Book Kaleidoscope 2012: Top Five Most Favorite Books

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image source: here. edited by me.

Well, this is the last and - probably - the most important part of 2012 Book Kaleidoscope: Top 5 Most Favorite Books of the year! Great characters can be one thing, and so does great covers; but great books which will become my favorites should have an amazing storyline and is written beautifully by the author. After quickly scanning my reads this year, it seems that I've given plenty of 5 stars rating - which also means there are a lot of good books to be nominated. So I'm choosing 5 Indonesian books as well as 5 English books! Yay! Here goes the list :))

Book Kaleidoscope 2012: Top Five Best Book Covers

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image source: here. edited by me.

This is the 2nd part of 2012 Book Kaleidoscope, which is choosing Top 5 Best Book Covers. Book covers this days are so well-made; and most of the time I couldn't resist buying all the books with amazing covers - even though there are times when the content are disappointing. And so, it is actually quite difficult for me to choose only 5 out of so many great covers from the books I've read this year. But after looking through the covers, I've finally made my decision! Here it goes... (going to write this in Indonesian since all the winners are Indonesian books :D)

Book Kaleidoscope 2012: Top Five Book Boyfriends

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image source: here. edited by me.

I've done this before last year, for the Top 5 Book Boyfriends in 2011; and this year, I joined Klasik Fanda's end-of-year event: Book Kaleidoscope 2012. The first theme for this event is choosing Top 5 Book Boy/Girl Friends in 2012. I've read 100+ books this year; and during those reads I come across many interesting characters - as well as attractive fictional male characters. Honestly speaking, it's kind of difficult to choose only five; because I have so many choices this year. But in the end, I finally decided on the top 5 book boyfriends this year! So, here's the list!

Book Review: The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2) by J.R.R. Tolkien

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BOOK review
Started on: 2.December.2012
Finished on: 19.December.2012

The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2) by J.R.R. Tolkien

Title : The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2)
Author : J.R.R. Tolkien
Publisher : Ballantine Books
Pages : 398 Pages
Year of Publication : 1954
Price : $ 11.16 (http://www.amazon.com)

Rating: 5/5
*for those who haven't read the first book, this review may contain spoiler. 
Review for The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1) here.
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"Upon them stood the Teeth of Mordor, two towers strong and tall... Now the watch-towers, which had fallen into decay, were repaired, and filled with arms, and garrisoned with ceaseless vigilance. Stony-faced they were, with dark window-holes staring north and east and west, and each window was full of sleepless eyes."

The journey continues, right after Frodo and Sam had left the group when there's battle happening with Saruman's Uruk-hai. Sadly, Boromir died and Merry and Pippin were kidnapped by the enemy. And so, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli goes off searching for the lost hobbits. While on the other side, Merry and Pippin are both trying their best to save themselves and escape. Aragorn met Rohirrim, the Riders of Rohan; who attacked the Uruk-hai and burned them - but the Riders of Rohan didn't see any hobbits. The companions then concluded that Merry and Pippin has escaped, so they went on, hoping to be able to find the hobbits.

Movie Adaptation Review: Test Pack

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  MOVIE ADAPTATION of Test Pack

Read my book review on Test Pack by Ninit Yunita

 

Beberapa hari yang lalu aku akhirnya berhasil menonton Test Pack - meskipun tidak di bioskop karena beberapa hal. Sebelum mulai menonton, aku sudah memiliki mindset bahwa versi film adaptasinya akan sedikit-banyak berbeda dengan bukunya - karena aku sempat membaca artikel yang menyebutkan demikian. Meskipun secara garis besar film ini mempunyai plot yang berbeda, akan tetapi aku rasa film adaptasi Test Pack ini adalah pasangan yang saling melengkapi bagi bukunya. Berikut adalah review non-spoilerku untuk Test Pack.

Korean Book Haul & 2PM Live Concert in Jakarta

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Well, unfortunately this is not a review post; because I haven't finish reading The Two Towers yet - I didn't read at all while I was in Jakarta for the concert trip. Anyways, I feel a little bit sorry for not writing anything these past few days, so here I am with a random post; about some new books I've just got recently; as well a brief report of my first concert ever in my life. So first of all, let me introduce you to the newest comer on my bookshelves: all written by Korean authors ^^ *this post contains a lot of pictures, so please be patient if it doesn't load quickly :))

Bonjour Decembre: Christmas & New Year

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image source: here. edited by me.

Hello December!

It's so good to be able to say that :) I've been waiting so long for December, finally all the semester exam is coming to an end; thankfully I got through everything nice and smoothly (hoping for good grades as well), and now it's time for the holidays! YAY! Actually, I have traveling plans this year - and I'm afraid I won't be around to write much reviews for everyone. But this month, I'll be scheduling a lot of posts to be published when I'm away - of course, this year reading roundups :)) There won't be much about books in this post; but if you'd like to read further, just click Read More below :)

Book Review: Silang Hati by Sanie B. Kuncoro & Widyawati Oktavia

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BOOK review
Started on: 29.November.2012
Finished on: 1.December.2012

Silang Hati by Sanie B. Kuncoro & Widyawati Oktavia

Judul Buku : Silang Hati
Penulis : Sanie B. Kuncoro & Widyawati Oktavia
Penerbit : GagasMedia
Tebal : 324 Halaman
Tahun Terbit: 2012
Harga: Rp 41,650 (http://www.pengenbuku.net)

Rating: 2.5/5
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Dari kedua penulis yang bergabung untuk menulis GagasDuet kali ini, aku hanya pernah membaca karya Sanie B. Kuncoro, dalam karyanya yang berjudul Memilikimu (review: here). Sejujurnya, melihat nama pengarang yang tidak pernah kudengar sebelumnya membuatku ragu untuk membeli buku ini; akan tetapi karena sejak awal aku belum pernah sekalipun absen membaca GagasDuet, akhirnya aku memberanikan diri untuk membeli dan membacanya. Tema GagasDuet kali ini ada pada judulnya: Silang Hati; tentang orang-orang yang pernah memiliki cinta di masa lalu, cinta yang sebelumnya - dan kemudian hati mereka bersilangan dengan orang yang dipertemukan oleh takdir. Meskipun buku ini terdiri dari dua cerita yang berbeda, karakter utama dalam setiap ceritanya saling berhubungan dan cukup banyak interaksi yang terjadi antara mereka.

Berikut ringkasan cerita & personal review dariku.

Book Review: Bidadari Bidadari Surga by Tere Liye

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BOOK review
Started on: 20.November.2012
Finished on: 28.November.2012

Bidadari Bidadari Surga by Tere Liye

Judul Buku : Bidadari Bidadari Surga
Penulis : Tere Liye
Penerbit : Republika
Tebal : 365 Halaman
Tahun Terbit: 2008

Harga : Rp 40,000 (http://tbodelisa.blogspot.com/)

Rating: 4/5
*trailer for movie adaptation at the end of this review.
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"Tapi lupakan! Lupakan soal pertemuan di Piaza de Palozzo besok pagi. Lupakan soal kesepakatan bisnis itu, meski mereka butuh bertahun-tahun untuk mendapatkan kesempatan tersebut. Itu bisa diurus nanti-nanti, jika masih sempat.... Pulang segera ke Lembah Lahambay jauh lebih penting. Itu benar-benar jauh lebih penting."

Kisah ini diawali dengan memperkenalkan sejumlah karakter yang sedang berada dalam situasi yang amat penting bagi setiap mereka. Dimulai dari Profesor Dalimunte, yang akan mempresentasikan penelitian dan penemuannya di hadapan banyak orang; Ikanuri dan Wibisana, yang sangat mirip satu sama lain baru saja tiba di Roma untuk melakukan kesepakatan bisnis - sesuatu yang telah mereka usahakan untuk waktu yang lama; dan ada pula Yashinta, yang sedang berada di puncak Gunung Semeru melakukan penelitian. Meskipun mereka berada dalam situasi yang amat penting dalam kehidupan mereka, semuanya menjadi tidak berarti saat sebuah SMS mereka terima; sebuah SMS yang seketika membuat mereka semua memutuskan untuk kembali pulang...