Books I've Read

Books I’ve Read in 2019

So, I might say this year is not akin to last year when I still don’t care much about books. Well, some of the books that I have were given from my friends and I will mention their names in this post as well.  There are about 10 books that I’ve read this year (probably more) and I’m gonna give you a brief review of why I like each of the books. ( I wish one day I could make my own library at home)

I liked to read one sentence in every chapter a few times and if the words are precisely describing the emotion I felt, I will highlight it with my color gel pen and that is my favorite part while reading because it makes my books look colorful. I am accustomed to writing down my name behind the cover and sometimes I marked it at the fore-edge of the book.

1.  Monsoon Tiger and Other Stories – Rain Chudori

                                                         

At first, I was shocked when I knew about the writer of this book. Expecting that those short stories were written by someone else from other countries, in fact, the writer is Indonesian. The wording is completely catchy! The whole stories are unpredictable and so unique. I really love the way she wrote the plot, it’s just fantastic. Moreover, the book is not expensive for you to buy, so it is worth it.     

2.    Arah Langkah – Fiersa Besari

This book was given by my friend, Morgan Peach. At that time, he was in my hometown and we were searching for Indonesian books in Gramedia, Sun Plaza, Medan. He asked me to recommend him some good books, and I showed him the books of my favorite authors like Fiersa Besari and some classic novels that he likes to read from Pramoedya Ananta Toer and Chairil Anwar.  Before, I already read another book of Fiersa Besari entitled “Garis Waktu” which is so heart-wrenching. Arah Langkah is about his journey to heal himself from broken-hearted by exploring Indonesia. So, this is kind of like a travel book. I don’t even know much about my country even though I’ve been living here for 23 years. So, when I read about his adventure through his book, I can learn that every city has a different culture, at least we should appreciate their local wisdom, and there are still so many kind people that want to help us.  Furthermore, they become our friends eventually. For me, it’s wonderful!

3.    Tapak Jejak – Fiersa Besari

I was curious about what comes next in his adventure. His journey continued to the East of Indonesia. He gains and then loses friends along the way. In this book, he showed his pictures of Papua and it’s incredibly beautiful. The nature of Papua, I wish I could see it with my naked eyes. Besides, what I like the most is how easily he socialize with the local people in it. I like Papua peoples for a long time because physically they are unique from any other Indonesian. Their hair that I liked the most. Last, in this book, he also ends his journey and goes back to where he belongs.     

4.    Saya Menulis Maka Saya Ada – L. Nihwan Sumuranje

Beside the novels and poems, I also like to read the self-improvement kind of things. So I bought this one. First, I peeked out the table of contents of this book and I’m sure enough to buy this instead because it is what I need to read. You know, to motivate someone like me to keep writing and give me any ideas to write about. This book is quite cheap, you can buy it for under 50K.  

5.    The Dark Between Stars – Atticus

Another book that was given by my friend, Eki Prima. He loves reading books, that’s why he bought me one. Just like Rupi Kaur, he magically turns words into something beautiful. When I'm upset, more often than not I read poem. Then, in short, I found happiness. Atticus in this book, mostly writes about love and relationship.  

6.    Kerikil Tajam dan yang Terampas dan yang Putus

It reminds me when I first time recites a poem in Senior High School, I chose one of his famous poems. “AKU”.  Perhaps, most Indonesian have to know the third verse of his poems. "Aku ini binatang jalang , dari kumpulannya yang terbuang"

7.    Goodbye, Things – Fumio Sasaki

I’ve been thinking about living just like the Japanese did. Minimalist. We should realize that the more things we have, the more we should spend our time to take care of them. And I don’t have much time to do so. I’ve been trapped in my office for 8 hours each day, and 2 or 3 hours hanging around after work or sometimes I got extra-hours in my office,  8 hours for sleep and the rest for doing chores or me-time. I only get 1 day off per week. Can you imagine that? The previous time, I already write a post of this book's review, just click here. 

8.    The Sun and Her Flowers – Rupi Kaur

So talented. That’s all I can tell about Rupi Kaur, my favorite poet. Each poem was written majestically with her chosen words. Her poems blow my mind away. Especially when she wrote poetically about her mom and her love life. It's just she can write everything that I ever felt but I struggle to explain it. Unbelievable! I got this book from my friend, Morgan Peach. He gave that to me as my birthday present with another classic book of poetry.  

9.    Muslim Produktif _ Mohammed Faris

I can say that this is one of the must-have books for every Muslim because it’s very useful from page one until its last page. Everything that we should do after we wake up until we get to sleep is written there. There is no way of wasting time. However, this book also not really expensive, I bought it in last June and the price is under 100K.  It simply reminds me to appreciate the time that Allah has given to us.  Speaking of time,  you can read another post of mine here.

10.  Love is… - Puuung

One of the creative artist is puuung, a Korean girl. Just looking at the pictures of her book, make me feel like I wanted to have a partner of life. How could they not, all of the pages filled with the pictures of cute couple with their romantic things that they did together.