New Authors Reading Challenge 2014 [Master Post]

Terkait postingan yang kemarin, yang lagi-lagi dalam rangka meningkatkan kuantitas (dan kualitas haha) bacaan saya, akhirnya bergabung juga dengan salah satu Reading Challenge. Reading Challenge (RC) adalah suatu event yang bertujuan memberikan tantangan kepada para pesertanya untuk memenuhi syarat membaca sejumlah buku sesuai tema RC tersebut.

Hasil dari kemarin browsang-browsing gegara terjebak macet Senin pagi yang cetar membahana itu (pas hari pertama anak masuk sekolah setelah libur panjang), nyasarlah saya ke situsnya Ren atau yang lebih dikenal dengan Ren's Little Corner. Wah, ini si empunya situs bener-bener ahli baca kelas kakap. Goodreads 2014 Reading Challenge-nya aja 100 buku, bandingkan dengan saya yang cuma 12 buku. :D

Nah, kebetulan Ren menjadi host dari event New Authors Reading Challenge 2014. Sebagaimana namanya, RC ini bertujuan untuk membaca buku-buku karya pengarang yang belum pernah kita baca. Jadi untuk kita, pengarang itu terbilang baru, karena baru ini kita membaca karyanya. Misalnya, kita belum pernah baca bukunya Dewi Lestari sama sekali, maka bukunya bisa kita deretkan dalam list RC ini. Tapi hanya satu buku saja, karena kalau buku kedua, namanya bukan pengarang yang belum pernah kita baca, kan udah baca buku pertamanya. :D

Ada empat level dalam RC ini :
Easy : 1 - 15 buku
Middle : 15 - 30 buku
Hard : 30 - 50 buku
Maniac : > 50 buku

Seperti biasa, nggak muluk-muluk, saya ambil level Easy aja. Namanya juga pemula :D

Ada beberapa persyaratan dalam RC ini, di antaranya :

1. Durasi RC ini adalah setahun mulai 1 Januari 2014 - 31 Desember 2014.

2. Harus buku fiksi dengan jumlah halaman minimal 200 halaman. Ini menguntungkan saya, karena saya memang sukanya buku fiksi. Kurang tertarik pada buku-buku nonfiksi :D

3. Harus karya pengarang baru (dalam artian baru bagi kita karena belum pernah baca bukunya), satu pengarang satu buku, juga tidak boleh re-read.

4. Boleh digabung dengan RC lain. Nah, ini keuntungan karena bisa digabung dengan RC-nya Goodreads ini. (Ketahuan orang males :D)

Persyaratan dan penjelasan lebih rinci bisa langsung cek di website nya Ren.

Jadi akhirnya saya pasang juga banner New Authors Reading Challenge 2014, dan mari sumangat RC-nya Kakaaa..........

Goodreads 2014 Reading Challenge

Ah... Akhirnya saya bergabung juga dengan Goodreads 2014 Reading Challenge. Ini sebenarnya dalam upaya memperbaiki tingkat kuantitas bacaan saya. Kenapa kuantitas? Kalau minat baca sih, melimpah ruah, karena pada dasarnya sukaaaa baca.

Cuma ya itu, kadang tinggal sebatas wacana saja, ujung-ujungnya minat itu tenggelam oleh kesibukan ngurus anak, kecapean di perjalanan Jakarta-Bogor PP saban hari jadi alih-alih baca di KRL, malah tidur sepanjang perjalanan :D, belom kalau di rumah yang dipegang malah jarum sama benang, hahaha.... Intinya kebanyakan alasan, sehingga akhirnya, gak jadi-jadi juga buat baca.

Padahal dulu waktu masih muda (masih lajang dan nebeng orang tua, maksudnya :D), tempat main favorit saya salah satunya ya rentalan buku (berhubung kantong masih cekak). Saya beruntung karena di kota tempat saya dibesarkan, bisnis rental buku cukup menjamur dan mudah ditemukan. Bahkan ada rental buku yang isinya buku-buku bagus dan berkualitas loh. Saya membaca Raumanen, salah satu buku paling berkesan yang pernah saya baca, ya hasil dari nge-rental di situ. :D

Dulu, karena belum banyak ang ing ung eng ong, kerjanya cuman sekolah-makan-tidur doang sama disuruh-suruh Ibu :D jadi reading speed saya lumayan lah, misalnya untuk buku komik jepang-jepangan gitu (manga), semalem bisa 10 buku. Sampai diancam sama Ibu, buku-bukunya bakal disita kalau saya nggak kunjung tidur. Kalau untuk novel, tergantung ceritanya. Kalau gak gitu suka bisa cepat, karena pingin cepat selesai dan ganti bacaan :D. Tapi kalau suka, malah justru lebih pelan bacanya, kayanya pingin meresapi setiap kalimat.

Nah, berhubung hidup saya sekarang sok banyak acara dan sok ribet, yang ujung-ujungnya jadi kesempatan (dan kemauan) membaca buku anjlok drastis, akibatnya reading speed pun ikut ndlosor. Untuk And The Mountains Echoed kemarin saja, dua minggu baru kelar deh kayanya. (-___-")

Jadi dengan niatan ingin memperbaiki tingkat baca, saya bergabung di Goodreads 2014 Reading Challenge. Gak muluk-muluk dulu, wong mulai dari awal lagi, jadi set target 12 buku aja untuk tahun 2014, artinya satu bulan satu buku. Itu juga rada ragu2, takut kumat-kumatan, haha.... Anyway, at least I'm trying ;p. Tuh, Goodreads widget-nya bahkan udah ditaroh di sidebar, jadi udah diumumkan kepada khalayak :D

Dan semoga setiap selesai buku yang dibaca, berakhir juga dengan menulis review-nya. Paling males ya bok kalo urusan nulis review ini, karena harus berbasis mood. Harus suam-suam kuku dari selesai bacanya, jadi feeling-nya masih dapet. Kalau kelamaan, kadang suka ilfil dan bingung mau gimana nge-review-nya. Padahal yang namanya ngupdate blog juga angot-angotan :D Yah, mungkin ini juga menjadi suatu pertanda bagi saya untuk lebih rajin juga mengisi halaman di sini dan menyingkirkan potensi angot jauh-jauh.

So, let's start with the first book.

Sumangat, kakaaaaaa......

Gott Nytt År!

is the way Swedish say, "Happy New Year!"

It's been quite a year, and so much things happen. And the new year is coming, bringing more things into life. As I didn't spend specific attention to set last year resolution, so I can't review it when 2013 ended yesterday. Learn from that, I think it's good to set my resolution in the beginning of the year, so I can see how far I can go when the year ends. Besides, it's easy to forget what I plan at first, and writing it down may keep me stay on the right track.

Here are my resolutions for 2014 ( well, fingers crossed :p ) :

1. Be a better wife for Mr. Coffeeholic, and a better mom for my little girl. It means being more patient, spending more quality time, and enjoy more moments with my two precious. It might include cooking for Mr. Coffeeholic or taking my little girl on a vacation, in weekend.

2. Be more green. Related to that "green things" I think it's time to make my meal habits a little bit greener. Don't count my little girl in this case, she has ideal portion and varian of homemade menus. We are talking about me, this lazy and lack of nutrition mommy -___- who lay her daily veggies intake on a capsule of herbal supplement.  Being greener in menu for me is trying to put at least one portion of real vegetable or fruit in my meals in a day. Let's start with making fruit juice as a habit, because it's the easiest way for me to swallow that kind of healthy food, based on my experience.

3. Read more books. I love reading, really. This is my hobby since I was an elementary school student. But when you have your own family to take care and your office related work to manage, it looks like you're getting lack of time to read. Or even if you have time, you choose to do something else which you think more important. My reading speed has decreased because I am rarely have a book in my hand to read. This year I'll try to read more books, I already bought some and they're now silently and patiently queueing to be read.

4. Write more things, story, article, blog post. On 2013 I joined a very supportive mom bloggers group, Kumpulan Emak Blogger (KEB). It's a great group consists of smart and active Indonesian women. They are inspiring and adorable, and they're blogging because it's their passion. Joined them is right choice since they are encouraging me to write more blog post. I even joined their competition, 30daysblogchallenge, where I must make 4 week-posting related to each week theme. I didn't win it, of course ;p, but it's really a challenging experience and I really enjoyed it. The competition is over now, but I sometimes miss the feeling, both exciting and thrilling, especially when it came to deadline.

Last year I alse sent two articles to Mommies Daily and they published it.

1st article published on Mommies Daily

2nd article published on Mommies Daily

In 2014 I hope I'll be able to do more updates on my blog, write more articles, and maybe I could extend the length of my fiction story (this is multi years project since I'm never be able to finish it. ;p)

5. Doing more craft. I've been a little bit more crafty lately. I do crochet and cross stitch. I do knit when I was college student. And now, my new sewing machine is calling me to do more things with fabric. I'm still a very beginner in sewing, but really enjoying it. I've made some simple project : box bag for Mr. Coffeeholic and express hat for my little girl.

 

This is my new crafty friend, Singer Simple Series.

White box bag, I follow the tutorial by Truly Myrtle. She wrote such an amazing tutorial, thank you!

Second attempt using green flowery fabric, much neater. I use it to keep my cable plug.

This is the express hat, my little girl asked me to make it.

She loves it, doesn't she?

Sewing is immensely enjoyable. I plan to do more sewing this year. I want to make more box bag because Mr. Coffeeholic want it too, he even choose his own fabric. I also want to make my little girl a peasant dress, Jamie wrote a tutorial of it in her site Scattered Thought of a Crafty Mom.  And for me myself, I want to sew something too! I fall in love for this Mathilde blouse and the blog and the owner (Tilly), she's so talented girl.

 

It seems so cute, doesn't it?

Well, with so much plan and exciting things waiting this year, I wish everybody a very Happy New Year and a great time ahead! Gott Nytt År!