It’s been a while since I’ve posted my last Round Up. These past few months had been really chaotic, with new boss, stack of work and of course catching up with books 🙂
I decided to write one round up for April and May. I hope everyone is still enjoying their challenges. It’s midyear already and we’re half way to the end of 2014. Time really does fly!
Some highlights from the past two months:
Visit a Country: Therese Raquin (Emile Zola), posted by Rizki Wulandari (Pandora Bagque)
Baru saja menyelesaikan membaca Therese Raquin karya Emile Zola. Novel ini termasuk dalam jajaran novel klasik yang diterbitkan oleh Gramedia Pustaka Utama. Awal mula tertarik membeli novel ini karena membaca kalimat pertama, ya hanya kalimat pertama, dari resume di cover belakang novel. Kalimat tersebut berisi seperti ini: Di sebuah apartemen kumuh di Passage du Pont-Neuf, Paris, Therese Raquin terjebak dalam pernikahan tanpa cinta dengan Camille, sepupunya yang sakit-sakitan. Terus ada apa dengan penggalan resume tersebut? Haha, simple, ada kata Paris-nya. Itulah mengapa aku langsung membelinya, tanpa membaca lagi kelanjutan resume di belakang novel tersebut. Aku ingin mendatangi Paris suatu hari nanti dan aku ingin melihat Paris melalui novel ini, hehe.
Cover Lust: In The Bag (Kate Klise), posted by Ferina (Lemari Bukuku)
Awalnya ketika gue baca sinopsis buku ini, terus terang gue gak terlalu tertarik. Karena gue pikir, ah paling-paling soal abg yang jatuh cinta gara-gara kopernya ketuker, jadi gue melewatkan tawaran mbak Maria untuk PO buku ini. Tapi, waktu ngeliat covernya yang imut-imut ini, yah…. Luluhlah pertahanan gue. Gak kuat melawan godaan cover yang menarik ini. 4 pasang kaki, dengan sepatu yang ‘menjelaskan’ siapa tokoh-tokoh buku ini, lalu dengan latar warna hijau yang kalau dipandang-pandang seperti sebuah koper, lengkap dengan tempelan sticker hotel dan ada gambar passport-ya. Ilustrasi di setiap pergantian bab – yang ditandai dengan pergantian hari itu, juga bagus – kertas-kertas seperti boarding pass, tiket, daftar belanjaan atau bahkan surat rahasia dari Andrew untuk Daisy.
(Not So) Fresh From The Oven: Just One Day (Gayle Forman), posted by Sarah (The Chic Reader)
I bought this book based on the cover and all the good reviews about it. Although I bought this book almost a year ago, it kept sitting in my bookshelf (and kindle). At that moment, I wasn’t intrigued enough to read this book.
Boy oh boy, I wish I read this book before so many people talked about it.
This book is romantic but not that cheesy one, like some of YA romantic books (which sometimes I enjoy reading). It kinda remind me of the movie, Before Sunrise, but this isn’t just a girl meets boy story. This is ‘a girl meets boy then decides to go to Paris with him unexpectedly only to find that the boy leaves her the day after’ story.
Relax, this is not a sad love story. It’s the story of personal growth that follows teenager Allyson Healy as she searches for Willem de Ruiter. It’s a story of making a life changing choice, as Allyson leaves her college for a while and embark on a journey to Europe to discover herself, her future, and her connection with Willem.
Once Upon a Time: The Secret Agent (Joseph Conrad), posted by Neer (A Hot Cup of Pleasure)
First published in 1907, Conrad sets his novel in London of 1886, a year before Queen Victoria celebrated her golden jubilee, in an era when Britannia was ruling the waves. But there were undercurrents of discontent, people who felt that Britain’s confident imperial march had to be halted. Thus, we find spies, anarchists, agent provocateurs, manufacturers of bombs, political agents, and even police men who know about these disgruntled elements but have their own agendas to fulfill.
Monseiur Verloc is settled in London where he has a shop selling pornographic material. He lives with his wife Winnie, his mother-in-law, and his brother-in-law, the mentally-challenged Stevie. However, Verloc is also a secret (double) agent who has his comfortable existence shattered when he is asked by his political masters to do something more drastic than merely provide ‘worthless’ information. Desperate, Verloc comes up with a diabolical plan which exploits the affection that the simple-minded Stevie has for him. However, he had not counted on the love that Winnie had for her brother whom she had always seen as more of a son than a brother.
Chunky Brick: Bleak House (Charles Dickens), posted by Phinnea (Ravenscroftcloud)
If a book is any good you can’t stretch the last 100 pages to last a week, and Bleak House certainly is. It is, of course, by Charles Dickens and is nearly 800 pages of wonderful Dickensian language which stops some people on page 2. (It did me, years ago, but now I’m made of sterner stuff. Or just like having people to readalong with.) Bleak House is about the never-ending chancery suit Jarndyce and Jarndyce, which has been going along for God knows how long and the various people it has destroyed along the way, turning their wits by holding out hope like a multi-generational will o’ the wisp. Two young people Ada and Richard are wards of the case. Fortunately for them, they are given a home by the generous John Jarndyce who also looks after the young Esther Summerson, who is also orphaned and only knows at first that it was better she had never been born. The other focal point is Lady Dedlock, whose beauty is matched only by her boredom, almost nothing interests her, though she is rich and could have or do anything she wanted, until she sees a scrap of mysterious handwriting.
Not My Cup Of Tea: Madre (Dee Lestari), posted by Mide (Page Zero Two)
Buku Dee yang pertama saya baca. Saya sudah dengar nama penulis ini berlalu-lalang di dunia baca-membaca, tapi saya memang bebal jika masalah penulis mainstream Indonesia. Butuh usaha meyakinkan diri secara mendalam atau tuntutan sosial agar saya mau membaca buku-buku dari penulis mainstream Indonesia.
Bagi saya, Madre itu…pretentious. Muluk. Sesuatu yang gak bisa pahami. Rasanya seperti membaca komik tentang masak-memasak dengan hiperbola satu atau dua poin di bawah hiperbola Yakitate Japan. Setidaknya Yakitate Japan menghibur dengan guyonanannya sedangkan ini, saya malah merasa membaca sesuatu yang mungkin bukan di Indonesia. Seakan itu dunia lain. Memang saya sih orang desa dari timur Jawa, gak ngerti roti-rotian karena bagi saya nasi itu No. 1.
There are still many interesting reviews, I wish I could post all of them here!
I wish everyone a wonderful, delightful June full of sunshine and great books!
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