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 :)

Adjusting April

Yep. April was a month of accepting and adjusting to the 'new' (but hopefully will only be temporary) situation, as the result of the mini-apocalyptic event that strucked my family in March. It's still a struggle to go through each day, this void that you cannot miss... But we're a little bit stronger and tougher now, so I think we will be okay soon. At least, I hope so. Right, enough with this passive-agressive thing.

In term of college, April was so-so, loads of assignments were given I thought the professors had seriously gone cazy, but I enjoyed each day. We started discussing Jane Eyre in class and I'm pretty excited about it. I love Jane Eyre! Also, presented a book review for Reading class, my friend and I picked 'Every Day' by David Levithan. Felt quite happy to successfully influenced some other friends to read the book :)

Did nothing special last month except for the rituals... And oh, announced the winner of BBI Giveaway Hop! Another giveaway is coming around August, I think, to celebrate the second annivesary of this blog. Whew, two years already?
Only managed to publish 7 posts, well, that was a disappointment... Even for me. I want to try keeping the mood even in the busiest time, and I shall do it. Want to give me advice on managing the blogging mood even when the heart does not feel that way?

In term of reading, I think it went okay. Finished 10 books in April (though two of them are novellas...) read some others but mostly did not finish it (yet). I'm a sucker for juggling and switching between lots of books at once. And the winner of never actually finishing them, HA!

• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. "I am no bird, and no net ensnares me." Amazing deal! Got this for less than $4. After watching the movie (2011 BBC version, starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender) and read the book for the second time, I can officially say that Jane Eyre is my favorite classic. Don't ask me whyyyy, but to be honest, I personally like it much more than Pride and Prejudice.

• Gilded Ashes by Rosamund Hodge is a novella set in Cruel Beauty world. This time it's a retelling of Cinderella, just a little bit darker and edgier....

• MY FAVORITE READ OF THE MONTH: Dreams of Gods and Monsters of Laini Taylor. I practically had to remind myself not to flip the pages too fast because I did not want the series to end on me yet. It delivered magnificently. I LOVE THE BOOK! YOU DA GURL, LAINI TAYLOR. I ADORE YOU.

• Confessions from An Arranged Marriage by Miranda Neville, my fourth historical romance filled with politics and such. I'd just say that it was not my cup of tea.

• Another unnecessary sequel from a beloved book.... Twisted by Emma Chase. You do not need to read it, really, though if you're interested, well, it's still quite fun.

• Galila by Jessica Huwae, a book I read to join this month's #Posbar. The theme is 'woman'. A quite solid book with long narratives, I found myself liking the title character.

• Another favorite read this month: Open Road Summer by Emery Lord! I could not believe it was a debut book! So much fun, so loveable, so worth it. Cute romance and beautiful friendship, road trips and touring with a star....

• In the Bag by Kate Klise. A flash read while commuting to the capital. It was okay... Not disappointing yet not remarkable either.

• What I Did for Duke by Julie Anne Long... another historical romance which I (thankfully) liked. Will surely be looking for another work by the author.

• On the Surface by Kate Willoughby. Love it! This author clearly knows a lot about what she writes. Hockey is not a sport that I'm familiar with, and through this book I found a new appreciation towar the game. Also, Ms Willoughby is good at writing a believable male narrator's POV! :)

Also on the blog: Traveling with a Bookish Twist | Review: What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick |

SOMEONE CALL THE DOCTOR ASDFRGHJKL

OVERDOSE BY EXO I JUST CANNOT.
All the songs in the album, based on what I heard through the comeback showcase videos are extremely good, I especially love their remake of 'I like you, I like you' YAYYY another comeback season for these 12 boys!

Birdy's Skinny Love and Pharrell's Happy were also two titles that I frequently repeated last month.

By the way, now I finally know why lots of people adore 10 Things I Hate about You. Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger were lovely <3

Excited about The Amazing Spiderman 2! These lovebirds are one of my favorites.

By the way, after seeing my friend sitting her butt watching Man from the Stars for HOURS while giggling like a loony and then cries heavily afterward.... Now I'm kinda curious to watch the famous KDrama. Is there any of you who have watched it? What do you think?

Looking for a book blog primarily focuses on YA books with great discussion posts? Notebook Sisters is definitely one of those. I haven't been following them for that long, but I love their little corner of the internet already. Notebook Sisters is mantained by Cait and Mime.

Love it: How to be the best book blogger ever?

• Excellent article read about teenagers and their habit of heavily investing on social medias....

• Another awesomeness from Gala Darling: Ways to Kick Blogger's Block

• Talking Shit with Bei Badgirl

• Why Do You Read YA? from Judith of Paper Riots. LUVS.

• Diana Rikasari's superawesomazing house. I just can't believe all that I see through this PC screen.

• Best Kiss Scenes in YA books according to Gillianne Berry. *giggles*

• What do you think about Eleanor & Park and The 5th Wave being turned into a movie?

• How Much Major Matters in Publishing Industry? by Alexandra Bracken

• Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort did a truly lovely photoshoot for EW, TFiOS promotional-wise. A little bit too much.... maybe?

• Adults who reads YA or Teens Books? Why not?

• How an English major balances academic and recreational reads :)

• http://michellevinca.tumblr.com, always one of my favorite poets. Her words haunt me.

• See the first trailer of Gone Girl, directed by David Fincher. I was amazed by the book, though there will be some big changes in the movie I will still surely watch it!

• Always the best: A Beautiful Mess' recipes

There are going to be sooo many day-offs in May, so I'm happily expecting this month. Day-off means more time to catch my sleep time.... Yay!

Things I'm excited about:

- EXO's comeback galore

- Take Me On by Katie McGarry

So what about you? How is your reading progress? What are you most expecting on May?

:)

Have fun and read some more,

Mournful March...

March started out okay for my family, but then in the last two weeks, things went awry. It was so out of hand. This problem that we're currently having was totally unexpected, so we had quite a hard time accepting it. We're still adapting with the new situation while still hoping that everything will get back to normal in the near future. *crossing fingers!* This occurence, unfortunately, had affected my reading and blogging time last month. I only managed to finish 8 books and posted 9 posts at IPR (It still exceedsthe monthly minimum number that I set up as this year's blogging goal, but still...)

• Bidadari Santa Monica by Alexandra Leirissa Yunadi, a Metropop from one of my favorite local authors. Not flawless, but I enjoyed it! Read my review of the book here

• What I Thought was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick. MY FAVORITE READ OF THE MONTH. I loved My Life Next Door so much and this second book from Ms Fitzpatrick has officially sealed her status as one of the many contemporary YA authors that I love. Cassidy & Gwen <3

• Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover. Can you believe that I gave this book 5 STARS? Yes it was THAT GOOD. I cried, I laughed, I flailed, I bit my pillow reading this one. Read my review of Maybe Someday here

• The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski. Last book from March. There is such a big hype regarding this book, and I liked it (lovely romance, nice worldbuilding), but not as much as I hoped I would. Maybe because the book is told from third POV? I had quite a hard time 'connecting' my self with Kestrel.

• Hothouse Flower by Krista and Becca Ritchie. NA. I should've listened to what everyone said, 'read the previous books first'.... The story was enjoyable with well-fleshed out characters, but it didn't left much impression.

• Here's to Looking at You by Mhairi McFarlene. At the start of the month, I still had a hungover from McFarlene's first book, You Had Me at Hello, so I quickly delved into this one. Such a good, touching story. :)

• The Choice by Nicholas Sparks. Got this book for only $1,7! Anddd I was satisfied because the story didn't end with tears running down my face. I love, looove happy ending.

• Dunia Mara by Sitta Karina. I'm sorry, but it seems like Sitta's good days are over? This one was so disappointing I couldn't believe it comes from the same author who wrote such masterpieces like Lukisan Hujan and Pesan dari Bintang.

Ten Popular Authors whose Works I've Never Read | On My Wishlist

John Legend's All of Me has been ringing in my head too much I get dizzy whenever I listen to it now (HA! Kidding. See what I did there...) Also, One Republic's Counting Stars.

If you remember, YESH I watched Divergent (TWICE) and talked about it in the blog last week. Such a satisfying adaptation. I'm still starstrucked on Theo James.

Not a movie, but My Mad Fat Diary is my newest addiction from March. It's a british TV series starring Sharon Rooney and (God's gift to girls!) Nico effin-HOT Mirallegro. The plot revolves around some big issues that are still relatable even for now (body image, suicide, dysfunctional family, sexual orientation, things like that...) I can't begin to tell you how PERFECT and impeccable this show is. British teens in the 90s, gorgeous landscapes, excellent music, super touching story, friendship, laughters, romance.... all in one.

I've been an audience of The Reader's Den as long as I've been having IPR. Jasprit and Rachel's blog were one of the very first blogs that I follow. I love their honest and convincing reviews. The Reader's Den covers quite a lot of book types (YA, NA, adult, fantasy, contemporary, paranormal..) If The Reader's Den loves a book, there's a big chance that I will love the book too. :)

• I've frequently hop over Gala Darling's site for positive vibes. Love her 'radical self love campaign'! Two of my faves: 100 Things to do When You're Upset | Now Mars is Retrogade?!

• Still heartbroken over the Gwyneth Paltrow-Chris Martin's separation. 'Fix You' will never be the same again :(

• Favorite tumblr: Authenticbiatch

• A peek of Shailene Woodley through her tweets...

• 5 Tips to Keep Fighting for Your Dreams when You Want to Give Up

• SO EXCITED ABOUT The Maze Runner movie. DYLAN O'BRIEN. September can't you come faster?

• FYA's most anticipated books of 2014: Standalones | Sequels

• Sometimes 'quality literature' sucks, from Notebook Sisters. Love the post!

I can't believe we're on the fourth month of the year again. Just, please take care of the things that March had brought my family into, ya hear me, April? This week is my midterm tests week, fingers crossed (again!) that the result will be satisfying. Also, I'm so stoked for Laini Taylor's finale, Dreams of God and Monsters, EEEEEK

APRIL 8TH COME AT ME NOW

Other exciting things....

• Festival GPU 40th at JCC Senayan, April 2nd - 6th. Lots of bookish events and bazaar! More information about the celebration: http://GPU40th.tumblr.com

• Blogger Buku Indonesia's Third Anniversary on April 13th. The giveaway hop is still ongoing on IPR until April 11th, if you haven't joined it yet, well what are you waiting for? And don't forget to be on the lookout for a guest post from Books to Share next week, it's also part of the anniversary celebration. :)

• Another EXO comeback?  Are they going for 'vampire' or are they going for 'opera' concept?AHHHHH I'MSONOTREADYBUTI'MALSOVERYVERYEXCITEDABOUTTHIS

What's your best read from March? What are you most excited about in April?

See you on another monthly recap! Meanwhile, have fun and read some more! :)

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! :)

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

• Kristy & Melissa from Book Nerd talked about Writing Negative Reviews

• One of my favorite Top Ten Tuesday topics from Broke and Bookish: Tips for Book Bloggers

• Christine from Oh! Chrys listed Book Blog Designs that WOW-ed her

• 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!

• List of books-to-movies that are going to hit theaters this year.

• The last installment of BBI's Secret Santa event: Participants guessed who their Santa and Santas revealed their identity!

General

• DROOL-WORTHY: A Beautiful Mess' food, drinks, and sweets recipes

• 50 Things an Undergraduate Student Needs to Know. Inspiring. I'll try to remember this.

• Fist-pump for Lesley's post about How to Treat an Intovert

• 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 ;)