Soempah Pemoeda
The Girl in the Spider's Web
Author: David Lagercrantz
Translated from the Swedish by: George Goulding
Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2015
405 pages
“Rest easy, Lisbeth Salander fans—our punk hacker heroine is in good hands . . . A twisty, bloody thrill ride . . . seamlessly woven together by Lagercrantz—in fact, if you hadn’t seen his name on the book jacket, you’d likely assume it was Larsson’s own handiwork . . . An instant page-turner.” —USA Today (4 out of 4 stars)
Lisbeth Salander, our girl with the dragon tattoo is back. Yes, an excellent continuation of the Millennium series is here. After Stieg Larsson died of a heart attack in 2004 and there's a dispute between his girl friend versus his father and brother, I thought that the end of these series. But perhaps looking at its huge success, the publisher at last decided that it's time for another sequel.
David Lagercrantz, an acclaimed Swedish Journalist and author, was assigned to continue the series and he made it. This is another excellent work. Unputdownable. Highly recommended. No wonder if Lagercrantz has been offered to write other two continuation of the novels. So grab the book and let's meet up with Salander and Blomkvist!!!
We live in a world in which paranoia is a requirement.The Girl in the Spider's Web, David Lagercrantz
Dark Places
Title: Dark Places
Author: Gillian Flynn
Publisher: Crown Publishers New York , 2013
543 pages
I was not a lovable child and I'd grown up into a deeply unlovable adult. Draw a picture of my soul and it'd be a scribble with fangs.
-Gillian Flynn, Dark Places
I just feel that Gillian Flynn's works must be read with a strong heart otherwise it will be haunting you and give you nightmares for days. Exaggerating? Perhaps I am but that's what happened to me after finishing Gone Girl and Sharp Objects. Therefore this Dark Places book had been in my bookcase for months and I still thought that I was not strong enough to drown into Flynn's dark ideas, not yet.
Until one day I saw Dark Places movie poster at movie theater and I guessed it's just time to read the book before I am tempted to watch the movie first. Then here it goes the story of Libby Day, the narrator and protagonist in the book. She was just seven years old when her two sisters and mother were brutally murdered in their rural Kansas farmhouse. The murders appear to be a satanic cult ritual. Libby escapes through a window and later testifies in court against her teenage brother.
Almost 25 years later, she agrees to revisit the crime and uncovers the truth that led up to that tragic night.
And this book even causing a worse impact on me. As a mother it breaks my heart thinking about Libby's days before and after the murders. She and her siblings never get any affection nor attention from the mother who frequently get abused by their father. The author delivers a vivid description on class issues in rural America, intense poverty, domestic abuse and satanic cult hysteria that swept away the US in the 1980s.
Dark Places the movie has been released on August 7, 2015. One of the casts is Charlize Theron. I am not sure whether I am brave enough to watch it.
Check the movie trailer here.
Until one day I saw Dark Places movie poster at movie theater and I guessed it's just time to read the book before I am tempted to watch the movie first. Then here it goes the story of Libby Day, the narrator and protagonist in the book. She was just seven years old when her two sisters and mother were brutally murdered in their rural Kansas farmhouse. The murders appear to be a satanic cult ritual. Libby escapes through a window and later testifies in court against her teenage brother.
Almost 25 years later, she agrees to revisit the crime and uncovers the truth that led up to that tragic night.
And this book even causing a worse impact on me. As a mother it breaks my heart thinking about Libby's days before and after the murders. She and her siblings never get any affection nor attention from the mother who frequently get abused by their father. The author delivers a vivid description on class issues in rural America, intense poverty, domestic abuse and satanic cult hysteria that swept away the US in the 1980s.
Dark Places the movie has been released on August 7, 2015. One of the casts is Charlize Theron. I am not sure whether I am brave enough to watch it.
Check the movie trailer here.
The Martian
They say once you grow crops somewhere, you have officially colonized it. So, technically, I colonised Mars. In your face, Neil Armstrong.
--Mark Watney, The Martian 2015Just enjoying one of the best movies in 2015 The Martian. A 2015 American science fiction movie which tells about Mark Watney (amazingly starred by Matt Damon), an astronaut who is mistakenly presumed dead and left behind on the planet Mars.
This 2,5 hours movie captures the engaging yet touching scenes of how Watney spends his solitary days on Mars. Instead of feeling frustrated, he shows his super positive aura in facing all the obstacles on Mars. He creates everything by himself. He keeps trying to find a way on how to survive. What a man!!!
This movie teaches us how to be optimistic in even the worst condition. Although the movie duration is quite long but it's not a problem at all since we are curious to know what will happen to Watney and we're going to be busy enjoying smart yet funny dialogue all along the movie.
One thing that makes me so excited about the movie was because out of the blue my girls asked me to take them and watch the movie together. What? Are you for real, girls? It's a 2,5 hours movie, are you sure you can deal with it? I don't want to leave the cinema in the middle of the show. Blah…blah…Najla said religiously, "calm down Ma, we promise we won't make your life difficult." Hahaha…such a sweet girl.
Moreover Najla and Zea said they feel bored of watching cartoon movies now, remember…. they're not kids anymore. Hear…hear…no more cartoon movies unless if it's really special (such as The Little Prince which will be played in the cinemas very soon). Okay then, I guess it's worth to try. Let's go girls!!!
Moreover Najla and Zea said they feel bored of watching cartoon movies now, remember…. they're not kids anymore. Hear…hear…no more cartoon movies unless if it's really special (such as The Little Prince which will be played in the cinemas very soon). Okay then, I guess it's worth to try. Let's go girls!!!
And I was relieved and proud due to the girls successfully watched the movie until the end without any complaint nor 'I-want-to-go-home-now'-scream. In fact Najla said that she begins to realise that Science is really important and perhaps it's time to pay more attention to that subject. Well…good point, girl.
The Girls' Bedroom
I am in the process of convincing my parents to sell me their house so I can just live in my childhood bedroom forever. I figure it might make me age slower.
--Pete Wentz
In the old days, my girls room used to be full of pink ornaments. They also had several princesses posters on the wall which would be changed frequently depended on who their favorite characters were so they once had (the must have) Frozen, Sofia the First, Cinderella (after watching the movie), etc.
Suddenly, a couple months ago, Zea told me that she and Najla would like to redecorate their bedroom. I still thought that they just wanted to change their room a bit but it turned out they planned to have a total decoration on the room. They said they're bored with pink and princess stuff. Ouch...really girls? You're both just 10 and 8 years old #worrytone.
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| The purple and blue for the wall |
After having a second thought, I finally said yes to their request and started the bedroom renovation project. The first thing to consider was the color of the wall. Najla wanted purple while Zea chose blue. To accommodate both, the room at last repainted half in purple and other in blue. Next Najla said she needed posters of her favorite singers to be put on the wall. On the other hand Zea asked me to take her to a poster shop in order to get some inspiring quotes for the wall.
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| The Taylor Swift poster |
Well... I decided to buy one poster for Najla and she chose Taylor Swift. Zea after felt confused in the quote shops at last got one quote poster. We put all posters on the wall. The last thing to do was taking out some of the girls' dolls, children books and toys that seemed already too childish for their 'teenage' (to come) years and changed them with more books although in fact they watch more Youtube videos than read the books (typical kids these days. Sigh!!!).
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| Zea's Favorite Quote |
Time does fly. Apart from this bedroom renovation, one thing hits my mind. Yes, my babies grow up. They're getting bigger not only physically but also mentally. So it's not just them who need to prepare for their teenage time even I am as a mom having a more important thing to do not to judge and try to discuss and get a win-win solution for any issue. I know it's not an easy thing to do but I will give a try. Wish me luck.
