February 02, 2014

2014: Joyful January


January had been a very lovely month for me. I didn't have to attend any classes because first semester break is still going on, so all 31 days long I turned myself into a cute bundle of sloth. READ, EAT, SLEEP, REPEAT was my motto of the month. Days felt like nights, nights like days, flattening my b*tt in front of my notebook screen most of the time, read books when I should be sleeping, and sleep when I should be up doing something productive. I don't even know what the word 'productive' means anymore. Huh?

But between those times I spent lying around in bed, I also made time to meet a lot of my old friends from middle & high school. That was what excited me most about the break. We went out and tried some new places to eat around town (the donuts above are VERY yummy!), we chatted, we watched movies, we took photos, we chatted some more, and then we went home. Few days later (I need to take a one/two days break to re-charge myself after a full day of going out with lots of people. What can I say, I'm an introvert that way), I repeated the routine with another group of friends. And I had more time to spent with my family, especially with Mom! :)





1. Where the Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller
2. The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
3. The Journeys #3 by various authors
4. Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
5-7. Under the Never Sky Trilogy by Veronica Rossi
8. The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson
9. God-Shaped Hole by Tiffanie DeBartolo
10. Hai Miiko! #26 by Ono Eriko (manga)
11. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
12. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
13-14. Clockwork Angel & Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Aside from that, on the blog I also posted:
On My Wishlist | Fog on My Mind | Top Ten Tuesday: Things I Want to Read in Books | Reading Challenges that I Decided to Take Part in 2014 | Review of Inferno | Review of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn & The Revelation of My Secret Santa




If you really know me, you'll know that I'm the type of person who isn't really into music (gasps!) but these days I replayed these three songs a lot.

Holy Grail (Jay Z ft JT, but I prefer the one without the rap part. Just because.)
The Monster (Another new song from Eminem & Rihanna. Love it as much as I Love the Way You Lie)
XO (All hail queen Beyonce. She's reaaaal pretty in the music video)



Holiday is the right time to catch up on movies that I missed or old ones that I have never watched before. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit was so-so (it was too predictable but my eyes were oh-very-happy to see Chris Pine on the big screen), American Hustle blew me away (Amy Adams was SO gorgeous in that movie!), Frozen and Ten Things I Hate About You were very enjoyable, but my favorite fell on the Before trilogy (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight). LOVE, LOVE, LOOOOVVVVE. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy won me over the smart, clever, enganging conversations and remarkable acting. It's such a beautiful thing to see them age in front of our eyes and to notice the changes over the years. :)

I also watched some episodes from EXO's Showtime and Running Man.

Bunch of mad boys running on the beach IN WINTER.... 

Silly Kwangsoo. Everytime.



Favorite book blog on the moment: Writer of Wrongs by Gilliane Berry
Writer of Wrongs is such an entertainment! Her posts remind you of that one friend who will always successfully make you laugh no matter what the situation is. G also has a truly awesome skill of using the right gifs on her reviews, which I admire. Foor good laughs and fresh writings, hop over her blog here!


Several posts from around the internet that I love...

Book & Blog
  • Ashley from Nose Graze hosted a book blogger survey and here's the result. Part I | Part II
  • Loving this new feature on Jessi's blog Novel Heartbeat: Life of a Blogger. I like it when bloggers get personal
  • Those of you who live in Indonesia, Lendabook and EstafetBuku are two generous websites/communities available if you want to borrow books. YAY-ness!

General
  • DROOL-WORTHY: A Beautiful Mess' food, drinks, and sweets recipes
  • Lately, I've been frequently visiting Style Me Pretty. NO, I'm NOT getting married anytime soon (well, at least not in the near future), I just love seeing all the beautiful pictures. Don't ask me why.


February: The month of IGNITE ME! AAAAAAHHH
I hope this month is going to be another month full of awesomeness! In term of book releases, I know it will! Ignite Me and Cress (third book from the Lunar Chronicles) will be out in a matter of days, along with some awesome new titles like Tsarina, Alienated, and Something Real.

From local publishers: Gramedia will release (the translated version of) Frankeinstein (with a new cover) and another new novel by Laksmi Pamuntjak (author of Amba), titled The Question of Red. GagasMedia already announced their new book project, SCHOOL (Seven Complicated Hours of Life), and the book titles under the project will be named after a school subject! How creative. Penerbit Haru with The Last 2% and You are the Apple of My Eye.

This month's BBI #Posbar themes: 1) Indonesian Historical Fiction, 2) Culinary
Bookish event: Kumpul Penulis Jakarta on February 23rd, at Jakarta Design Center.

The second semester will start on February 10th. I'm pretty scared and excited about it, both at the same time. I want to start studying (This one and a half month holiday has turned my brain into a mush potato) BUT I'm not ready to give up my sleeping hours yet! And gosh, my new term schedule is SCARY. I'll have classes on 8AM everyday, and the hours are packed until 4PM :( But I will not whine, okay. Let's get this going!


Thank you, Joyful January. Looking forward to a more productive February ;)





10 comments:

  1. banyak bangey yang dibaca bulan ini, hikmah liburan :)
    aku jadi penasaran sama Shatter Me, kayaknya kamu suka banget sama seri ini
    suka deh sama tampilan postingan kamu, enak dipandang dan dibaca, kasih tips dong Tir, ada tutorialnya nggak? :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alhamdulillah, mudah-mudahan bulan-bulan lain juga bisa sebanyak ini ya :"
      Iya suka sekaliii, prosanya itu bagus banget, dan karakternya juga keren-keren soalnya.
      Tutorial bagian apa nih Kak?

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  2. Very curious about When The Stars Still Shine, I've heard great things about it. I might wait for paperback :D
    I also watch Running Man, but only a few episodes, my sister barely waits for me back from office to watch it :"|

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    Replies
    1. It's a good book! I really enjoyed it :D
      Oh, you watch RM too? Yay! *high five*

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  3. Itu yang under the never sky, covernya bagus kayanya isinya bagus ya :D
    Pengen baca yang Clockwork Prince-nya Cassandra Clare, tapi katanya ga sebagus City Of Bones yah?

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    Replies
    1. Iya niv bagussss, udah lama banget pengen baca serialnya tp baru kesampean bulan kemarin hehe
      Mmmmm gue justru lebih suka Clockwork Prince kemana-mana dibanding City of Bones. CoB ga selesai gue bacanya :|

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  4. Oh wow, it sounds like you had a busy and fun break. I especially love to sleep in and the doughnuts look really good! Movies, friends, and hanging out with no pressure: HEAVEN! Under the Never Sky was such a lovely series! I hope you enjoyed it! :)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Rachel! It's been a great time to re-charge my energy back before I start the second term next week :)
      Yep I enjoyed it very much! Still confused about how to review the whole series, though

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  5. Hi Tirta :) just found your blog and I love your look! Will be checking out your posts :) Trinity

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