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~ some books to share from my little library

Tag Archives: non review

Opini Bareng Setting Dalam Buku: New York, New York!

09 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by astrid.lim in list, my story

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

BBI, list, my story, new york, non review, opini 2015, opini bareng

opini bareng bbi 2015

Kalau yang rajin mantengin blog saya (siapa juga??), pasti tahu deh saya cinta berat sama buku-buku yang punya setting di New York City. The Big Apple, The City That Never Sleeps… Pokoknya buat saya, kota NY itu semacam punya daya magis yang sangat tinggi dan selalu bisa bikin saya bermimpi-mimpi untuk merasakan tinggal di sana.

Saya beruntung sudah berkesempatan menginjakkan kaki di NY, tapi rasanya masih belum puas karena begitu banyaknya yang bisa dijelajahi, orang-orang yang diamati, budaya yang diresapi, tempat-tempat legendaris, dan berbagai keasyikan lainnya yang rasanya nggak ada habis-habisnya.

new-york-city

Karena belum ada kesempatan untuk tinggal di NY, saya akhirnya “terpaksa” memuaskan diri dengan cara membaca sebanyak mungkin buku dengan setting kota ini. Di Goodreads, saya punya shelf khusus bertanda “New York” untuk buku-buku tersebut. Dan inilah beberapa yang menjadi favorit saya:

Summer and The City (Candace Bushnell)

Buku kedua dari serial Carrie Diaries ini benar-benar memanjakan imajinasi saya tentang New York di kala summer. Carrie Bradshaw, yang baru pertama kalinya menginjakkan kaki di kota tersebut, membawa kita menjelajahi NY melalui tempat-tempat yang tidak biasa: toko-toko vintage, taman dan cafe yang tersembunyi. Ditambah lagi, Carrie mengobservasi orang-orang NY yang sangat berbeda dengan penduduk kota kecil tempat ia tinggal. Fresh point of view with very delightful setting.

Walls Within Walls (Maureen Sherry)

Kisah teka-teki dan petualangan untuk middle grade selalu jadi favorit saya. Apalagi yang satu ini bersetting di kota New York, dengan deskripsi tempat yang cukup detail, mulai dari NY Public Library sampai stasiun subway yang terbengkalai. Seru, apalagi kita diajak melompat dari satu tempat ke tempat lain dengan petunjuk-petunjuk yang serba misterius. Untuk yang penasaran pengen menjelajahi NY tanpa kisah yang berat, buku ini pas banget jadi pilihan.

Let The Great World Spin (Colum McCann)

Buku ini…. bikin speechless. Menangkap keseharian warga NY lewat salah satu momen bersejarah yang menjadi bagian kisah kota ini. Yang membuat saya terkagum-kagum adalah gaya si penulis dalam bercerita, nggak penuh dengan deskripsi visual seperti layaknya buku-buku bersetting kuat, tapi justru menggambarkannya lewat para karakter utama kisah ini, yang begitu menyatu dengan NY, dan menjadi representasi dari kota tersebut. Keren banget.

Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares (Rachel Cohn, David Levithan)

Awww.. buku ini adalah salah satu buku yang bikin saya jatuh cinta bukan karena plot atau karakternya, tapi karena settingnya yang banyak mengambil tempat di Strand, toko buku legendaris di kota New York. Di sanalah kisah Dash dan Lily berawal, dua anak nerdy yang sama-sama kesepian di tengah musim panas kota NY. SetelahΒ  Strand, Dash dan Lily berkeliling kota NY, meninggalkan sebuah buku catatan Moleskine di tempat-tempat favorit mereka beserta tantangan-tantangan yang saling mereka lempar. Unyu banget πŸ™‚

Strand_Bookstore_

From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (E.L. Konigsburg)

Kalau Dash & Lily’s membuat saya kepingin banget menginjakkan kaki di The Strand, buku From The Mixed-Up ini benar-benar membuat saya penasaran dengan Metropolitan Museum of New York, atau yang sering disebut sebagai The Met, tempat Claudia dan adiknya bersembunyi saat melarikan diri dari rumah. Bahkan, di Met sendiri ada tour yang rutenya mengikuti petualangan Claudia lho, kyaaa…pingiin!!

met museum

Meski tidak semua buku bersetting New York City berhasil memikat hati saya, namun unsur setting kota yang tak pernah tidur ini merupakan additional point yang selalu membuat saya penasaran untuk membuka lembar-lembarnya. Dan ketika plot cerita yang keren sukses berpadu dengan setting kota ini, hmm… di situlah kenikmatan membaca yang sesungguhnya bisa saya rasakan πŸ™‚

2015: Some Anticipations

08 Monday Jun 2015

Posted by astrid.lim in list, my story

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

2015, list, my story, non review

2015 sudah berjalan setengahnya (what? it’s June already? How come?), dan sejauh ini saya sudah membaca beberapa buku yang memorable, banyak buku yang so-so, dan ada sedikit yang membuat saya menyesal πŸ˜€

Tapi biar bagaimanapun, tetap saja ada buku-buku -yang meskipun nantinya mungkin akan mengecewakan atau berada di bawah ekspektasi- yang ditunggu-tunggu kehadirannya. Dan di setengah tahun ke depan, inilah beberapa buku yang masuk ke dalam daftar tunggu saya tersebut:

frankieprestocoverThe Magic Strings of Frankie Presto (Mitch Albom)

Yes, Mitch Albom memang kadang suka terlalu klise, bahkan buku terakhirnya (First Phoe Call From Heaven) masih ada di timbunan karena saya belum menemukan mood yang tepat untuk membacanya. Tapi tetap saja, sejak Tuesdays with Morrie, saya sudah resmi menjadi penggemar berat Mr. Albom, dan tidak pernah melewatkan karya-karyanya. Frankie Presto berkisah tentang seorang pemain gitar legendaris yang mengubah kehidupan enam orang lewat enam lembar senar gitarnya yang ajaib. Sounds very Mitch Albom kan ya? πŸ˜€ Tapi, sebagai pencinta musik, katanya sih di buku ini Mitch berhasil menunjukkan pesonanya lewat passion musiknya yang selama ini belum pernah terlihat di buku-buku sebelumnya. Penasaran kan? Buku ini akan terbit bulan November nanti.

Career of Evil (Robert Galbraith)

Syukurlah, JK Rowling tampak masih rajin meneruskan serial Cormoran Strike yang ia tulis dengan nama pena Robert Galbraith. Rencananya, novel ke-3 sang detektif veteran perang ini akan terbit di bulan September 2015. Sayang, belum ada bocoran cover maupun sinopsis buku tersebut sampai saat ini, tapi apapun isinya, yang pasti buku ini tetap ditunggu-tunggu!!

The Hollow Boy (Jonathan Stroud)

hollow boyYes, ini adalah kelanjutan seri Lockwood & Co yang seru dan entertaining. Nggak sabar rasanya menanti petualangan berikutnya dari Anthony, Lucy dan George, ditambah dengan sosok tengkorak di dalam stoples yang sepertinya bakal berbau-bau sarkastik ala Bartimeus si jin kocak. Oiya, katanya bakal ada pendatang baru yang annoying juga di sini, cewek bernama Holly Munro. Kyaaa.. pasti bakal banyak berantem sama Lucy deh XD Yang pasti, buku ini akan terbit bulan September nanti, jadiii.. mari bersabaaar!

go set a watchmanGo Set a Watchman (Harper Lee)

Ini mungkin adalah buku yang paling kontroversial sepanjang tahun 2015, karena kasus ditemukannya manuskrip lama yang sudah ditulis Harper Lee puluhan tahun lalu ini sempat menuai pro dan kontra. Ada pihak yang mengatakan sebenarnya Harper Lee (yang saat ini kondisi tubuh dan pikirannya sudah menua) tidak setuju buku ini diterbitkan, tapi tidak diberi kesempatan bersuara. Ada juga yang berpendapat kalau pihak-pihak tertentulah yang diuntungkan dari penerbitan naskah Go Set a Watchman. Namun apapun yang terjadi dan apapun kisah di balik buku ini, yang jelas saya (dan semua penggemar To Kill a Mockingbird) sudah tidak sabar untuk membaca kelanjutan cerita Scout dan kawan-kawannya!

in the unlikely eventIn The Unlikely Event (Judy Blume)

Saya sudah jatuh cinta berat dengan Judy Blume sejak ia mengenalkan saya dengan Margaret. Beberapa buku untuk dewasa yang ditulisnya juga rata-rata saya suka, meski saya lebih tertarik dengan buku-buku middle grade dan young adult-nya. Bulan Juni ini, Blume kembali akan menerbitkan buku untuk dewasa, In The Unlikely Event, yang mengambil setting di kota kecil tempatnya tinggal dulu. Buku-buku Blume selalu penuh dengan penemuan jati diri, pencarian kebahagiaan, dan keluarga serta persahabatan. Dan setelah vakum menulis buku dewasa bertahun-tahun lamanya, this is the perfect time for her to prove that she’s still the master of storytelling- no matter who her target audience is.

finding audreyFinding Audrey (Sophie Kinsella)

Kebalikan dengan Judy Blume yang terkenal dengan buku-buku anaknya dan kini menulis buku dewasa, Sophie Kinsella justru sudah lebih dulu terkenal dengan buku-buku chicklitnya yang fenomenal (terutama serial Shopaholic) – dan baru kali ini masuk ke ranah young adult. Sejujurnya saya sudah bosan dengan Kinsella dan karakter-karakter bukunya yang mirip-mirip saja satu sama lain. Tapi tampaknya Audrey- tokoh utama buku ini- digambarkan cukup berbeda dari karakter chicklit Kinsella lainnya. Dan kisah persahabatan yang jadi percintaan ini sepertinya cukup sweet untuk dibaca kalau lagi dipenuhi mood “anak muda” πŸ˜€ Terbit bulan Juni 2015. Oiya, covernya lucu ya!

Selain buku-buku di atas, masih ada beberapa lagi yang bikin penasaran, seperti The Rest of Us Just Live Here (Patrick Ness), juga newly discovered Dr. Seuss’s book: What Pet Should I Get? Semoga semuanya bisa dan sempat untuk dibaca XD

Kalau kamu, ada yang kamu tunggu-tunggu sepanjang 2015 ini?

 

 

 

What If … You Were Locked in a Bookstore?

24 Friday Oct 2014

Posted by astrid.lim in my story

≈ 26 Comments

Tags

bookstores, my story, non review, what if

what if

Mendadak terinspirasi membuat jenis tulisan What If πŸ™‚

Mungkin karena akhir-akhir ini lagi merasa mentok menulis review, dan butuh suasana baru di blog ini. Dan berandai-andai sepertinya memang merupakan hobi saya, terbukti dari meme Wishful Wednesday di hari Rabu XD

Kali ini, posting perdana What If akan membahas tentang bagaimana bila kamu terkunci semalam suntuk di toko buku favorit?

Tulisan ini terinspirasi dari kejadian nyata seorang pengunjung toko buku Waterstones di London yang tanpa sengaja terkunci saat toko sudah tutup dan karyawannya sudah pulang semua. Willis, nama pria itu, langsung menge-tweet situasinya, dan alih-alih panik, orang-orang malah merasa kepingin berada di tempat Willis. Akhirnya, Waterstones memanfaatkan kejadian itu dan membuka kontes yang hadiahnya adalah tidur semalam suntuk di Waterstones London bagi 10 pemenang. Dream comes true!

Gara-gara membaca artikel ini, saya jadi bertanya-tanya apa yang akan saya lakukan kalau mendapat “kesempatan” terkunci di toko buku favorit semalam suntuk?

1. Menguasai sofa dan tempat duduk favorit

Selama ini bete banget karena tempat duduk paling empuk dan paling enak selaluuu saja diduduki orang lain? Saatnya menguasai sudut favorit tanpa diganggu orang-orang lain!

Source

Source

2. READ

Ya iyalah yaaa.. mumpung di toko buku tanpa ada pengunjung lain dan penjaga toko yang suka wara-wiri bikin stress, saatnya menghabiskan buku-buku yang selama ini cuman berhasil dilahap setengah-setengah saja, dan belum bisa terbeli karena harganya yang mahal.

Source

Source

3. Menyusuri rak-rak yang selama ini nggak pernah tersentuh

Kalau selama ini kita selalu terburu-buru ke toko buku, nggak sempat lihat-lihat rak yang bukan genre kita, apalagi punya waktu untuk membuka-buka buku-buku tersebut… Nah, sekarang saatnya mengobrak-abrik rak yang bahkan tidak pernah kita lirik sebelumnya. Buku tentang Lego? Ramalan bintang? Peta dunia? Tips travel? Ensiklopedia? Semua buku aneh yang selama ini rasanya nggak ada waktu untuk diperhatikan, ternyata menyimpan kejutan yang menyenangkan πŸ™‚

Source

Source

4. Breathe… and smell that smell

Pencinta buku pasti sepakat kalau salah satu wangi paling enak di dunia adalah wangi buku. Buku baru, buku lama, buku kuno… semua enak. Dan kapan lagi kita bisa mencium wangi terenak di dunia ini dengan sepuas hati? Tanpa terganggu bau-bauan lain seperti parfum atau… bau keringat?

 

Source

Source

5. Sleep among books!

Kalau mata sudah lelah dan tak sanggup menahan kantuk, apa lagi yang lebih enak selain tidur- di antara ribuan buku? Hmm…

Source

Source

Tapi kalau dipikir-pikir, mungkin nggak semua toko buku juga asik untuk jadi tempat terkunci semalaman. Ada beberapa toko yang terlalu boring, ada yang agak spooky, dan ada juga yang memang tempatnya nggak nyaman. Saya sendiri dari tadi berkhayal kepingin terkunci di toko buku Kinokuniya yang di Plaza Senayan atau yang di Nge Ann City Singapore πŸ˜€

Kalau kamu, kepingin terkunci di toko buku apa? Dan mau ngapain aja semalam suntuk?

Guest Post: Tentang Biru Memilih Buku

14 Monday Apr 2014

Posted by astrid.lim in event, my story

≈ 21 Comments

Tags

BBI, BBI anniversary, event, guest post, non review

BBIANNIV_guestposting

Halo semua πŸ™‚ Masih dalam rangka merayakan ulang tahun Blogger Buku Indonesia ke-3 yang jatuh tanggal 13 April 2014, kali ini Books to Share berpartisipasi dalam event Guest Post, dan tamu yang mampir di sini adalah Biru Cahya Imanda, member BBI yang kini sedang kuliah semester akhir di jurusan Ilmu Komunikasi, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya. Serunya, saya sama sekali nggak mengenal Biru sebelumnya, jadi Guest Post ini benar-benar jadi ajang perkenalan yang menyenangkan buat saya. Mau tahu apa yang bakal dibahas sama Biru? Simak penuturannya di bawah ini yuk! (Jangan lupa baca juga interview saya dengan Biru di bagian akhir postingan ini ya)

biru

Banyak teman saya yang paham, maklum banget dengan kegemaran saya dalam membaca. Kalau saya udah pegang satu buku (kecuali buku kuliah :p), terus mendadak saya ketawa atau jejeritan atau heboh sendiri, teman-teman saya biasanya hanya berdecak keras sambil geleng-geleng kepala. Kadang-kadang mereka ngomel sedikit, sih, tapi yang jelas mereka udah ngerti banget kalau saya nggak bisa (dan nggak mau) diganggu ketika membaca buku. And I thank them so much for that.

Nah, ada beberapa dari teman-teman saya itu yang juga lumayan doyan membaca. Mereka pernah beberapa kali bertanya ke saya, β€œKamu tau dari mana, sih, kalau buku ini bagus?”Hmm….biasanya saya jadi agak gelagapan kalau ditanya begitu. Mendadak jadi bingung sendiri, padahal di sisi lain saya tau mau menjawab apa. Takut aja kalau nantinya mereka nggak paham dengan apa yang saya bicarain, since I’m not so good with talking.

Maka, ketika tau bahwa BBI mengadakan proyek β€˜BBI Anniversary Guest Post 2014’ untuk event BBI Anniversary 2014, saya memutuskan untuk ikut. Selain agar saya bisa lebih berpartisipasi di event-event BBI, saya juga bisa sekalian berbagi pikiranβ€”dan perasaanβ€”tentang buku, terutama hal-hal yang saya pertimbangkan ketika membeli buku. Sebetulnya saya bisa aja langsung menulis di blog sendiri. Tapi, karena saya orangnya suka menunda-nunda, makanya nggak kesampaian mulu. Dan proyek β€˜BBI Anniversary Guest Post 2014’ berhasil jadi β€œcambuk”saya untuk menulis.

Soooo…. here are the things that I usually consider before buying any books:

1. Penulis

Kalau saya udah suka banget, cinta mati sama penulisnya, rasanya saya bakal beli karya apapun yang mereka tulis. Bahkan seandainya mereka merilis catatan belanja sehari-hari pun, kemungkinan besar akan saya beli dan baca juga. Sitta Karina, misalnya, merupakan salah satu penulis favorit saya yang karyanya selalu saya tunggu. Baru-baru ini, ia menerbitkan ulang serial novel Magical Seira dengan berbagai revisi dan cover baru. Saya sudah punya versi lamanya, tapi toh saya tetap membeli versi barunya. Karena ya itu tadi; saya udah mabok kepayang dengan penulisnya. Atau gaya menulisnya. Atau karya-karyanya. Begitulah.

2. Rekomendasi

Ada, kan, teman-teman atau keluarga yang juga suka membaca dan seleranya sama dengan kita? Atau mereka yang tau betul dengan selera bacaan kita? Nah, saya punya beberapa teman dan sepupu yang, asiknya, punya selera bacaan sama dengan saya. Kami saling bertukar informasi tentang buku-buku yang menurut kami bagus untuk dibaca. Makanya, saya percaya dengan rekomendasi-rekomendasi merekaβ€”dan jarang merasa kecewa dengan buku-buku yang mereka rekomendasikan.

3. Review di Internet dan Media Massa

Bergabung di BBI benar-benar menambah pengetahuan saya tentang buku. Dan sejujurnya timbunan saya jadi makin menumpuk karena tergiur dengan berbagai macam review buku yang ditulis anggota-anggota BBI. Selain itu, Goodreads juga menjadi sumber rujukan lain yang biasa saya tuju ketika akan membeli buku baru. Resensi di majalah juga kadang membantu, meskipun kini saya udah jarang banget membaca majalah.

4. Cover & Sinopsis

Ketiga hal yang saya sebutkan sebelumnya membuat saya sering kali sudah punya kepastian mau membeli buku apa ketika berada di toko buku. Jadi, biasanya saya bakal langsung menuju rak tempat buku yang saya cari. Tapi, tentu saya nggak langsung bablas ke kasir begitu aja. Saya keliling dulu, lihat-lihat buku-buku lain yang ditata sedemikian rupa di sana. Hal pertama yang selalu bikin saya tertarik untuk mengambil suatu buku dari rak adalah cover. Well, sometimes I do judge a book by its cover. Hehehe. Baru setelah itu saya baca sinopsis di bagian belakang bukunya. Kalau merasa cocok dan klik, baru biasanya akan saya bawa ke meja kasir.

Kalau ternyata buku yang saya beli dan baca nggak sesuai dengan ekspektasi saya…. yah, tergantung sih. Kalau saya menikmati tulisannya, saya bakal terus membaca sampai halaman terakhir. Tapi, kalau saya merasa kayak β€œdipaksa”membaca, biasanya saya berhenti, nggak melanjutkan membaca meskipun ceritanya belum habis. Nggak semua orang punya sikap yang sama kayak saya. Tapi, menurut saya, membaca, kan, aktivitas yang seharusnya menyenangkan. Jadi, kalau di tengah perjalanannya malah merasa nggak asik, lebih baik di-drop aja, kan? Bukunya, maksud saya, bukan aktivitas membacanya. Hehehe.

Well, intinya sih…. just keep reading, just keep reading!

Sekilas tentang Biru

Cerita dikit donk, tentang asal mula namamu yang unik πŸ™‚

Saya selalu bingung sendiri kalau ditanya pertanyaan model begini, hahaha. Saya pernah tanya ortu, tentang kenapa mereka ngasih nama Biru (dan Jingga, nama adik saya), dan mereka bilang karena biar beda dari yang lain. Tapi, saya nggak puas sama jawaban itu. Suatu hari, ortu akhirnya cerita tentang sejarah di balik pemberian nama β€˜Biru’, meskipun menurut saya nggak nyambung-nyambung amat.

Pada awalnya, ortu mau ngasih nama saya β€˜Selagi Mentari Biru’. β€˜Selagi’ merupakan kependekan dari Selasa Legi karena saya lahir pada hari itu. β€˜Mentari Biru’ karena…. well, yang ini saya kurang tau, padahal saya lahir malam hari. Tunggu. Apa mentari warnanya biru ya kalau malam? Ah, lupakan. Nggak penting *digetok Mbak Astrid*. Tapi, Yangti (Ibunya Papa) nggak suka dengan nama tersebut karena menurut beliau, β€˜Selagi Mentari Biru’ terdengar kayak judul sinetron. Akhirnya, ortu memutuskan untuk tetap mengambil nama β€˜Biru’, sedangkan nama kepanjangan disumbang oleh Yangti dan Uti (Ibunya Mama). Jadilah Biru Cahya Imanda. Nggak kebayang juga kalau beneran dikasih nama β€˜Selagi Mentari Biru’. :))

Masalah warna favorit…. mungkin secara nggak langsung saya jadi terdoktrin sendiri bahwa dengan nama Biru, harusnya saya juga suka warna biru, dong? Hahahah geblek banget memang. Jadi, ya gitu, kamar dan barang-barang pribadi saya yang lain kebanyakan berwarna biru, biar matching sama namanya. :)) Tapi, makin gede, saya malah jadi bosen sendiri lihat warna biru melulu.

Next, pertanyaan standar nih…Sejak kapan kamu suka membaca, dan apa genre favoritmu?

Hmm, saya udah suka membaca dari SD, meskipun yang dibaca semacam buku-buku cerita bergambar Winnie the Pooh, komik, dan novel mini Kecil-Kecil Punya Karya dari Mizan. Tapi, saya mulai agak maniak (lebay, woy!) dan baca buku yang agak tebal itu pas kelas I SMP. Awalnya, saya sama teman-teman masing-masing beli satu novel teenlit dengan judul berbeda, biar setelahnya bisa tuker-tukeran. Sejak saat itu, saya jadi makin sering beli dan baca buku, baik fiksi maupun non-fiksi, meskipun jauh lebih sering fiksi sih hehehe. Dan sejauh ini, romance dan YA jadi genre favorit bacaan saya. Saya nggak membatasi genre buku yang saya baca, tapi kedua genre tersebut yang paling banyak membawa kenikmatan (((CIYEH KENIKMATAN))) dalam membaca buat saya.

Nah, terus gimana asal mulanya terbentuk blog buku Buku-Buku Biru?

Kadang, sebelum membeli buku, saya suka cari-cari review-nya di internet. Saya lupa waktu itu kecantol di blog-nya siapa, yang jelas blog itu mencantumkan banner BBI. Dari situ, saya mulai tertarik dan cari-cari tau tentang BBI, yang ternyata adalah komunitas blogger pecinta buku dan menuliskan review-nya pada blog buku. Nah, di sisi lain, saya udah lumayan sering menulis review buku-buku yang saya baca di blog pribadi saya. Jadi, saat itu, saya lebih sering meng-update blog pribadi saya dengan review buku daripada postingan berbau kehidupan sehari-hari. Terus, saya pikir, kenapa nggak saya bikin blog buku aja yang khusus berisi review buku dan hal-hal lain terkait tentang buku? Saya bisa berbagi pengalaman membaca saya sekaligus mengasah kemampuan menulis. Akhirnya, lahir blog β€˜Buku-Buku Biru’ dan saya memutuskan untuk bergabung di BBI pada tahun 2012.

Bergabung di BBI bikin saya kenal dengan orang-orang keren yang juga doyan membaca, meskipun saya belum pernah sekali pun betemu langsung dengan mereka atau ikutan kopdar. Yang jelas, pengetahuan saya akan buku jadi meningkat. Belum lagi kalau sudah main-main ke blog mereka, wah asli timbunan saya jadi makin banyak. Banyaknya events dan challenges yang dibuat BBI juga secara pribadi bikin saya tertantang untuk terus menulis, meskipun untuk yang satu ini saya merasa masih kurang berpartisipasi (ampuuuun!). Tapi, yang paling saya suka, ya itu; bisa kenal dengan orang-orangyang punya hobi sama dan ngobrol seru tentang buku. :’D

Nah, saya ini suka minder sendiri kalau lagi main-main ke blog anggota BBI yang lain, karena saya merasa tulisan review saya kurang detail lah, nggak pernah ikut challenge lah, ini lah, itu lah, dll. Saya jadi termotivasi, sebenernya, untuk menulis lebih rajin dan berpartisipasi lebih sering di events atau challenges BBI. Tapi tapi tapi, niat mulia itu selalu terkalahkan oleh penyakit nomor wahid saya, yaitu procrastinating. Saya suka menunda-nunda, dan pada akhirnya nggak jadi saya lakuin. BBI memang memberi batas waktu maksimal dalam meng-update blog sih, cuma kan ini masalah tanggung jawab dan kesadaran diri. Jadi, ya gitu, dukanya adalah ketika lagi males-malesnya mau nge-review ditambah penyakit saya itu kambuh. Double combo.

Kalau disuruh memilih 5 buku favoritmu sepanjang masa, apa saja tuh?

Waduh, ini pertanyaan sulit. Sebentar, cari wangsit dulu….

  1. Pesan dari Bintang – Sitta Karina

Sitta Karina merupakan salah satu penulis favorit saya, dan buat saya, β€˜Pesan dari Bintang’ adalah masterpiece-nya sejauh ini. Saya suka gimana cerita sahabat-jadi-cinta yang banyak saya jumpai di berbagai novel, bisa dikemas lewat tulisan Sitta Karina yang engaging, nagih banget. Belum lagi karakter-karakter yang terasa β€œhidup”. Top!

  1. Eleanor & Park – Rainbow Rowell

Saya suka plot-nya; dua anak sekolah yang lama-lama jadi saling suka karena setiap hari duduk bersebelahan di kursi bus. Saya juga suka dengan konflik-konfliknya, yang jadi membuat novel ini nggak sekadar cinta-cintaan. Salut dengan karakter Eleanor yang meskipun terlihat rapuh dan insecure, tapi sebenarnya kuat dan tegar banget.

  1. The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories – Joseph-Gordon Levitt

Buku imut-imut ini terdiri dari tiga volume. Saya sendiri baru baca yang volume dua dan tiga, karena cari yang volume pertama belum nemu. Buku ini berisi tentang cerita-cerita yang amat sangat pendek (semacam fiksi mini) dan dilengkapi dengan ilustrasi-ilustrasi cantik. Meski cepat habis dibaca, saya sukaaa banget gimana kata-kata di dalamnya sering bikin saya merenung sendiri. Mungkin ada yang mau ngebeliin saya volume pertamanya? *disorakin* *ampuuuun*

  1. Looking for Alaska – John Green

Buku ini sukses menjungkirbalikkan perasaan saya, sungguhan! Di halaman tertentu masih senyum-senyum bahagia campur haru, di halaman berikutnya udah yang mendekati mewek karena sedih. Karena, sumpah, sedihnya itu mengejutkan.

  1. The Fault in Our Stars – John Green

Ini memang pilihan yang mainstream banget, tapi ya apa mau dikata, saya sudah kepalang cinta sama buku ini. Saya bahkan udah beberapa kali baca TFiOS tanpa sekali pun merasa bosan. Kalau Looking for Alaska berhasil menjungkirbalikkan perasaan, maka TFiOS bisa membuat saya merasakan dua perasaan di saat bersamaan. Di satu sisi, buku ini heartwarming, tapi juga heartbreaking di waktu yang sama. Belum lagi karakter Gus dan Hazel yang minta disayang banget.

List 5 buku favorit tersebut bisa berubah-ubah, tapi untuk saat ini, saya rasa kelima buku itu cukup mewakili. πŸ˜€

Terakhir nih, share donk harapan dan kesan/pesanmu untuk BBI tercinta πŸ™‚

Hmm…. apa, yaaaa…. Semoga BBI terus berkembang, bisa ngasih manfaat ke banyak orang, syukur-syukur kalau bisa bikin orang dari yang tadinya nggak suka membaca, jadi doyan membaca. Semoga BBI panjang umur. Semoga BBI semakin dikenal dan lebih banyak yang bergabung. Semoga BBI makin sering ngadain event-event seru, baik online maupun offline. Selamat ulang tahun, ya, BBI! :’D

Klik juga guest posting lainnya di sini ya!

 

Lucky No. 14 March Round Up

01 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by astrid.lim in challenge

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

challenge, lucky 14, march, non review, round up

lucky no14

Welcoming April… People said this is one of the most hopeful months of the year, where the weather is getting nicer and warmer and people are ready for crazy summer plans. Even in the non four seasons country like Indonesia, April is an exciting month since we will have our first round of election. I just wish the weather is getting nicer too, and the rain is not as heavy as the previous months.

I hope everyone is doing well with their challenges. How’s March treated you? How many good books have you encountered and how many have caught your heart? I am sorry I haven’t got a chance to visit all your reviews. But I read some here and there, and of course, still many interesting reviews and new books to put on my wishlist πŸ™‚ Here are some of the highlights from March:

Visit a Country: Tara Road (Maeve Binchy), posted by Indah (Books Dreamland)

walaupun di bagian2 belakang ada secuplik adegan yang membuat gua bisa ‘mengerti’ apa yang dimiliki bernadette yang ngga didapatkan danny dari ria, tetap aja gua ngga mau ‘membenarkan’ tindakan danny yang berselingkuh ituuu..

anywayy.. 4 bintang untuk “tara road”.. simply karena rumah ria itu setingannya di irlandiaa.. huaa.. my dream country! alasan lain karena udah lamaa bangets gua ngga baca cerita romans, apalagi yang in english, jadi bisa menyelesaikan nih buku (tebeell! *cateett* :p) merupakan suatu pencapaian tersendiri buat gua, ahahaha :))

Cover Lust: The Espressologist (Kristina Springer), posted by Afifah (Lady Books)

espressologist

Saya membeli novel ini karena tertarik dengan covernya dan sinopsisnya. Dalam bayangan saya, saya akan menemukan sosok perempuan berusia minimal 25 tahun yang bekerja sebagai barista. Saya mengira saya akan diberikan kebingungan dari seorang perempuan 25 tahun, tetapi jomblo. Ditambah lagi, saya sedang ingin membaca novel dengan tokoh yang memiliki kisaran umur segitu. Waktu itu, saya masih suka membaca teenlit.

Once Upon a Time: Haiene/ The Sharks (Jens Bjorneboe), posted by Malin (Malin’s Blog of Books)

Written in the 1970s by Jens BjΓΈrneboe, it’s basically a big ol’ metaphor for how the author sees the world in general, and how he’d like the ideal society to be. The ship, with all the disparate crew members from all races and creeds, complete with a rigid class division and a lot of tensions is how he pictures the world. The sharks swimming along side the ship are metaphors for pure greed and thoughtless evil, which is ever present. The mutiny on board as a huge tropical storm is threatening is the revolution that the author clearly feels needs to happen, and the aftermath of the mutiny and the storm is clearly how the author wishes society could become.

Movies vs Books: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum), posted by CJ (To Do: Life)

oz1

Although there are a few distinct differences between the book & the movie, I feel that I can enjoy both as separate pieces. In my mind, however, the characters all looked like their movie counterparts. I don’t think that detracted from my reading of the tale, though at points I did have to remind myself that the Cowardly Lion is indeed a real lion. I enjoy that in this story, there is no β€œShe woke up and it was all a dream” aspect to it. Oz is very real and the adventures that Dorothy has keep her away from Kansas for quite a long time. And perhaps the most important distinction is that the Wicked Witch’s ruby slippers are actually silver shoes. (Which, lets be honest, makes a lot more sense with her outfit!)

oz2

It was interesting to learn more about the wizard Oz, the Emerald City and about the different places in the countries ruled by the witches. This was a very easy read and is perfect if you want a quick getaway to somewhere over the rainbow.

Freebies Time: Saving Francesca (Melina Marchetta), posted by Tammy (Tea Time and Books)

Saya sebetulnya jarang membaca teenlit, malahan kadang memang menghindar genre yang satu ini. Karena dulu, beberapa teenlit yang saya baca itu berkesan cheesy dan biasa saja. Sampai saya baca buku ini.

Well, buku ini sebetulnya buku yang saya temukan di antara tumpukan buku yang tidak saya punya ataupun saya pinjam. Dinoy menitipkannya pada saya untuk nanti dikembalikan ke Mbak Yuska, pemilik aslinya. Nah, karena sayang banget kan kalo bukunya gak dibaca dulu, jadilah saya mulai membacanya… dan menyelesaikannya.

….

Akhir bukunya seperti yang diharapkan oleh saya. Membuat saya terharu. Bahwa cobaan atau masalah seberat apapun, semua pasti ada jalan keluarnya. Kita jangan pernah putus asa dan kehilangan harapan. Bersyukurlah dengan apa yang kita punya.

Not My Cup of Tea: Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore (Robin Sloan), posted by Margot (Joyfully Retired)

Have you ever known me to read a book containing a dungeon master, programming code and loads of geeky computer stuff. Yes, totally outside my comfort zone, but I picked it up from the library shelf and brought it home to read. You guessed it – I read it because of the title. How cozy to spend a whole book’s reading time in a book store, I thought.

And I was right. I did spend a lot of time in Mr. Penumbra’s quaint little bookstore. However, the bookstore is unlike any other bookstore. First of all, there doesn’t seem to be many customers. It is the Great Recession, but still, the store sits on pricey San Francisco real estate. How is the owner going to pay the rent with just a few customers? The people who do visit the store want the old obscure books, and they seem to be just borrowing them – with permission.

Happy reading, hope you all have a wonderful, warm and shiny April πŸ™‚

april

 

Lucky No.14 February Round Up

04 Tuesday Mar 2014

Posted by astrid.lim in challenge

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

challenge, february, lucky 14, non review, round up

lucky no14

I can’t believe that it’s already the third month of 2014. I felt like I haven’t done anything worthy my time, so many things to do but I can’t quite catch up with everything. I even haven’t read all the February reviews in Lucky No.14 linkies πŸ˜€

Anyway, I hope your February went well, many great books and memorable bookish moments passing your way. In February, the participants of Lucky No. 14 Challenge was still rising to 136 people. Wow.

And the number of reviews so far? Until I write this post, there are 300 reviews in 14 categories. The number is almost double up from last month! This is so impressive, and I guess everyone is doing really well with their challenge πŸ™‚

So I checked on some interesting reviews and these are the highlights:

Visit a Country: Melbourne, Rewind (Winna Efendi), posted by Alfindy Agyputri (Occultatalentum)

Latar yang digunakan, sangat menarik dan jarang diangkat. Melbourne, salah satu kota di Australia yang jarang dimasukkan dalam destinasi travelling (menurutku, sih, karna seringan Sydney, kan), tapi justru itu yang membuatnya menarik. Kak Winna menjamah setiap sudut kota Melbourne, memperkenalkan kota yang tak kalah indahnya ini pada para pembaca. Pendeskripsian dan research yang luar biasa, membuatku merasa seperti sedang berada di sana. Bahkan, jadi pengen pergi ke sana juga.

Chunky Brick: Name of The Wind (Patrick Rothfuss), posted by Kari (know-it-not-so-much)

This book is what one might also describe as a brick. Β The paperback that was lent to me is a cool 722. Β It’s no The Game of Thrones, but it’s pretty long nonetheless. Β It was recommended to me by a friend and has been sitting on my shelf for many, many months. Β It took me awhile to get into the book at all. Β I’m not a big fantasy reader, especially not these sort of epic high fantasy books (I just learned what the term high fantasy means!) so I was a little lost until I found the rhythm. Β Then the pages seemed to fly by until I got to the last 20-30 pages. Β Then it sort of slowed down.

Also called The Name of the Wind: Day One, the book is Kvothe’s telling of the story of his life to the Chronicler while they are sitting in his deserted inn. Β He takes us from his childhood days all the way through his teens. Β I think by the time he takes a break for the day he is about 17 or 18 years old.

Favorite Author: Sycamore Row (John Grisham), posted by Sarah (The ChicReader)

sycamore rowI used to love John Grisham and for me, one of his best book is A Time To Kill. Knowing that the main character in this book is the same with A Time To Kill, I’m really anxious to read this book.Β All of the characters rerun from the first book. Jake Brigance a lawyer who at times seems to be in way over his head. Lucien his his alcoholic landlord and somewhat mentor. His pal and fellow lawyer Harry Rex, and Ozzie the sheriff of Ford county.

Too bad, Sycamore Row is not a great followup to A Time To Kill.Β The beginning is good but it gets bored in the middle. I continue reading because IΒ HADΒ to know who won the settlement.Β It is decent but way too long. Many sections of the book drag and the payoff is entirely predictable. As a sequel of sorts to A Time to Kill it is nothing special. Not too much In the way of excitement and the plot unfortunately fails to truly engage. For me, it is truly a forgettable read. Sorry, Grisham, this is not your best book.

It’s Been There Forever: One Day (David Nicholls), posted by Hanna (Booking in Heels)

One Day has been on my TBR since Spring 2011 – that’s almost three years, people. Numerous people have told me that it’s a literary masterpiece, it’s featured on almost every TBR list I’ve ever written and it was made into a film that actually looks pretty good.Β  Now I have actually read it and it is a literary masterpiece. So there.

Freebies Time: Under The Jeweled Sky (Alisan McQueen), posted by Yuska (Lust and Coffee)

I received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley.

Under the Jewelled Sky by Alison McQueen is a beautiful novel about India, where the country is one of the integral characters. Set at the time of Partition and a decade or so later, the author brought us back to the mid 1900s, when the British was about to leave.

Besides telling about vibrant India , the author was successfully portray a realistic character through Sophie. Her father is a physiscian at the palace. She builds a friendship with Jag (one of my favorite characters as well), the son of a servant. In that era, such relationship was kind of forbidden.

Walking Down The Memory Lane: STOP, Panik di Sirkus Sarani (Stefan Wolf), posted by Opat (Bukufamufamu)

Setelah bertahun-tahun, saya baru baca serial STOP ini lagi dan saya senang sekali. Waktu kecil dulu, buku-buku tulisan R.L.Stine atau Enid Blyton saya pinjam dari perpustakaan (Yes! I am proud I was such a book geek!) tapi satu hari Ibu saya membelikan saya STOP, dan saya langsung jatuh cinta pada serial ini. Sudah besar gini, akhirnya saya kesampain beli beberapa buku STOP lainnya, tapi mungkin bacanya nanti saja :D

panik di sirkus

I wish you the best for March – prepare for a warmer weather and some good spring books to come πŸ™‚

Cheers and see you next month!

Lucky No. 14 January Round Up

04 Tuesday Feb 2014

Posted by astrid.lim in challenge

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

challenge, january, lucky 14, non review, round up

lucky no14

One month had passed us by, and how are you doing with your reading challenges? I hope everyone enjoys doing their reading challenges – including the Lucky No. 14. So far there are 125 participants who had joined this challenge. More than I’ve imagined before. Hopefully everyone is having a good time.

There are total of 155 reviews had been posted in the linkies, most of them went to Freebies Time category (26 reviews so far), while the category that has the least reviews is Once Upon a Time (only 4 so far).

I’ve compiled several interesting posts for several categories. Maybe this could inspire you if you still need to add your reading list. So many books and so many reviews had been posted for Lucky No. 14, and I wish I could read all of them. Well, I tried to do that but probably not as fast as I wanted to πŸ™‚

Here are some round ups from January:

Visit a Country: In The Shadow of The Banyan (Vaddey Radner), posted by Jen K (Notes from The Officer’s Club)

I would like to visit Cambodia one day, mostly to visit Angkor Wat, and a friend of mine lives there.Β  As a result I was very interested to read about this darker period of Cambodian history which I had onlyΒ a vague inkling of.

Ratner is a descendant of one of the Cambodian kings so this novel is very much drawn on her actual experiences when the Revolutionary soldiers took over Cambodia.Β  However since she was five when they took over in 1975, she chose to fictionalize her experience which would allow her to streamline her story and simplify the large family she had.Β  Overall, I think the real life story is fascinating, and there are certainly parts of the novel that were riveting, but in the end, I think I was hoping for more from this.

Cover Lust: Rhapsody (Mahir Pradana), posted by Siro (Review Siro)

rhapsodySaya suka novel ini mulai dari sampulnya yang didominasi biru muda dan ilustrasi sampul yang benar-benar unik. Ada gambar tangga, cincin yang terjalin di tangga, amplop, burung dan Gerbang Brandenburg. Unik. Benar-benar unik. Sampai sekarang saya masih sering membulak-balik sampul ke atas ke bawah. Soalnya bingung ini gerbang kok terbalik, tapi pas dibalikkin jadi tangganya yang terbalik. Haha I love this cover ^_^.

 

 

Bargain All The Way: Kecantikan Mengundang Maut (Kate White), posted by Ren (Ren’s Little Corner)

Buku ini saya beli di obralan Gramedia Plaza Semanggi, dengan harga yang cukup murah yaitu 15000 rupiah. Karena saya menyukai mistery, dan pengen baca yang ringan – ringan, maka saya ga pikir panjang saat tahu buku ini diobral :P.Β  Sebenarnya buku ini menarik ceritanya kok, kalau saja alurnya ga lambat banget. Saya bahkan sampai berhenti di bab 4 dan ganti baca buku lain buat meningkatkan mood membaca. Butuh waktu yang agak lama juga untuk menyelesaikan buku ini. Misterinya sendiri aslinya cukup bagus dan lumayan ruwet. Saya bener – bener ngga bisa nebak siapa pembunuh Anna, sampai akhir cerita. Dan, klimaksnya, saat siapa pembunuh Anna terungkap bikin mulut saya menganga. Karena sama kayak Bailey, bukti – bukti yang mengarah ke pelaku itu mental semua. Dengan kata lain, ngga mungkin banget gitu dia yang melakukannya.

Once Upon a Time: The Witch of Blackbird Pond (Elizabeth George Speare), posted by Kristi (Books and Needlepoint)

I chose this book to read as it is a Newbery Award winner. Β I was pleasantly surprised how a book written in 1958 – about 1687 – still touched on many issues that can be found in today’s society – prejudice, religious freedom/persecution, trying to find out where we fit in, love and loyalty. Β Why is it that the more things change, the more they stay the same? Β The persecution of the Quakers in 1687 – Jews in Hitler’s Germany – and some would say Christians in America today. And I bet that everyone could name at least one person who had suffered prejudice in some way, shape or form.

Not My Cup of Tea: Penunggu Puncak Ancala (Acen Trisusanto dkk), posted by Dion (Baca Biar Beken!)

Bisa dibilang sebuah keganjilan ketika saya begitu ingin membaca buku ini. Saya yang terbiasa tersesat di dunia fiksi fantasi entah kenapa seperti β€œditarik-tarik” untuk membeli buku ini. Padahal, bisa dibilang saya jarang sekali membaca buku genre horor, apalagi horor dalam negeri. Lebih anehnya lagi, saya kok tenang-tenang saja membeli buku ini di Gramedia dengan harga utuh, ya harga utuh tanpa diskon! Baru kali ini saya beli buku tunai tanpa diskon! Ini diluar kewajaran saya, aneh sekali, tapi, buku yang saya beli dan akhirnya kelar dibaca dalam sehari (saya membacanya siang hari, di kantor, biar rame banyak temennya) ini memang aseli serem. Bukan, bukan horor ala monster trus terjadi pembunuhan begitu, indak. Hantu dalam buku ini hanya sekedar β€œmenampakkan diri” di sudut mata para pencerita. Hyaaaaaa …

Movies vs Books: Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Truman Capote), posted by Ratih (Morning Dew)

breakfast tiffany1Cerita Breakfast at Tiffany’s di novel dan filmnya memang sedikit berbeda. Dan tentu saja, lebih menyenangkan di filmnya, karena jalan ceritanya mengikuti selera Hollywood. Cerita di novelnya, terutama akhirnya, agak lebih pahit, karena penulis membuatnya menggantung. Berbeda dengan di film, yang ditutup dengan adegan happy ending. Tapi, walau bagaimanapun, menurutku, baik film ataupun novelnya tetap bagus. Mungkin, karena aku nonton filmnya dulu, baru baca bukunya kali ya? Jadi, bukan mempertanyakan kenapa tokoh ini nggak ada atau kenapa adegan ini nggak ada, malah, oh jadi ini alur cerita aslinya, oh, jadi mereka begini kenalannya. Yah, seperti itulah, hehehe…

breakfast tiffany2

I enjoyed reading all reviews and found some really good books that eventually slipped into my wishlist or reading list. And I’m sure I’ll find more along the way πŸ™‚

Have a great February and good luck with your reading plans for this lovey dovey month and hopefully you can tackle more of your TBR piles than you did last month πŸ™‚

Cheers!

 

Why I Still Choose Printed Books :)

25 Monday Nov 2013

Posted by astrid.lim in my story

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

books, my story, non review, printed books

Pic from here.

Pic from here.

Yessss, I know, the never ending battles between printed or e-books. Everyone has their own reasons, I guess, so I won’t judge or even justify mine. It’s just a sharing-only-kind-of-post, so please please please don’t take it personally πŸ™‚

I’m a dinosaur (no offense to Yofel, of course :p) if it comes to gadgets. I don’t have fancy Androids or iPhones, and the only reason why I have my Blackberries now is because my mom gave it to me so I could join the family group conversations, and my office gave the other one so I can work 24 hours a day (true story!). I don’t really use all the apps, too. As long as I could connect to the Internet, checking my emails and using the BBM/call options, I’m good.

I never read books in my phone, and even though my mom gave me an iPad, it’s practically used by Yofel to play his games, so I never use it as an e-book reader.

The other reason why I still love printed books more than e-books, is pure nostalgic. I remember the feeling I had when my mom took me to our weekly outing to the bookstores when I was a kid, and how I loved touching, opening, skimming and choosing my treat of the week. I love the smell of bookstores (both the old and new!), and after more than 30 years living and traveling to many places, I can say that bookstores became my homes – whenever I went.

I remember fondly when I lived in the Netherlands and sometimes the homesick was just too much. I rode my bike to the American Bookstore, one of the few English bookstores in Den Haag, and I sat down in the corner attic with a book, snuggle near the heater during the winter days, or sitting besides the open window in the summer days. If I had enough money, I would bring home a book, but if not, that’s fine too, because spending times in the bookstore had already been a treat for me.

Honestly, I just can’t imagine if one day, printed books will be gone, and the only things that you can find when you enter a bookstore are rows and rows of computers where you can order or download your e-books. What a depressing thought. I just hope that at least my kid could grow up surrounded by lovely printed books, like I did before.

The next reason, I think is probably the most snobbish one, so excuse me if I will make you puke πŸ˜€ Well, it’s actually pretty simple: I don’t like to buy pirate books – and because I always avoided doing this for printed books, I think I have to do the same with e-books. Original e-books are not as expensive as printed books, but I don’t think I want to spend my dimes to buy a book that can’t even be touched, literally. And buying/downloading a pirated ones are not an option for me. So simply said, printed books are still the only solution πŸ™‚

I actually write this piece because I had a conversation with an old friend yesterday about books. I told him that books are banned as birthday gifts for me this year by my husband – because there are too many of them already in our tiny apartment. My friend said to me that probably it’s the time for me to start reading e-books, it’s more convenient and won’t take too much space. I know that he said that logically. But I just don’t think that it’s for me anyway.

So I said to him: “I will keep reading (and buying, and hoarding :p) printed books until there are none of them left anymore in the world.”

And when the time comes, where there are no more printed books sold in the world? Well, I guess I can consider myself lucky, since I already hoarded so many of them now to spend the rest of my life with πŸ˜€

Cheers to printed books!

stacks-of-black-and-white-books

The Random Number Survey

11 Friday Oct 2013

Posted by astrid.lim in challenge, list

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

challenge, list, non review

the-random-number-surveyI read this challenge in Mbak Fanda‘s blog and decided to do one myself since it looks so much fun πŸ™‚ It’s been created by Harley Bear Book and the rules are pretty simple:

1. Pick a number.Β  (You can use random.org or simply pick your favorite. I picked 3, my favorite number!)

2. Go to your bookshelf and count that many books until you reach your number.Β  Answer the first question with that book.

3. Count the same number of books from where you left off and answer the next question.

4. Repeat until you finish the survey

(If you land on a book you haven’t read yet pick the closest book to the left that you have read and then count on from there for the next question.)

Here we go!

1. What do you think of the cover?

Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

MissPeregrineThe cover is so creepy, I almost didn’t dare to start the book. It shows a girl who are standing – in the air! I have the hardback version of the book and sometimes, when I read it at night, I just opened the book jacket and put it somewhere else, so I didn’t have to see the girl’s face. But actually, the book is not as scary as its cover πŸ™‚

2. Write a review in 140 characters or less

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

A dark comedy about the end of the world, with superb characters, chaotic plots and twisted ending. Brilliantly crazy -in a good way.

3.How or where did you get this book?

Dracula Dossier by James Reese

I got this book in a Periplus discount in Setiabudi, Bandung, hidden under the table among lots and lots of bargain books.

4. Who’s your favorite character in this book, and why?

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

My favorite character in this book is Isobel, the fortune teller. Despite her broken heart, having rejected by Marco, she’s the one who actually saved the day. And in my opinion, she’s worth more than the melancholy Celia!

5. Recommend this book to a fellow blogger you think would like it.

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Huh? It’s pretty hard since I guess almost all book bloggers have read the series. Especially this book, which is one of the best in the whole series. If I’m not mistaken, Rahib aka Tanzil hasn’t read the series yet, so I guess I can recommend this to him πŸ™‚

6.Β How long ago did you read this book?

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

The last time I read this book (yep, I’ve reread it a couple of times already) was before the final installment, Mockingjay, came out in Indonesia. So it’s about the beginning of 2012, or 1,5 years ago. I plan to reread the whole series again while waiting for the second movie to be released πŸ™‚

7. Name a favorite scene in this book (no spoilers).

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Definitely the epilogue, where the author explained the unthinkable mystery that still remained unsolved til the end of the book. It was a very heartbreaking epilogue, and just like that, in a split second, your life would never be the same again.

8.Open to page 87 of this book and pick a random quote to share (no spoilers).

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss (translated edition)

Β Dia mundur dan memandangi laki-laki itu dengan ekspresi terluka, dan kemudian laki-laki itu hampir saja -tapi tidak dilakukannya- mengucapkan dua kalimat yang sudah bertahun-tahun ingin dikatakannya: sebagian dari diriku terbuat dari kaca, dan juga “aku mencintaimu”... This is a very heartbreaking scene, capturing so well the tone of this book: unrequited love, broken heart, gloomy past…

9. How did you hear about or discover this book?

Klik! by Eoin Colfer, etc

I read some good reviews about this book – one book written by ten great fantasy writers. And I was really happy when one of my fellow bloggers, Mbak Maria, gave me this book for my birthday present. Yeay!

10. If you could redesign this cover, what would you do?

Wilma Tenderfoot dan Kasus Jantung yang Beku by Emma Kennedy

wilma tenderfoot

The translated version of this book, published by Matahati (RIP), already had a good cover. Cute, eye catching, and swanky, just like the story itself. Maybe the only thing I would change is the tone – I’d prefer green or blue than red – because of the title (Jantung yang Beku or Frozen Heart – blue or green is more suitable, yes?)

11.Name your least favorite character in this book, and why.

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

My most un-favorite character in this book is Grace Windsor Wexler, one of the tenants in Sunset Towers, because she is a snob, likes to push people around, a bit hypocrite and especially not a good mom. She pushes her oldest daughter to marry a rich guy – even though the daughter does not love him, and she doesn’t care at all about her youngest daughter – who’s actually the pure genius in the book.

12. If you like (fill in the blank) then you should try (this book).

The Sorceress by Michael Scott

If you like fantasy stories mixed with mitology and great urban settings, you should try The Sorceress and all Nicholas Flamel series. Yes, it does not yet live the Harry Potter expectation, but it’s one of the best so far.

13. Name one cool thing about this book.

Cat Among the Pigeons by Julia Golding

This is the second installment of Diamond of the Drury Lane series, and the coolest thing about this book is the setting. It was set in London (1790) and told the story of theatrical life in that era. Plus, it’s a YA book too! The other thing that is cool? Its cover, of course!

cat among pigeons2

14. Where is it set, and would you ever want to visit that world or place?

Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath

This is one of the Newbery books, setting in Coal Harbour, British Columbia, Canada. A small town on a seashore, this place is famous of the whaling. This is a cozy, peaceful little place and I’d love to go there one day.

coal harbour

15.Who is it dedicated to?

Kelas Memasak Lilian (The School of Essential Ingredients) by Erica Baurermeister

This book is dedicated to: Heidi, Karin and Dad

What To Do If Your Amazon Account Got Hacked

10 Thursday Oct 2013

Posted by astrid.lim in my story

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

amazon, non review, online shopping, tips

hacker

Pic from here

I rarely shopped at Amazon because their shipping fee is pretty high. But sometimes I shopped there if one of my friends/relatives in the US are coming to Indonesia. I used their addresses and asked Amazon to deliver my books there. So far, it worked. Amazon has extensive collection of books and most of them are a bit cheaper compare to other stores like The Book Depository.

But a couple of months ago, I was surprised when I received an email from Amazon Seller, congratulating me to have a new seller account. What?? I’ve never registered as a seller and didn’t ever think about being one. First I thought it was a spam, but turned out it really was Amazon’s email account. After that, I received another email that said my Amazon account has been used by an unauthorized party, and Amazon has blocked my account temporarily.

I immediately contacted Amazon via their online customer service. Luckily, Amazon has 24 hrs customer service who are available anytime via chat room. I quickly explained my situation and they helped me to restore my account with a new password.

I thought that was the end of my problem, but a few weeks later, I was shocked to receive an email from Amazon seller, saying that they have automatically charged my credit card for the reseller fee. WTF? Since when did I have reseller account? Then, I realized my old problem was still there.

I tried to contacted the online customer service and even though they were very responsive and tried to be helpful, it’s a bit hard because my problem was not a procedural problem that they can answer and fix immediately. Apparently, the customer service for seller account is different than for regular customers, and they do not have 24 hrs shift – they work 9-5 and follow US time zone. Crap!

Finally the customer service promised that the seller people will contact me directly by phone. While waiting for them to call, I also contacted my credit card provider. They suggested me to close my card immediately but since my problem with Amazon hasn’t been resolved yet, I was afraid to do it right away.

After waiting for several days, Amazon seller division called me by phone, I explained one more time, and a few days later, they emailed me and explained that the fee they charged me was the reseller monthly subscription fee, and it’s normal to be charged automatically every month. I was very frustrated because that was not my problem at all! My problem was someone hacked my account and now I’ve been charged with unnecessary fee!

I wrote a final message, using the word HACK and UNAUTHORIZED and UNSECURED ACCOUNT and finally, they replied to me, apologize for the troubles I had, and said that they will cancel my seller account and return my money to my credit card immediately.

Phew. That’s a long and winding process. But because of that, I have composed anΒ  SOP just in case someone else faced the same problem like I did.

What to do when someone hacked your Amazon account?

1. Check the email address that sent you the notification. Make sure it’s the real one, not just a spam email. All official Amazon email accounts use the same domain: @amazon.com. (For example: account-alert@amazon.com; or seller.service05@amazon.com)

2. Contact your credit card provider to cross check, if it’s true that your credit card had been charged with that certain amount stated by Amazon. Some providers are nice enough to contact you immediately if there’s an online transaction on your card, but some of them just do this sporadically and not regularly.

3. If your card is really charged with unknown transaction, do not block your credit card immediately. Just ask your provider to alert you if there’s another transaction happened. Wait until you resolve your problem and Amazon has returned your money before you block your card. But do block it later and change your password in Amazon because clearly someone else has access to your old account.

4. Contact Amazon customer service immediately. Please note that you need to know exactly the nature of your problem. If it’s only a regular/procedural problem, you can contact any customer service by email/chat room, they will stand-by 24 hrs a day and very responsive. But if your problem is related to different area (in my case, reseller department), then do not expect that the regular customer service can help you. It’s beyond their capability. So you need to state your problem really clear from the beginning, do not afraid to use insensitive words like hacked, or unsecured, etc; if you really encountered that kind of problem. A little extra note: even though Amazon has option for you to leave your phone numbers and then they will contact you, it’s only eligible for US residents. If you live outside the US, you can’t leave your contact numbers. But if you have problems with other departments, they will ask you to leave your numbers via email/message and will contact you soon.

5. Amazon does have a great customer relations division, as well as customer support/service. But most of them are based in another country, they’ve only been trained to answer problems according to the manuals. So be prepared to get transferred, on hold, or waiting. But based on my experience, they tried really hard and meant well.

My problem had been resolved after about 2 weeks, including chatting with customer service back and forth, emailing with them and three times speaking on the phone. Moral of the story? Change your password regularly. Use low-limit credit card for your online transaction. Do not use same data/login/password/credit card for many websites.

There’s no such thing as a secured account. We live in a hacker world nowadays. So be careful, be prepared. And may your online shopping days be free of troubles πŸ™‚

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