Twivotiare 2 by Ika Natassa

Twivortiare 2

oleh Ika Natassa
diterbitkan 17 Desember 2014 oleh Gramedia Pustaka Utama
Metropop/Romance/Drama/Chick-Lit
488 halaman
buku lain dari penulis: A Very Yuppy Wedding, Divortiare, Antologi Rasa, Twivortiare
selesai dibaca 3 Januari 2015
[warning: spoilers]

***

"You know you’re in love with the right person when falling in love with him turns you into the best version of yourself."

Setiap pasangan punya cerita masing-masing, kadang manis, kadang juga pahit. Enam tahun setelah Divortiare dan dua tahun setelah Twivortiare, Alexandra dan Beno kembali hadir melalui akun Twitter @alexandrarheaw. Melalui buku ini, kita kembali diajak “mengintip” kehidupan mereka sehari-hari, pemikiran Alexandra yang witty dan selalu apa adanya, bahkan merasakan langsung interaksi antar karakter-karakter yang diceritakannya. Membaca Twivortiare 2 seperti mendengarkan sahabat sendiri bercerita tentang manis dan pahitnya hidup, tentang pilihan, kesalahan masa lalu, dan tentang makna sesungguhnya dari kesempatan kedua.

"Today is 'bring your kids to work' day at my office. Semua bawa anak ke kantor kecuali gue dan yang masih single."

Kembali dengan jilid kedua dari kisah kehidupan rumah tangga si bankir Alexandra dan suaminya Beno Wicaksono pasca rujuk, kalimat tersebut termasuk dalam tweets-tweets pertama yang muncul dalam Twivortiare 2, sebagai pemeta fokus kali ini: Kehadiran anak diantara Alex dan Beno. Tentang betapa inginnya Alex dan suaminya buat punya momongan, keharusan menghadapi pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang berhubungan dengan hal ini dari para tante-tante Beno yang rese, dan perjuangan mereka demi menghadirkan si buah hati, hingga akhirnya lahir seorang Arganta Saka Wicaksono. Selain itu, Twivortiare 2 juga dilengkapi dengan cerita suka-duka mengenai pekerjaan Alex-Beno, kegiatan mereka sehari-hari, weekend getaway di Kebagusan atau rumah mertua, trip ke berbagai kota, juga keisengan-keisengan Alex yang seneng banget ngerjain Beno.

Aku lumayan sedikit merasa beruntung karena nggak follow akun @alexandrarheaw di Twitter yang sekarang, jadi hampir semua tweets-nya terasa fresh dan baru. Ada perbedaan mencolok yang sangat terasa waktu membaca Twivortiare 2 ini, yaitu pribadi Alex yang kini makin dewasa. Di Twivortiare yang menceritakan tentang hari-hari awal mereka rujuk, Alex dan Beno masih sering banget berantem dan ambek-ambekan. Hal ini kejadian berkali-kali dan bikin cerita agak repetitif. Tapi di Twivortiare, voila! Kayaknya bisa dihitung jari berapa kali mereka berantem, bahkan mungkin nggak pernah! Lebih seringnya sekarang Alex berusaha mencari waktu yang tepat buat ngomong atau justru mengalah, jadi nggak ada lagi adegan kabur-kaburan ke rumah Kebagusan :) Ini satu hal yang aku sukai banget dari Twivortiare 2. Hubungan Alex-Beno sekarang udah benar-benar terasa dewasa, adem, dan lebih nyaman, yang jadi penanda bahwa mereka sekarang udah di tahap yang baik untuk masuk ke fase selanjutnya.

"Gue capek banget, jadi males berantem. Kalo gue buka mulut, pasti ujung-ujungnya berantem lagi, jadi gue diem aja."

Kemudian, di Twivortiare 2 ini jauh lebih banyak interaksi dengan followers yang ditampilkan. Pertanyaan-pertanyaan dan mentions yang masuk (dari groupiesnya Beno, terutama) jadi penggerak utama yang mempengaruhi jalan cerita. Lucu deh, banyak akun-akun yang namanya familiar buatku dan sukses bikin senyum-senyum sendiri hihi. Nggak hanya itu aja, Wina dan Beno juga kini semakin sering muncul untuk ikutan menjadi pelengkap (Yay!). Tapi kalau ada satu hal yang harus aku akui sebagai keunggulan Twivortiare 2 kali ini, adalah dedikasi Ika Natassa sebagai penulis terhadap karakter-karakter yang ia ciptakan. Tweets aja nggak cukup, Ika melangkah lebih lanjut dengan menghadirkan postingan-postingan screenshots percakapan Alex dengan karakter lain dari WhatsApp, BBM, iMessage, Path, bahkan ia juga memasukkan foto/ilustrasi baby Arga di akun tersebut. Hal-hal inilah yang membuat Twivortiare 2 jadi autentik, karena penulisnya nggak setengah-setengah berusaha membuat karakternya se-hidup dan se-real orang-orang biasa.

Dengan hampir 500 halaman untuk Twivortiare 2 kali ini, puasss banget rasanya mengulik kehidupan Alex dan Beno. Meskipun tone buku secara keseluruhan masih agak mellow karena masalah anak, Twivortiare 2 tetap sukses menghibur dengan kisah-kisah iseng jailnya Alex, lempeng-overprotektif-tapi-manisnya Beno (!!!), dan hal-hal yang mereka lakuin berdua. Di satu sisi, Twivortiare 2 lebih enak dibaca karena drama-dramanya sekarang lebih terkontrol, tapi di sisi lain, kadang sisi cheesy-nya Alex dan Beno ini aduh, bisa bikin meringis juga ya :") Entah kenapa dari sekian banyaknya tampilan-tampilan kehidupan mereka berdua, bagian paling favoritku justru dua screenshots dimana Alex berusaha ngajarin Beno arti dari emotikon-emotikon yang ada di handphone mereka. Setelah itu adegan dimana Alex ngasih surprise ke Beno dengan pulang lebih awal dari Surabaya. Lucuuuuu!

"I bet Beno Wicaksono is the only husband who woke his wife up across the ocean just to ask: Yang, kaus kaki aku yang satu lagi mana?"

Screenshots: "Anakku gimana kabarnya? | Anak kita, Beno. We're fine. Tapi mual dikit aja. Kamu cepetan pulang dong, hon. Masih di RS? | Udah deket | Deket hati aku maksudnya? :* | Deket setiabudi"

HAHAHA

"Kamu kenapa sih kalo mandi harus lama banget kayak duyung? | Kamu kenapa sih kalo makan harus banyak banget kayak gorila?"

Sayangnya ada juga hal yang aku kangenin dari Twivortiare pertama tapi nggak ada kali ini, yaitu kultwit Alex tentang hal-hal di luar kehidupannya dengan Beno. Dulu, Alex sering cerita tentang random things, termasuk detail dari pekerjaannya yang suka dikirim kesana-kemari ke berbagai kota, juga yang jadi favorit waktu itu adalah kultwit mengenai how to manage your money. Sekarang, cerita rasanya sangat-sangat terfokus pada Beno, Beno-Alex, Beno-Alex-baby, dengan diselingi berbagai sesi 'konsultasi percintaan' bersama followers-followers (Yang sekarang bahasannya pun udah lebih 'dewasa', hihihi). Not a bad thing sih, tapi rasanya jadi agak-agak cintaaa melulu. Juga, bagian pasca baby Arga-nya lahir sedikit bangeeeet! Nagih nih yang ini. Kebayang kalo cerita di-fast forward beberapa tahun, masa-masa Arga udah setahun, dua atau tiga tahun, udah bisa baby talk dan lagi lucu-lucunya, pasti bakal entertaining banget buat nyimak interaksinya sama orangtuanya <3

Pada akhirnya, Twivortiare tetap jadi sebuah buku yang enak dinikmati (dan quotable banget, seperti biasa) bagi para pengikut setia Alex dan Beno. Untuk pembaca yang belum pernah mengikuti kisah mereka pun, menurutku pribadi, nggak harus baca Divortiare atau Twivortiare dulu untuk bisa mengerti jalan ceritanya. Semua cukup jelas kok. Plot and pace wise, Twivortiare 2 bisa dibilang agak lambat, tapi untuk penyuka cerita-cerita dengan penokohan dan karakter yang 'hidup', buku ini bakal jadi buku yang enak buat dibaca. Ika Natassa is a very nice author to her readers (Have you noticed it? Meskipun sering mengakhiri buku-bukunya dengan ending gantung, pada akhirnya Alex-Beno rujuk lagi, dan pada akhirnya juga mereka sekarang benar-benar dikaruniai anak, kan? Hehe), so I think it's safe to expect a lot more good things to come for our favorite characters: Alex, Beno and their baby :)

***

Selamat tahun baru 2015, teman-teman. Twivortiare 2 is my first book that I read this year, what's yours? Semoga (liburannya dan) tahun 2015 ini menyenangkan untuk kita semua, ya!

As always, don't forget to have fun and read some more,

AUGUST RAINBOW GIVEAWAY HOP - WINNERS!

Halo teman-teman!
Sebelumnya mohon maaf ya karena pengumuman pemenangnya lewat lebih dari satu minggu, hehehe. Semoga pada masih inget buat ngecek :)

Terima kasih atas partisipasi teman-teman di Giveaway Hop kali ini, totalnya ada lebih dari 50 peserta (dari sesama blogger ataupun readers) yang ikutan dan setelah diseleksi, ada 29 nama yang berhak masuk putaran undian karena telah menjawab semua tebakan dengan benar  dan telah terbukti memenuhi semua syarat.

To make things short, here's the screencap of our winners' names:

SOOOOOO
CONGRATULATIONS TO

Khairisa R Primawestri sebagai pemenang 1 (berhak atas paket buku senilai Rp 350.000)

dan

Asy-syifaa Halimatu Sadiah sebagai pemenang 2 (berhak atas paket buku senilai Rp 200.000)

Kalian akan dihubungi oleh Kak Ren dari Ren's Little Corner untuk detail mengenai bagaimana cara konfirmasi dan mendapatkan hadiahnya. Selamat ya!

Untuk yang lain yang belum beruntung kali ini, jangan khawatir! Insya allah I Prefer Reading bakal ngadain giveaway lagi kok lain kali hehehe dan juga, sering-sering pantengin blog member-member BBI ya, karena banyak banget giveaway pribadi maupun giveaway hop yang bisa kalian ikutin. :D

Kalau ada keluh kesah, masukan, kritik atau saran tentang August Rainbow Giveaway Hop ini, silakan disampaikan melalui kolom komentar ya, untuk perbaikan kedepannya nanti.

Sekian, selamat hari Senin! Have a nice week ahead <3

Have fun and read some more,

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Isla and the Happily Ever After

by Stephanie Perkins
published on August 14th, 2014 by Dutton Books
Young Adult/Contemporary/Romance
#3 book of Anna and the French Kiss series
352 pages

***

From the glittering streets of Manhattan to the moonlit rooftops of Paris, falling in love is easy for hopeless dreamer Isla and introspective artist Josh. But as they begin their senior year in France, Isla and Josh are quickly forced to confront the heartbreaking reality that happily-ever-afters aren't always forever.

Their romantic journey is skillfully intertwined with those of beloved couples Anna and Étienne and Lola and Cricket, whose paths are destined to collide in a sweeping finale certain to please fans old and new.

"I've always thought the best relationships are those that are as happy and content in silence as they are in action...."

Have you ever had a crush for so long you that slowly accept it as a mere daydream instead of something that could be a real thing? I have. And Isla has, too. That's why it's totally understandable how bizzarily(?) magical things for Isla Martin when, at the start of her senior year in high school, her longtime crush Joshua Wasserstein finally starts to reciprocate that feeling. How impossible! How come? Reading about Isla and Josh experiencing the start of their budding relationship is, in a word, heartwarming. You get to feel all the excitement of having your crush near you, talking about a lot of things that you thought you would never get the chance to actually share with him, thinking about the way he looks at you while you are talking. Was there something in my face? Did he found that funny? Did I behave appropriately in front of him? Should I not do these things? What should I do? Why is he so handsome oh my god I can't take it, that kind of things.

And then there's the nagging feeling that eventhough you're now willing to accept all the wonderful things that is happening (MY CRUSH LIKES ME BACK!), you're worrying about whether it's the real thing or not. Does he really like me, or it's just because I like him that he likes me? Is it real or is he merely being polite? What if someday he realizes that I'm not what he actually wants, after all this time. Will I survive the heartbreak? That's Isla for you, guys. The kind of Isla that you will meet when you read her story in this latest book by Stephanie Perkins.

 Josh grins. "Just give me your hand."
"W-what?"
"Your hand," He repeats. "Give it to me."
I extend my shaking right hand. And-in a moment that is a hundred dreams come true-Joshua Wasserstein laces his fingers through mine. A staggering shock of energy shoots straight into my veins. Straight into my heart.
"There," He says. "I've been waiting a long time to do that."

Oh, the jittery electrical feeling when you first holding hands.
Stephanie writes Isla's moments with Josh authentically. I love that she actually grasps that feeling when you have a crush who (finally!) loves you back. Isla and Josh is so irritatingly adorable! There are moments when Isla is stuck on incoherent babbling because she can't control herself in front of Josh. I laughed so loud at that! Other times when they're talking, she just looks at him with goggle-eyes, or talking to herself, probably screaming internally. It doesn't help to read that Josh also feels like he's slowly being consumed of Isla. After all his closest friends in school left because they graduate early (remember Anna and the French Kiss?) and a heartbreak, Isla is just exactly what he needs to keep him in school. In between their story, Stephanie also touches some important issues, for example, treating your friends right (Kurt, Isla's bestfriend, he's a memorable side character), learn to know what you actually want for your future instead of letting other people (or God) to do it for you, and also how, as young adults, we're actually allowed to have fun and make the most of our youth.

The next things I love about Isla and the Happily Ever After, are: 1) There are a lot of places mentioned in the book. Not only Paris (where our main characters go to school) and New York (where they actually come from), the readers are also brought to Barcelona with the couple! I love it. And there's also a fleeting mention of Dartmouth, at the topic of college. 2) I have to admit, this third book is by far the SEXIEST book from Ms Perkins! Oh, if you think the sexiness in Anna and Lola is already on top, this time it falls on a whole another level. The fact that Josh is an artist who doodles, paints, draws, or simply does art is enough for me to consider him as real attractive, but then the sharpie and the shower scene happen. I was like OH MY GOD THIS IS SO GOOD THIS IS I CANNOT BELIEVE IT WHAT WHAT it was very hot but also very beautiful at the same time. Remember: Sharpie and shower!

But other than that, I have to say there are times when the story gets real frustrating. Here's why. I know insecurity is humane, it's impossible not to ever feel it in our younger times. Some days we feel more insecure than other days. But the thing is, in all honesty, I don't like being exposed to it when I'm reading about characters in books. I prefer to read about girls who are confident, who are badasses, who knows their worth, and who knows that despite their flaws, feeling insecure is a waste of time so it's better for them to just enjoy the days. That's what I found in Lola, that's what makes Lola special to me. So when things go awry in Isla and the Happily Ever After because of her insecurities that go out of hands, I was disturbed. Like what I said in the earlier paraghraphs, Isla feels scared, she feels jealous, she thinks the relationship between her and Josh is too good to be true. Then the whole thing that follows mimic the saying: What you thought become your words, your words become actions, and your actions become your reality. Drama-rama, drama momma drama. It gets that bad up to the moment where I feel like chunking a big block of stone to Isla's head. STOP TALKING. ACTUALLY STOP BREATHING ALREADY, YOU UNGRATEFUL BEING that's what I actually screamed in my head while staring with wide eyes upon the paragraphs.

Don't worry that much, though, because maybe it's just me. Lots of other readers feel like they have no problem with my issue about the book. Stephanie Perkins then lead us carefully until we meet all the previous characters in the first and second book (YES! Just you wait!) and give us the most wonderful surprise ever. It's such a perfect way to end her trilogy. So at the end, yeah, I'm still happy. I can't stop ooh-ing and aaah-ing at our favorite couples, hoping that they will continue to be as awesome as they are now and that I will finally get my own Anna to my St Clair, Lola to Cricket, and Isla to Josh.... My own happily ever after. That said, if Stephenie writes another contemporary YA, I would be more than happy to read it!

 “What are you working on?" I ask.
"The last page." He gestures towards the table, where a pencilled sketch is being turned into inked brushstrokes. It's a drawing of us, in this café, in this moment.
I smile up at him. "It's beautiful. But what comes next?"
"The best part." And he pulls me back into his arms. "The happily ever after.” 

 ***

 Hi, guys! What are you currently reading/watching/listening these days? Anything good? Have you read Isla? Tell me what do you think about it!

By the way, remember, there's still the August Rainbow Giveaway Hop going on in the blog, so if you want to win books (LOTS of books... with the total amount of money *winks winks*), make sure to come over to this post and join the fun!

Have lots of fun and read some more,

August Rainbow Giveaway Hop - Green

HIIIIIIIIIIII
It's time for another giveaway hop! :D

August is a special month because I'm celebrating two birthdays this month! Yang pertama adalah ulangtahunku sendiri di tanggal 15 (hihi) dan ulangtahun I Prefer Reading di tanggal 22 ini. HAPPY BIRTHDAY IPR! <3
Untuk merayakannya, aku bersama 6 teman-teman lain (yang juga berulangtahun di bulan Agustus) memutuskan untuk mengadakan

AUGUST RAINBOW GIVEAWAY HOP

Konsep dari giveaway hop kali ini adalah cover guessing game, sama seperti giveaway hop terakhir yang diadakan I Prefer Reading pada saat ulang tahun Blogger Buku Indonesia. Kemudian, karena hosts-nya berjumlah tujuh orang, kita memakai tema 'Rainbow' atau pelangi yang jumlah warnanya tujuh. Untuk di I Prefer Reading, warna dominan dalam cover guessing game ini adalah: Hijau!

Berikut aku jelaskan dulu ya mekanisme dan syarat untuk August Rainbow Giveaway Hop-nya

1. Giveaway berlangsung dari mulai hari ini, 22 Agustus 2014 hingga DUA minggu ke depan saja, yang berarti tanggal  5 September 2014

2. Peserta harus menebak dengan benar semua cover juga nama penulis dari buku-buku yang ditampilkan di masing-masing blog hosts August Rainbow Giveaway Hop. Oleh karena itu, kalian wajib mengunjungi dan juga follow semua blog yang menjadi hosts dalam giveaway ini (follow bisa melalui GFC, Bloglovin, ataupun email, bebas). Pada setiap blog, akan ada 4 buah cover. Maka, total cover yang harus kalian tebak adalah 4 cover x 7 blog = 28 buah cover.

3. Bagi kalian yang berhasil menebak keseluruhan dari cover yang ada, nama kalian berhak untuk masuk ke dalam undian pemenang. Kami akan memilih dua orang pemenang tercepat yang dapat memecahkan semua tebakan dalam cover guessing game ini.

4. Apabila di antara peserta tidak ada yang dapat menebak dengan keseluruhan 28 cover yang ada, maka dua pemenang yang akan kita pilih adalah mereka yang paling banyak jumlah benarnya

5. Jangan lupa sertakan nama lengkap, email, serta akun social networking yang dapat dihubungi supaya kalian mudah dihubungi bila menang, yaaa

Mungkin ada yang bertanya-tanya, duh emang August Rainbow Giveaway Hop ini hadiahnya apa sih, kok repot-repot banget gitu syaratnya? Hehehe :D

Hadiah untuk Giveaway Hop ini adalah 

Paket buku pilihan sendiri dengan jumlah total Rp 550.000 untuk dua orang pemenang! 

YES, YOU READ THAT RIGHT.

MORE THAN HALF A MILLION, PEOPLE!

Jadi, pemenang pertama berhak mendapatkan hadiah buku senilai Rp 350.000, sedangkan pemenang kedua mendapatkan Rp 200.000 :D

Nah, untuk bagian GREEN/HIJAU di I Prefer Reading, cover-cover berikutlah yang harus kalian tebak:

Untuk memudahkan kalian, aku beri hints yaaa. Mudah-mudahan bisa banyak membantu

HINTS

• Dua diantara empat cover tersebut merupakan buku-buku dari genre favoritku: Young Adult. Yang berarti, mereka buku berbahasa Inggris. Tapi sampai sekarang, dua-duanya belum diterjemahkan oleh penerbit di Indonesia huhuhu

• Sementara, dua lainnya merupakan buku keluaran penerbit lokal, dan dua-duanya adalah antologi (kumpulan cerita). 1 terbit tahun 2013, 1 lainnya terbit tahun 2014.

• Tiga diantara empat cover buku yang harus kalian tebak di atas udah pernah aku post reviewnya di I Prefer Reading, lho. Jadi, silakan backtrack IPR untuk membantu kalian menjawab!

• Satu di antara empat buku tersebut bertemakan travel/perjalanan

• Perhatikan baik-baik kata kunci berikut ini ya. Secara berurutan: Pelangi (Rainbow), If, Telanjang, Menyulut.

Pertanyaan selanjutnya adalah, dimana kalian harus menjawabnya? Apakah di kolom komentar seperti biasa? Nggak, kalian dipersilakan menjawab pada laman googledocs berikut ini. Jangan lupa sertakan identitas kalian. Jangan lupa juga untuk ajak teman-teman lain! Kalian boleh banget apabila ingin share tentang August Rainbow Giveaway Hop ini melalui twitter, facebook, atau bahkan blog kalian sendiri. Tidak wajib, namun akan ada poin tambahan apabila kalian melakukannya.


Sekian penjelasan dari aku. Apabila ada hal-hal yang kurang jelas dan ingin kalian tanyakan, silakan tanya melalui kolom komentar. Jangan lupa kunjungi blog-blog hosts lain untuk menjawab semua warna-warna yang ada, ya :)

Dunia Dalam Kertas | Kuroneko Book Club | Mari Ngomongin Buku | Notes of A Dreamer | Ren's Little Corner | Purple Bookish

Semangat yaaa, selamat berburu buku! I hope August will continue to give you more awesome surprises! <3

Have fun and read some more,

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass

written by Sarah J Maas

published on August 7th 2012 by Bloomsbury USA

book #1 of Throne of Glass series

Young Adult/Fantasy/Romance

404 pages

***

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another.

Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

“My name is Celaena Sardothien. But it makes no difference if my name's Celaena or Lillian or Bitch, because I'd still beat you, no matter what you call me.”   

Throne of Glass is definitely that book which makes you seriously question yourself with the sentence: "Why didn't I read this sooner?!" It's an immensely entertaining high fantasy with a strong, badass, remarkable female main character that everyone who's looking for a good quality YA fantasy should look up to. Thank you, everyone out there, who feels like they haven't praised the book enough. You got me read this one.

Celaena Sardothien, a young asassin in the country of Erilea, was thrown into a salt mine prison after getting caught three years ago. For a long time she became a slave in that mine, but she endured it. Now the Crown Prince, Dorian Havilliard, offers to grant Celaena her freedom, if only she could become the Kings' Champion and prove that she, indeed, is the best. To get the title, though, Celaena has to beat other strong opponents in a deadly competition. Things get confusing when one by one, Celaena's opponents are found dead in dreadful conditions. Who might be the killer and what's the motivation behind the killings?

In this debut fantasy novel by Sarah J Maas, she writes a thorougly convincing and enjoyable high but light fantasy. There's something about the way she writes that makes us, as readers, believe in her words. The strong characterization of Celaena is one proof of it. (By the way, isn't the girl's name one of the best YA literary name, ever? I mean, CELAENA SARDOTHIEN. So much swag in two words. I really appreciate the author's ability to come up with some quite epic names that acually fits for her characters) As the best (and probably the youngest) assassin in Erilea, she has this harsh and powerful side of her, with so much badassery contained in one body. [The swordfighting scene with Chaol actually took my breath away!] Celaena knows not merely how to fight, but how to fight hard. This girl values herself because she knows that she's good at killing, that she deseves a high amount of respect for what she has accomplished in such a young age. Her self-boastness is something to be expected.  What I didn't expect was the girlish, teenagery side of her that surfaces every now and then. Like any other normal 18 years old girls out there, Celaena is still excited over the thought of parties, ballgowns, and other feminine matters which I admit, makes her not only so overly CUTE, but also lovable! She's like this ferocious, grumpy cat that will turn into a fluffy kitten when offered candies. This girl also has so much snark and fun-ness in oneself! I really really enjoyed every smartypants, wit-filled conversations that she exhanged with Chaol (and other characters as well) throughout the book. As if all of that are not enough, Sarah J Maas coerced me to love this girl even more when her passion toward literature and libraries is revealed. That way I started to believe that Celaena is truly powerful, strong, and unbeatable, but she's also a normal 18 years old girl who still wants to enjoy life as it is.

“Over a million? A million books?” Her heart leapt and danced, and she cracked a smile. “I’d die before I even got through half of that!” 

“You like to read?” 

She raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you?”   

*

“Libraries were full of ideas–perhaps the most dangerous and powerful of all weapons.”

The plot line flows seamlessly, alternating between scenes where Celaena is happily enjoying herself being showered by the luxury of palace life after three years living in a salt mine, the training, the get-to-know-you parts between her and other characters (Dorian, Chaol, Lady Nehemia, Nox, and others. I'm happy to say that it's clear Sarah J Maas put a lot of attentions to her side characters, because even Nehemia is a well complicatedly written character who actually holds an important role in the book), and the competition itself. There's a few letdown of the book, though, for the synopsis somehow created this quite high expectation that the 'competition' parts would be more like Hunger Games-y, while actually it's not that bad. Arrow shooting, running, one-on-one fight, identifying poisoned liquid, and all that. If I have to be honest, this book needs more action. More brutal fights, more mess. I want the assassin side of Celaena to be given lights more often. Show us, Sarah J Maas, SHOW US. Also, I am never a fan of love triangle, and while Throne of Glass' romance does not really qualify as love triangle, the somehow grey-ish relationship between Celaena, Prince Dorian, and Chaol got me torn for a while. I know clearly who I'm rooting for (CHAOL WESTFALL, of course. You have to read the book to grasp this INTENSE attraction between him and Celaena, which is like, the best thing ever. They're so special), I could not help but to enjoy all her moments with the other boy, too. These two boys can't help it but to get blown away by Celaena's astonishing charms, ha ha.

All in all, I would suggest this series to any of you who's currently looking for a good quality Young Adult series, especially for fantasy maniacs! Eventhough the turn of events might seem predictable at times, the story is supported by some well-crafted qualities such as good characterization, good dialogs, emotions play, and also filled with beautiful lines here and there. The series is set for six books (three books already out so far, which I will completely devour soon!) along half of dozen novellas that you can enjoy in between. 

A glimpse of awesomeness to Throne of Glass:

“Would you like to dance with me?”
He laughed. “With you? No.”
She looked at the marble floor, her chest tight. “You needn’t be so cruel.”
“Cruel? Celaena, Perrington is just over there. I’m sure he’s not happy about you being here, so I wouldn’t risk drawing his attention any more than necessary.”
“Coward.”
Chaol’s eyes softened. “If he weren’t here, I would have said yes.” 

(...)
“Anyway,” Chaol added, jerking his chin at Dorian, “I think you have far more attractive suitors vying for your attention. I’m boring company to keep.”
“I don’t mind being here with you.”
“I’m sure you don’t,” Chaol said dryly, though he met her stare.
“I mean it. Why aren’t you dancing with anyone? Aren’t there ladies whom you like?”
“I’m the Captain of the Guard—I’m not exactly a catch for any of them.” There was some sorrow in his eyes, though it was well concealed.
“Are you mad? You’re better than everyone in here. And you’re—you’re very handsome,” she said, taking his hand in her free one. There was beauty in Chaol’s face—and strength, and honor, and loyalty. She stopped hearing the crowd, and her mouth became dry as he stared at her. How had she missed it for so long?
“You think so?” he said after a moment, looking at their clasped hands.
She tightened her grasp. “Why, if I wasn’t—”

*   

“Right," Chaol said. "So you're just... memorizing that information now?"

"If you're suggesting that I have no reason to be here and to leave, then tell me to go." 

"I'm just trying to figure out what's so boring that you dozed off 10 minutes ago."

She propped herself up onto her elbows. "I did not!"

His eyebrows rose. "I heard you snoring."

"You're a liar, Chaol Westfall." She threw her paper at him at ploppedback on the couch. "I only closed my eyes for a minute."

He shook his head again and went back to work.

Celaena blushed. "I didn't really snore, did I?"

His face was utterly serious as he said, "Like a bear.”   

*

“You could be great. You could rattle the stars. You could do anything if only you dared.”

What are you reading lately? Are you having a lot of fun this weekend? I hope August is treating you well so far. If you have read the book and you love it, tell me!

If you're convinced to read the book after reading this review and you love it, tell me as well! It will seriously make my day. :)

Have fun and read some more!

Jobless July

Well, I was not exactly jobless in July, you see, but these two months between July and August are the time when I will have full 31 days off (summer break, everybody! *inner happy dance*). Except for the days where I have to make presentations in high schools along with other friends, I basically just stay at home, challenging my inner sloth. Since colleges are off, I did quite lots of breakfasting together with my old friends from elementary, middle, high school, even college friends in July, something that us Indonesian regularly do in Ramadhan month. It was fun to catch up with them, seeing how we're doing after months apart.

Did you read?
Why, YES, I did read, and in July I participated in #BCIDReadathon that was held by @BookClubID (update: I only managed to finish 3 books instead of 4 or 5 like I was originally intended). I didn't update the blog, I know, sorry for the lack of post! Since we're in this, I would also like to make an evaluation of my 2014 blogging goals that I set up in the beginning of the year, something like a mid-year evaluation, because it seems like I need to be reminded over and over again of my goals to get myself back on track.

Here is what I wrote in my 'Changes, Plans, and Secret Santa 2013' post last year.

'Beberapa goals buat IPR di tahun 2014 nanti'

• Dalam sebulan, harus posting minimal 5 postingan. 
• Pasang target Goodreads Reading Challenge 100 buku lagi, dan harus berhasil.
• Lebih aktif berpartisipasi di BBI.
• Tapi harus tetap bisa nyeimbangin waktu antara kuliah, social life dan blogging!

For the first point, I said that I have to post minimum 5 posts in a month. The first months were done quite good, started with 10 posts in January and February, but you can see as college started again in February and got a lil bit hectic during March, April, and the next months (not to mention the family problems that arised), I (pitifully) lost my balance in managing academic life, social life, and blogging, and unfortunately the latter had to be the one that was sacrificed, hence why in the last 3 months starting from May I didn't even write anything at all. *sigh* 

I know, no excuses, I'm sorry. We still have five months ahead to fix this. Go go go go go!

What about my reading challenge?

For the Goodreads Reading Challenge, I'm happy to say that I'm still on track (73 books so far). I have to admit that historical romances help a lot in this challenge, for most of them are light and have happy endings. Happy endings make me happy and want to read other books immediately, heheheh. I still read quite a lot of young adult books (contemporary or others), I just suck at writing reviews for them :| I also set myself to participate in at least one post of #PosbarBBI every month as my attempt to be more active in the community, but so far I have only participated in 4 months out of 7.

So there goes my report card...

Those are the books I read in July, 8 books in total. Only three of them are young adult books (ahaha), another one is a snippet suprise from JK Rowling, but it wasn't even a novella so I do not include that one.

• JD Robb's Glory in Death and Immortal in Death are the second and third book from the famous In Death series. I totally fell in love with the futuristic setting (oh, all the technologies!) and the series' power couple, Eve and Roarke. Stories about murders, criminals, and similar things like that are not usually what in my cup of tea, but for this series I found myself an exception.

• Landline, another fiction by Rainbow Rowell. I love it, it's better than her latest YA, Fangirl. Read my review here.

• Loretta Chase's Lord of Scoundrels was my historical fiction pick of the month. Fabulous main female character! It was deliciously entertaining ;)

• Ain't She Sweet by Susan Elizabeth Philips and Make You Mine by Macy Beckett are both adult fictions. In short, I prefer the former much better than the latter. I would totally look for other writings by Susan Elizabeth Philips.

• Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson, one of my favorite YA authors. She wrote Amy and Roger's Epic Detour also Second Chance Summer, two books that I would recommend to everyone. This latest creation from her, eventhough still very much enjoyable, fell on my least favorite, though.

• To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han, Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas, and the latest installment of 1Q84 are the books that I read for #BCIDReadathon. I found myself another favorite: Throne of Glass series! It was AWESOME. 

Girl has one of the most notable characters' names in YA literary world: CELAENA SARDOTHIEN.

I really enjoyed this year's World Cup because THE GERMANS WERE ON FIRE, BABY and they won magnificently!!! :") This is my third time rooting for them in World Cup (I still remember crying my eyes out when they lose in WC 2010, this time I also cried but it was out of happiness YAAAAAS) I felt so proud seeing Bastian Schweinsteiger finally held the golden cup ahahahahah.
What team did you support for in this year's World Cup, by the way?

I watched three movies last month. You are the Apple of My Eye is a heartwarming coming of age Taiwanese movie adapted from book with the same name by author Giddens Ko (Indonesian version of the book is published by Penerbit Haru), Kings of Summer is a 2013 movie (Nick Robinson! luvvv) but it was a lil bit disappointing because the movie is kinda boring, and the latest one, Bajaj Bajuri is a local movie adapted from a famous sitcom that I recently watched this week.

As for music, I replayed Beyonce's Pretty Hurts and Taylor Swift's All Too Well many times this month.
Also, I just recently got hooked on (yet another) korean boyband called BTS/Bangtan Boys! My music player is currently repeating their songs over and over again as I write this post. I love how a lot of their members are still so young (Jimin and Taehyun are both 95-liners while Jungkook is a 97-liner. They're such a wonder).

No book blog recommendation this time, but here are a few links worth reading from around the web:

• Ginger from GReads! has an awesome feature on her blog for the summer: Sweet Summertime Reads Roadtrip

• Interesting site that I just discovered a while ago: Daily Zen List

• Read about Yasmeen, a hijabi girl living in America who takes a lot of sassy, entertaining selfies from Buzzfeed. And damn this girl IS smart! She's going to UC Berkeley this fall to study pre-med.

• The First Step for Anything is This: Show Up.

• Movie trailers: If I Stay, 50 Shades Of Grey, Mockingjay #1 Teaser Trailer: Our Leader The Mockingjay. (What do you guys think of them? 50's looking GOOD pretty much because of the amazing remake song from Beyonce and now I'm kinda pumped for it hehe. If I Stay... well a lil bit worrisome, I have to admit. It's my ultimate YA favorite book so I really don't want them to mess up!)

• Is Reading Too Much a Bad Thing? Is there any such thing as reading too much?

• Five reasons why Twilight is not completely awful by Steph Sinclair =))

• Some cute contemporary Young Adults to accompany your weekend read

• Another one from Buzzfeed: 42 Impossibly Fun Wedding Pictures that You'll Want to Steal. Yes I have a knack for reading wedding articles like this. Don't ask me why...

• Honestly, sometimes I'm still shocked when readers my age say that they don't like YA books or that they have no interest in YA books anymore. But the truth is, a lot of us feel that way, even Alicia, and even my ownself... (notice how a lot of adult fictions have been dominating my reading choice this year?)

August is my all time favorite month of the year because (of course), it's my BIRTHDAY MONTH YAAAAAAAAS. (Hint hint, middle date hint hint) I'm not excited about the prospect of getting older nooo but to think that I'll finally overcome another year in my life is somehow a beautiful thing. 18 has given me so much badassery, experiences, and magics that have molded and shaped me even more yuhuuu.

Other things I'm also excited about in August:

• Bangtan Boys comeback! Winner debut! EXO's new variety show, Legend! (Yup my life has been overtaken by korean boys, pretty much)

• If I Stay, the movie

• More high school presentations... It's a great way to exercise my public speaking :)

• ISLA AND THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER! Asdrjfeufefbecujrierfeufrnfe the book will be out only a day before my birthday <3

• Indonesian Independence Day on the 17th hihihih always love the atmosphere of celebration here

• More hanging out times with my friends!

What about you, what are you excited about for in August? Did you go anywhere for vacation this holiday? (I hope July was also a joyful month for you all) Any favorite book/article/movie/songs from July that you want to recommend? Shoot me with your words!

Don't forget to have fun and read some more :)

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Landline

ditulis oleh Rainbow Rowell
diterbitkan 8 Juli 2014 oleh St. Martin's Press
Contemporary/Drama/Adult Fiction
310 halaman
buku lain dari penulis: Eleanor & Park, Fangirl, Attachment

***

Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it’s been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems besides the point now.

Maybe that was always besides the point.

Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her.

When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything.

That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts . . .

Is that what she’s supposed to do?

Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?

“Someone had given Georgie a magic phone and all she'd wanted to do with it is stay up late talking to her old boyfriend. If they'd given her a proper time machine, she probably would have used it to cuddle with him. Let someone else kill Hitler.”

Salah satu dilema terbesar yang dihadapi perempuan dalam usia kerja biasanya adalah memutuskan untuk jadi stay at home mom atau working mom. Banyak perempuan nggak rela untuk sekadar mengurus anak-anak di rumah setelah bertahun-tahun mengejar gelar dari institusi pendidikan tinggi yang susah payah ia raih tanpa merasakan kesempatan memiliki karir yang bagus dan hebat seperti para laki-laki. Buat apa sekolah tinggi-tinggi kalau akhirnya hanya di rumah dan mengurus anak? Lalu ketika ia memutuskan bekerja, pertanyaan selanjutnya adalah tapi yang akan bertanggung jawab pada anak-anak, siapa? Ada pengorbanan yang harus direlakan dari kedua pilihan tersebut, entah kebahagiaan pribadi atau kedekatan dengan keluarga sendiri. Inilah yang dihadapi oleh Georgie McCool dalam Landline, buku terbaru dari Rainbow Rowell.

Liburan natal kali ini, Georgie dan keluarganya sudah berencana untuk pergi ke Omaha, rumah keluarga Neal (suami Georgie) berada. Georgie merasa liburan inilah salah satu cara yang akan dapat memperbaiki hubungan keluarga dan pernikahannya yang belakangan seolah di ujung tanduk. Tapi kemudian sebuah kesempatan besar yang tak bisa disia-siakan dari tempat kerja Georgie datang, dimana ia harus tetap pergi ke kantor untuk menyelesaikan skenario agar bisa dipresentasikan (Georgie bekerja sebagai penulis acara komedi di TV). Ketika memberitahukan hal ini pada Neal, Neal jelas kecewa, dan kemudian memutuskan bahwa Neal bersama kedua anak mereka, Noomi dan Alice, akan tetap pergi meskipun tanpa Georgie. Setelah itu, Neal seolah menjauh. Tak hanya sulit dihubungi, ia pun nggak pernah berusaha menelpon Georgie balik. Georgie yang larut dalam kekecewaan akhirnya memutuskan untuk tinggal sementara di rumah orangtuanya, sambil sesekali berusaha menghubungi Neal melalui telepon tua berwarna kuning yang ada di rumah lama tersebut. Tak disangka, Neal memang akhirnya menjawab telepon dari Georgie, tapi Neal ini bukan Neal suami Georgie yang sekarang, melainkan Neal versi empat belas tahun lalu, beberapa saat sebelum mereka menikah....

Lewat Landline, Rainbow Rowell mengukuhkan sekali lagi kemampuannya untuk menulis suatu kisah yang sangat menyentuh luar biasa melalui hal-hal sederhana. Melalui percakapan antara Georgie yang sekarang dan Neal dari masa lalu, pembaca dibawa hingga ke saat-saat awal pertemuan mereka berdua dulu. Iya, setengah dari Landline adalah flashbacks, dan bagian-bagian itu justru yang menurutku lebih menyenangkan daripada bagian-bagian cerita di masa sekarang. Georgie dan Neal tuh total opposites banget, dengan sifat Georgie yang easygoing sementara Neal orangnya tenang, pendiam, lebih nyaman berkutat dalam dunianya sendiri. Georgie aktif, populer, tipe perempuan yang selalu berani untuk take actions, dan selalu tau apa yang ia mau, beda dengan Neal yang keinginannya cenderung berubah-ubah. It's so lovely to read how these two different people get united in a relationship. Seperti layaknya pasangan-pasangan lain, mereka punya berbagai masalah internal, dari mulai hubungan Georgie yang terlalu dekat dengan partner kerja sekaligus sahabatnya dari dulu, Seth, lalu posisi Georgie yang biasa memegang kendali, hingga rasa bersalah menumpuk yang dirasakan Georgie ketika Neal akhirnya mengalah dengan memutuskan untuk tidak bekerja demi mengurus kedua anak mereka. Hal-hal ini tidak dikomunikasikan dengan baik sampai kemudian Neal dan anak-anak pergi ke Omaha dan Georgie tenggelam dalam asumsi dan rasa bersalah sendirian.

“You don't know when you're twenty-three.

You don't know what it really means to crawl into someone else's life and stay there. You can't see all the ways you're going to get tangled, how you're going to bond skin to skin. How the idea of separating will feel in five years, in ten - in fifteen. When Georgie thought about divorce now, she imagined lying side by side with Neal on two operating tables while a team of doctors tried to unthread their vascular systems.

She didn't know at twenty-three.”

Setelah menghabiskan beberapa kesempatan berbicara dengan Neal versi empat belas tahun lalu melalui sambungan telepon aneh itu, Georgie mulai bertanya-tanya, apakah memang keputusan mereka untuk menikah adalah yang terbaik? Bagaimana bila Georgie bisa membujuk Neal untuk tidak melamarnya pada waktu itu, mungkin saja Neal akan mendapatkan hidup yang lebih layak dan lebih menyenangkan daripada yang mereka alami saat ini? Bisakah hubungan mereka diperbaiki kembali?

Membaca tulisan Rainbow Rowell selalu terasa seperti kejadian tersebut bisa terjadi dalam kehidupan nyata, dan segala percakapannya benar-benar diucapkan oleh orang biasa. Nggak terasa berlebihan sih (just, adorably and irritatingly cheesy hehehe) tapi bener-bener bisa mainin emosi. Halaman-halamannya penuh dengan quotes-quotes yang bisa bikin uaahhhhh, meleleh sendiri. Nangis, Ta? IYA SEMPET NANGIS BANGET. Terus, entah kenapa deh cerita adult fictions karya Rowell pun lebih enak dibaca daripada kisah YA-nya? Neal dan Georgie terasa real, and it pleases me as a reader that despite all of the problems and threats to their marriage, the fact that Georgie and Neal are still very much in love with each other is something that can't be denied. Sepanjang baca Landline aku terus keingetan sama salah satu quote dari buku One Day karya David Nicholls yang diucapkan Emma ke Dexter: "I love you, Dex, so much, I just don't like you anymore."

Yang ini nih. HUHUHU sedih kalo inget endingnya :((

Landline memberi kita pelajaran bahwa dalam sebuah hubungan, komunikasi baik itu sesuatu yang harus dibangun dan diusahakan oleh pihak-pihak yang terlibat. Come to think of it, hal ini berlaku nggak hanya untuk hubungan pernikahan dan keluarga aja, tapi juga hubungan sesama manusia secara general. Kalau kita ketika punya masalah hanya berasumsi, merasa nggak enak, terus dipikirin tapi nggak pernah benar-benar diomongin dan diselesaikan ya masalah akan tetap ada. Rainbow juga kayak lagi ngasih tunjuk 'Nih, yang namanya hubungan sama pasangan, apalagi pernikahan dan punya keluarga bareng itu bukan sesuatu yang gampang. Dikira kalau udah nikah itu cuma senang-senang doang?' Makanya, nggak usah resah-resah lah yang masih single, atau yang nanti pas lebaran diuber-uber dengan pertanyaan 'Udah punya pacar belum? Kapan nikah? Kapan punya anak?' Yak kan pembahasan melebar kemana-mana =)) Selain masalah dalam keluarga inti Georgie dan Neal, Rainbow Rowell juga menyinggung hal-hal minor lain melalui hubungan Georgie dengan orangtua (Beda usia Georgie dan ayah tirinya cuma tiga tahun!) dan adiknya, Heather.

“Nobody's lives just fit together. Fitting together is something you work at. It's something you make happen - because you love each other.”

Untuk pembaca yang sebelumnya udah pernah nyicipin tulisan Rainbow Rowell, Landline ini harus dicoba juga! Terutama buat yang ngerasa Eleanor and Park atau Fangirl terlalu cheesy dan remaja banget. Menurutku pribadi, Landline ini entah gimana lebih enak dibaca dibanding Fangirl. Sementara kalau baca Attachment chick-flicknya kerasa banget, nah Landline agak serius sedikit lah daripada itu. Ada beberapa hal yang agak terasa 'gantung' sih dari Landline ini juga, diantaranya tentang unsur telepon absurd yang bisa time-travel itu dan penyelesaian akhir hubungan Georgie sama Neal (I want it to be muuuuch longer than that! Huhuhuhuhu), terus aku juga sempet skip beberapa bagian waktu Georgie di tempat kerja bareng Seth, borrrrring, tapi secara keseluruhan, membaca Landline buatku sangat-sangat nggak mengecewakan!

Review ini aku sertakan dalam Posting Bareng BBI Juli 2014 dengan tema Teen/Family Issue. :)

Yeay! Akhirnya nulis review lagi! Hihihi

Have fun and read some more, teman-teman,

Book Club Indonesia's 1st Readathon

First of all, I wanna say huge thank you to @BookClubID who have kindly invited me to participate in their 1st readathon! I feel quite honored, hehe. This event will be held starting tomorrow, Friday, July 18th until Sunday, July 20th.  Honestly, I have never done this before, simply because I've always been afraid that I could not force myself to actually sit and read and read and read books as much as possible. It's true that my reading time is solely dictated by my mood. But then again, I thought, why not?

So yes, count me in!

To those of you who are reading this and may have questions such as 'What is a readathon?', 'How do I do it?' et all, Nicole has explained this in her announcement post, but I will quote the answers here.

A readathon is simply a reading marathon! Usually, book communities select a few days and dedicate it to as much reading as possible. It can be any book you already have, or there might be a theme around it as well. For Book Club Indonesia's first readathon, we aim to read as much books off of our shelves as possible. That means finally picking up those lonely books that have been sitting on your bookshelves for years, unread and unreached for

What: Within the set three days, you can challenge yourself to as much pages and books you want. There are special challenges that you can participate in, but they aren't prerequisites or anything. They're just fun segments to keep your reading on track! There will also be sprints on our Twitter page, and these are small activities that the whole community can participate in. These sprints have a time limit, say 40 minutes, and within those 40 minutes, we will RT and tweet back everybody who managed to participate in the sprint. The sprints will require you to incorporate the book you've got on hand, so make sure you have that ready!

How: Simply take a book, any book, preferably one that's been collecting dust the longest on your shelves, sit down, and read. Read and read and read for three days, and you can brag to your friends that you've completed a readathon! If you want to participate with the community, however, simply stalk our Twitter or update us through any social media platform you have. On Twitter, please use the hashtag #bcidreadathon, and don't forget to include this when you participate in our Twitter sprints. You don't have to mention us, just be sure to put in the hashtag. That's how we'll be responding to you guys!

Don't you think doing a readathon is another excellent reason to up the number of your Goodreads 2014 Reading Challenge? How's your progress so far, by the way? I started pretty good at the beginning of this year but since the blog kinda went MIA these past weeks MONTHS my reading has been lacking too. It's time to catch up!

As for the challenges for the readathon, there are three of them

Challenge #1: Read a book that is written in another language.

Mangas are fine, but it'd be better if you read a proper book that's written in a foreign language. Let's say you're used to reading English books (like me), give a Bahasa Indonesia book a try! Or any language you can read for that matter.

Challenge #2: Finish a series

Simply as the title says! If you've already read the first book of its series, reading the rest of the books in the series will count as an accomplished challenge. So all you folks who have finished the second book of a trilogy, pick that last book up and give the series a huge 'check'!

Challenge #3: Read an e-book

There are many people who doubt e-books. I love them, so for that I challenge you to read at least one e-book! It can be an e-novella too (hint hint, destroy me, hint hint, READ IT).

My days will be pretty packed up this weekend so I honestly can't promise anything, but I'd like to finish around 4 or 5 books by the end of Sunday night. There are lots of ebook saved up on my e-reader which I haven't even started yet, so I think I'll be doing Challenge #3 (and that automatically means I'm taking on Challenge #1 too since those ebooks are in English).

What books am I planning to read? Let's see. My to-be-read list included Jenny Han's To All the Boys I've Loved Before, Sarah J Mass' Throne of Glass, Fiona Wood's Wildlife, Libba Bray's The Diviners and few other physical books that are still waiting patiently in line to get picked out (Robin Well's Variant and Anne Frank's Diary, to name a few), but there's a big probability that I will ended up reading totally different books from those I have mentioned. I'm quite picky in deciding what to read next ;)

To those of you who are interested, let's do this together! I know to read books on weekend does not really seem unusual for us bookworms (why there, we do this every weekend, hehe) but to know that there are a lot of us who are doing it together and setting a number of goal are what makes it special! You can sign up here or go to Book Club ID's page for further explanation.

By the way if you haven't followed @BookClubID on Twitter, you should! It's one of my favorite accounts on the Twitter bookverse.

Have fun and read some more!

Questions for you: Have you ever participated in a readathon before? How did it go, did you accomplish your goal? If you're gonna take part in BookClubID's readathon tomorrow, tell me what books are you planning to 'eat up' on the weekend! :)