Book Review: A Dash of Magic (The Bliss Bakery Trilogy #2) by Kathryn Littlewood

Judul: A Dash of Magic (The Bliss Bakery Trilogy #2)
Pengarang: Kathryn Littlewood
Penerjemah:Sujatrini Liza
Penerbit: Nourabooks
Edisi: I/Bahasa Indonesia
Diterbitkan pada: Agustus 2013
Jumlah Halaman: 312
ISBN: 978-9-794-33811-7
Genre: Fiksi remaja, sihir, keluarga

Sinopsis:

Rosemary Bliss rela melakukan apa pun untuk mendapatkan kembali Buku Resep ajaib milik keluarganya. Maka, dia menerima tantangan Bibi Lily untuk mengikuti kompetisi masak internasional di Paris. Jika Rose menang, Bibi Lily akan mengembalikan bukunya. Jika tidak, maka buku itu akan hilang selamanya. Didampingi keluarganya, kakek buyutnya, seekor kucing sarkastik, dan tikus Prancis, Rose berjuang demi menciptakan masakan spesial yang bisa membuatnya jadi pemenang. Bersama Ty dan Sage, Rose pun berkeliling Paris demi mendapatkan bahan-bahan ajaib: Rahasia Senyum Monalisa, Dentang Lonceng Notre Dame, Bisikan Kekasih, sampai Hujan Murni dari Puncak Eiffel.

Rose benar-benar tidak boleh kehilangan Bliss Cookery Booke untuk kedua kalinya!

***

Book Review: Bliss (The Bliss Bakery Trilogy #1) by Kathryn Littlewood

         Judul: Bliss (The Bliss Bakery Trilogy #1)
         Pengarang: Kathryn Littlewood
         Penerjemah: Nadia Mirzha
         Penerbit: Nourabooks
         Edisi: II/Bahasa Indonesia
         Diterbitkan pada: Desember 2012
         Jumlah Halaman: 320
         ISBN: 978-9-794-33690-8
         Genre: Fiksi remaja, sihir, keluarga

Sinopsis:

Musim panas itu, Rosemary Bliss melihat ibunya mengaduk halilintar ke dalam semangkuk adonan dan semakin yakin bahwa orangtuanya menggunakan sihir di Toko Roti Bliss. Rahasianya ada pada sebuah buku resep Bliss Cookery Booke.

Namun, apa jadinya jika Rose dan Ty memutuskan bereksperimen dengan beberapa resep saat orangtua mereka pergi? Yah, beberapa Muffin Asmara dan Cookies Kebenaran sepertinya tak akan menimbulkan masalah, bukan?

***

eBook Review: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Title: Cruel Beauty
Author: Rosamund Hodge
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Edition: I/ eBook English Version
Published: January 2014
Page: 352
ISBN: 978-0-062-22475-0
Genre: Young-Adult Fiction, Romance, Mythology

Synopsis:

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

***

eBook Review: Just One Day by Gayle Forman

         Title: Just One Day
         Author: Gayle Forman
         Publisher: Penguin Group
         Edition: I/eBook English Version
         Published: January 2013
         Page: 300
         ISBN: 978-1-101-59274-8
         Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Romance, Traveling

Synopsis:

When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.

***

eBook Review: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Synopsis:

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

By her brother's graveside, Liesel Meminger's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Grave Digger's Handbook, left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. 

So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up and closed down.

***

eBook Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Synopsis:
In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her. 

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

***

eBook Review: Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

Synopsis: When Dashti, a maid, and Lady Saren, her mistress, are shut in a tower for seven years for Saren's refusal to marry a man she despises, the two prepare for a very long and dark imprisonment.

As food runs low and the days go from boiling hot to freezing cold, it is all Dashti can do to keep them fed and comfortable.

But the arrival outside the tower of Saren's two suitors—one welcome, and the other decidedly less so—brings both hope and great danger, and Dashti must make the desperate choices of a girl whose life is worth more than she knows.

With Shannon Hale's lyrical language, this forgotten but classic fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm is reimagined and reset on the central Asian steppes; it is a completely unique retelling filled with adventure and romance, drama and disguise.

***

eBook Review: My Name is Rapunzel by K.C. Hilton

Synopsis:  My tale has been told again and again, and I’ve heard each one. Except for my hair, I barely recognize the pitiful renditions. Muddled versions, crafted to entertain laughing children…but the children wouldn’t have laughed if they’d known the real story. It wasn't their fault. They didn't know the truth. Nobody did. My name is Rapunzel. I will tell you my story. I will tell you the truth.

***

It is another story about Rapunzel. Rapunzel in this book is described as a teenager, she was 16 years old, and she was fall in love with a guy named Henry. At first, she expected that Henry will be her only love of her life. She wanted to marry him, and he wanted to propose her to be his wife. Their charming love story was not that easy to be true. The day when Henry proposed Rapunzel, something horrible happened. There was a weird storm approaching then Henry was gone. And something left behind after the storm was only the Witch with a suspicious Dragon standing in front of Rapunzel.

Tutorial: Menyampul Buku dengan Sampul Plastik Non-Destructive

Hi readers!

Lagi baca buku apa hari ini?
Ngomong-ngomong soal buku, kalian yang suka membaca pasti juga suka mengkoleksi buku kan? Sudah tahu belum salah satu cara merawat koleksi buku kalian agar awet dan tetap bersih? Bener banget! Caranya adalah memberi sampul pada buku. Dan sampul yang paling tepat untuk menyampul buku/novel koleksi kalian adalah sampul plastik. Mengapa demikian? Karena sampul plastik bisa menjaga buku agar tetap awet, bebas jamur dan rayap, namun halaman cover buku tetap terlihat dengan jelas. Lebih-lebih, sampul plastik juga replaceable alias bisa dilepas-pasang atau diganti tanpa membuat buku menjadi rusak/sobek.

Di post kali ini aku akan share cara menyampul buku dengan sampul plastik dengan baik. Caranya gampang banget kok, tidak memakan waktu lama, dan yang jelas murah meriah. Oke, langsung ke step-stepnya aja ya.

Tips Menulis Resensi Buku

Hi readers!

How are you doing? Good?

Readers yang gemar membaca buku pasti pernah kepikiran untuk menulis resensi dari buku yang kalian baca, ya nggak? Awal mula aku membuat blog ini juga karena aku suka membaca dan sering berpikir kenapa aku hanya menikmati sebuah buku untuk diriku sendiri tanpa membagikan pendapat/pengalaman mengenai buku yang aku baca tersebut pada orang lain. Selain itu, aku juga sering membaca resensi beberapa blogger buku ternama yang sudah membaca ratusan bahkan ribuan buku yang hampir semuanya mereka share dalam bentuk resensi di sebuah blog, forum, atau website dan tertarik untuk melakukan hal yang sama.

Tahukah readers kalau menulis resensi dapat menjadi sarana untuk membagikan pengalaman atau pendapat atau rekomendasi kalian mengenai suatu buku pada banyak orang? Lebih-lebih menulis resensi juga memberikan manfaat lho. Masih ingat dong ya apa saja manfaat menulis resensi buku. Kalau lupa, boleh intip lagi disini. Nah, di post ini, aku akan share sedikit mengenai tips menulis resensi buku. Simak baik-baik ya!

eBook Review: Entwined by Heather Dixon

Sinopsis:

Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her . . . beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing . . . it's taken away. All of it.

The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation.

Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest.

But there is a cost.

The Keeper likes to keep things.

Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.

***

eBook Review: Splintered by A.G. Howard

Sinopsis:

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

***

eBook Review: The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal

Synopsis:

Princess and heir to the throne of Thorvaldor, Nalia's led a privileged life at court.  But everything changes when it's revealed, just after her sixteenth birthday, that she is a false princess, a stand-in for the real Nalia, who has been hidden away for her protection.  Cast out with little more than the clothes on her back, the girl now called Sinda must leave behind the city of Vivaskari, her best friend, Keirnan, and the only life she's ever known.

Sinda is sent to live with her only surviving relative, an aunt who is a dyer in a distant village. She is a cold, scornful woman with little patience for her newfound niece, and Sinda proves inept at even the simplest tasks.  But when Sinda discovers that magic runs through her veins - long-suppressed, dangerous magic that she must learn to control - she realizes that she can never learn to be a simple village girl.

Returning to Vivaskari for answers, Sinda finds her purpose as a wizard scribe, rediscovers the boy who saw her all along, and uncovers a secret that could change the course of Thorvaldor's history, forever.

A dazzling first novel, The False Princess is an engrossing fantasy full of mystery, action, and romance.

***

eBook Review: The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

Sinopsis:

After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, and creditors are calling. He has also just broken up with his longtime girlfriend and is living in his office.

Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: his sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry, known to her friends as the Cuckoo, famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.

You may think you know detectives, but you've never met one quite like Strike. You may think you know about the wealthy and famous, but you've never seen them under an investigation like this.

***

Book Review: Spells (Wings #2) by Aprilynne Pike

Sinopsis: Enam bulan lalu Laurel menyelamatkan gerbang peri menuju Avalon, dan sekarang ia harus menghabiskan libur musim panasnya disana, mengasah keahliannya sebagai peri Musim Gugur. Tapi keluarga dan teman manusianya masih dalam bahaya-dan gerbang menuju Avalon juga semakin terancam. Ketika harus melindungi orang yang dicintainya, akankah Laurel bergantung pada David, pacar manusianya? Ataukah ia akan berpaling pada Tamani, peri yang juga tertarik pada Laurel?

***

Book Review: Wings by Aprilynne Pike

Sinopsis:

Laurel benar-benar terpesona. Itu luar biasa indah-terlalu indah untuk digambarkan dengan kata-kata. Laurel berbalik menghadap cermin lagi, matanya menelusuri kelopak yang melayang di kedua sisi kepalanya. Itu terlihat seperti sayap.

Sepasang sayap yang mirip kelopak bunga tumbuh di punggung Laurel. Sejak itu dunianya berubah. Ia bertemu dengan Tamani. Pria itu melihat Laurel mengembangkan sayapnya di dekat sungai, lalu berbicara dengannya seolah sudah mengenalnya sejak lama. Tamani mengatakan sesuatu yang sangat tidak masuk akal. Dia bilang Laurel adalah peri, sama seperti dirinya. Tapi Laurel berada di dunia manusia untuk mengemban tugas penting, yaitu menjaga gerbang masuk Avalon, dunia peri, dari makhluk-makhluk jahat seperti troll. Sementara menghadapi takdirnya yang baru, Laurel pun terbagi antara cintanya pada Tamani dan David, sahabat manusianya...

***

Aplikasi Pembaca eBook untuk Platform Java

Hi readers!

How was your life?

I'm so excited to tell you something through this post. Well, may be it is not really fresh news to share, but I think I should share it to you, just in case you haven't got the similar information. Pada intinya, beberapa hari yang lalu aku keranjingan banget untuk nyari-nyari ebook yang free download. Tapi sayangnya, aku agak malas rasanya membaca ebook lewat laptop atau PC. Pertama karena nggak nyaman dan kedua karena ribet. That's why dulu-dulu aku lebih suka baca cerita langsung lewat buku, karena lebih fleksibel dan portabel. Beberapa hari yang lalu aku gandrung alias suka lagi membaca ebook karena sempat menemukan beberapa novel fiksi (terutama sekuel) berbahasa Inggris yang belum terbit di Indonesia.

Masalahnya, sewaktu pertama download aku nggak nyadar kalau yang aku download adalah file dengan fornal EPUB. File ini jelas-jelas tidak bisa dibaca, bahkan di PC/laptop, tanpa bantuan aplikasi khusus. Akhirnya, aku memilih merepotkan diri untuk meng-convert file EPUB tersebut ke PDF. You know lah, hasilnya agak berantakan, terutama spasi dan hurufnya. Jadi makin nggak nyaman deh membacanya. Apalagi aku bener-bener pengen membaca novel itu-The Cuckoo's Calling-dengan nyaman.

Akhirnya, dengan bermodal niat yang sangat besar, aku coba-coba browsing di Google aplikasi untuk membaca ebook dengan format epub, ternyata ada banyak. Tapi aku pengennya yang bisa diinstal dan applicable untuk handphone. For your information, handphoneku bukan smart phone ya, agak jadul dan berplatform Java, bukan Android, iOS, atau Symbian. Semakin curious lagi untuk mencari aplikasi yang tepat, aku coba tanya sepupuku. Dia menyarankan untuk browse di Google dengan kata kunci, "free ebook reader for Java mobile". Setelah lama mencari, voila!!! Aku nemu aplikasi yang bernama Albite Reader 2.2 karya Svetlin Ankov.

Book Review: Lifted - Pengutil Paling Top by Hilary Freeman

Judul: Lifted - Pengutil Paling Top
Judul Asli: Lifted
Pengarang: Hilary Freeman
Penerbit: Gramedia Pustaka Utama
Cetakan: I/ September 2013
Penerjemah: Devi Chyntia
ISBN: 978-979-22-9874-1
Tebal: 224hlm
Genre: Teenlit

Sinopsis:

me·ngu·til v mengambil atau melebihkan barang belian tanpa sepengetahuan penjual.

Robyn tak bisa menahan diri untuk mengutil. Tapi dia tidak merasa bersalah karena semua yang dicurinya, pasti dia sumbangkan ke toko amal, lalu dia menuliskan kisahnya di blog. Sebenarnya dia tidak perlu mengutil karena orangtuanya sangatlah mampu memberikan apa yang dia inginkan, tapi dia merasakan sensasi yang menyenangkan saat mengutil.

Dalam sekejap semua orang membicarakan tentang si misterius blogger. Akhirnya Robyn mendapatkan ketenaran yang dia inginkan. Hanya satu orang yang tahu siapa Robyn sebenarnya, dan cowok itu bersumpah akan merahasiakannya.

Akankah Robyn mengungkapkan identitasnya? Bisakah dia berhenti mengutil sebelum tertangkap?

***

Favorite Character: Prince Lucian Kiggs (Seraphina by Rachel Hartman)

Hi readers!

Nice to see you there!

Di post kali ini aku akan membahas sedikit tentang karakter favorit. Tentu saja semua orang pasti punya tokoh/karakter favorit selepas membaca novel, membaca komik, menonton film, atau apapun. Aku juga punya. Dan salah satu dari the best and most favorite characters yang aku suka adalah Pangeran Lucian Kiggs. O ya, sekedar mengingatkan, Pangeran Lucian Kiggs adalah salah satu tokoh central dalam novel Seraphina karangan Rachel Hartman. Kalau penasaran dengan resensi atau sinopsisnya, bisa klik disini!

Well, Pangeran Lucian Kiggs dalam novel tersebut digambarkan sebagai sesosok pangeran yang tegas, pemberani, teliti, strategis, namun terkadang juga sedikit ceroboh. Dalam novel Seraphina, Lucian Kiggs berperan sebagai salah satu putra mahkota yang juga menjadi pemimpin dari Garda Ratu atau pasukan perdamaian kerajaan di negeri Goredd. Pangeran Lucian Kiggs terlibat dalam sebuah penyelidikan yang pelik mengenai kematian pamannya, Pangeran Rufus. Penyelidikan tersebut tidak hanya melibatkan kaum manusia tetapi juga kaum Naga.

Pangeran Lucian Kiggs seolah tidak memiliki rasa takut terhadap kaum Naga yang mungkin bisa saja membunuhnya selama melakukan penyelidikan. Selama penyelidikan dan mencari sosok pembunuh pamannya, Lucian Kiggs ditemani oleh Seraphina Dombegh, tokoh utama dalam cerita, yang seorang asisten master musik istana. Seraphina tidak serta merta terlibat karena dia memang ingin terlibat tetapi karena dia memiliki kunci dan beberapa bukti untuk mencari si pembunuh.

Book Review: Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Judul: Seraphina
Judul Asli: Seraphina
Pengarang: Rachel Hartman
Penerbit: Gramedia Pustaka Utama
Cetakan: I/Mei 2013
Penerjemah: Poppy D. Chusfani
ISBN: 978-979-22-9621-1
Tebal: 544hlm
Genre: Novel (Teenager, Young-Adult)

Sinopsis:

Selama empat dekade, manusia dan naga di kerajaan Goredd berdamai. Kaum naga mewujud menjadi manusia dan menyumbangkan pikiran mereka yang rasional serta matematis. Namun, akhir-akhir ini hubungan di antara kedua kaum memburuk. Apalagi ketika salah satu anggota kerajaan terbunuh dan ada kecurigaan bahwa pelakunya naga.

Sebagai musisi yang sangat berbakat, Seraphina Dombegh bergabung dengan kelompok musisi istana. Ia kemudian mau tidak mau terlibat dalam penyelidikan pembunuhan itu, bekerja sama dengan Pangeran Lucian Kiggs yang sangat awas.

Sementara mereka mulai membongkar rencana jahat untuk menghancurkan perdamaian, Seraphina berjuang melindungi rahasianya sendiri, rahasia di balik bakat musiknya yang luar biasa, rahasia yang begitu mengerikan sehingga dapat membahayakan nyawanya.

***