August Wrap-Up // September TBR | 2015: BBI East Java Meet-up !

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image source: here. edited by me.

It's officially a new month and August really went by in a flash for me. Last month was extremely hectic because I was busy with several events so I had a lot of things to do. Due to my crazy schedule last month I only read 5 books in August—which is a little bit less than my usual amount but it's not too bad. It took me quite a long time to finish a book this month because I was also distracted by Korean dramas, so.... yeah. Hopefully I'll be able to make up for it next month :)) Out of all the books I read this month, I only managed to review 3 of them because I'm still working on the rest. I don't know why but I find myself feeling a little bit lazy last month in terms of blogging. Is this what they call a blogging slump? Anyways, here are the books I've read and reviewed this month, non-review posts in August and the books I'm planning to read in September!

Saga: Volume 2 by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples

This graphic novel is awesome. Things got a lot more intense in this second volume, and that ending though! Seriously need to pick up the third volume ASAP. I gave this a 5/5, obviously. ✮✮✮✮✮

A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #2) by George R.R. Martin

I almost forgot how much I love the world of Song of Ice and Fire because it was a year ago that I read the first book, A Game of Thrones. I find myself enjoying the sequel even better than the first one because I'm already used to the world building and am very invested in the characters. Crazy characters, crazy plot twists, and a lot of deaths. A definite 5/5 for this one from me ;) ✮✮✮✮✮

The Martian by Andy Weir

Another book that I love so much because it makes me laugh so hard whilst reading, yet also choked me up by the end of it. The best thing about this book is the main character, Mark Watney. He's just an extraordinary man, to put it simply. You can check out my review if you want to read my rambling about Watney's quirky character. 5/5! ✮✮✮✮✮

3 (Tiga) by Alicia Lidwina
I received this book from the author to be read and reviewed; and the story is surprisingly very dark and depressing. There's quite a lot of Japanese elements in the story; including the setting, characters, and probably the theme as well. Even though it wasn't extremely satisfying, the story is pretty intriguing and there are some unexpected revelations as well. So I decided to rate this book a 3.5/5. ✮✮✮½

Critical Eleven by Ika Natassa
It's the first time I read Ika Natassa's book and it's definitely not disappointing. At first I was a little bit intimidated by the crazy hype and was worried that my high expectation would affect my reading experience. Thankfully I found myself falling in love with her writing. And I totally adore the two main characters of this story. Looking forward to reading more of her books in the future :)) 5/5 for this book as well. ✮✮✮✮✮

I'm really happy with my reading this month because I found some new favorites in August! :) Besides the one that I've reviewed, I also finished Irresistible (Mafia Espresso, #1) and Love Roulette (Mafia Espresso, #2) by Francisca Todi, and I'm currently working on the reviews. I'm currently reading You Had Me at Hello by Indah Hanaco to prepare myself for the blog tour which will happen on 10-14 September on this blog :) I only read one book out from my August TBR list, so that list will most probably stay the same this month. And I'm glad I finally get to hold another giveaway on this blog as I've promised since a while ago. If you haven't joined in, there's still quite a lot of time left! :D

Non-Review Posts in August:

Movie Adaptation Review: Still Alice
Bookish Destination: Hobbiton Movie Set, NZ 
Review Toko Buku Online Belbuk.com
Bookie-Looker's 4th Anniversary Giveaway: $15 / IDR 150,000 Book of Your Choice (17 Aug - 15 Sept 2015)
☆ Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag ☆

September TBR:
(I might have more books coming in next month, so this list can change and is quite flexible)

When the Star Falls by Andry Setiawan
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn Namaku Subardjo by Hapsari Hanggarini Saga, Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

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One of the most memorable highlight / event last month for me was the Indonesian Book Blogger meetup that happened on August 23rd :D It's been a long time since I last joined the meetup in Surabaya and the number of people has definitely grown a lot! I'm really happy there are a lot more people who dedicated their time for reading and blogging about books. And it's always nice to see bookish friends because the people around me doesn't read much. The meetup was held in Sutos (Surabaya Town Square) and we picked A&W as our meetup spot. We exchanged some books, chatted, and had a good laugh as well. I'm really glad I get to know these people better ;)) Looking forward to meeting everyone in another time! Here's our picture below and I also listed their book blogs if you're interested on discovering more book blogs ;)

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left to right: Hestia, Me, Nina, Dini (Dinoy), Mide, Inge, Melisa, Sasti, Isti, Aiz

Hestia: http://shiori-ko.blogspot.com/

Nina: http://thebookaddictdiaries.blogspot.com/

Dini (Dinoy): www.dinoybooksreview.wordpress.com

Mide: http://blendandbreak.blogspot.com/

Inge: http://bacaaninge.blogspot.com/

Melisa: http://surgabukuku.com/

Sasti: http://sastye.blogspot.com/

Isti: http://kuronekobookclub.blogspot.com/

Aiz: http://aizaturr.blogspot.com/

☆ Gaming / Music / Movies / TV Shows ☆

Now let's talk about all the other stuffs that are not books, because these things are the ones that distracted me from reading last month. First of all, I've discovered some really good games that got me hooked and made me play every single day. The first one is called Alphabear ( iOS | Android ) which is a word puzzle game that involves a lot of cute bears! I love this game because it can help me improve my vocabulary / spelling as well. And I love collecting all the cute bears! :3 The second one is called Peak ( iOS ) which is a gaming app that focuses on brain training. Every single day there's a different workout that includes a different set of games to play. Some games focuses on improving memory, language, focus, etc. I think that it's a really good app and I literally played it every single day :))

In terms of music, my favorite this month will be Charlie Puth's One Call Away, OST from Oh My Ghostess, and also 소녀시대 (Girls' Generation) new title track Lion Heart. I have played these songs repeatedly on my playlist, especially Lion Heart—because it's a cheerful and upbeat song that just brightens up my day :)) You can listen to the songs I mentioned below ;)

I also went and watched some movies this month, including the most popular ones like Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation and Inside Out :))) Mission Impossible turns out to be a bit less from what I expected. I personally think that Ghost Protocol is a lot more intense. And of course, I love Inside Out. Pixar always makes a good heartwarming animated movie like this. I will certainly play this movie for my children to see in the future so they'll understand more about their own emotions. I also watched Pitch Perfect 2 at home because I loved the first one. The acapella singing is still awesome, but plot-wise I preferred the first one.

And most importantly, I marathoned 오 나의 귀신님 (Oh My Ghost) last month—which is probably the major thing that caused me not to read as much books. The best thing about this TV show is the super adorable chemistry and cute moments between the two main characters. The plot is quite simple so it's easy to watch and very enjoyable. I finished all 16 episodes in 4 days and was in a hangover right after that. Because I can't say goodbye to the characters yet :'((( So I spent a few more days replaying my favorite scenes. I know, k-drama is a bad influence for my reading. If you love k-dramas though, I would totally recommend this one :)) Trust me, it's so freaking cute!

 

Okay, that's all for my August's wrap-up! I hope everyone had a good month in August and are ready to face the new month ahead. I will also have a pretty hectic schedule in September (a lot of events here and there) but hopefully I'll still get a lot of reading and reviewing done :)) Alright, bye now!

 

by.stefaniesugia♥ .