Whole-Year Reading Recaps & Short Review(s)

Hi there ❤

Welcome to the first official post of NEW Sparkling Letters!! I know I said that this will no longer be a book blog, but I kinda feel like I should start the post with something bookish as a warm up 😉

Since I started working in 2017, I read less and less over time. I just got busy with life and parenting and I just… stopped reading. I felt that I’ve got no time to read for fun. I read for my daughter but I stopped reading for myself. WHICH IS SAD. That’s why since end of 2022, I tried to go back to reading regularly, and now that I got myself a BIG bookshelves and a kindle, it all becomes easier to read regularly.

Last year I read quite a lot of books even if I still didn’t achieve my 2023 reading goals of 20 books, but this year I set a higher goals of 40 books and I’m already 55% to achieve my goals 😀

It’s not a lengthy review like it used to be, but I want to share some highlights on the books I had been reading so far. Buckle up because this is gonna be a looong post!!

Diving into non fictions.

When I first got back to reading, it was through non fiction books, especially parenting books. As a new mom, there was sooo many things to learn about breast feeding, complimentary feeding, baby sleep, read aloud, etc etc. I joined several seminars and watched youtube videos, but I know I learn best through reading so I started to read books on parentings.

There are so many good ones out there!! Not just from theoretical perspectives but also laced with personal experience from the authors. Here are some titles that I read lately:

1. The Whole Brain Child by Daniel J. Siegel : This book is about balancing between a child’s left & right brain and front & back brain. There are sample stories and strategies to deal with children such as: when they are in tantrum, their part of brain that deals with logical reasoning completely shuts down so there is no use trying to reason with tantrum kids, or that when a child is too logical (left-brain), we need to get them to focus on feelings (right-brain). I get the idea, but the way it was written was too boring for me. Took a while to finish this one.
2. The Read Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie : I love love this one so much. As a big reader myself who have started reading for my daughter since birth, I feel so happy to read this book and know sooo many benefits from reading aloud for children. It’s not just about the speech, but reading aloud helps children to maintain focus, understand new concept, build healthy reading habits, and especially bond with their parents ❤ if you are new parents, I suggest you to read this.
3. The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease (8th edition) : Sarah Mackenzie wrote her book based on this book, the original book on read aloud. This one provides many example & benefits of reading aloud from research perspectives. I love the theory about vocabulary in this book. The more we read to our children (listening), the more speaking, reading, and writing vocabularies they will have later.
4. The Gentle Parenting & other books by Sarah Ockwell Smith : There are a lot of gentle parenting series books written by this author. I almost have all of the books, but what I love the most are:
   • The Gentle Sleep Book – I was so stressed out by daughter’s sleeping pattern but this book provides so many insights for me. I wish I had read it during pregnancy.
   • The Starting School Book – I’m so confused about starting school but this book has helped me made a decision on when to start pre-school for my daughter ❤
5. Calmer Easier Happier Books by Noel Janis-Norton : I have two books from this series: Calmer Easier Happier Parenting & Screen Time. I love all the strategies from this book, they’re all applicable although only for some amount of time (because then I forgot to apply the strategies again hehe). The main focus of both books rely on how to build cooperative kids — kids that do what we ask them to do without fuss.

Aside from non fiction parenting books, I also tried to read about general non fic, especially those related to relationships & marriage. But there was 1 book that I like the most.

1. How to be Perfect by Michael Schur : This book explores how to live a good life from philosophical point of view, written in a fun & sarcastic way. This book is so much fun, it feels light even if it talks about ‘heavy’ topics. I didn’t understand about existentialism when I learned philosophy in college, but I understand now from reading this book. The key to reading this book is just to read through it — do not think too much!!
2. Getting the Love You Want by Harville Hendrix : This book talks about marital relationship but it feels to psychoanalytic for my logical brain 😀
3. The State of Affairs by Esther Perel : I have mixed feelings about this book but I’m not feeling comfortable discussing this too deeply, so I’ll just say that this book offers a new perspective and it’s something good to learn for me. Too many repetitions though.

Back to My Favorite Genre: Fantasy

Fantasy has always been my favorite genre, but I felt not in the right mind to read fantasy for a while now. Fantasy books are looong and require readers to memorize the world building and the rules of the books and the names. I started off by re-reading The Bear in the Nightingale by Katherine Arden and it was so good I immediately ordered the next 2 books. Then I started reading some books from my fave authors which were on kindle sale!!

1. The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden has become 1 of my favorite series ever. I love the writing, the world building, the characters, I even love the cold winter vibe radiating from the book.
   • The Girl in the Tower : 5 out of 5 stars, the stakes & tension are so high in this book.
   • The Winter of the Witch : A good conclusion to the trilogy, even though the last book might be a little too complicated, I still enjoyed every bits and satisfied with the ending.
2. Babel by RF Kuang : Love the world building of this awesome book. I love almost everything from the premise, the MC, the friendship, the plot twist, I even enjoy all the lectures about translation & languages!!
3. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo : Another dark academia book I read this year. I think this one is DARK and BIZZARE. At first, it was difficult for me to understand what this is about, what are the societies, what is Lethe, what kind of magic they perform, etc. The world building was honestly difficult to grasp so for the first few chapters although afterward this get better and the plot becomes so interesting. The ending was very twisty, but I’m looking forward to read the next book soon.
4. The Fragile Threads of Power by VE Schwab : I was so excited to know there’s a whole new series in the Shades of Magic!! I read as soon as possible but I cannot remember many things from ADSOM 🤣The book started slow with introducing new characters, re-introducing old characters, some background stories & fill us in what happened between ACOL to this book, and careful & intricate world building as usual. I admit I got impatient at first but 20% in and it finally got SO GOOD. I love Kell, Rhy, I even like Lila a lot this year and all the new characters are interesting as well.
5. Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan : It took so much willpower & commitment for me to finally finish this book. It has so much promise because the plot is interesting, but it was not well-written, especially the characters and the chemistry between them so it felt so flat. 2.5 Stars for me and I’m not sure I would read the sequel </3

YA & Adult Fiction for a quick read

This is my comfort genre where I can just read without thinking too much and I know (most of the time) it will end happily 😛 Most of the books I read were from kindle deals.

1. As Long as The Lemon Tree Grows by Zoulfa Katouh : My absolute favorite ❤ I love this book so so much it’s so heartbreaking and beautiful. I love the writing, the characters, and reading this in the middle of Palestine genocide makes it even more heartbreaking. I finished this in less than 24 hours, that’s how good this book is!!
2. The Kiss Quotient series by Helen Hoang : All 3 books are so fun and nuanced. I love all the love stories especially book 1 & 3.
3. Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys : I re-read Salt to the Sea last year and suddenly I love Ruta Sepetys writing so much. This is a historical fiction but it feels like your contemporary YA novel. It’s page turner and easy to read and I feel like I’m reading a usual teen heroine, only this was set in 1954 New Orleans which had this dangerous vibe.
4. Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Novels – Carrie Soto is Back, After I Do, and Forever Interrupted. I love her writing so much, it’s so easy to read I can finish each of her book in 1 day. I love Carrie Soto & After I Do but Forever Interrupted — not at all.
5. Love, Life, and the List by Kasie West : I used to love Kasie West’s books especially The Distance Between Us, On the Fence, and PS I Like You back when I read them 8 years ago, but I guess I’m getting tired by the formula. I quite like Abby in this book but I don’t feel her chemistry with Cooper and I didn’t root for them.

Exploring Japanese Literature

This is definitely a whole new genre for me. I read Haruki Murakami’s books years ago but it felt too heavy, now when I get back into reading suddenly I see J-Lit books everywhere!! Young readers are talking about them on X and it made me curious. After reading several books, I noticed some things in common : there’s this vibe that reminds me of chill anime songs, like Ghibli, there’s no big & tense plot, and it’s usually slow pace and only involve a handful of characters.

1. Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa : This feels like ordinary book but it’s deep & profound you can just feel the sadness from this book. It’s about an old woman with a sickness & a man who makes dorayaki for a living.
2. Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa : It’s a healing story about a woman who just broke up with his boyfriend, finding solace in a bookshop where she found lost family, new friendship, and blooming love.
3. Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata : Talks about a woman with autism who works in convenience store for a long time because that’s where she can be the best. It tackles issues on society’s expectation on adulthood : work full time, get married, and have babies. I like the concept but the writing felt too weird.
4. The Miracles of the Namiya General Store by Keigo Higashino : This has a little bit of fantasy element about a store who receives consultation for personal problems. I swear it’s the most talked about book on LitBase but I still haven’t got to finish it 😦

Last but not least, Local Indonesian Books.

I admit I haven’t ready many local books lately but few that I read are absolutely GOOD ❤ These books are written by 2 of my favorite female authors and they never disappoint.

1. Laut Bercerita by Leila S. Chudori : I love Leila’s previous book “Pulang” and I fell in love with her writings again through this book. This talks about one of the darkest tragedy in Indonesia, penculikan para aktivis di tahun 1998. Although it’s a heavy topic, it’s still a page turner, enjoyable, and I didn’t realize I had reach the end of the story. It’s emotional & heartbreaking and an important read for all Indonesians.
2. RAPIJALI by Dee Lestari : I can say this is the lightest book by Dee (if we compare to Supernova & Aroma Karsa) but I like this so much. It’s about a country girl with musical talent who comes to the city because of some family issues. There, she created a band with her school friends. It’s supposed to be simple, but I don’t know how Dee can write it into a beautiful stories about dreams, friendship, romance, mental health issues, and family ❤

Alright everyone, we are finally at the end of my post. When I started writing, I didn’t realize it would be THIS LONG to try to summarize all the books I read since last year 🤣

Have you read any of the books I shared in this post? Let me know what you think ❤

NEW Sparkling Letters: Revamping the Blog with New Concept

Hi all, long time no see.

It feels like I always start my blog post with similar sentence — it’s either “long time no see” or “it’s been several months since I last posted” or it’s been a while…”. I don’t think I’d ever get back to regular blogging like I used to back in 2016-2018.

The truth is, I don’t think I can continue book blogging. I don’t read as much now, I don’t keep up with the latest updates in the book industry, I lost track of latest releases, especially from the new authors. I just recently got back into regular reading since last year and now I mostly just read for fun — no more over analyzing every single aspects like I did before 😦 so it’s safe to say, I ran out of things to write even if I want to continue book blogging.

So last year, I started a new blog (it’s been a few times actually) where I can talk about random things about life, my parenting / working journey, and occasionally talk about books. I like having that new blog, I can pour my thoughts into writing and do what I love again. But I HATE the new wordpress set up 😦 I can customize the layout the way I wanted to. Everything is paid now and not just 1-time payment but it has to be a year long, expensive subscription and even after I upgraded my wordpress account, there’s still limited option and I hate how basic my blog looks like.

You can visit my new blog : https://bookabookooid.wordpress.com/

Meanwhile…. look at this blog!! It’s definitely not the best blog design out there, but I love it so much. It’s clean and small and the color is ME. It looks lovely to me. I considered using this blog with the new content but I was kinda worried. This blog has had a lot of subscribers who are mostly fellow book bloggers, I feel like I will disappoint all of you if I started changing the content of this book.

I thought about this for a long time but the truth is, I’m not doing anything with this blog either. It just sits here gathering dust, with its lovely layout. So here we are… I will officially continue to use this blog, but with the new concept.

Introducing NEW SPARKLING LETTERS ❤ ❤ ❤

With this new branding, I will focus more on random personal thoughts on life, parenting, and (to keep this from straying far) I will keep talking about books & reading. Not just adult & YA books, but I also talk about children books because now I have a little reader whose book collections will surpass mine in a few years. I will also migrate some posts from my previous blog — and some of the posts are written in Bahasa Indonesia or mixed between Bahasa & English.

I understand if this might not be your niche anymore, as most of you are following me because of the book contents so please feel free if you want to unsubscribe. BUT I will be very happy if you decide to stick around ❤

Now I want to hear your thoughts!!

Those of you who have been blogging for years, what have changed? How did you manage to tackle on life challenges? Please share your experience with me too 🙂

My Bookish Life During Hiatus

Hello everyone! ♥

Welcome back to another post of me 😀 I’m sooo excited to be back here, but I’m still pretty out of ideas so today, I’m gonna be talking about my bookish life during hiatus. As you probably know, I just got back from a 1-year-and-2-months hiatus which also  happened to be a period of long reading slump. But that doesn’t mean I completely cut off my relationship with books—that would be impossible because books are my life. So anyway, here’s a quick recap of what I’ve been up to in terms of books!

Books I read

This is a little hard to track because I stopped using goodreads for a while, but on top of my head here are some books I read during my hiatus :

If you see the pictures above, you’d find out that I mostly only read local books. It’s because they’re easier to find—I don’t have any international bookstore on my current city—and they’re frankly easier to digest. I mean, it’s my mother tongue so I can read faster 😛

1. RESIGN by Almira Bastari. A highly amusing NA romance comedy highlighting the relationship between an employee and her supervisor. Quick, comical, witty, and just what I need to read after a hectic day at work.
2. AROMA KARSA by Dee Lestari. Dee is my favorite Indonesian writer and I love her Supernova series so much. This one is a stand alone about two people with exceptional sense of smell and an ambitious women “exploiting” the gifts for her own purpose. It’s a little fantasy meet historical fiction meet contemporary but it worked so well. I’m really hoping for a sequel though.
3. AUTOBOYOGRAPHY by Christina Lauren. It centers on a m/m relationship between a student with supportive parents and his tutor, who happens to be a mormon. It’s set in a writing class where the students are asked to write a whole book by the end of the semester. There are a lot of things I love, but it was unfortunately a bit slow for me.
4. OBSIDIO by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff. The book that got me out of reading slump. Intense, brutal, unpredictable. Not gonna say anything more because I’ve already written an 800 words review, just wait and see 😛

I’m quite sure I read more than ONLY 4 books this year but I just can’t remember anything more 🙈 I did read a little part of Warcross, When Dimple Met Rishi, and Strange the Dreamer but at the moment I couldn’t focus so I put them on hold for now.

Books I Bought

I might not read much lately but I still shopped for books every time I got the chance  here are some of the books I bought so far.

Here are some of the others. No photo because they’re at my place and I’m currently at my parents’ house for Eid holiday.

When you’re not in the mood to read, then you’re simply not in the mood. Even if these shiny books keep waving at me. Of all the books I bought, I think Obsidio is the only one I finished. I thought for sure that it’s a contemporary book that would get me out of my slump because that’s what usually happens, but turned out I was wrong. I got completely immersed while reading Obsidio and I stayed up until 2 in the morning to finish the 615 pages book because it was just that great 

Anyway, now that I thiiiink I’m finally in the mood to read again, I’m gonna go through all these books slowly. I’m thinking of starting Children of Blood and Bone, Leah and the Offbeat, and picking up Warcross and Strange the Dreamer where I left off before. What do you think? Are there any books from above that you think I should read first?

Books to Movie Adaptation

Surprisingly, I watched quite a lot of movies this past year. A lot more than I usually did. I remember watching several books to movie adaptation, but the only one I remember was Ready Player One 🙈 it wasn’t the best story I’ve ever seen but it was enjoyable! I had so much fun watching the movie and it made me want to read the book—or read Warcross, because I’ve been told Warcross is a much, much better version.

Ohhh I also watched and read Susah Sinyal. Instead of book to movie, it’s a movie to book adaptation. The movie came out on December 2017, directed by my favorite Ernest Prakasa. It’s a family movie about the dynamic between a single mother and her daughter. It’s so heartwarming, so when I heard there would be a book and that my favorite author Ika Natassa will co-write it, I WAS DEFINITELY IN!! It didn’t disappoint because the book brings out much more feelings and depth into the story that the movie lacked of.

Oh well, that;s another book I read during my hiatus but I’m too lazy to go back up and edit, so 😛

Writing

I don’t know if you remember, but I do have a writing project I started at the beginning of last year. You can read it here. I know I made it my resolution to finish the first draft by the end of the year and I still haven’t BUT it’s not like I didn’t make any progress!! I’ve actually written the ending but there are still a lot of plot holes and I couldn’t figure out how to fill them. I also did make a lot of edits. And I, um…. actually started another project 

I wrote around 5 chapters and haven’t picked it up anymore hahaha fingers crossed I’ll get back to it soon! ♥

Book Blogs I Read

It’s sad to say that I’ve completely failed at keeping up with book blogs I follow </3 since I announced my hiatus, I’ve probably only opened my wordpress reader a couple of times and my Bloglovin feed none at all. (Speaking of my country BLOCKED access to Bloglovin along with Tumblr what a lame government!!!). Sometimes I did click through the link to posts I found on Twitter, but I never stayed long enough to read until the end. But there is this blog I found through Twitter called Snark Squad—you could tell from the name that the blog basically only snarks at bad books. And boy it was so fun to read!!

I think I spent a month or two reading it every single day. There are a lot of funny ones, even of the books I enjoyed, but my favorites gotta be about Fifty Shades series. The series was SO BAD it’s ridiculous. They snark it chapter by chapter and it’s like I’m reliving the stories through their eyes. Except the snarks are way better and funnier than the original stories 😛

Here are the links in case you’re interested. Or in need of a laugh.

Fifty Shades of Grey ♦ Fifty Shades Darker ♦ Fifty Shades Freed

Well well well, I guess that’s all I can share about my life in terms of books. Do you think there are things I possibly missed? Hmm anywayyy, how’s your reading life so far? Ready any fantastic books lately? I’m in desperate need of recommendations! Oh, and are there any book blogs you’re loving lately? Please link me! I want to follow more bloggers 😀

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Taking a Step Back from the Bookish Community: A Semi-Hiatus Announcement

Hello everyone! ♥

It’s been a while since the last time I’d been FULLY active here. My life is undergoing a big change and I was planning to tell you this on my March recap, but unfortunately I didn’t even have the time to write a March recap 

Reviewing on Goodreads and on the Blog: is There Any Difference?

Hello everyone! ♥

Welcome back to another discussion post 😀 today we’ll talking about reviewing books on different platforms and if there’s any difference between them. A few weeks ago I stumbled across a blogging tip post that talks about the difference between reviewing books on goodreads and on our blog and the blogger said that it should be different. It surprised me a little because I’m that kind of reviewer who practically copies-and-pastes my goodreads reviews to my blog 😁

Figuring Out Your Perfect Blogging Schedule

Hello everyone! ♥

Today we’ll be talking about blogging schedule. I know a lot of you must have had your own schedules, but when I talked about it on my wrap up post last month, a lot of bloggers said that they still haven’t figured out their own schedule and they really want to change that. So here I am, sharing what I learned so far about things to consider when you want to create a blogging schedule 😀 

Before we start, let me make it clear that there is no one right way to blog. You can post whenever you feel like it. Any schedule (or no schedule at all) could work, as long as you’re happy with it. But if you’re a super organized, perfectionist bean like me, here are some suggestions that might help ♥

Sparkling Letters 1st Blogversary : A Statistical Analysis & Lessons Learned

Hello everyone! ♥

Last week Sparkling Letters just celebrated its first year blogversary on March 2. YAYYY!!! However, I had no idea how to celebrate and was swamped with work, hence the late celebration. Plus I already had an ARC review scheduled for March 2 🙈

I know everyone says this on every blogversary post of ever but I never thought I’d be here for a while. Blogging has always been my hobby since I was 14 (I’m 22 now) but I did it sporadically. I thought this time would be no different. I thought it was gonna be just another phase that I’d outgrow soon. But last week I hit another big milestone : 1st year blogversary. I mean, IT’S HUGE! A lot of things had happened in a year and I’m proud of myself and my achievements.

The Diversity Corner #1 : February News, Muslim Representation, and March New Releases

Hello everyone, welcome to the first edition ever of The Diversity Corner! ♥

You might remember my post about my stance as diverse book blogger and the introduction of my feature. I’m a bit nervous but HERE I AM, with its first edition ♥ Today I’ll be talking about Muslim representation. I chose this topic because this is the one topic that is so close to my heart. I’ve been living and learning it ever since I was a baby, so this is the topic that I’m most comfortable talking about. I promise you, I won’t be preachy! I won’t sell or promote my religion to you. I just want to talk about its representation in book–or rather, the lack there of 😂

But before we get there, let’s start with the first two sections : diversity news & updates and diverse book bloggers spotlight ♥

For Some of Us, Libraries Might NOT Exist

Hello everyone! ♥

Last week I got busy and didn’t have the time to blog or reply to comments so I’m so sorry for being kind of missing 😛 but now I’m back with another discussion post. You probably realized that I’m usually super organized with my post but today, I’m not sure where I’m going with it so I’m just gonna wing it 😛

A couple weeks ago, I stumbled across some similar conversations about library.

Blog Hopping: For Fun or Necessity?

Hello everyone! ♥

Welcome back to another discussion post! Today we’ll be talking about a topic that has been on my mind for a while but haven’t really talked about to anyone, blog hopping. Since the second half of December, I feel like I haven’t been able to properly blog hop. Sometimes I blame time and my hectic schedules but really, most of the times I’m just not in the mood for. I’m simply lazy, and I feel bad for it 😦

Before we discuss it further, let’s define blog hopping.