Fortunate February

Second monthly recap!

I know we should be thankful for every little thing that still keep us going in life: Every breath we take, a family who constantly take care of us, a comfortable blanket to shield our body from the chilly nights, a warm bath after a very long day... In February I was fortunate enough to have those, and many other things that I should be very grateful of. Second term at college started at the second week, and so far I have never been late coming to class (yay!) The classes are okay, the lecturers are good, and the friends are even better. Then it was announced that I got accepted in an organization I wanted, alhamdulillah. In the midst of adjusting to the new (hectic) routine, I got fever and was unable to get out of bed, but fortunately it only lasted for a while. It was a month full of love, too, both in real life and in terms of the books I read. To sum up, yes I'm busy (and feel exhausted most of the time...), but I'm really enjoying this life I'm living right now. :)

Only managed to read 10 books (3809 pages with 4,14 average rating) this month, but I'm quite happy because I finally did one thing that I've wanted since a long time ago: Venturing into a new genre, Historical Romance! I've only read three books, but I'm really liking this genre, A LOT.

• A Beautiful Wedding by Jamie McGuire. A novella from Abby & Travis' world. I found it a bit 'meh'.

• Dreaming of You and Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas. I think Lisa Kleypas is quite a famous author between the historical romance fans? No wonder, though, I enjoyed both of her books. The main characters she created are lovely (Psssst, I prefer the latter to the former)

• Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi. Oh dear, the anticipation prior to reading this book. And it was SO GOOD! I put such high hopes about Ignite Me and was so happy that the book didn't disappoint. A truly satisfying series-ender! My review of Ignite Me :D

• The Duke and I by Julia Quinn. This is the first book that I read from historical romance genre. The book was both funny and swoony! Read my review here <3

• Jill Shavis' Simply Irressistible. I was curious after knowing that Ginger from GReads! love the Lucky Harbor series, like, so much. The book was okay for me. (To be honest, the last name of the hero was quite distracting. His name was Jax Cullen.)

• How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper. I was interested after reading the review on The Reader's Den. I don't think I've ever read a book where werewolf is a big part of it. My opinion: The book was weird, but sexy! I like it.

• Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken, the sequel to The Darkest Minds. It continued to be as awesome as the first book, but big parts of the story broke my heart. Three words, though: THE STEWART BROTHERS! LUVVVV

• Amba, by Laksmi Pamuntjak. Finally, a local book after a very long time! This book was one of the books on my wishlist, so happy to got it for only half of the original price :) I reviewed this for BBI's Posbar February: Indonesian Historical Fiction category

• You Had Me at Hello by Mhairi McFarlene, a 'bestfriends-turned-lovers' story. The cover and the 'brit' factor really drew me in, heheheh. I loved the book! Read my review here

Aside from that, on the blog, I posted

• My review of The Darkest Minds and World After
• My favorite mangas/mangakas. Do you often read comic books? What are your favorites?
• Asked you about how to find a balance between real life, reading and blogging life
• February book wishlist

All in all, I read two young adults, three adults (one of them novella), one local fiction, and three historical romances. Ten books read, six books reviewed, and four other topics posted in a month. Yay!

Source

Lorde's Royals was my jam of the month. I love her! She can be scary to look at sometimes (HA), but she's actually very pretty. Since I learned that her real name is Ella, I like to call her with that name in my head everytime I saw her pictures. It changes everything, yeah? 'Ella' sounds so.... girl next door-ish.

Instead of watching any movie, I binge watched the first season of The Carrie Diaries this February. I honestly think their acting is horrible, but Carrie's outfits and Austin Butler make everything better.

Yum.

Snuggly Oranges

Orange is not my favorite anything, not in color or in the fruit, but Debby's Snuggly Orange has become one of my favorite book blogs that I frequently visited last month. I love the honest, fun voice that resonates through her posts, and I love her gif-fy reviews!

Other things...

Book & Blog

• Forever Young Adult is a great website, too. It covers almost anything, from book reviews to tv series.

• From Goodreads: Interview with Laurie Halse Anderson. I was surprised to know that she actually experienced almost all of what happened to her characters' in the books she wrote.

• Reasons why being a reader/book blogger is awesome. Love this Top Ten Tuesday topic.

• Epic Reads keeps a track of YA Map, so you can proudly boast to your friends "Oh, I've been to a LOT of places! USA, Canada, Australia.............................. through books." Yup. Books: Cheapest way to travel abroad.

• Jasmine of Flip That Page has this super fun feature on her blog, a bookish survey kind of sort. She does it with themes like Harry Potter, Hunger Games, and Greek Mythology. I adore her creativity, truly.

• Alice-Jane from Crazy Red Pen shared a lot about designs: her design journey, favorite design bloggers, and resources.

• Read a bunch of awesome book reviews with Indonesian Historical Fiction and Culinary theme.

General

• Speaking of Lorde, she did an interview with Tavi Gevinson of The Style Rookie. Two cool girls bonding over, omg awesome.

• My favorite post from Thought Catalog: We Met at the Worst Possible Time. I don't know why. I love it to bits.

• A hundred things to do when you're upset, by Gala Darling.

• By the way, this Valentine Ellen Paige finally 'came out' in public. I honestly thought it wasn't a secret anymore since a long time ago... But well, it's still a 'you go girl!' moment to celebrate!

What I'm excited about the most in March: DIVERGENT, THE MOVIE! Woah, the month is finally here, folks. I remember knowing about the release date and groaned 'Ugh, it's such a long time to go' but now March 2014 is already here. I'm trying to keep my hopes low, though, but still, the thought of finally watching it excites me.

YA book I'm looking forward to in March: The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkowski. Other titles like Panic by Lauren Oliver (!), Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy, and Ask Again Later by Liz Czukas sounds interesting, too.

Gramedia will release (or already released?) the translated version of Just One Day by Gayle Forman (finally!). Also, another book by Yenni Hardiwidjaja: Autumn, I Do. I really liked her latest book, Daisyflower. 

Events

• The annual Islamic Book Fair is ongoing, started from February 28th until March 9th.
• Pesta Buku Bandung, too! February 27th until March 5th.
• BBI Posbar themes this month: Oprah's Book Club and Poem\Poetry Books.

And that's what you missed on Glee IPR. Let's get the business going, March! :)