Slim Chance, a novel by Jackie Rose

Evelyn Mays has her hopes pinned on being the perfect bride in a size eight Vera Wang wedding dress. After all, her boyfriend has just proposed in front of the whole office - so there's a certain image to live up to! She just has to transform herself from cuddly brunette to svelte blonde...but changing her appearance tempts her to change everything in her life - including her boyfriend! Is Evie discovering her true self, or playing a game of chance that will end in trouble?

I don’t like this book. I hate story focused on big-size-being-slim thing. I think this book gave me other thing than that. It dissapoint me: this is the same with another diet novel. What I only like is quotes taken from magazine’s articles (O, Vogue, Martha Stewart Wedding, Mademoiselle, Cosmopolitan) in every funny of good things Evie thoughts.

Fat, engaged, nervous because of her big size, going to gym, meeting with Jade, her sexy personal trainer and being friend with him (at the same time Bruce didn’t like her new look), having an affair the wedding being canceled. That’s the plots. I think it’s too boring.

Why fat girls always told like that (not because I’m fat; I just don’t like it)?

The (Un)reality Show, a novel by Clara Ng

Imagine having these people as roomates…
This is a story about eight ordinary people (as television creative teams think)
… choose randomly (as tv producer thinks, too)
… without audition…
… to live together in a house for shooting, then being watched by millions Indonesians, as entertainment, getting high rating, increasing tv image, also
covering the curiosity to see what happen when those people don’t act exactly like the script and start to act like in reality
… as the reality did not turn out exactly as it had been expected
Because in the end, this is…

THE (UN)REALITY SHOW

I love this book. It’s so interesting – writing in script form on few parts. The idea is unthinkable but it happen in reality. I am surprised Clara Ng made sensitive characters. Again (after Gerhana Kembar) – Feivel and Enrico – those are gay couple. Also Azuza, a 10 years old girl who understand everything about sex. EVERYTHING.

The interactions are nice. Eight strangers live together in a house foe seven weeks. They would have different personalities and feel uncomfort with this, but they still can adapt to each other (with their own adaptation style). I think Feivel will Tara in the end. Or Primus. That’s all wrong!!! Clara Ng wrote twist story.

The best part is: THE ENDING! I really love the ending. SPOILER ALERT! Actually, all eight people is ONE person, in reality. Including tv crews, audience, their friends and doctors. They all are split characters from Hannah Indah Desyanti. Yeah, we know MPD – Multiple Personality Disorder, but here it has new name – DID, Dissosiative Identity Disorder. Same meaning, different name. This remind me of Billy with 43 personalities or Sybil with 16 personalities. I don’t know how many characters Hannah has. Even her psychiatrist and lawyer seems like another characters of her.

To me, there is second twist here. Hannah’s story is made to movie.is it possible if all the actors and actresses are Hannah’s, too which means, that this whole book is Hannah’s writing?

Who knows? (except Clara Ng herself)…

Princess Lessons, a princess guide by Meg Cabot

Everything you wanna know being a princess
or
live like a princess
by
Mia Thermopolis
a.k.a
Princess Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo
from Genovia

This book is informative. Cabot told the readers many things to become a princess like Mia. Beauty, ettiquette, fashion, everything that can help us act like blue bloods (yeah, like we got one chance to do it; 1 to 1 millions).

But don’t worry. This book is not in formal form. There are many funny things and weird thoughts from Princess Diaries series: Mia’s writing in the middle of Granmere’s or Paolo’s tips. This book written by many people important to Princess Mia.

Overall, we can say this is self help book (guidance and tips) to be a better person (girl) in fictional point of view of Princess Mia, as a cover.

Ramalan Fudus Ororpus, a novel by Julia Stevanny

A weird old lady came one afternoon and mess Deryn’s life up. “FUDUS OROROR!” she said with her trembling scary voice. Her eyes widened and her hands moves wildly. “Up. Down. Straight. Broken... Oh, your fate is very bad, Child! You’ve been born without love-partner line. You’re meant to be alone forever!”

Being foretold like that, Deryn is absolutely mad. Besides, Rosaline, her bookworm-sister said that Fudus Ororpus is the most precise fortune telling in the world. Bloody hell! And the next sequences happened in Deryn’s life is exactly like what that old lady said.

Then, is it truly happen? Is Deryn have to be alone for all her life...? Oh My God...

From the title, I thought the story was interesting. I thought of many magic and fortune telling, but “Ramalan (fortune telling)” is just the title and the cause of the problems, not the core. The story and the characters’ emotions are too shallow. I don’t catch the climax well and the ending is dissapointing. It’s not as I expected (the publishing house give her "Talented Writer 2005" title).

The story is good but it’s too typical. High school setting, two bestfriends have a crush on the same person, one of them have to sacrifice her love and finally, finds her true love. It’s booooring.

I told this easily because it’s not me who wrote it. If I wrote it, I also would felt difficulty to describe the situation, and climax especially. It happen to me, too. I don’t feel my own characters’ emotions and I can’t tell the climax well. The fact is I’m writing that story.

World Book Capital

On Sunday, May 10 2009, I just read there is World Book Capital. Choose by UNESCO to promote books and reading and dedication of all players in the book industry for whole year. 2009 is Beirut’s year. International book conferences, library seminar, reading corner seminar, audiobooks dialogs for blind people, poems and prose festivals.

With those, Beirut invite author-writers-novelists, publishing houses, book designers and illustrators, book stores from around the world. How ironic. We know that Beirut is in crisis because it lies in Middle East, but they can perform spectacular book events. It proves that Beirut deserve to be considered as literature city.

2001: Madrid
2002: Alexandria
2003: New Delhi
2004: Antwerp
2005: Montreal
2006: Turin
2007: Bogota
2008: Amsterdam

Next 2010: Ljubljana (Slovenia)

Brisingr, a novel by Chistopher Paolini

Eragon Shadeslayer is back. Focusing on the story too much, Christopher Paolini wrote this third book long enough so he has to divide it into two (I hope the last book is out next year). There isn’t Inheritance trilogy anymore, but Inheritance cycle, instead. I’m happy cos I can join Eragon and Saphira a little bit longer.

Riding a dragon. I couldn’t imagine if it happened to me. I ride on Saphira’s back and fly high on the sky. It’s cool, isn’t it? Unfortunately, there is no dragon in our world. I have to stop dreaming like that. I’m no kid anymore.

Eragon hold heavy burden on his young age. He isn’t an adult yet, but the destiny of his people depends on him. It’s not fair to a boy like him. Eragon suppose to fall in love to ordinary girl then marry her then blablabla. That’s happened if the book is about love and romance. This book is about good vs evil in epic genre. Romance only gives small amount of Eragon’s life. It’s not just light literature for teens. This is more likely The Lord of the Rings in simpler version with half human-elf as the center.

I do hope Arya will like Eragon, love him better. I think in this book, Arya will show her feeling to Eragon a little bit mnore. But, nope. Arya is still straight to her goal: as Islanzadi’s representative helping Varden get victory.

When can I see Arya’s love? In few scenes, Arya looks like giving more attentions to Eragon (it looks like that to me). But Chistopher Paolini didn’t give them chance to know each other deeper. Eragon and Arya has different paths so they have to separate.

I love reading Eragon and Saphira’s scenes together. I read them slowly to feel their journey. But when I was on Roran’s scenes, I read them faster (I prefer elf to human—even half elf and prefer sword to axe; it’s just simple reason).

I’m waiting for the unforgetable climax in book four: big war between every race in Alagaesia, fire from dragons’ breath, magic and mental attacks. And Eragon’s marriage to Arya, of course. Please, Chistopher, make that happen. I will be waiting patiently.