Birthday Anniversary Giveaway

Happy Birthday to Me!!

I can't believe I've finally reached age 31 when I don't feel like one, and certainly that's what some of my friends said when what they actually meant was I don't act like one. Hahahaha... Well, what can I do anyway? One of my girlfriend who's 6 years younger than me got so annoyed when her client thought I'm 23 and she's 24. She said it's because I'm so immature. Whatever. *lol

But truly, at this age, I still feel I haven't achieved something great. There are so many things I need to catch up or to achieve. I realized I made mistakes and wasted so much time in my younger years. So I believe it really is time for me to grow up, to be more mature enough for my age. As for my this year birthday wish, I want:

• to graduate this year because I want my parents to attend the graduation ceremony (which is on August/September)
• to get married (as my parents getting older and I'm the only child who haven't got married, I know they really want to see me married. Perhaps it's not a very good reason to get married, but well, it's something I want to).
• to get a permanent job (hopefully as a psychologist)
• to start a business with my sister
• to be financially independent (as in not in a tight budget whenever I want to buy books! :D)

But of course sometimes, when I'm in the process of achieving something, things happen. There are always the up-and-down moments. There are moments when I feel insecure or uncertain whether I could have it or not. And when inferiority struck me, well, most of the time books are my getaway. Usually I feel so much better afterward, especially after when I read a story that inspire me. That's on the reason why I have certain all time favorite books. Or favorite heroes/heroines. It's on how their characters inspired me. 

It's been for years that I give myself book(s) as birthday present. Usually, I buy book I wanted for so long but not badly wanting it. Mostly, as my birthday present, I choose book which I love the cover so much, but don't really bother with the inside. You know, the kind of book that looks great on your shelf. I'd call it a looks-great-in-my-shelf book (instead of coffee table book). :D

How about you? Did you ever do the same thing? Do you give yourself a book(s) for your own birthday present? What kind of book do you usually buy? I'd love to hear your story.

And as for giveaway, since my birthday is at 30th, I'd choose 3 winners to have a chance to win book of their own choice worth up to (max) $10 from The Book Depository. I love to relate things with certain numbers. So it's like 3x10=30 (which is my birthday date). :)

It's international as long as The Book Depository ships to your country (you can check it here)

I actually wanted to post it right on January 30th on Indonesia time, but I didn't have much time. And the reason why I choose to end the giveaway on March 2nd is because it's my little sister birthday. :)

So come and enter the rafflecopter. 

Thanks for stopping by and read this rambling thing. ^^

PS: I'm still learning in this blogging and HTML stuff so I don't know how exactly to put the link for my button. Hahahaha... I promise I'll update it soon. ;)

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Young Adult Giveaway Hop

Young Adult Giveaway Hop

January 29th - February 4th

Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer

Co-hosted by BookLove101

Hello, guys.
I'm so excited to join this giveaway hop. I had no idea why, considering that I'm a totally newbie in this genre and haven't read most of them although I saw many recommended YA books very often, and how people excitedly reviewing it. I just pile it up on my TBR list in Goodreads. :D 
But this year, in 2013, I promise myself to read more and more YA books. And here are some of YA books of my top to-read list in 2013. Some of them I picked because people talked about it very often, because they were recommended, but some I picked merely because I love the cover. :D

Get your own copy.

As for the giveaway, 1 winner can choose any book from titles above or any Young Adult book, as long as it's less than $10, and ... it's international as long as The Book Depository ships to you country (check it here).

All entrants must be over 13 years of age.  

Just fill out the rafflecopter form below for your chance to win. One entry per person only, please. Duplicates will be deleted. 

GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And remember to hop to another awesome Young Adult Giveaway Hop!

Review: Silver Lining by Maggie Osborne

Hailed as "one of the best writers in the business" by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, multi-award-winning author Maggie Osborne delivers hilarious and heartrending tales of resilient women full of grit, pride, and dignity who shine through hard times. Now meet the most irresistible and independent heroine of them all, a woman called Low Down, who never had anything good happen to her until the day she asked for the one thing that only a man could give her. . . .

As scruffy and rootless as the other prospectors searching for gold in the Rockies, Low Down wanted nothing in return for nursing a raggedy bunch through the pox. But when pressed to reveal her heart's wish, she admits, "I want a baby." Not a husband, not a forced marriage to the proud man who drew the scratched marble and became honor bound to marry her. To be sure, Max McCord was easy on the eyes, but he loved another woman and dreamed of a different life. Yet they agreed to a temporary marriage that could end only in disaster. But can this strange twist of fate lead to the silver lining that both have been searching for?
(Synopsis taken from Goodreads)

• Published: 01 Jan 2000 by Ivy Books
• Format: Paperback, 352 pages
• 
  

First time I knew about this book was from one of my book best friend, and got curious about it because of her funny silly review at Goodreads (it's in Indonesian). And I was quite lucky when I found the book even in used condition, since I couldn't find a new one. It's been on my shelf for months but now I had a reason to read it to complete the reading challenge on January, one held by Reading-Romances. The January theme is marriage of convenience, one of my favorite theme.

Anyway, after reading my friend's review, I kinda hoped to read something funny. Well, it's not that funny, but, that's alright, it's quite entertaining. I must confessed, I didn't really enjoy it at first, not as much as I hoped. Because it turned out that it's a little painful to imagine what Max and Low Down (or Louise) had faced. It sure hurt when you have to face the reality that your husband looked so angry because he's been the one who had to marry you. Especially the way Max acted on their first night. Oh, how cold! Not to mention other times when he kept thinking about Philadelphia. Therefore, Low Down had my sympathy. But of course, I couldn't blame Max for feeling and/or acting the way he did.

What I think of this book, is that this one was the comforting kind. Or according to my friend said once, the domestic type. And I do love reading something that realistic, yet comforting.
It's true that I didn't like Max (a lot) at first, that I felt sorry for Philadelphia (no woman deserved to experience it), or that I kinda despised Max's mother for suggesting such thing, or even Wally's character. I even thought what my friend saw from this book. But just like these people in this book who's experiencing things and started to change, my perspective changed, too.
The only constant thing was my feeling toward Louise/Low Down. I loved and admired her character! Poor Louise. She made me want to hug her, and tell her that despite of her many faults, she's lovable, that she's not alone. Somehow her character inspired me.
Another thing I loved was how things between Max and Louise was settled and growing gradually. I also loved the speech Livvy gave to Max when she talked about Louise's character. 
The only disappointment I felt about this book was the ending, when Louise agreed to postponed what she wanted to tell Max because he asked her to wait until they got home. Ugh! 

If you expect something big, hot, or full of surprise, I don't think you'll get it. I do believe that some people will think it's boring. But hey, despite I love reading one hot-fast paced novel, I really think I need to read this sweet, comforting kind of novel, too. 

Know Me Better (2)

This weekly meme is hosted by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer. Each week she will pick 5 questions to answer and you can share your answers to these questions as well.  You can share them as a comment on this post or share them on your own blog and link up to this post.

This Week's Questions:

10 words that describe yourself?
Favorite TV Shows?
If you could take over the world, would you?
Who was the first boy you kissed?
How do you unwind?

10 words that describe yourself?
Loyal, loner, shy, quiet, friendly, moody, weird, caring, thoughtful, kind.

Favorite TV Shows?
Friends, Oprah Winfrey Show, American Idol, Doraemon... (I rarely watch TV).

If you could take over the world, would you?
Naah... I'm too lazy to do so. I prefer reading.

Who was the first boy you kissed?
Tommy, my boyfriend at that time. I was 19. It's certainly not the kind of first kiss you've ever dreamed of. Ugh!

How do you unwind?
Sleeping mostly, reading, listening music, watching TV, or talking to my mother.

So, what about you? I'd like to know. You can share your answers as a comment on this post or share them on your own blog and link up to this post. :)

Happy Endings Giveaway Hop

This Happy Endings Giveaway Hop was organized by Reading Romances.

Who doesn't love the happy ending? Well, I guess maybe there are some people don't. But I'm a huge fans of an happy ending. I really think it's a must. That's why most of the time I don't mind spoilers so that I know how it ends. :D

One of my very reason why I love reading romances is because almost 99% of them has a happy ending. Especially books like harlequins, historical romances, or contemporaries. 

Below are some books must be has a happy ending. To be honest, I haven't read them. Well, I did for the left one (Jennie Lucas - Dealing Her Final Card). But the rest, no. But since I couldn't think of certain happy ending book I love, I guess I just pick them randomly. :D

How about you? What's your favorite book, the one you love the ending? I might give it a try and come to love it, too. :)

As for the giveaway:

What you can win here: 1 of 3 choices from books above
- Jennie Lucas' series
- Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
- Jill Shavis - Christmas in Lucky Harbor
*Did you notice that the authors I randomly picked has the same initial J letter? :D

Number of winners: 1 winner

Open to International (as long as The Book Depository ships to your country, check it here)

All entrants must be over 18 years of age. 

How to enter: Fill the Rafflecopter below. :)

GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Know Me Better (1)

This weekly meme is hosted by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer. Each week she will pick 5 questions to answer and you can share your answers to these questions as well.  You can share them as a comment on this post or share them on your own blog and link up to this post.

This Week's Questions:

Where is your favorite spot to read?
Are you a fast or slow reader? (you can test your reading speed here)
Fanfition - Love it or Hate it? Have your ever read/written it?
Summer or Winter?
Truth or Dare?

Where is your favorite spot to read?
Mostly in bed. Sometimes I just read while walking around inside the house (for the purpose of burning the calories down. :D)

Are you a fast or slow reader?
The Reading Test said this:
"You read 314 words per minute. That makes you 26% faster than the national average."

Well, I must say, I always consider myself as a slow reader. 
As for the test, it's in English, not my first language. And most of the time, since I don't really understand per word, I just read it a bit fast, trying to grab the meaning of the sentence(s). That's how my sister taught me. Don't try very hard to understand every word. Just try to understand the idea, and then move on to the next sentence(s) or paragraph. But, it'll be totally different if I read in Indonesian. I usually savor every word. But then again, it all depends on what I read. All I can tell is that averagely, I read historical romance novels in 2-4 days, and Harlequin in 1-2 days. You get the picture. :D

Fanfiction - Love it or Hate it? Have your ever read/written it?
I read a couple of Harry Potter Fanfictions months ago but haven't read any since.  There were some that I love (I only read about Draco and Hermione), I even saved it on my computer and re-read it few times. But recently I don't. Just like Kathy said, there are too many new books to read. And no, I have never written it.

Summer or Winter?
Well, there is no summer or winter in Indonesia, more like dry and rainy. There are only two seasons. Dry season is more like summer I guess. And I prefer rainy, but not so hard because there'll be flood almost everywhere.

Truth or Dare?
Definitely Truth.

So, what about you? I'd like to know. You can share your answers as a comment on this post or share them on your own blog and link up to this post. :)

New Year, New Blog

For a year, I'm blogging at rakbukudidi.blogspot.com. But I didn't write regularly, and I'm kinda confuse whether to focus it on Indonesian books only, or for both, since at the same time, I want to practice blogging regularly using English. Why?

Well, maybe because I was introduced to English language since I was in kindergarten. Not intensively. You know, just learn to count 1 to 10, ABC's, or learning certain name of fruits, vegetables, things. And then in primary school, there were no English lesson. So more or less my sister and I learned it from cartoon movies. But still, not intensively. And then I got English lesson in Junior High, and Senior High. I even took a course for three years. But amazingly (or ridiculously), I still find it hard to speak/write in English well. Maybe I just don't have the courage to do so. :D

Why did I choose bukubukudidi as my blog name? Well, I (and my sister, too) just thought it's simple. It means Didi's books. Buku = book. In Indonesian, when you refer to more than one, most of the time you just repeat it and put dash (-) in between. So books=buku-buku. :)

At first we both thought something like romancelover, romancebookslover, booksofme, myfavoritebooks, things like that. But well, in the end, we just decided to use bukubukudidi. Didi is my nickname, by the way. But you can call me Diah, too. :)

Ok, back to this learning English thing, I'm hoping I can practice more through my hobby, that is, reading. So I'm creating this blog for that purpose. To be more focus on writing and stuff in English. I'm not so sure I could be like any book-bloggers who are very committed to their blog, to t. I truly totally admire them.

But hey, that's exactly one of my 2013 resolutions. Well, guess I just re-write it here. 

1. Review more books

2. Update regularly. At least once a week

3. Complete my reading challenges

4. Participate more on giveaway hop and blog hop and a book tour (I haven't even tried it before for the last two).

5. Have two different book blogs for Indonesian and International (DONE! HA! :D)

6. Buy less books

7. Request less books from Net Galley

8. Read books that have been on my shelves for more than one or two years. Seriously, I'm a terrible book hoarder. I even have one book I bought in 2007 and it's still being sealed. -_-'

9. .... (I'll add some more)

So, here I am... with my book-blog.

Please, be patient with me. :D