A friend lent me this novel written by Diane Setterfield, translated and published by Gramedia on November 2008. I felt a bit reluctant to read it at first, but soon after I started read it, I just couldn't stop it. The story is just too engaging.
A story about a famous yet mysterious novelist, Vida Winter, who just writes down a lot of novels for the past 60 years and all become bestsellers, but no body knows about her own life.
Along with her old age and terrible sickness, she finally decides to reveal her family secret. She chooses Margaret Lea, an amateur biographer to write down her life story.
Margaret finally stays at Vida's house and listens to her story everyday. Vida is not an easy going person. She's really rigid and introvert, therefore Margaret faces certain difficulties in fulfilling her assigned job as a biographer. It turns out to be a long, sad and unpredictable stories. The disclosure of one story leads to other mysterious family secret. Never thought that Vida's life is so complicated. She's surrounded by an eccentric family.
I enjoy the revelation of each Vida's personal life story. Make me curious and can't wait to find out the ending. Beside the story, I also fall in love with the character of Margaret, an introvert book freak, who owns a bookstore with her father. Her effort in completing Vida's biography accidentally reveals her own personal secret that haunts her for many years.
An interesting book.
The Thirteenth Tale
Oeroeg
A world classic novel written by Hella S. Haasse in 1948, but PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama just translated and published it on October 2009.
A thin novel, only 131 pages, but the content is so rich. This novel is obviously a special one.
It’s a story about a man who returns back to his hometown in Indonesia to recollect his past. This journey brings the old memory back. He visits his home, a place where he was born and raised, the plantation, the lake, places where he grew up and the most important part was meeting his childhood friend, Oeroeg. But, time changes people, especially during war. Oeroeg is no longer his best friend, they now stand in different position.
Reading this novel reminds me of John Boyne’s The Boy In the Striped Pajamas, since this novel also tells about children as the victims of the war. A sad story but really impressive. I am really carried away. According to the author, some parts of the novel are based on author’s true story.
2010 Resolution
I need to confess that I am an impulsive buyer. I am very weak of big sale, up to 50% discount, buy 1 get 1 free and other similar offering. Oh..gosh, I just can’t stand it. It’s too tempting to be missed *excuse*.
Last weekend, I tried to rearrange my closet, which already overloaded with my personal stuffs, e.g. dress, bags, shoes, etc. I had to do it before it felt to the ground. Beside those woman’s stuff, I also tidied up my books (lots of them are not even read yet) that scattering around our home, since our bookshelves are already full and we don’t have anymore place to put another bookshelf *sigh*.
Beside purchasing my things, I tend to easily purchase my girls’ stuffs, e.g. dress, toys and children books, no wonder that their closet also waits for the right time to explode *exaggerating*. Don’t blame me, little girls stuffs are so damn cute. I cannot resist it. No body can *another excuse*.
Considering the above-mentioned facts, I think it’s time for me to formulate one of my 2010 Resolution (beside becoming a stay-at-home-mom and losing some weights) that I will shop less and save more. I have to reduce my shopping frequency gradually and manage my impulsive shopping habit properly. Hopefully, in the end, I can be a rational buyer, who only buys thing if it is needed, not because it is on sale.
It is going to be one of the hardest resolution ever, but I still have more than 300 days await in 2010. I’ll try my best. Wish me luck.
Top Ten Favorite Books in 2009
I have read around 50 books in 2009, including 6 comic strips (Curhat Tita, Cerita Si Lala, Embroideries, Persepolis, Wimpy Kid series and Mafalda series), 6 Haruki Murakami's books, Anne of Green Gables series and 7 local books. To wrap it all, I only can say that I love all of them.
But if I have to choose my top ten favorite books from my 2009 reading, the list will go on like this:
- Sputnik Sweetheart, Haruki Murakami
- South of the Border, West of the Sun, Haruki Murakami
- Dance Dance Dance, Haruki Murakami
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson
- Midnight Children, Salman Rushdie
- The Kabul Beauty School, Deborah Rodriguez
- A Fraction of the Whole, Steve Toltz
- The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch
- Have A Little Faith, Mitch Albom
- The Life Golden Ticket, Brendon Burchard
The Girl Who Played with Fire
It's the 2nd book of Millenium Trilogy written by Swedish writer, Stieg Larsson. Still astonishing like the first one The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The main characters here are still Mikael Blomkvist, the journalist and his partner, Lisbeth Salander, a genius hacker. You'll find murder, investigation, women trafficking, playing detective, child abuse and usual stuff for crime fiction story.
This sequel is even more interesting since Salander's fingerprints are found in the murder weapon and Blomkvist does his own investigation to prove that Salander is innocent.
A well-done thriller. Be ready for an unpredictable ending. But before that happens, we'll be led to the dark past of Salander's childhood and found out the reason behind her unique character. Looking forward for the 3rd book The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest.
A New Year+ A Birthday= A Family Gathering
Welcoming January 1, 2010 with two important occasions, the new year of course and Nayzea's 3rd birthday, yup...Nayzea was a new year baby. We wish you all the best things in life, sweety.
To celebrate those great moments, we had a family gathering and enjoyed special lunch at De Leuit Resto in Bogor. We tried the Nasi Jambal with ikan balita and it turned out that it's sooooo yummy and we all loved it.
* Thank you for beautiful Thumbelina Birthday Cake made by Mizu Cake. It's just awesome. Nayzea loved it.
