Monday, 9 March 2015

Book Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

By: Lou On: 01:38
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    • Hiya!!!

    I'm back again!! Hahahaha this is such a productive day for me to write in this blog.
    Still with the same topic, I'm going to present you all about my Reading Challenge.

    Yep, I'm crossing one off of my list. TADAAA!!!!

    Book Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

    I read this book not because of the euphoria that this book is "translated" into a movie. Nor was it because I love romantic genre kind of book. 
    It started with a friend saying that this book made her weep like a baby. Well, I did not shed a single tear reading this. It was emotional, deep, and mixed with bound of family and friendship which will make those with soft personality easily cry at the sight of emotion.

    Well, it was entertaining reading this book. Not that I call sadness is entertaining but at some point, I, as a life-long learner, learn so much about music, medical terms and also life itself. 

    As an avid fan of medical dramas such as ER and Grey's Anatomy, I did not find it hard following the plot and medical terms *ahem!*

    However, what remarkably appeals to me is the author's writing style. It really shows quality as a journalist. Her diction and speech expression are such treat. Her style, as mentioned before, is unique and interesting, unlike other young adult novels I've read.

    The heroine is seen not from a first-person point of view, rather, an omniscient point of view. But, there is a big but over here, single T of course, instead of having a third-person point of view as many god-like point of view suggests, the heroine is still the narrator. 
    The feels, man, the feels... it felt so close it became real. 

    Haven't I mentioned that I did not shed a single tear reading this? Well, I have to admit that this is such a sad story, but I love how the humor was put into it.

    I know I would be exactly doing what the heroine's best friend did in the story. I think I am so close to that characterization. Anyway, I laughed a little when this "incident" took place in the book. I am not sure what kind of reaction I should have had but I did laugh.

    So yeah, this time I'm taking one away from my list: A young-adult novel...

    So here's the updated list..


    Reading Challenge 2015 by Lou

    o   A book that you can finish in a day
    o   A book with more than 500 pages   Burned by Ellen Hopkins, 544 pages
    o   A book you should have read in high school
    o   An Indonesian literature book
    o   An English literature book
    o   A book you think is boring
    o   A book you meant to read but never did
    o   A book you chose from the cover
    o   A graphic novel
    o   An online novel
    o   A non-fiction book
    o   A young-adult novel If I Stay by Gayle Forman
    o   A book you would enjoy as kids Three for Tea: Tasty Tales for You and Me by Jacqueline Wilson, Anne Fine and Michael Morpurgo
    o   A book of a genre you don’t usually read
    o   A book of poems
    o   A book of jokes
    o   A book you got as a gift
    o   A book you select randomly from a shelf
    o   A book you have but never read
      A book you asked a friend to pick

    Sunday, 8 March 2015

    Book Review: Three for Tea: Tasty Tales for You and Me by Jacqueline Wilson, Anne Fine and Michael Morpurgo

    By: Lou On: 21:54
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    • Hiya!

    I'm back with my Reading Challenge Project!
    This time I'm going to give you review on the book I read.
    I'm going to remove one from the list, and it is: The book you would enjoy as kids

    So here goes nothing:

    Three for Tea: Tasty Tales for You and Me by Jacqueline Wilson, Anne Fine and Michael Morpurgo

    This book consists of 3 stories written by 3 authors. The illustrations were superb! I can picture myself as a kid reading this book.

    Not only does it have amazing pictures, but also moral lessons.

    I really like it how Wilson, Fine and Morpurgo describe the problems (usually for kids) and lead the readers to the solutions.

    Among the three stories, I like the one by Morpurgo the best.

    It is simple yet deep. It has family bond as well as friendship building in it. 

    It is quite moving and inspiring. Teaching kids not to judge someone from the "skin" only. In addition, readers were given quite a shock when they learn how a person behaves the way they behave.

    I would suggest having this kind of book for class set reading for grade 3 (in Indonesia's national plus school standard).

    So here's my updated list, then...

    Reading Challenge 2015 by Lou

    o   A book that you can finish in a day
    o   A book with more than 500 pages   Burned by Ellen Hopkins, 544 pages
    o   A book you should have read in high school
    o   An Indonesian literature book
    o   An English literature book
    o   A book you think is boring
    o   A book you meant to read but never did
    o   A book you chose from the cover
    o   A graphic novel
    o   An online novel
    o   A non-fiction book
    o   A young-adult novel
    o   A book you would enjoy as kids Three for Tea: Tasty Tales for You and Me by Jacqueline Wilson, Anne Fine and Michael Morpurgo
    o   A book of a genre you don’t usually read
    o   A book of poems
    o   A book of jokes
    o   A book you got as a gift
    o   A book you select randomly from a shelf
    o   A book you have but never read
      A book you asked a friend to pick

    Thursday, 15 January 2015

    Book Review: Burned by Ellen Hopkins

    By: Lou On: 19:52
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    • As I solemnly swore to myself into this year's Reading Challenge, I thought of writing book reviews as well.

     I probably am not an avid reader or a literature critics, or whatever it takes a job to write a review. I am an ordinary reader who finds enjoyment in writing reviews.

     Ummm...

     Let me rephrase that....

     I am just a writer wannabe who likes writing in blogs every now and then.

     Okay, so now let's start!

     Burn by Ellen Hopkins

     Never have I ever heard of her name before, but Hopkins' work caught my eye as I browsed her sets of novels on the shelves.
    I opened the pages, scanning through the lines hoping to find anything interesting, and found out that it was a 'verse novel'.

     What is a verse novel? If you are a literature student, or graduated from Faculty of Letters, you are supposed to be familiar with this. If you are not any of both, you might know what a 'verse novel' is if you've read it.

     "A verse novel is a type of narrative poetry in which a novel-length narrative is told through the medium of poetry rather than prose. Either simple or complex stanzaic verse-forms may be used, but there will usually be a large cast, multiple voices, dialogue, narration, description, and action in a novelistic manner."
    Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verse_novel

    Well, when I opened the pages, I found that the story was written in "poetry style", making it easy to read as I flipped off the pages. Somehow I wonder if this novel was written in such a way so people who don't really like reading would read it. You know, somehow you can just get bored when you see a page full of letters, not to mention, pages full of letters mwahahahahaha...

    So yeah, I took the book then started right then, and got hooked on the way the story went.

    This book tells about a young girl raised in a religious family who then found out that she did not fit in there. Simply put, this is a story about being anti-mainstream.

    I love the way Hopkins made reader feel accomplished. Why I said so? It's because once you start reading, you would not realize how many pages you read until you come to half of the book. I think you can do that in one sitting. Oh well, if you have nothing to do but read (LOL)

    Hopkins gave me the pride of being able to "read fast", that's my first accomplishment this year and by saying that, I am so hyped up to read more. Yes, read more from my reading challenge list.

    Hopkins, too,  might interest those feminists with the female-is-lower-than-male issue. The heroine is described as a young lady with adamant principles. She is full of curiosity and her complexity seems immensely simple at some point.

    Because this book greatly influenced me (as mentioned above) in reaching my goal of Reading Challenge, I would recommend this book and rate it for 5 out 5.

    Ah, let me give you some quotes from the book

    Okay,
    Hit me back just to check,

     Surely yours,
    Lou

    Wednesday, 14 January 2015

    Reading Challenge 2015 Personal Project

    By: Lou On: 19:38
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    • Hi, folks!

    Long time no see!

    Yeah, this time I'm not gonna make a new blog just because I'm too lazy to update. It's my blog, my laziness, my habit, oh well...

    Okay, I would like to share my Reading Challenge 2015.

    What on Earth is "Reading Challenge"?

    Well, for me it's a kind of so-called resolution for the year to come. I shamelessly made my own reading list despite my deep-sh*t failure in accomplishing my reading list last year.

    So here goes nothing:

    Reading Challenge 2015 by Lou

    o   A book that you can finish in a day
    o   A book with more than 500 pages
    o   A book you should have read in high school
    o   An Indonesian literature book
    o   An English literature book
    o   A book you think is boring
    o   A book you meant to read but never did
    o   A book you chose from the cover
    o   A graphic novel
    o   An online novel
    o   A non-fiction book
    o   A young-adult novel
    o   A book you would enjoy as kids
    o   A book of a genre you don’t usually read
    o   A book of poems
    o   A book of jokes
    o   A book you got as a gift
    o   A book you select randomly from a shelf
    o   A book you have but never read
    A book you asked a friend to pick

    Instead of having a certain number of books to be read, I chose my list in order to be "committed". Or so I thought..

    Anyway, I just finished one book so I'm gonna cross it off my list

    Reading Challenge 2015 by Lou

    o   A book that you can finish in a day
    o   A book with more than 500 pages   Burned by Ellen Hopkins, 544 pages
    o   A book you should have read in high school
    o   An Indonesian literature book
    o   An English literature book
    o   A book you think is boring
    o   A book you meant to read but never did
    o   A book you chose from the cover
    o   A graphic novel
    o   An online novel
    o   A non-fiction book
    o   A young-adult novel
    o   A book you would enjoy as kids
    o   A book of a genre you don’t usually read
    o   A book of poems
    o   A book of jokes
    o   A book you got as a gift
    o   A book you select randomly from a shelf
    o   A book you have but never read
    A book you asked a friend to pick


    I am going to write about this book in another post, if I'm not too lazy to do it hahahahaha

    Catch you later!

    Hit me back just to check,

    Surely yours,




    Lou
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