Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Thanksgiving Giveaway


Halo Kawan!

Tidak terasa blog ini sudah berusia enam tahun, memang awalnya tidak berhubungan dengan buku, tetapi setahun sejak hari lahirnya, saya pun mengubahnya menjadi blog buku, thanks to teman-teman blogger buku lainnya yang meng-encourage perubahan itu. Selama enam tahun, meskipun bolong-bolong, saya terus menuliskan review buku yang kadang detail karena punya banyak waktu untuk research, kadang dan kebanyakan sangat dangkal karena hanya sekedar mengungkapkan kesan yang teringat saat membaca. At least, saya cukup konsisten dan menikmati proses selama lima tahun ini menekuni book blogger.

Lalu sebentar lagi, yes sebentar lagi, dalam hitungan hari, ya seperti kata Rowling I was born when the seventh month dies, I am going to turn 30, and yes a lot things to be grateful for 30 years of my life. Jadi, untuk berbagi rasa syukur itu, saya akan membagikan buku yang sebentar lagi akan release diakhir bulan ini, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, tapi kali ini giveaway ini ditujukan hanya untuk teman-teman sesama Blogger Buku Indonesia (BBI) saja. Next time buat yang lain ya. 


Untuk ikut giveaway ini, tinggal comment saja dipost ini dengan memberikan keterangan nama, alamat email yang terdaftar di data bbi dan no membership bbi ya. Urutan comment yang masuk akan menjadi no urut setiap peserta giveaway (comment yang double hanya akan dihitung satu kali ya).  Satu orang pemenang akan dipilih menggunakan random.org pada tanggal 31 Juli 2016 dan diumumkan diblog ini. Peserta yang akan diperhitungkan di random.org hanyalah yang memasukkan comment sebelum jam 12:00 siang di tanggal 31 Juli 2016. Saya akan menghubungi pemenang lewat email yang didaftarkan dan pemenang punya waktu 1x24 jam untuk konfirmasi alamat pengiriman. 

Selamat merapal mantra :)

Friday, July 22, 2016

[Posting Bareng BBI] Baca di Kasur

Oke, saya tahu bulan juli sudah berjalan lebih dari setengah, tapi belum telat kan kalau saya buat tulisan ini sekarang dalam rangka posting bareng BBI bulan juli? Hopefully divisi event setuju :D Anyway tema posbar bulan ini adalah #BBIHoliday yang isinya sharing tentang buku apa saja yang akan dibaca selama liburan dan bisa dimeriahkan dengan foto-foto buku dengan latar tempat kita berlibur. Sayangnya saya tidak kemana-mana, stay at home holiday, jadi kebanyakan baca buku diatas kasur berjam-jam sambil diselingi makan dan tidur (gagal diet) jadi tidak ada tempat menarik yang bisa jadi latar book photography.

Nah berhubung bulan Juli biasanya bulan paling produktif saya dalam membaca (biasanya max 3 buku/bulan, tapi bulan juli bisa dua kali atau tiga kali jumlah normal) plus kali ini saya tidak kemana-mana, jadi saya pun berencana menghabiskan The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S.Lewis sepanjang bulan ini, berikut ini judul-judul dan urutan bacanya:
  1. The Magician’s Nephew (The Chroniclesof Narnia #1)
  2. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (TheChronicles of Narnia #2)
  3. The Horse and His Boy (The Chroniclesof Narnia #3)
  4. Prince Caspian (The Chronicles ofNarnia #4)
  5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (The Chronicles of Narnia #5)
  6. The Silver Chair (The Chronicles of Narnia #6)
  7. The Last Battle (The Chronicles of Narnia #7)
So far, progress baca lancar dan sekarang sementara menikmati buku kelima. Link review bisa klik masing-masing judul diatas ya.  

[Review] Narnia : Prince Caspian by C.S.Lewis

Title: Prince Caspian (The Chronicle of Narnia, #4)
Author: C.S. Lewis
Publisher: Harper Collins
Published: September 1st, 2009
Pages: 239p
ISBN13: 9780007323111

Narnia memang tidak setebal harry potter series, jadi tidak butuh waktu lama untuk menyelesaikan setiap buku yang panjangnya kurang dari 200 halaman. Selain karena halaman buku yang tipis, plot yang dibangun Lewis pun tidak lambat seperti buku klasik kebanyakan, mungkin karena tema yang diusung adalah fantasi untuk anak-anak, sehingga mudah untuk dinikmati. Saat membaca The Horse and His Boy, saya cukup terkejut menemukan ada manusia lain, selain keempat tokoh utama yang masuk ke dunia Narnia dan tinggal beberapa kota disekitarnya, namun jawaban atas pernyataan bingung itu pun terjawab setelah selesai membaca buku ini, thanks to Aslan.

Setelah masa Golden Age, Narnia diserang oleh bangsa Telmarine dan ratusan tahun lamanya Narnians hidup menderita dan bersembunyi. Cerita tentang Aslan, talking animal, pohon yang bisa berdansa, Faun, Centaurus serta Raja dan Ratu mulai berubah menjadi mitos, bahkan penguasa Telmarine melarang mitos itu diceritakan kepada anak-anak. Hutan menjadi tempat menakutkan, Cair Paravel yang dulunya indah hanya tinggal kenangan reruntuhan diatas bukit. Inilah keadaan dimana Prince Caspian ke-10 hidup di kastil Telmarine. Caspian sangat tertarik dengan Narnia di masa lalu, ia bahkan ingin hidup di masa itu dan bertemu dengan Raja dan Ratu, ia senang mendengarkan semua cerita indah tentang Narnia, namun pamannya tidak sepaham dengannya. Caspian adalah anak dari raja terakhir yang hidup dibawah perlindungan pamannya Miraz yang berlaku sebagai Lord Protector dan terus mengincar posisi Raja. Prince Caspian tetap hidup karena Miraz tidak punya keturunan, namun suatu malam keadaan berubah ketika istrinya melahirkan Putra untuknya, Miraz punya penerus dan Prince Caspian menjadi ancaman baginya. Dengan bantuan Professor-nya Prince Caspian melarikan diri ke dalam hutan, satu-satunya tempat yang ia percaya tidak berani dimasuki oleh tentara pamannya karena pohon-pohon yang terkenal kejam dengan binatang buas dan hal lainnya. Namun tak disangkanya, Ia justru bertemu dengan mahluk-mahluk yang selama ini hanya dikenalnya lewat cerita mitos. Mereka adalah Narnians yang masih bertahan hidup dalam persembunyian.  

[Review] Anak Semua Bangsa by Pramoedya Ananta Toer

Title: Anak Semua Bangsa (Tetralogi Buru #2)
Author: Pramoedya Ananta Toer
Publisher: Gramedia Pustaka Utama
Published: 2006
Pages: 539p
ISBN13: 9789799731241
Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

“Orang bilang, apa yang ada di depan manusia hanya jarak. Dan batasnya adalah ufuk. Begitu jarak ditempuh sang ufuk menjauh. Yang tertinggal jarak itu juga – abadi. Di depan sana ufuk yang itu juga – abadi. Tak ada romantika cukup kuat untuk dapat menaklukkan dan menggenggamnya dalam tangan – jarak dan ufuk abadi itu”

Setelah membaca Bumi Manusia, sulit untuk tidak melanjutkan ke buku ini, alasannya tidak lain karena Pramoedya memberikan dasar berpijak yang jelas dan menarik di Bumi Manusia yang dibungkus kisah cinta Minke dan Annelies serta keluarga Mellema dan Nyai Ontosoroh. Saya penasaran dengan nasib Minke dan Annelies yang harus berpisah diakhir cerita, namun kisah mereka ternyata hanya menghiasi dua bab pertama buku ini, sekaligus menandai terbentuknya dendam dihati Minke dan Nyai Ontosoroh yang adalah titik balik Minke mulai melihat Eropa tidak lain sebagai sosok penjajah yang mampu merampas apapun yang mereka inginkan, sama sekali berbeda dengan ajaran dan citra sebuah bangsa terpelajar yang didapatkannya.  Kalau pembaca mengikuti Bumi Manusia, pasti akan memahami betapa Minke tampak berdiri dibarisan orang Eropa, berpakaian seperti orang Eropa, berbicara dan menulis seperti orang Eropa, dia mengagungkan pemikiran terbuka dan kebijaksanaan itu diatas adat istiadat suku bangsanya sendiri. Sejak dendam itu muncul, Minke mulai mengenal sisi gelap Eropa yang semula tak mampu ia lihat dengan jelas.

Thursday, July 21, 2016

[Review] Narnia : The Horse and His Boy by C.S.Lewis

Title: The Horse and His Boy (The Chronicle of Narnia, #3)
Author: C.S. Lewis
Publisher: Harper Collins
Published: September 1st, 2009
Pages: 239p
ISBN13: 9780007323081

The first and second book of the series told about Narnia from the very beginning of the land to the reign of White Witch and fulfillment of the prophecy where two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve came to Narnia and released the land from the power of the witch. As a reader, I have been told that Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy came to Narnia through an old wardrobe, and I thought there was only Narnia at the other side of the wardrobe, but when I opened the third book, I looked at a map and learned that Narnia wasn’t the only land in the story, there were another places called the Archenland, Mt. Pire, the Calormene and Tashbaan along with the desert and the mountain.

Thou the characters from the previous books also appeared in this story, the main character were two children and two talking horses. The story began when a boy named Shasta who live in the Calormene as a son of fisherman discovered that his father whom he believe not his biological father was about to sell him to a nobleman who came to their house. Then suddenly, when he stood alone outside the house, the nobleman’s horse, Bree, talked to him about running away north into Narnia. The beginning of the journey was pretty easy for them and they even met companion along the way, Aravis, a girl who also escape from her father with another talking horse, Hwim. Together they got into the capital city of Calormene, Tashbaan, where something happened to each of them which brought great danger not only to themselves but also to Archenland and Narnia.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Classic Club Project (Update List)

Nine months away to the end of Classic Club Reading Challenge that I joined in 2012 with 100 books on my list and as of today it seems impossible for me to complete the challenge unless I reduce the number of books on my list. The fact that my own progress slower than I thought, that I only managed to read 28 of 100 books since four years ago make me sad, but I still want to complete the challenge. So instead of keeping my original list, I made a new list of 40 books (yes I cut 60% of the list) to make it more achievable for me considering the time left to get it done (I am inspired by Melmarian:p, thanks Mel).

My current progress: 28 of 40

Here are the twelve and two alternative books I plan to read till April 16, 2017:
  1. Great Expectation – Charles Dickens
  2. Anne of Green Gables – L.M Montgomery
  3. Little Women – Louisa M Alcott
  4. Alice Adventure in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
  5. Through the Looking Glasses – Lewis Carroll
  6. Kim – Rudyard Kipling
  7. Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  8. The Chronicle of Narnia : The Horse and his Boy - C.S.Lewis
  9. The Chronicle of Narnia : Prince Caspian - C.S.Lewis
  10. The Chronicle of Narnia : The Voyage of the Dawn Trader - C.S.Lewis
  11. The Chronicle of Narnia : The Silver Chair - C.S.Lewis
  12. The Chronicle of Narnia : The Last Battle - C.S.Lewis
  13. Jejak Langkah – Pramoedya Ananta Toer (Indonesian Classic Literature)
  14. Rumah Kaca – Pramoedya Ananta Toer (Indonesian Classic Literature)

Hope it will end well J
Take a look the complete list and link to the book review here.

Monday, July 18, 2016

[Review] Narnia : The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S.Lewis

Title: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (The Chronicle of Narnia, #2)
Author: C.S. Lewis
Publisher: Harper Collins
Published: September 1st, 2009
Pages: 202p
ISBN13: 9780007323128

In summer, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, four brothers and sisters went to visit an old house belongs to a Professor, a big house with so many rooms that look creepy and mysterious. When they played hide and seek, Lucy, the youngest one, went upstairs into an empty room but a big and ages wardrobe. To hide herself, she stepped into the wardrobe and happy to touch the fur of hanging coats, she took more steps further till she felt something different, a soft and powdery and extremely cold, snow under her feet and snowflakes falling through the air. Lucy just entered Narnia and accidentally, she met a faun named Mr. Tumnus who offered her tea and cookies. Hours passed by and time for Lucy to get back, but when she was out of the wardrobe nobody know she was gone, it was like there was no time difference between the times she was gone and be back again. But when she told them about Narnia, nobody believes her. Not until one day, when they felt someone was chasing them that they were forced to hide in the same wardrobe and suddenly arrived in Narnia. Narnia was covered with endless winter. Many years had passed since the last human went to Narnia and as Aslan said at dawn of time in Narnia that the evil already in it. It was only about time that she became more powerful and did something evil on the land where animals can talk to each other. If Digory and Polly (see The Magician’s Nephew review) arrived in Narnia using magic ring, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy just found another way to the land of youth. The prophecy said that when Adam’s flesh and Adam’s bone sits at Cair Paravel in throne, the evil time will be over and done. It has long been foretold that two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve will defeat the White Witch and restore peace to Narnia. 

Friday, July 15, 2016

[Review] Narnia : The Magician's Nephew by C.S.Lewis

Title: The Magician’s Nephew (The Chronicles of Narnia, #1)
Author: C.S Lewis
Publisher: Harper Collins
Published: October 1st, 2009
Page: 220p
ISBN13: 9780007323135
(Bought in a box set at Big Bad Wolf 280k IDR)

Writing review for classic book is kind of hard for me, especially children book loved by almost everyone since the first publication. The Magician’s Nephew first published in 1955 and has become one of beloved books for children. So why would I write a review after 61 years later? Then I realize I want to share my feeling and thought which hopefully will testify the relevancy of the story these days when a game named Pokémon Go just became famous.

Digory is the nephew mentioned by the title and Uncle Andrew is the magician. Digory met Polly, the girl next door, when he came to live with his Aunt Letty and Uncle Andrew while his mother was in a very sick condition. One day, among the game he and Polly was doing, they fell into a room turned out belongs to Uncle Andrew, a forbidden room for everyone. Uncle Andrew tricked them with some magic ring to go to another world. There are two rings, golden ring will send them to the other world, but green ring will bring them home. The journey soon begun, brought them to a world named Charn where Empress Jadis rule as an evil queen. When they left Charn, Jadis followed them and soon she arrived in London which brought great suffer for several people including Uncle Andrew. Digory and Polly knew, they must send the wicked witch back to her world, so they put the golden ring on, but instead of arriving in Charn, they entered into a world with no light. Only darkness surrounds the world, they barely saw each other face. Then a beautiful song started, and then light appeared, like it was summoned by the melody. As the sun rose, they could see that the world was empty, only rocks and water, and the singer himself were pacing to and fro. It was a Lion. It was like everything in the book of Genesis. I think Lewis was portrayed the story of creation.