June Wrap-Up // July TBR | 2014

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image source: here. edited by me.

✧ Bye June, and Bye College. ✧

June is over, and so is my thesis! YAY! Will talk about that by the end of this post if any of you want to know about my thesis updates. I think I didn't read as much books as last month - because I was too busy memorizing my presentation for the thesis trial. I read 9 books this month, but it includes 1 comic book and also 1 novella - so it doesn't really count because both are fairly short. Still, I'm really glad I did quite a lot of reading despite all the hassle. So here are the books I've read and reviewed this month, non-review posts in June, and lastly a list of books I'm planning to read in July.

Guilty Pleasure by Christian Simamora (Read in May, reviewed in June)
I really enjoyed Christian Simamora's writing so I always anticipated his books. This one is yet again an adult book; a romance story between a young actress and a 40-year-old successful businessman. Despite the age gap, the two characters have a great chemistry. I gave this book 4/5 rating.

Casablanca: Forget Me Not by Dahlian
Dahlian is another author whom I absolutely love for her writing style. The story itself is pretty simple, and quite predictable - but the way the author tells it is so beautiful and sweet. I also rated this book 4/5.

Just One Night (Just One Day, #2.5) by Gayle Forman
This one is a short novella, continuing the story after Just One Day and Just One Year; and I am so happy Gayle Forman wrote this! The story in this novella is exactly what I needed, and everything is just perfect, beautiful, and plain amazing. Gave this novella a 4.5/5 for super beautiful writing and incredibly sweet conclusion to the duology.

Interlude by Windry Ramadhina
Yet another beautifully written story by one of my favorite authors. I think this book is one of my best reads this month - because I really enjoyed it, I even stayed up super late in the middle of the night just to finish this book. It was amazing. It's a romance story about two people who are living with their insecurities and find themselves attracted to each other because of that similarity. No doubt I gave this a 5/5. Love the cover as well ♥

People Like Us by Yosephine Monica
I received this from Penerbit Haru for the Blog Tour event, and this book is the winner of 100 Days of Romance writing competition held by the publisher. I'm not sure whether to categorize this book as teenlit or Young-Adult; but it's about self-discovery, friendship, and a pinch of romance. I really adore the writing style, as well as the bittersweet story in this book - so I gave it a 4.5/5 rating.

Come On Over by Christian Simamora
The second book published by Christian Simamora this month! It's pretty rare to see his book twice in a month, actually. This book has the same genre as the previous one, which is adult romance. But the romance in this book started from friendship. Although I still enjoy the book (mostly because of the writing style), the story was kind of cliche and predictable in some way. At the end, I decided to rate this book 3.5/5.

Girls in the Dark by Akiyoshi Rikako

Another book I received from Penerbit Haru for the Blog Tour, this one is a Japanese-translated fiction. At first I thought it was a horror book, but it's actually more towards the mystery or thriller side. The thing that I love the most about this book is the plot twists! The whole book is so mysterious, and I had many questions in my head - so it kept me reading because I want to know what really happened. The ending is totally unpredictable, super twisted. 4.5/5 stars.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

This one has also become my favorite read of the month! The Book Thief is a book that I hold dear to my heart now, because the story is so emotional and bittersweet. The thing that made me love this book the most will be the writing style and the characters. I rarely read historical fiction, but I didn't regret reading this one. I read this book because I was planning to watch the movie adaptation. Hopefully I will post a movie adaptation review soon ;) Most definitely 5/5 stars.

Grey & Jingga: The Twilight by Sweta Kartika

The last one is a comic book about romance - that actually started from Facebook. This book consists of comic strips, which was published every Monday and Thursday on Facebook. So the flow of the story doesn't go really well, but it's still entertaining because the characters are cute and adorable. Although the conflict and plot is pretty cliche, it's still pretty enjoyable. I gave this one a 3.5/5.

I read so many great and amazing books this month - which makes me super happy ! I'm also currently reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, and I am loving it so far. I read most of my June TBR - except for Carrie by Stephen King, because I still can't get over my own anxiety about reading it. My non-review posts are mostly for the Blog Tour, because I didn't participate in the Top 5 Wednesdays this month (the topics are too difficult for me, lol). Hopefully I can join in again in July ;) And below I also list the books I'm planning to read in July; I only list a few because I know I'll have some more books coming in soon, and I want to read A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin - which equals three books, literally. It will probably even took me a month to finish - but hopefully not.

Non-Review Posts in June:
Step-by-Step of How I Plastic-Wrapped My Books (Cara Menyampul Buku)
Book Blogger Test  Throwback: Favorite Teenlits
'People Like Us' Blog Tour Giveaway Winners
[Blog Tour] Sneak Peek: Girls in the Dark by Akiyoshi Rikako + Giveaway  [Blog Tour] Ask Author: Yosephine Monica   July TBR:
(I might have more books coming in next month, so this list can change and is quite flexible)

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (currently reading) The Hound of The Baskervilles (Anjing Setan) (Sherlock Holmes, #5) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) by George R.R. Martin The Giver by Lois Lowry

 

I ended my life as a college student this month, I was both relieved and anxious at the same time. My thesis trial was held on June 10th; surprisingly, I wasn't as nervous as my first trial a while ago. Everything went pretty smoothly - but I was still worried about my grade. Several days later, the result announcement came out and I am extremely grateful because I got myself a B+. Of course, I was hoping for an A (because who doesn't?) - but B+ was good enough, and at least I pass; because some of my friends didn't quite make it. All that's left for me is graduation, which doesn't happen until September. Even though I am celebrating the end of my university life, I am also worried about what I'm going to do after. Honestly speaking, I do feel a bit pressured when I'm at home these days - because it may seem like I'm slacking all day long (.... which is quite true, actually).

So related to that, I actually have a personal project - which is book related - that I have in mind. But since I'm still unsure about it yet, I won't go into details yet. Having this kind of project will at least give me something to do when I'm at home. And lastly, I'd like to thank everyone who has cheered for me and wished me well during my thesis :))) Okay, bye!

  by.stefaniesugia♥ .