvels, Conclave

Most charming setting: A Gentleman in Moscow, The Bookshop on the Corner

Most surprisingly enjoyable: Uncommon Type, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Most “full of characters that I’d love to punch”: Fates and Furies, Burnt Paper Sky

Most “books with lame romance”: Song of The Lioness series, The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair

Most live up to expectations: The Underground Railroad, The Nest

Most juicy series that very entertaining: Game of Thrones (still!!!), Crazy Rich Asians

All in all, I enjoyed my reading experience in 2017. I found some new authors (that I’d love to read again in the future), I discover new genres and went outside of my comfort zone a little bit (I read 4 non fictions and 1 audiobook!!!), and even successfully read 40 books from my TBR.

According to Goodreads statistics, I have read 81 books in 2017 (a bit more than last year’s total, and just one more book than my 2017 reading challenge target), 27,283 pages, with average of 3.5 stars rating. Not bad at all 🙂

I have finished two reading challenges, and only missing one review (perhaps I will write the review this year if I had a chance):

Category: A book involving travel

2017 Popsugar Ultimate Reading Challenge

1. A book recommended by a librarian – Three Times Lucky (Sheila Turnage)
2. A book that’s been on your TBR list for way too long – The House of the Spirits (Isabel Allende)
3. A book of letters – 84, Charing Cross Road (Helene Hanff)
4. An audiobook – The Red House Mystery (A.A. Milne)
5. A book by a person of color – The Underground Railroad (Colson Whitehead)
6. A book with one of the four seasons in the title – If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler (Italo Calvino)
7. A book that is a story within a story – The Princess Bride (William Goldman)
8. A book with multiple authors – The Meanest Doll in The World (Ann M Martin and Laura Godwin)
9. An espionage thriller – An Officer and A Spy (Robert Harris)
10. A book with a cat on the cover – Whittington (Alan Armstrong)
11. A book by an author who uses a pseudonym – 1984 (George Orwell)
12. A bestseller from a genre you don’t normally read – When I Talk About When I Talk About Running (Haruki Murakami)
13. A book by or about a person who has a disability – The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (Carson McCullers)
14. A book involving travel –  Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Robert M. Pirsig)
15. A book with a subtitle – Goodbye to All That: Writers on Loving and Leaving New York (Sari Botton, et al)
16. A book that’s published in 2017: Uncommon Type: Some Stories (Tom Hanks)
17. A book involving a mythical creature: The Monstrumologist (Rick Yancey)
18. A book you’ve read before that never fails to make you smile: The Adventure of The Christmas Pudding (Agatha Christie)
19. A book about food – Sweetbitter (Stephanie Danler)
20. A book with career advice – Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead (Sheryl Sandberg)
21. A book from a nonhuman perspective – The Book Thief (Markus Zusak)
22. A steampunk novel –Un Lun Dun (China Mieville)
23. A book with a red spine – Mycroft Holmes (Kareem Abdul Jabar & Anna Waterhouse)
24. A book set in the wilderness – The Call of The Wild (Jack London)
25. A book you loved as a child – Kumpulan Dongeng Binatang 1 (Anne-Marie Dalmais)
26. A book by an author from a country you’ve never visited – Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe)
27. A book with a title that’s a character’s name – The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair (Joel Dicker)
28. A novel set during wartime – Sophie’s Choice (William Styron)
29. A book with an unreliable narrator –The Dinner (Herman Koch)
30. A book with pictures – Sang Putri dan Sang Pemintal (Neil Gaiman)
31. A book where the main character is a different ethnicity than you – Broken Monsters (Lauren Beukes)
32. A book about an interesting woman – The Wonder (Emma Donoghue)
33. A book set in two different time periods – The Distant Hours (Kate Morton)
34. A book with a month or day of the week in the title – March (Geraldine Brooks)
35. A book set in a hotel –A Gentleman in Moscow (Amor Towles)
36. A book written by someone you admire – Seriously, I’m Kidding (Ellen DeGeneres)
37. A book that’s becoming a movie in 2017 – Murder on The Orient Express (Agatha Christie) 
38. A book set around a holiday other than Christmas – Hallowe’en Party (Agatha Christie)
39. The first book in a series you haven’t read before – Alanna: The First Adventure (Song of Lioness, #1) (Tamora Pierce)
40. A book you bought on a trip – Sorry to Disrupt the Peace (Patty Yumi Cottrell)

Kategori Single Point
  1. Classic Literature, adalah buku-buku sastra klasik seperti buku-buku Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, etc.: The Call of The Wild (Jack London), The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (Carson McCullers), If On a Winter Night a Traveler (Italo Calvino), Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Robert M. Pirzig),
  2. Children Literature, adalah buku-buku bertema dan cocok untuk anak-anak kecil hingga usia middle grade (SMP), atau usia hingga 15 tahun. Contoh, Rick Riordan: Three Times Lucky (Sheila Turnage), Kumpulan Dongeng Binatang 1 (Anne-Marie Dalmais), The Meanest Doll in The World (Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin), Whittington (Alan Armstrong), Oh, The Places You’ll Go! (Dr. Seuss), How to Look for a Lost Dog (Ann M. Martin), The Boy Called Christmas (Matt Haig), The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing (Sheila Turnage), The Hundred Dresses (Eleanor Estes),
  3. Young Adult Literature, adalah buku-buku bertema remaja (Young Adult) dan New Adult (NA), berusia SMA hingga kuliahan, atau berusia 16-22 tahun. Contoh, Sarah Dessen, John Green, Jennifer L. Armentrout, dll: The Mystery of The Clockwork Sparrow (Katherine Woodfine),
  4. Asian Literature, buku-buku yang berlatar belakang Asia, bertema kehidupan Asia, atau penulisnya berasal dari Asia. Contoh, Kevin Kwan, Akiyoshi Rikako: China Rich Girlfriend (Kevin Kwan),
  5. Indonesian Literature Before 80’s, buku-buku asli dari Indonesia yang terbit sebelum tahun 1980
  6. Self-Improvement & Self-Help, merupakan buku-buku pengembangan diri. Contoh, buku-buku John C. Maxwell, chicken soup, dll: Seriously…I’m Kidding (Ellen DeGeneres); Lean In: Women, Work, and The Will to Lead (Sheryl Sandberg);
  7. Poetry, buku-buku puisi, baik dari Indonesia maupun luar Indonesia. Contoh, Tidak Ada New York Hari Ini, atau sonnet Shakespeare
  8. Biografi Pahlawan Indonesia, adalah buku-buku yang menceritakan kisah hidup pahlawan Indonesia, seperti tentang Ir. Soekarno, Jenderal Soedirman, dsb
  9. Award Winning Books, adalah buku-buku yang memenangkan sebuah penghargaan atau lebih, misalnya pemenang RITA Awards, Goodreads Choice Awards, dsb: March (Geraldine Brooks), The Nest (Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney), brown girl dreaming (Jacqueline Woodson), Fates and Furies (Lauren Groff),
  10. Science-Fiction, buku-buku dengan genre utama science-fiction. Contoh, Star Trek, Ender’s Game, Across The Universe
  11. Dystopia, buku-buku dengan genre utama dystopia. Contoh, The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner: 1984 (George Orwell),
  12. Adventure, buku-buku mengenai petualangan dan memiliki tema utama petualangan, contoh: buku-buku Enid Blyton, Robinson Crusoe, dll
  13. Historical Fiction, adalah buku-buku dengan genre utama fiksi historis. Bisa romance, non romance. Contoh: Ruta Sepetys, Julia Quinn, Lisa Kleypas (romance): A Gentleman in Moscow (Amor Towles), The Distant Hours (Kate Morton), The Underground Railroad (Colson Whitehead), The Wonder (Emma Donoghue), The Book Thief (Markus Zusak), Church of Marvels (Leslie Parry),
  14. Fantasy Fiction, adalah buku-buku dengan genre utama fantasy. Contohnya, buku-buku Neil Gaiman: Un Lun Dun (China Mieville), A Feast for Crows (George R.R. Martin); The Princess Bride (William Goldman); The Monstrumologist (Rick Yancey);
  15. Paranormal Romance, adalah buku-buku dengan genre dan elemen utama paranormal romance, tentang vampire/shifter/makhluk non-manusia. Contohnya: Ilona Andrews, Nalini Singh, Thea Harrison, dll
  16. Contemporary Romance, adalah buku-buku yang memiliki genre utama romance dan berlatar belakang kontemporer, dengan tokoh yang sudah berusia dewasa. Contoh, Cecilia Ahern, Sophie Kinsella, Jojo Moyes, Colleen Hoover, Elle Kennedy, Lauren Blakely, dll: Sweetbitter (Stephanie Danler),
  17. Erotic Romance, buku-buku dengan genre utama romance dan memiliki unsur eroticism yang besar. Contohnya, E.L. James, Sylvia Day, C.D. Reiss
  18. Sport Fiction, buku-buku fiksi dengan tema olahraga, baik romance maupun non-romance. Contoh: Susan Elizabeth Phillip
  19. Thriller and Crime Fiction, adalah buku-buku yang memiliki genre utama thriller dan fiksi kejahatan. Contoh, Stephen King, J.D. Robb, David Baldacci, John Grisham, etc: The Red House Mystery (A.A Milne), Broken Monsters (Lauren Beukes), An Officer and a Spy (Robert Harris), The House at Baker Street (Michelle Birkby), Burnt Paper Sky (Gilly Macmillan),
  20. Wedding Literature, buku-buku yang memiliki tema pernikahan (wedding)
  21. Graphic Novels & Comic Books, adalah buku-buku komik, novel bergambar, dan novel berilustrasi: Sang Putri dan Sang Pemintal (Neil Gaiman),
  22. Debut Authors, adalah buku dari pengarang yang melakukan debut pada tahun 2017 (buku pertama), bisa fiksi bisa non fiksi: Sorry to Disrupt the Peace (Patty Yumi Cottrell); Uncommon Type: Some Stories (Tom Hanks);
  23. Hobby Nonfiction, adalah buku-buku nonfiksi mengenai hobi, seperti crafting, travel, fotografi, motor dan mobil, dsb: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (Haruki Murakami), Goodbye to All That: Writers on Loving and Leaving New York (Sari Batton et al),
  24. Brick Books, adalah buku-buku yang memiliki ketebalan buku minimal 500 halaman dalam bentuk fisik (paperback/hardback) maupun digital (sesuai dengan edisi Kindle/ebook): The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair (Joel Dicker); The House of the Spirits (Isabel Allende); The Nix (Nathan Hill);
  25. Name In A Book, adalah buku-buku yang memiliki nama tokoh (nama depan/belakang) pada judulnya, dan bukan pada nama serinya: Mycroft Holmes (Kareem Abdul Jabar),
Kategori Ten Point
  1. Full Series, membaca dan mereview satu seri penuh selama tahun 2017, minimal memiliki 3 buku (trilogi) dalam satu seri dan semua review dimasukkan ke dalam linky [EDIT] tidak termasuk komik, dan novella tidak dihitung (buku-buku pendamping): Alanna The First Adventure (Song of the Lioness #1, Tamora Pierce), In the Hand of the Goddess (Song of the Lioness #2, Tamora Pierce), The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (Song of the Lioness #3), Lioness Rampant (Song of the Lioness 34, Tamora Pierce)
  2. Buku Pengarang Lima Benua, mereview buku-buku dari masing-masing satu pengarang dari setiap benua (Asia, Eropa, Amerika, Afrika, dan Australia), sehingga dalam tema ini akan ada 5 link/tautan review. Buku yang dibaca boleh fiksi, bisa nonfiksi: 84 Charing Cross Road (Helene Hanff)- Amerika, The Dinner (Herman Koch) – Eropa, Crazy Rich Asian (Kevin Kwan) – Asia, The Last Anniversary (Liane Moriarty) -Australia, Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe) – Afrika
  3. Lima Buku dari Penulis yang Sama, membaca dan mereview lima buku dari penulis yang sama, namun bukan bagian dari seri (harus stand-alone), bisa fiksi maupun nonfiksi: Pesta Hallowe’en (Agatha Christie), Skandal Perjamuan Natal (Agatha Christie), Pembunuhan di Orient Express (Agatha Christie), Mrs. McGinty is Dead (Agatha Christie), They Do It with Mirrors (Agatha Christie)
  4. Historical Non Fiction, merupakan buku-buku historis nonfiksi, bisa berupa ensiklopedi, buku sejarah, dll: In the Garden of Beasts (Erik Larson)
And even though I’ve had some failures (Wishful Wednesday is on hiatus!), and read some books that I didn’t like- that doesn’t really matter because the experience that matters most. And I won’t trade it with anything.
So.. welcome, 2018! May this year bring better, brighter, and enjoyable books and reading experience to everyone! Cheers!

Novemberian Wishlist

16 Monday Oct 2017

Posted by astrid.lim in list, my story

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

BBI, birthday, list, novemberian, wishlist

Seperti biasa, setiap bulan November, member BBI yang merayakan ulang tahun maupun blog anniversary di bulan ini biasanya membuat grup tukar kado. Simple saja sih, membuat wishlist di blog masing-masing, lalu mengocok nama dan kita tinggal memberi kado ke target yang ditentukan, kadang dengan riddle singkat yang menambah keseruan menebak-nebak. Yaaa lumayanlah meredakan kerinduan Secret Santa yang sudah tidak lagi diadakan oleh BBI.

Jadi, untuk Giver saya sesama Novemberian, inilah wishlist saya untuk memandumu – semoga tidak merepotkan ya… Beberapa memang ada yang masih coming soon (terbitan GPU) dan baru akan terbit di bulan November – tapi karena ulang tahun saya masih lama, mendekati akhir bulan, jadi tenang dan santai saja yaa…

Oiya, list ini tidak berdasarkan prioritas ya 🙂

  1. One of Us is Lying (Karen McManus) – coming soon oleh GPU- penasaran sama reviewnya yang keren dan seru.
  2. Teka-Teki Terakhir (Annisa Ihsani) – coming soon oleh GPU (versi cover baru) – jarang-jarang tertarik dengan buku lokal tapi yang satu ini perkecualian 🙂
  3. Serial St. Clare (Enid Blyton) – cover baru GPU, terserah mau nomor berapa karena belum ada yang punya dan memang berniat mau ngumpulin 🙂
  4. Heidi (Johanna Spyri) – Sudah lama nggak beli seri klasiknya GPU dan memang belum pernah baca Heidi. Beli di sini –
  5. Rooftoppers (Katherine Rundell) – Wishlist lumayan lama tapi belum kesampaian. Ternyata pernah diterjemahkan tapi sudah langka, jadi sekarang ngincer bahasa Inggrisnya aja. Beli di sini
  6. Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d (Alan Bradley) – another Flavia de Luce novel!!! Beli di sini
  7. The Gallery (Laura Marx Fitzgerald)- suka banget sama buku Laura sebelumnya. Excited with this new one! Beli di sini
  8. The Sreaming Statue (Lauren Oliver) – buku kedua serial Curiosity House yang seru bangettt…. Beli di sini

Okeee…. Semoga wishlistnya tidak menyusahkan ya.. Semuanya harusnya sih bisa dibeli di tokbuk online, baik yang bahasa Indonesia maupun bahasa Inggris, dan harganya masih masuk di batas harga sesuai kesepakatan 🙂

Terima kasih ya Giver– look forward to November!!!

 

 

Wishful Wednesday – A Short Farewell

19 Wednesday Jul 2017

Posted by astrid.lim in announcement, meme, my story

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

announcement, hiatus, meme, wishful wednesday, wishlist

Sudah dua bulan ini Wishful Wednesday absen dari blog Books to Share. Kenapa?

Sebenarnya tidak ada alasan khusus, sih. Hanya saja saya memang tidak merasakan “panggilan” untuk menerbitkan posting WW selama dua bulan terakhir. Selain karena jadwal kesibukan yang memang biasanya meningkat di pertengahan tahun, saya juga merasa akhir-akhir ini kurang bersemangat menulis postingan WW. Entah karena memang wishlist saya lagi berkurang, atau karena saya sedang dalam masa stagnan menyangkut WW.

Setelah saya berpikir-pikir selama beberapa minggu ini, akhirnya saya mengambil keputusan untuk mengistirahatkan WW dulu sementara waktu. Setelah sekitar 5 tahunan, mungkin saya perlu jeda supaya bisa bersemangat lagi hadir dengan postingan WW, yang mudah-mudahan bisa lebih inovatif lagi.

Saya berterima kasih untuk semua teman-teman yang pernah berpartisipasi dalam WW, baik itu yang setia submit postingan tiap minggunya, atau yang pernah ikut dalam giveaway atau event WW lainnya. Saya sendiri jadi banyak kenal dengan para blogger, baik blogger buku maupun bukan, lewat WW, bahkan menambah teman-teman baru. Dan salah satu hal yang paling saya suka dari WW adalah saat saya melihat wishlist teman-teman terkabul, dengan satu dan lain cara. Bahkan saya sendiri pernah lho, wishlistnya terkabul karena mendapat bisikan dari salah satu komentator WW tentang tempat mendapatkan buku impian saya yang sudah langka 🙂 Mudah-mudahan WW bisa kembali hadir lagi di tahun mendatang ya 🙂

And until then… keep on wishing, keep on dreaming!

Cheers,

Astrid

 

 

The Tarnished Reputation of Big Bad Wolf Indonesia

04 Thursday May 2017

Posted by astrid.lim in my story, shopping

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

big bad wolf, book event, book haul, bookfair, my story, shopping

trolley

I have written a post about the excitement of Big Bad Wolf Indonesia bookfair last year, where everyone was suddenly becoming a booklover. I’m okay with that, of course, and I am actually happy that for once, books are considered cool 🙂

So I was pretty excited when Big Bad Wolf (BBW) has decided to visit Indonesia again, in the same venue at ICE BSD. I started to imagine the affordable import books that I can buy, and the excitement of shopping books not through online stores (I’ve been online shopping mostly for the past year).

Moreover, as a book blogger, I have received an invitation to attend the VIP Pre-Sale. Something that was highly recommended from my friends who attended the same event last year.

So I took one day off from the office and went to the venue early on that day, hoping to be there before it’s getting crowded.

Turned out, it was REALLY CROWDED. Like, in the market or something. I’m glad because at least the venue is bigger this year, so there’s still some space between the tables, and people can shop quite comfortably. But… still, I didn’t expect the so-called VIP event being that crowded, and it didn’t feel like an exclusive event at all.

The worst thing about the event was the online shop and the so-called “jasa titip/jastip”. They were like vultures who always hovered around the book stacks and grabbed them as soon as the BBW staff brought out new stuff. Some of them even made some kind of “base camp” at the rear of the room, where they stacked their “treasures”, and had some people looked after the stuff, so no one would touch the books. They could grab up to 10 or 20 books with the same title- for what, you ask? For selling them again, of course- with more expensive price, too. Mostly they took the boxsets for kids or activity books, the kind of books that would be easy to sell. But sometimes they also grabbed things like novels and non fiction books. Ugh.

Another thing that was terrible about the VIP Pre-Sale was the crazy line at the payment area. It was soooo crazy, people could be in line for hours. My friends from BBI, Ren and Mbak Threz, broke the record by being in the line for 5 hours. And this was because too many online shopping people shopped hundreds and hundreds of books. The cashiers were overwhelmed, the system was not ready, and simply said, it was a disaster.

I was pretty lucky because when I saw the crazy line, a Bank Mandiri staff approached me, offering a credit card application that can be exchanged with fast pass voucher to the cashier. Without thinking too much, I quickly agreed, and only waited for about 30 minutes in the cashier. Phew.

How about the books, though?

Well, it was not as many as last year, especially for fictions, young adults and middle grade books. Fortunately I found some of my wishlists there. And even though BBW also raised the book price compare to last year (from IDR 60k to 75k, from IDR100k to 130k, etc), they’re generally still ok.

The interior- not that bad compare to last year.

Some cute classics!

Another stack of classics.

Enid Blyton galore!

One of the base camps of the online shopping people!!! See their stacks??

Ibu Susi was also shopping!

My book haul 🙂

So… based on this first day experience, I decided not to come back to BBW, thinking that the situation will get worse.

Turned out, everyone who went to BBW after that day said that it’s not crowded, line in the cashier was manageable, and lots of new titles came up. So I started to consider coming back to BBW 😀

There’s this Narnia boxset that I kept waiting to appear in BBW, because it was advertised in their website. And finally, just a few days before BBW ended, I saw in their Instagram story that the boxset was out. Yeay! So that night, a few hours after I saw the Instagram, I went back to BBW. It was a Friday night, just before midnight, and the venue was not too crowded.

But after looking here and there, I started to get anxious. Where’s the Narnia???

I asked a staff and some of them just told me to keep on looking “over there”. After some time, a staff who helped me to ask around finally found out that the boxsets were sold out!!! Can you believe it? She said they were sold out just two hours after it’s been announced in Instagram. I can’t believe it. I mean, from hundreds of their stock, all were gone within two hours? These were Narnia books, not Coldplay tickets. I didn’t buy it that many people really wanted to read Narnia- and grabbed them like crazy.

So what happened? The staff told me that mostly the Narnia boxsets were bought by the jastip and online shops. Ugh! I knew it!!!!

I sent a message to BBW’s Instagram, ada here’s their reply:

They blamed me!

So instead of giving solution or promised to take a look at the problem, they BLAMED me because I came too late!!! And they denied that the books were bought mostly by the online shops and jastip, even though I got that information from the ground staff. So unprofessional.

For me, BBW has tarnished their reputation. Instead of being the fun, affordable bookfair that is loved by the bookworms, now they are just another business oriented company, who don’t care about their loyal customers and focused more on the profit. They let the online shops and jastip going crazy, without any consideration for other customers, who have to beat the traffic to reach the venue. If online shops and jastip are the ones who can standby for 24 hours at BBW, no wonder they can get all of the books including the most wanted ones. And that means, we- the ordinary booklovers- have to rely on them to get their books, even though that means they’ll be more expensive!

If this is the case, so why don’t BBW just have the bookfair only for online shops and jastip? Let them do crazy bulk shopping like those stores who compete shopping in Tanah Abang before Lebaran.

Sadly, these things only happened in Indonesia. Only in Indonesia, even bookfairs can be ruined because of money, business, and ego.

So, Big Bad Wolf Indonesia, congratulations for ruining your reputations and relationship with the bookworms!

Bye.

[Bookish News] What’s Happening in 2017

03 Friday Mar 2017

Posted by astrid.lim in list, my story

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

article, bookish news, my story, story

bookishnews

Sometimes, when I opened my social media timeline, I was overwhelmed with so many news about books and bookish world. New books, unexpected bestsellers, books turned into movies, writers going berserk… etc, etc.

Since early this year, I have heard some very exciting news about international book world. And so I won’t forget about those news, I decided to write some of them here, for my reference in the future.

So here they are!

Neverwhere Sequel

neverwhere-neil

I love Neil Gaiman and his quirky imagination, and Neverwhere is one of his best works, in my opinion. (And that reminds me.. I haven’t reviewed that book yet, perhaps a rereading opportunity?) So I was very ecstatic when I heard that Gaiman is now working for his next book – that is a sequel of Neverwhere!!! It feels like having birthday and Christmas simultaneously 😀 The book title is “The Seven Sisters”, and it is inspired by Gaiman’s work with UNHCR – so there will be some refugee topics covered in the book, I guess. When is this book going to be released? Well… Gaiman hasn’t given a date yet. But… he said he is now into his third chapter – so we can expect this to come out soon!

Tom Hanks’s Short Story Collections

tomhankswithtypewriters

I’ve always been a fan of Tom Hanks. From his cute romcom in the 90s to his more serious movies (that led to Oscars nominations and award), Tom Hanks is one of the most prominent Hollywood members who never had too much drama in order to stay afloat in the crazy entertainment world. But now.. I’m more excited to see him working in another format- book! He never wrote one before, and this short story collection seems very unique because he used a different typewriter for each of the seventeen stories here. FYI, Hanks is an avid collector of vintage typewriters! How cool is that? Uncommon Type: Some Stories, will be published by Knopf in October this year, Woohoo!

Philip Pullman’s New Trilogy!

book-of-dust

Okay, so… I have mixed feelings of His Dark Materials trilogy – they were good, don’t get me wrong, but felt quite personal since the topic was about God, higher power, religion, etc. (Just realized that I’ve never written their reviews here either! Man, so many rereadings that I must do!) Anyway, Philip Pullman came with a big news this year when he announced that he will publish a new trilogy (yep, not one book but three!) as a follow up to His Dark Materials series, called The Book of Dust. The first book will be released in October (again??) and will revisit the heroine, Lyra Belacqua, who will become the center of the story. Can’t wait!

Dan Brown Tries Again

danbrown-origin-blogpost

Yep. I almost gave up with Dan Brown and his ever boring hero, Robert Langdon. But… everytime he announced that he would publish another book, I couldn’t help but feeling excited. Silly me. This October (most favorite month for publishing new books, eh?), Brown will release the latest adventure of Robert Langdon, titled Origin. This book will be published by Doubleday in the U.S., and as usual he interweaves codes, science, art, architecture, history and religion into the story.

The Obamas Book Deal

obama-bookdeal

After one of the most heated auctions in the publishing world, the beloved power couple, Barrack and Michelle Obama, signed a deal with Penguin Random House. Rumor has it that the deal stretched into eight figures (!). There’s no clear statement yet about the type of the book, whether it would be a memoir or other kinds. But both publisher and the Obamas plan to donate the books and the advances to various charities, including the Obama Foundation.

Wonder, The Movie

wonder-movie

As usual, since Hollywood is no longer being original (were they ever?), many movies are adapted from books or novels. But the one I anticipated the most is Wonder (R.J Palacio), the middle-grade novel that told a story about August Pullman, a boy who was born with facial difference. Jacob Tremblay (yeay) and Julia Roberts are starring in this movie, that will be released on April 7. Looking forward!

Game of Thrones Snippet

george-rr-martin

George R.R. Martin is perhaps becoming the most hated writer now- simply because his fans already waiting for the next installment of Game of Thrones (The Winds of Winter) for almost six years! Well.. he said that he will probably release the book within this year, but he said the same thing last year so… just expect the least, ok 😀 But, Martin was indeed working hard on some GoT materials. He plans to release Book of Swords in October (!!), a selection of fifteen short stories set in the world of GoT. Well, maybe it could help to ease some eager fans so they won’t bother him for a while 🙂

Sooo… what do you think? Which news is the most anticipated and exciting for you? One thing I can tell is – 2017 is gonna be a great great year for bookish world. Let’s hope the year will be better in other areas as well 🙂

 

[Posbar BBI] Baca Di Mana Aja

02 Friday Dec 2016

Posted by astrid.lim in my story

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

BBI, my story, posbar, Posting Bareng BBI 2016

Okey. Dari sejarah per-posbar-an sepanjang tahun 2016 ini, bulan November adalah yang paling suliiit buat saya. Kalau sebelum-sebelumnya, baca bareng dengan tema apapun, saya jabanin deh. Malah kalau yang agak aneh, saya suka menganggapnya challenge aja, biar seru.

Tapi bulan ini memang terbukti cukup sulit. Ada dua tantangan yang saya hadapi:

  1. Nyari orang baca buku di tempat umum tuh udah susaaaaah banget. Rata-rata orang biasanya megang HP atau gadget lainnya kalau sedang duduk menunggu di tempat umum. Jadi memang menemukan orang yang baca buku secara random itu cukup sulit di Jakarta. Beda banget tuh sama segala macem Hot Dudes Reading di Instagram yang kayaknya tiap hari nemu aja cowok ganteng lagi baca buku di subway.
  2. Kalaupun sudah ketemu satu orang yang sedang baca buku di tempat umum, biasanya saya cukup jiper untuk nyamperin dan ngajak ngobrol-ngobrol. Selain karena merasa awkward, juga agak takut mengganggu karena saya sendiri sudah pernah merasakan diganggu orang saat baca di tempat umum dan bikin bete XD

Anyway.

Kedua tantangan tadi menyebabkan hasil posbar bulan ini memang kurang maksimal. Saya memang berhasil menangkap dua orang pembaca buku di tempat umum selama bulan ini, tapi pada akhirnya nggak sempat ngobrol-ngobrol dengan mereka, jadi memang kurang keren sih investigasinya, hahaha. Dan karena foto-fotonya saya ambil secara diam-diam ala paparazzi, terpaksa deh wajah-wajah yang bersangkutan saya sembunyikan ya…Daripada terjadi hal-hal yang tidak diinginkan XD

posbar-nov1-edit

Korban pertama saya tangkap di airport Adisucipto, Yogyakarta, saat sedang menunggu pesawat kembali ke Jakarta. Kalau kamu sangka mencari orang yang baca buku di ruang tunggu airport yang super besar itu gampang, kamu salah banget! Karena dari ratusan orang yang berjejalan di sana, hampir semua sibuk dengan gadget masing-masing. Sampai akhirnya saya menemukan sesosok perempuan yang asik baca buku, tidak peduli dengan sekitarnya. Saya berusaha mengintip buku yang sedang dibacanya tapi nggak sukses. Yang pasti, bukunya novel berbahasa Inggris. Sampai sekarang, saya cukup nyesel juga kenapa saya nggak menyapa cewek ini. Siapa tau kan, tertarik jadi anggota BBI, ya! 😀

posbar-nov2-editKorban kedua, lebih random lagi. Saya lagi nungguin ujan brenti sore-sore di depan kantor, dan pas di jendela yang menghadap cafe di lobby, saya menangkap seorang cewek bule sedang ngopi sore sambil baca buku. Bukunya juga nggak jelas apaan karena waktu itu posisi saya di balik jendela cafe XD Ditilik dari ukurannya sih, seperti mass market paperback. (Sotoy)

Anyway, begitulah perjalanan saya mencari para pembaca buku di belantara Jakarta (dan luar Jakarta). Ternyata tidak semudah yang dibayangkan, plus saya mesti lebih banyak latihan deh pokoknya. Salut sama adminnya akun-akun Instagram yang bisa dengan santai menyetop orang sana-sini dan mengobrol ria. Padahal, saya mantan wartawan lho! Tapi sepertinya skill untuk doorstop orang dan menginterview sudah mulai memudar. Hahahaha!

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Posbar BBI: Reading Nooks

30 Friday Sep 2016

Posted by astrid.lim in my story

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Tags

BBI, bookish, my story, posbar, Posting Bareng BBI 2016, reading nooks

Bulan September ini, tema Posting Bareng Blogger Buku Indonesia (BBI) adalah tentang “Tempat Baca”. Sebenernya saya kepingin sih posting tentang tempat baca keren-keren di Jakarta, seperti cafe, cafe buku atau tempat nongkrong lain yang serba asyik dan instagramable.

Tapi…. kalau ditanya tempat baca favorit, saya terpaksa harus mengakui kalau saya adalah.. anak rumahan. Iya, saya lebih suka ngadem di rumah untuk baca buku, selonjoran di sofa atau tempat tidur – dibanding pergi ke cafe sambil ngopi-ngopi cantik. Meski terkadang kalau lagi suntuk, saya suka juga sih bawa buku dan nongkrong di cafe ber AC, sambil nyeruput teh dan people watching juga. Tapi ya itu.. baca di cafe biasanya lebih banyak distraksi.. Merhatiin orang lewatlah, atau bolak-balik lihat HP dan foto-foto. Good for my instagram, but not for my reading progress. Apalagi kalau sambil duduk di cafe, badan rasanya lebih cepet pegel dan nggak bisa bebas selonjoran.

Jadi… untuk posbar kali ini, saya mau mengangkat tema home sweet home aja deh, alias reading nook favorit saya di rumah 😀

nook1Yang pertama adalah sofa di ruang tengah, yang letaknya memang berdekatan dengan rak dan lemari buku saya. Plusnya? Gampang kalau mau nyamperin rak buku untuk milih-milih bacaan atau sekadar mengagumi koleksi sendiri ;p Trus, deket juga sama dapur tempat saya bisa mengambil segala jenis camilan. Dan sofa ini juga lumayan nyamanlaah untuk baca lama-lama.

Minusnya? Saya harus rebutan sama Yofel, yang juga demen menggunakan sofa ini sebagai tempat nongkrongnya 😀 Lalu, letak sofa ini kurang mojok, jadi masih bisa keganggu orang lalu-lalang.

What I wish I had: armchair yang model wing dengan dudukan kaki ala-ala kursi Ikea yang sepertinya bakal nyaman banget untuk baca buku, dan bisa saya letakkan di bagian pojok ruangan, lebih dekat lagi dengan rak buku dan lebih privat posisinya.

Ikea my love :D

Ikea my love 😀

Lalu, tempat berikutnya yang jadi favorit saya adalah di teras depan rumah.

nook3

Plusnya: seger pemandangannya, hijau-hijau menyenangkan. Lebih sedap lagi kalau ditemenin minuman dingin kayak es cincau atau coca cola pakai es.

Minusnya: panas! Jadi kalau mau nyaman baca di sini, lebih baik pagi-pagi aja, atau sekalian bawa kipas angin portable buat nemenin baca biar adem 😀

What I wish I had: A swing porch! Udah cita-cita dari dulu tapi belum kesampean nih.. pasti asik banget buat jadi tempat baca, plus bisa sekalian ngadem juga…

swing-porch

Tapi dari semua tempat, favorit saya adalah… tempat tidur! Yeay 😀 Iya, saya emang kebo banget dan paling demen baca sambil tiduran. It’s not good for my eyes, sure. Tapi posisi paling enak emang baca sambil tiduran sih XD

nook2Plusnya: nyaman, simpel, praktis. Kalo ngantuk, ya tidur sekalian. Bangun tidur dan masih pingin nyantai, bisa sambil baca. Saya juga punya lampu baca Ikea yang bener-bener terang dan pas banget dipake di tempat tidur. So all’s set for me!

Minusnya: mata cepet rusak pastinyaaa… Dan memang lebih cepet ngantuk, terutama kalau baca buku menjelang tidur.

What I wish I had: Bedside table yang merangkap bookshelf. Praktis banget dan keren buat aksesori kamar pastinyaa 🙂

bookshelf-bedside

Ada yang juga punya reading nook favorit di rumah?

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[Posting Bareng BBI] My Top 5 Bookish Confessions

27 Monday Jun 2016

Posted by astrid.lim in list, my story

≈ 24 Comments

Tags

BBI, bookish, list, my story, Posting Bareng BBI 2016

bookish confessions

Halo! Setelah vakum ngeblog 3 mingguan ini akibat heboh melanglang buana (lebay sih), saya balik lagi, langsung dengan posting bareng BBI bulan Juni yang temanya lucu: Bookish Confession.

Berhubung saya juga sudah lama nggak posting yang berbau-bau pengakuan, saya berniat mau bikin My Top 5 Bookish Confessions aja deh 🙂 Soalnya kalau 10 kayanya kebanyakaaan XD

Dan inilah, My Top 5 Bookish Confessions:

  1. Saya adalah pembaca monogamis, setia sama satu buku sebelum berpaling ke yang lain! Entah kenapa ya, rasanya nggak enak aja gitu membagi-bagi perhatian ke lebih dari satu buku XD Mungkin juga karena saya orangnya kurang jago multitasking yaah… Jadi ya gitu. Currently reading saya di Goodreads juga biasanya cuma 1, biarpun kadang kalau lagi slow, bisa berlarut-larut sampai 2 minggu. Oiya, saya juga nyaris nggak pernah abandon satu buku sebelum menyelesaikannya, sebete apapun saya sama buku itu. Tapi ya itu, kalau sudah merasa bete dengan satu buku, setelah selesai, saya langsung mencatat nama penulisnya sebagai a big no-no, dan nggak akan menyentuh buku dari penulis itu lagi.
  2. Saya nggak bisa nyampul buku. Iya, saya memang kacau kalau melakukan hal-hal yang menyangkut pekerjaan tangan. Nilai prakarya dan seni rupa saya sejak SD sampai SMA selalu memper-memper 6. Yang penting lulus lah XD Jadi, menyampul buku pun selalu menjadi sebuah pekerjaan yang terlalu sulit buat saya. Ditambah lagi, saya juga terlalu malas untuk terus mencoba menyampul buku dengan rapi. Jadi, rata-rata buku saya tidak disampul. Kalaupun ada yang disampul, biasanya itu karena baru dipinjamkan ke orang lain yang berbaik hati untuk menyampulkannya 😀
  3. Saya pencinta berat printed books. Saya nggak punya e-reader dan belum berniat untuk beralih ke e-books. Meski saya mengerti tuntutan jaman masa kini, era teknologi canggih, dan alasan practicality, saya tetap setia dengan buku cetak. Mungkin nanti, nantiii sekali, kalau memang sudah nggak ada pilihan lain, saya akan beralih ke e-books. Atau mungkin tidak XD
  4. Timbunan saya saat ini sudah mencapai angka 200-an. Yang artinya, saya harus membaca setidaknya 16 buku dalam sebulan, atau 4 buku seminggu, untuk bisa membabat habis timbunan itu dalam waktu 1 tahun – dengan catatan, saya tidak akan beli buku baru selama setahun penuh! Sepertinya, mission impossible deh… Mungkin saya harus mulai belajar menerima kenyataan kalau timbunan akan selalu menjadi bagian hidup saya, haha.
  5. Saya adalah… books snob. Iya, susah lho mengakui ini, tapi ternyata saya termasuk golongan bookworm yang menyebalkan, terutama untuk orang-orang yang baru kenal hahaha.. Saya lebih sering baca buku import dibandingkan buku lokal, saya menilai buku dari berapa banyak award yang dia terima, atau seberapa prestige penulisnya. Dan dulu bahkan saya sempat meremehkan genre yang saya anggap nggak level seperti romance. Tapi untunglah, setelah kenal dengan anak-anak BBI yang memiliki beragam minat bacaan, mata saya pelan-pelan terbuka. At least saya nggak pernah menjudge orang dari selera bacaannya lagi, hihihi.. Meskipun…. mungkin saya masih juga tetap snobbish sih XD

Ikutan juga yuk share Bookish Confession mu! 🙂

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[Posting Bareng BBI] Balada Bakar Buku

26 Thursday May 2016

Posted by astrid.lim in my story

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

book burning, hari buku nasional, my story, my thoughts, opini, posbar, Posting Bareng BBI 2016

beware of book

Yes, books are dangerous. They should be dangerous – theycontain ideas. – Pete Hautman

Buku identik dengan ide. Dan terkadang (atau seringkali) ide-ide ini membuat pihak-pihak tertentu merasa terancam, takut, dan terpojokkan. Pihak-pihak ini sadar, bahwa buku dapat menjadi senjata yang lebih berbahaya dibandingkan pistol atau bom.

Karena sudah terpojok, kadang pihak-pihak tersebut mulai melakukan segala cara untuk bisa meredam ketakutan mereka akan tersebarnya ide-ide yang dianggap berbahaya. Ide-ide ini bisa berupa kebebasan berekspresi yang dinilai terlalu berlebihan (misalnya penggunaan kata-kata kasar atau adegan seksualitas yang terlalu eksplisit), atau bisa juga berupa ideologi maupun kepercayaan yang dianggap tidak cocok dengan situasi dan kondisi masyarakat di daerah tertentu (paham komunisme atau ateisme bisa masuk ke dalam kategori ini, setidaknya untuk negara kita tercinta).

Dan cara-cara yang ditempuh memang cukup ekstrim, dari mulai melarang peredaran buku di daerahnya, menggolongkan suatu buku ke dalam kategori “banned books” atau buku terlarang, bahkan yang paling ekstrim adalah membakar buku-buku yang dianggap berbahaya, dengan tujuan memusnahkannya sekaligus.

Books Burning

Books burning, atau pembakaran buku, sering juga disebut sebagai librisida, memiliki sejarah yang panjang. Menurut catatan, ritual pembakaran buku bahkan sudah terjadi di jaman Perjanjian Lama Alkitab, saat saat Raja Jehoiakim membakar teks Nabi Yeremia.

Dari masa ke masa, pembakaran buku selalu menjadi bagian dari sejarah, baik di tengah perang yang berkecamuk, pendudukan suatu kelompok di atas kelompok lainnya, atau saat ada paham dan ajaran baru yang diperkenalkan ke dalam masyarakat.

Salah satu puncak ritual pembakaran buku terjadi di era Perang Dunia II, atau saat Nazi berkuasa. Saking parnonya dengan ide-ide yang mengancam kekuasaan mereka, hampir semua buku -kecuali yang officially diakui oleh pemerintahan Hitler saat itu- dibakar habis. Razia buku pun menjadi satu hal yang rutin dilakukan, dan siapapun yang memiliki buku lain di luar buku yang diizinkan saat itu, dianggap nekat atau memang memiliki privilege luar biasa.

Topik pembakaran buku juga cukup sering diangkat ke dalam novel, beberapa yang terkenal dan sudah pernah saya baca misalnya Fahrenheit 451 dan Book Thief. Tema pembakaran buku sangat dekat dengan pembaca, karena pembaca pada umumnya adalah orang-orang yang mencintai buku lebih dari (hampir) apapun, dan bersedia menjadi guardian angel dari buku-buku yang ada di dunia 🙂

_U5B5860March 27, 2013.cr2

salah satu adegan dari film The Book Thief

Indonesia?

Posting Bareng BBI bulan Mei ini mengambil tema Hari Buku Nasional yang jatuh tanggal 17 Mei lalu. Dan menurut saya, topik bakar-membakar buku cukup relevan dengan kondisi dunia perbukuan di Indonesia saat ini, mengingat banyaknya berita mengenai pembakaran buku “aliran kiri” yang akhir-akhir ini marak terjadi, bahkan lembaga edukasi semacam Perpustakaan Nasional sempat membuat kontroversi saat menyatakan kalau mereka juga mendukung pemusnahan buku aliran kiri.

Rupanya, di era setelah reformasi ini, Indonesia sebagai negara demokrasi terbesar ketiga di dunia, masih juga memilih untuk mengambil jalan pintas saat dihadapkan dengan isu yang dianggap bisa mengancam keutuhan negara. Isu yang sebenarnya bisa dimanfaatkan sebagai sarana untuk mengedukasi generasi muda penerus bangsa tentang salah satu era kelam namun penting dalam sejarah bangsa Indonesia, sayangnya justru langsung diberangus dan dicap sebagai “bahaya laten”.

Apakah memusnahkan buku-buku dan memberangus ide-ide berarti kita sudah melakukan sesuatu yang berjasa bagi anak-anak kita, misalnya dengan menjauhkan mereka dari “bahaya aliran kiri?” Menurut saya sih tidak ya. Karena justru dengan mengedukasi anak-anak kita tentang sejarah bangsalah, maka kita sudah berbuat adil pada mereka. Membakar dan memusnahkan buku malahan merampas hak generasi penerus untuk belajar dan mengerti benar mengenai suatu paham dan ide, dan memutuskan secara sadar mana yang bahaya dan mana yang tidak.

Saya sendiri khawatir kalau anak saya dibesarkan di dalam lingkungan yang menutup aksesnya terhadap ketersediaan informasi apapun, nantinya pemikiran dan ide-idenya justru akan terkungkung begitu saja, bahkan malah membatasi dunianya dengan alasan yang salah.

Burned, But Not Dead

Di masa kini, pembakaran buku seringkali bukan dimaksudkan untuk memusnahkan buku secara keseluruhan, terutama karena teknologi memang mempermudah pembaca untuk mengakses buku dalam banyak bentuk (digital, audio, dan sebagainya). Namun gerakan membakar buku masih terus-menerus dilakukan, lebih sebagai simbol perlawanan dan kebencian terhadap suatu ideologi atau ide tertentu.

Matt Fishburn, dalam bukunya Burning Books, menyatakan bahwa fenomena membakar buku dari masa ke masa sebenarnya lebih sebagai “kontrol”, untuk menegaskan “kekuasaan dan kepercayaan dari suatu rezim”.

Beberapa motif yang juga terkenal untuk pembakaran buku adalah motif religius, yang didasari pada pandangan sempit terhadap suatu kepercayaan tertentu. Yang cukup terkenal misalnya saat Pastor Terry Jones berniat untuk membakar Al Quran saat peringatan peristiwa 9/11 di Amerika.

Namun apakah membakar buku masih efektif untuk menghancurkan berkembangnya ide dan intelektualitas? Apakah membakar buku masih relevan di zaman yang serba terbuka dan penuh ide-ide baru seperti sekarang ini?

Salah satu quote yang saya paling suka datang dari seorang aktivis buku dan pemilik toko buku The Bookshop di Skotlandia, Shaun Bythell:

Anyone who has tried to burn books to wipe out ideologies has always failed. It is a pointless exercise. Ideas exist beyond the book. You are ridiculing the idea that you can destroy ideas by burning books. You can’t.

Jadi – buat apa membakar buku? Karena ide-ide di kepala manusia tidak semudah itu untuk dibakar. Dan yang pasti, jangan biarkan praktek pembakaran buku -seheboh apapun itu- mempengaruhi cara kita memandang suatu ide, dan meneruskannya kepada anak-cucu kita.

Selamat hari buku nasional!

“A word to the unwise.
Torch every book.
Char every page.
Burn every word to ash.
Ideas are incombustible.
And therein lies your real fear.”
― Ellen Hopkins

Tulisan ini adalah opini pribadi yang dilengkapi dengan keterangan dari berbagai sumber.

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Wishful Wednesday Meme

Fill your Wednesdays with wishful thinking =)

Popsugar Reading Challenge 2018

bookworms

  • aleetha
  • althesia
  • alvina
  • ana
  • annisa
  • bzee
  • dewi
  • dion
  • fanda
  • Ferina
  • helvry
  • inne
  • Kobo
  • maya
  • mei
  • melmarian
  • mia
  • ndari
  • nophie
  • oky
  • peri hutan
  • ren
  • Reygreena
  • sel sel kelabu
  • sinta
  • tanzil
  • tezar
  • yuska

shop til you drop

  • abe books
  • Amazon
  • better world books
  • book depository
  • BukaBuku
  • Buku Dedo
  • bukukita
  • vixxio

Top Posts & Pages

  • Lima Sekawan - The Series
    Lima Sekawan - The Series
  • Lethal White by Robert Galbraith
    Lethal White by Robert Galbraith
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    Dongeng-Dongeng Grimm Bersaudara
  • The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
    The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
  • Abarat 2: Days of Magic, Nights of War by Clive Barker
    Abarat 2: Days of Magic, Nights of War by Clive Barker

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