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Showing posts with label Grand Central Publishing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grand Central Publishing. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 14, 2022

Book Review: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

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BOOK review
Started on: 7 August 2022
Finished on: 25 August 2022
 
 
Title: Pachinko
Author: Min Jin Lee
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Pages: 490 pages / 490 pages (e-book)
Year of Publication: 2017
Price: Rp 161,500 (Link: Periplus)
 
Rating: 4.5/5

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"For a woman, the man you marry will determine the quality of your life completely. A good man is a decent life, and a bad man is a cursed life—but no matter what, always expect suffering, and just keep working hard. No one will take care of a poor woman—just ourselves." 
It was in the early 1900s in Korea when Sunja was born. At the age of sixteen, she met a wealthy fish broker named Koh Hansu who's attracted to her. After spending time together, Sunja's unplanned pregnancy threatens to shame her family. Feeling betrayed by Hansu, Sunja finds unexpected salvation when a young minister named Baek Isak offers to marry her and bring her to Japan to start a new life. And so begins the story of many different people in exile from a homeland they never knew and got caught in the arc of history. In Japan, Sunja's family had to endure harsh discrimination, catastrophes, and poverty—yet they also encounter great joy as they pursue their passions and rise to meet the challenges presented to them. Through desperate struggles and hard-won triumphs, they are bound together by deep roots as their family faces questions of faith, family, and identity.
"Man, life's going to keep pushing you around, but you have to keep playing."

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

Book Review: The Wish by Nicholas Sparks

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BOOK review
Started on: 7 October 2021
Finished on: 19 October 2021
 
 
Title: The Wish
Author: Nicholas Sparks
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Pages: 400 pages / 384 pages (e-book)
Year of Publication: 2021
Price: Rp 292,000 (https://www.periplus.com/)

Rating: 4/5
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"It dawned on me then that Bryce—just like my aunt—had come into my life at the time when I'd needed him the most."
In the year 1996, Maggie Dawes was sent away at sixteen to live with an aunt she barely knew in Ocracoke—a fishing village with less than eight hundred people who lived there year-round. At the beginning, she could only think of the friends and family she left behind; until she met Bryce Trickett—one of the few teenagers living on the island. As they spent a lot of time together, Bryce began to show her how much there is to love about Ocracoke and even introduced her to photography—a passion that will define the rest of her life. In 2019, Maggie is a renowned travel photographer who runs a successful gallery in New York and travel to remote places around the world. However, this Christmas she struggled to come to terms with a sobering medical diagnosis and became increasingly dependent on a young assistant named Mark Price—who she's becoming gradually close with. As they count down the last days of the season together, Maggie begins to tell him the story of another Christmas that happened decades earlier—and the love that set her on a course she never could have imagined.
"And in the end, isn't that the most important thing in life? To be truly known and loved by someone you've chosen?"

Monday, November 23, 2015

Book Review: See Me by Nicholas Sparks

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BOOK review
Started on: 5.November.2015
Finished on: 14.November.2015

Title : See Me
Author : Nicholas Sparks
Publisher : Grand Central Publishing
Pages :  486 pages /  pages (e-book)
Year of Publication : 2015
Price : Rp 252,000 (www.periplus.com)

Rating: 4.5/5
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"He wanted to see how they would act before tension began to infect their sweet happy family... before the fear took hold. Before their lives were slowly—and then furiously—brought to ruin.
He'd come here, after all, for a purpose, and that purpose had a name.
Its name was vengeance."
Colin Hancock has a dark past that involved a lot of anger and violence in his life. Now Colin has been given a second chance to fix everything and avoid getting into prison, but he has to stay out of trouble and not do even a small mistake. At the age of twenty-eight, Colin is determined to pursue a career as a third grade teacher so he's currently taking a teaching degree whilst working part-time at the bar. Colin even trained himself as an MMA fighter to channel the anger and violence out of his body. He then met Maria Sanchez, a daughter of Mexican immigrants who works at a prestigious firm in Wilmington. She's got her whole life together even though she doesn't seem to have much luck in terms of love. And a girl like Maria would never have imagine to ever befriend a guy with a past like Colin's; but surprisingly, she found herself enjoying his company.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Book Review: The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks

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BOOK review
Started on: 9.September.2014
Finished on: 14.September.2014

Title : The Best of Me
Author : Nicholas Sparks
Publisher : Grand Central Publishing
Pages :  292 pages
Year of Publication : 2011
Price : $ 8.95 (www.bookdepository.com/)

Rating: 5/5
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"As he sat alone in Tuck's garage, he knew he'd been lying to himself in thinking that he'd moved on as well. He hadn't. He always assumed she'd left him behind, but it was confirmed now. Somewhere deep inside, he felt something shift and break loose....
It was one thing, after all, to know his feelings for Amanda hadn't changed; it was another thing entirely to face the future with the certainty that they never would."
Dawson Cole's life was a complete ruin because of his last name. He was born in a family full of criminals, and so people in the small town of Oriental always had a judgment about him. As a child, Dawson was constantly abused physically by his father but at the age of sixteen he can finally stood up against his father. He left home and took refuge in Tuck Hostetler's garage, an old man who lives alone and fixed cars for a living. And Dawson's life changed when Amanda Collier became his lab partner. She lived a completely different life from Dawson; Amanda was born in a rich family and a popular girl at school. When their relationship progressed to something deeper, everyone was against it - especially Amanda's parents. And even though their relationship ended due to various reasons, both Dawson and Amanda never thought they would see each other again.

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Book Review: Seriously... I'm Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres

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BOOK review
Started on: 24.May.2014
Finished on: 26.May.2014

Title : Seriously... I'm Kidding
Author : Ellen DeGeneres
Publisher : Grand Central Publishing
Pages : 218 Pages
Year of Publication : 2013
Price : $ 7.92 (www.bookdepository.com/)

Rating: 3.5/5
Baca & Posting Bareng BBI 2014:
May: Humor/Comedy
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"I decided to include a little something for everyone in this book. You're going to find some short stories for adults, coloring pages for kids, and many things for all ages in between. You'll also find self-help tips, some medical advice (from someone who has no medical background nor the authority to dole out medical advice), nutrition facts, and you might even learn how to be happier in your everyday lives. I hope you do."
Seriously... I'm Kidding is a non-fiction book written by a stand-up comedian who now hosts a talk show, Ellen DeGeneres. In this book she talks about a lot of things, a few are pretty serious subjects actually, but of course she always ends up joking about it. It's a fun book full of Ellen's thoughts on random stuffs. And to make it easier for me to write a review for this book, I will share some of my favorites from this book :)

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Book Review: The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks

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BOOK review
Started on: 26.March.2014
Finished on: 31.March.2014

Title : The Longest Ride
Author : Nicholas Sparks
Publisher : Grand Central Publishing
Pages : 398 Pages
Year of Publication : 2013
Price : $ 16.03 (www.bookdepository.com)

Rating: 4/5
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"Sophia reflected that spending time with Luke not only was easy, but felt indefinably right. With him, she could be herself; it felt as though she could say anything to him and that he would intuitively understand. With their bodies nestled close, she felt a sense of wonder at how effortlessly they seemed to fit together."
The story begins with a ninety-one year old man, Ira Levinson, who just got into an accident and is stuck inside his car under heavy-snow. While he was struggling to stay alive, he suddenly saw his wife, Ruth, who has passed away, sitting on the passenger's seat. Ruth started talking to Ira about the memories of their lives to keep him from giving up. On the other hand, four months before the accident happened, a girl named Sophia Danko visited a local bull-riding event to recover from her recent breakup with Brian - who cheated on her several times. When Brian found her, a cowboy called Luke Collins came to her rescue. It turns out he was the winner of the bull-riding, and that night was the beginning of their relationship.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Book Review: Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks


BOOK review
Started on: 13.February.2012
Finished on: 17.February.2012


Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks 
Book Title : Safe Haven
Author : Nicholas Sparks
Publisher : Grand Central Publishing
Pages : 340 Pages

a romance book for Valentine Special! a little bit late, but better late than never! ;)
♥ ♥ Happy Valentine's Day! ♥ ♥
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"It was irrational and illogical and it went against everything she'd promised herself when she'd moved here, but she realized that she wanted him to know her. She wanted him to understand her, if only because she had the strange sense that he was the kind of man she could fall in love with, even if she didn't want to."

The story starts with Katie; a 27 year-old who works as a waitress at Ivan's. She's living a quiet live in Southport, not really wanting to interact with anybody; not even a chance to make friends. But things started to change when she met a friendly neighbor called Jo, who live across the street. At first, Katie didn't want to open up and accept Jo's friendliness; but without realizing, Katie started to enjoy having a company. Something she had been avoiding for quite a long time.

Her life changes doesn't stop there. She even met a guy from a store named Alex. He's a widowed man, living with his 2 adorable children: Josh and Kristen. At first, Katie didn't want to have any relationship whatsoever with Alex; but not until unintentionally Katie saved Josh's life. From that point on, Alex had been constantly trying to show his gratitude towards her; which she constantly rejected. But in the end, both of them couldn't deny, that they were attracted to each other.

Katie finally gave her trust to Jo, her only friend in Southport. She started to open up and tell stories about her life before Southport; and the reason she moved to this small and quiet place. Katie wanted to start over. Wanted to forget her past, when she was living with her psychotic husband who constantly beats her and fully controls her life. Katie did everything she could to escape and run away without getting caught by her husband; she was even close to starvation before she got the job at Ivan's because she had no money left.
"But what if the past isn't in the past? What if it's still happening?"
 
With that history behind her, can Katie move on and accept Alex's love for her?
What if Katie's husband finally found out where she lives and try to get her back?

This book is a story about how love can heal even the deepest scar inside a person's heart.
How true love finds each other without them wanting to, and will finally brings happiness upon their lives.


Nicholas Sparks had always been one of my most favorite romance writers. And once again, he succeeds in writing a beautiful story of falling in love. I've always admired how he built the relationship of two strangers; starting from small glances, short conversation, getting to know each other, become friends, starting to trust each other, and then fall in love. The story feels real because that's how most people fall in love; they start as friends first.

My favorite character in this book would be  
♥♥ Alex Wheatley! ♥♥
Even though Alex was described as this gray-haired man, I couldn't help but fall in love with his personality. ♥ ♥ ♥ He's an absolute gentleman, with a kind and loving heart, a great father, and an overall wonderful guy. My heart gets all warm when I read his loving words towards Katie; and at times wished someone would do the same thing to me too :) Who wouldn't love him anyway? Alex would definitely be a nominee in Top Book Boyfriends in 2012 ;) Quotes below will give a better description as to what kind of man Alex is :)

"The more he talked, the more she realized that he was the kind of man who tried to find the best in people, the kind of man who tried to find the best in people, the kind of man who didn't like to complain."
"Everyone has a past, but that's just it- it's in the past. You can learn from it, but you can't change it. Besides, I never knew that person. The person I've come to know is the one I want to get to know even better."
"I'm not sure anyone's life turns out exactly the way they imagine. All we can do is to try to make the best of it. Even when it seems impossible."

Overall, I love the book! It took me quite a long time to finish this book because I've been reading under the pressure of college assignments. My rating might be a little bias because I love Nicholas Sparks' works so much; the book has a great story, and I learned tons of things from it :)
Will update on my February book-shopping soon :)
bye! ;)

5/5 stars
by.stefaniesugia♥
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