an everlasting obsession

as you may already know, one of my life goals is to have every single book in the Baby-sitters Club series.

what?
what do you mean you don't know that series?
did you live under a rock during the 1990's?

because i'm too lazy to explain what they're all about, and there's hundreds of the books in the series, you can easily google it if you don't know the awesomeness that is BSC (that's short for Baby-sitters Club, in case you can't figure that out).

i am pleased to say that there's a new BSC book coming out, after the series supposedly ended in 2000 (which i still haven't found the last book anywhere!). this new book is a prequel (i can't seem to understand why prequels are all the rage now), and it's called the Summer Before.

since sadly, as my brother informed me, Amazon.com doesn't send books to Indonesia (what's up with that, Amazon? i am heartbroken), i have lost all hope in completing my BSC collection.
when i get lucky, i sometimes could find a couple used ones when i hunt for books in Singapore, but that rarely happens.
and so, you can imagine my delight when the announcement of the prequel coming out, plus the reprinting of series.

plus, my brother said he's going to try and order some books from Amazon to be sent to Japan, where he currently lives, and he said i could order books from him.

i'm compiling my list.

more serious fiction

tulis tulis lagi ah..

We Need To Talk About Kevin - by Lionel Shriver

sekitar dua taun lalu, gue dan Vitra, kakak ipar gue, beliin ni buku buat kakak gue.

sebelum dikasi, gue baca dulu dongg.. hehehe. abisnya keliatannya menarik.

dan emang iya!

isi bukunya narasi gitu tentang seorang ibu yang punya anak cowok namanya Kevin. suatu hari Kevin ini ngebantai beberapa temen dan guru di sekolahnya. dia juga ngebunuh bapak sama ade cewenya di rumah.

sepanjang bukunya itu cerita ibunya menggali diri sendiri, sebenernya dia salah asuh apa sampe Kevin ngelakuin semua itu.

trus gimana proses dia berusaha memahami Kevin, memaafkan perbuatannya, dst.

bagus bagus! tapi sediiihhh..

Perfume: The Story of A Murderer - by Patrick Suskind

pada dasarnya gue suka cerita2 misteri yang agak2 sadis.

and this falls right into the category. =)

novel ini uda dijadiin film, meski gue blom pernah nonton.

if you don't like gruesome murders, this book is not for you. liat aja judulnya -- the story of a murderer!

overall, buku ini emang kerennn..

Every Fear - by Rick Mofina

aslinya gue beli buku ini buat hadiah ultahnya Kansha.. tapi ujung2nya gue pinjem. hihihihii..

karna Kansha juga suka misteri2 begitu, makanya gue pilihin ni buku..

ceritanya tentang bayi yang tiba2 diculik di depan mata ibunya. trus usaha mati2an deh nyari bayinya dan siapa penculiknya.

kedengeran standar ya, tapi alur ceritanya bikin deg2an banget lho!

anyways, i doubt my reviews are actually helpful. abisnya ntar ga seru kalo gue bablas cerita sinopsisnya. hehehe.

i'm just posting books i think are worth reading.

kalo ada buku lain yang bagus, never hesitate to share! =)

more and more

ok. so it's 3 a.m. and i don't think i'm even near sleeping. so i'll post some more.

i've already posted about serious fiction. now i'll talk about books that are usually in the 'young adult' section of a bookstore that i've read. still fiction of course, since i tend to get delusional and imaginative.

here goes.

Bloomability - by Sharon Creech

this should have won another Newbery Award for Sharon Creech. gosh. i love it so much. too bad i lost my copy of it due to my lack of memory of where i put things.

it's a story about an american girl who gets sent off to an international boarding school at Switzerland *envy* and meets all these interesting new friends and adventures.

nice nice nice.

Walk Two Moons - by Sharon Creech

this one is also by Sharon Creech, and it won the Newbery medal.

it's just a touching story on how a girl copes with her mother walking out of her family but then finds out that... oh, i'm not going to spoil about it.

it's just GOOD.

=)

The Curious Incident of The Dog In The Night-Time - by Mark Haddon

it's about a boy with autism or some kind of other condition, i forgot, and he writes about things.

it's just interesting. trust me.

oh. wait. i forgot what else.

oh well. i can always post more later. =D

serious fiction i've read that i might actually like

Winnetou - by Karl May.

i actually kinda like this story about the journey and friendship kind of thing.

i was quite alarmed when my dad told me that Karl May suffered from some kind of personality disorder that made him imprisoned, and that he wrote this book in jail while sort of pretending he really did experience what he described in his book, although in reality, he's a German who's never been to America, let alone all those places he described so intricately. shocking.

Angels and Demons - by Dan Brown

this is my favorite book by Dan Brown, considering that i have also read the Da Vinci Code and Deception Point.

i've noticed that all three of the Dan Brown books i've read are highly pack with action and twist and turns that are really interesting, but i've got to say that Angels and Demons win hands down.

although the story SOUNDED unrealistic at the beginning, when i read on i realized it's playing on the thin line between being imaginary and wait-a-moment-this-may-happen-heck-who-knows. which, to a person who's imagination sometimes runs to wild like me, is very intriguing. *hey, did i spell that right?*

anyway, this one has good good action.

The Stand - Stephen King

well, everybody says that Stephen King is a genius, so no more to say.

but it took me weeks to persuade myself to even read this. its thickness is monsterous. it just looked scary.

nevertheless, i just read it to rub myself off of studying. hehehehhee.. =D

Lord of The Rings - by JRR Tolkien

great great great.

although, if you're an easily bored person like me, i recommend just watching the movies. much better.

i watched on discovery channel or something that Tolkien wrote it based on his own life and his involvement in the World War. whatever. it's a great story anyway.

The Five People You Meet In Heaven - by Mitch Albom

wow. it's just very interesting.

makes you think about who will be the five people YOU meet in heaven.

if you're lucky enough to be in heaven anyway. haha.

i haven't read any Mitch Albom books besides this, though. i heard Tuesdays With Morrie is good, but i think it's non-fiction.

anyway, that's it for now.

i'll post more serious fiction and not-so-serious fiction later on that i've read.

any suggestions on good books i should read on an probably-below-average intellectual degree, let me know.

cherio! =)

confession

yes, i, like many other people in this world, have a guilty pleasure.

i know a lot of my friends know that i like to read. and i do read.

aside from my endless collection of baby-sitters club books, i also read the princess diaries series, and a lot of japanese manga.

yeah sure, i read a lot of classics since my dad and-i-don't-know-who-else-who-thinks-it's-a-good-idea-to-give-me-books give me those thick, supposedly full of knowledge books.

i mean, i've read things like Winnetou, The Stand by Stephen King, some Dan Brown books - where i found that the Da Vinci Code is actually my least favorite of all his books -- i like Angels and Demons better.. i've read stuff like Little Women, and yada yada yada.

truth is, now matter how many classic or serious fiction and/or non-fiction my dad encourages me to read, i still read them only when i'm really bored and have nothing else to do.

which, i assure you, happens only on certain moments every month or so.

and the real truth is, i just feel more compelled to reading things like baby-sitters club (BSC) or princess diaries series, which both i collect.

other collections i never want to throw out, and would choose over any serious fiction i have:

boxcar children - although it's been a long time since i read any.

girl talk - although i only have the translated Indonesian version which -no offense to the translators- just sound really weird. but still.

the saddle club - although i've only read, like, only 2 books in the series, sad to say. i read on the internet that it's been made into a tv series.

silver blade - i've also only read maybe 2 books of the series.

and this night, i just finished reading the ninth installment in the princess diaries series - Princess Mia

and i like the twist in the plot.

i can't wait for the 10th one. i read on Meg Cabot's website that it'll be the last. *sigh*