Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Digging Romance Wolrd of Barbara Cartland

There is no doubt that I am a huge fan of Dame Barbara Cartland, the writer, the Queen of Romance. So everytime I visit the bookstore - especially secondhand-book shops - I'm always looking for her books.

Lucky that few weeks ago I got some Barbara Cartland's books from Reading Lights, when I visited there with Yuwonosigit and Sassy. I bought 3 books : "Love Under Fire", "The Cruel Count", and "The Slaves of Love".

I personally love the book "The Cruel Count" very much. When I read this book last weekend, I expected the usual damsel-in-distress situation wrapped in a romantic love story.
But what came to my surprise was, I miss-judged the ending! LOL.
This is the first time I read Barbara Cartland's book and I guessed the ending wrong.
The story is about Lady Vesta who travelled to Katona to marry a prince whom she never met, but when the revolution broke down in Katona, she incidentally fell in love with Count Miklos, the handsome royal who was at first told her to go back to England, but finally took her to the Prince Court because she insisted to.
She thought Count Miklos was cruel, but after having series of adventurous journey to the Capital with him, she realized not only the Count's confession of love that dazzled her, but also how to choose between the arranged married to the Prince, or to live happily ever after with her love Count Miklos!
... And so I got wrong in the end :D hahahaha. Still happy ending, though. It's just caught me off-guard when I read the ending. Yeayy Vesta! *I like her, really* :P

The second book I read is "Love Under Fire".
As a Barbara Cartland's fan, I am well aware of the plot which the handsome duke/lord/baron met the angelic-beauty lady kind of story.
But in this book, I got more than i expected. Love Under Fire gave the detail description about the war between the British army with the French during King George III reign. The whole scene were exciting to read, not merely a love story with small incident. I found a lot of interesting action-packed adventure in this book :) Oh, and plus the cameo in this book, is Lord Wellington. You know, the Duke who won the battle in Waterloo against Napoleon :P

I read the last book "The Slaves of Love" just last night. My Plurk friend Winda already read it, and, as we both fangirls of Dame Barbara, she excitedly told me that this book has good plot too. And she was right, I really did enjoy every details written in this story, about a lady named Yamina who had to hide in the Turk's Castle as a Harem, but then she managed to escape by hiding in a trunk sent for Lord Castleford on a yacht to Greece. I practically laughed when I read the description of Lord Castleford's expression when he found Yamina - dressed like an eastern harem with so much revealing - stepped out from the trunk in his cabin. LMAO. That must be quite a shock therapy. XD

What makes me enjoy Dame Barbara's writings is the character she built in every story. Even though the settings are usually set in the 18-19th century (during the reign of King George to Queen Victoria - basically the House of Hanover), but the female characters were usually not the weaklings spoiled-brat kind of girls. On the contrary, Dame Barbara showed the readers how women at that time were struggling for acknowledgement, by learning foreign languages, being independent and showing their pride as a royalty which has courage and determined heart.
And considering the situation at that time, it must be hard for female to be stood out among powerful men.

If I think of the women these days, I think we must be grateful since it is more convenient for women to do almost anything equals to men. And sometimes I feel like women now are more spoilt than in the Victorian era. For instant, I don't even know how to cook while the ladies in Barbara Cartland's books were usually splendid in housechores! XD

Well, nevertheless, I am still trying to improve myself as a woman :) Hopefully someday, like the girls in Dame Barbara's books, I could please the one I love with my skills and personal qualities (although perhaps it's kinda difficult to nail a handsome duke or prince charming nowadays - furthermore in Indonesia) :P There's something I learn from these historical romance books, so I will keep on searching for another enchanting stories :)

{posted by Chibi on 11:33 AM} +

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Lazy-blogging

It is said that today is Hari Blogger Nasional ^^ Well, I don't really know / care about it actually. But I just realized that it is so lazy for me to update my blog lately. Compare to few years ago, I usually posted two or even three entries a day. But now, perhaps once a week - or month!

Oh well. Microblogging seems pretty convenient for me lately ^^;;;
But I promise, I will update this blog and hopefully with some book reviews (because I read some interesting books lately). Yeay!

{posted by Chibi on 4:29 PM} +

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

New Books!

Hello, world :)
It feels like ages ago since my last entry, and now I just want to share some books I got from my favorite secondhand bookshop here in Bandung ^^
It's Plum Sykes' "The Debutante Divorcee" and Philippa Gregory's "The Other Queen".
I love those book sooo much! Yeayy! XD

{posted by Chibi on 4:20 PM} +

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Happy Eid, Happy Holiday!

Finally Eid is coming! ^_^
This year I spend the Big Day in my Grandma's house in Bogor. A perfect place for holiday - nice view, fresh air, great food XD
Happy Eid for everyone who celebrate it. Have a great feast!
And happy holiday to all of you~!

{posted by Chibi on 10:54 PM} +

Sunday, August 23, 2009

My Playlist on August 2009

It's already passed mid-August, and I haven't share my playlist of the month :P I'm in a very moody-rather suicidal mode lately, so I hardly have any excitement of what's new what's not in this world. I'd rather curled up on my bed and try not to think of how to blow my head out. But I guess life goes on, and I have to keep on living, no matter how. Just like anybody else *shrugs*

Well I might say not much new songs this August, but some songs are frequently aired in my room. Haha. So here it is (in random preferences) :

1. The Fray - Never Say Never
(Yes, same like last month, I still love this song. Even deeper.)

2. 2NE1 - I Don't Care

3. Haptic Mission - Mission No.4
The song is so catchy I can't help it.

4. Jamie Foxx ft. TI - Just Like Me

5. Rob Pattinson - Never Think (click to download)
It's in the Twilight OST soundtrack, but I don't think it's included in the movie. Rob may not much a singer, but I love the guitar and the lyrics. As Edward, he sure does grab my attention with this song :)

6. Iron & Wine - Flightless Bird, American Mouth

7. The Rescues - Break Me Out
All credits to Monika XDD You poisonous song-giver, you!

8. Hari Moekti - Hanya Satu Kata
LOL, very 80s Indonesian, I know :P

9. Davichi - Seulpun Dajim

10. Chae Yeon - Shake

11. Antonio Vivaldi - Violin Concerto in B Flat, Op. 8 No. 10, "La Caccia", Mv 3 (Allegro)
Yes, a classic. It soothes me a lot (the whole album, actually), especially when my head was about to explode.

12. Taylor Swift - White Horse

13. Demi Lovato - Don't Forget

14. Super Junior - It's You (너라고)

15. Kim Dong Ryul - Chwijung Jindam (The Truth When I'm Drunk) - Live concert version
I also love Fly To The Sky version of this song, and also Park Hyo Sin's. Even Lee Bum Soo's version in the drama On Air. Ugh, basically, I LOVE THIS SONG!

{posted by Chibi on 7:25 AM} +

Sunday, August 09, 2009

The Presents, The Thankyous

It's funny when I thought about my birthday this year. Unlike the previous years, I did not make any birthday wishlist and throw it to my friends. Instead, I just let it happily flow and eventually, I got my birthday presents from the dearest people which I never thought I'd get.

My uncle gave me a new cellphone, and it immediately replaced the old-school Nokia (which wasn't mine either) XD I guess he took a pity on me when he saw me carrying that antique cellphone everywhere, LOL. The new Supernova he gave me was the most expensive gift I received this birthday :) Thank you, Mas Ris!

Unexpectedly, Reny Kanon sent me a packet of birthday present too! I was surprised when I saw the package with my name in front of my room, right after I went back from Jakarta. It was a cute pink blouse and t-shirt, OMG OMG she actually gave me a pink blouse I've always wanted! *hugs Kanon* I never met her in face-to-face before, but I love her already :) It's not something you can't just ignore, not merely about the present. But the sincerity of the goodwill, in the name of friendship. Thank you Ren, it means a lot to me.

The most impressive presents were no doubt came from Wo. Despite the many things he gave me all these times, he still awed me with his love and affection and his willingness to make me happy. It was countless what he had done for me, yet he still gave me things I've wanted. I feel spoiled, lovestrucked and a little bit undeserved, but I'm always thankful for each little things I got from him.
When he was in Singapore, he bought me books that he knew I was digging for. Those were on sale in a bookstore there. I was practically screaming in ecstasy when I received those books, LMAO. Those are The Illustrated Tales From Shakespeare and The Complete Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology. Woot!

Thank you, my lucky-number-8. For the books, and for everything. You know I love you.

{posted by Chibi on 12:07 PM} +

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

A Birth Day. Thanks To You.

Finally, I reach this day :) The day I turn 28 year-old.
Looking back to what happened in my life on the past years, I know I should be very, very grateful that God allows me to live up 'till now. And he still gave me the sanity also (also, for some case it didn't quite worked XDD) And the brain's working well! Hahaha.
And today is definitely MY DAY - since God decided to bring me into the world at this July 21st - so I am the Queen Of The Day.
No doubt. I'll tell you why.

28 years ago, all attentions were on me. Well, I mean my family's attentions. While my mother was panting her breath carrying me in her womb, my Dad tried his best to look unworried and calmed her down, and my grandparents along with my aunts and uncles were as anxious to hear the news from the hospital. All attention were on me, once again, everybody seemed to expect me to come out and see the world soon. They expected me to be born healthy, pretty, and perfectly alive.
So with her best effort she could ever had, my Mom put her life on the line and with God's hands through the doctors and nurses, she finally got me delivered.

There is no doubt that it's because of God, that I still can breathe and cry as hard as a newborn since 28 years ago :)
And my number one person who brought me into this world : Mom.

Thank you for teaching me how to love
Showing me what the world means
What I've been dreamin' of
And now I know, there is nothing that I could not do
Thanks to You

For teaching me how to feel
Showing me my emotions
Letting me know what's real
From what is not
What I've got is more that I'd ever hoped for
And a lot of what I hope for is
Thanks to you

There's no mountain, no valley
No time, no space
No heartache, no heartbreak
No fall from grace
Can't stop me from believing
That my love will see me through
Thanks to You

For teaching me how to live
Putting things in perspective
Teaching me how to give
And how to take
No mistake
We were put here together

Thanks to You..

{Thanks To You - by Tyler Collin}

***

Thank you, Lord, for keeping me alive up until now. For the love. For the great friends. For the amazing life.
And for another chance to be a better human. :)

Thank you Mom, for putting your life in the line to give a new life for me. And to keep me alive with your heart, body, mind and soul.

I love you.

{posted by Chibi on 11:06 PM} +

Song:'80s-'90s songs; new K-pops
Obsession: Publishing my book
Reading: Philippa Gregory books
Movie: Sunday morning cartoons
Addiction: Books & Mp3
Project: Magazine articles