Tabula Rasa - Kristen Lippert-Martin

Lippert-Martin, Kristen. 2014. Tabula Rasa. New York: Egmont USA.

Rating 3,5 bintang
(review in English, click here)

Saya menerima buku ini melalui NetGalley, buku ini direncanakan akan terbit pada September 2014.

Pertama saya lihat buku ini di rak buku salah satu teman di Goodreads. Sampulnya keren, dan saya tertarik sekali setelah baca ringkasan bukunya. Katanya ini layaknya The Bourne Identity ketemu Divergent. Saya sih belum baca Divergent, tapi dinilai dari popularitasnya yang tinggi, kayaknya itu novel boleh juga. Dan tentu saja, saya penggemar berat The Bourne Identity, maka saya pun makin penasaran jadinya. Terus ternyata ini tentang perempuan yang semacam hilang ingatan begitu (selera saya banget, cuy). Kesimpulannya:

MAU MAU MAU! Kasiin ke gueee!

Dan saya coba minta ARC-nya (advance reader copy) ke NetGalley, walaupun penerbitnya bilang mereka cuma mengutamakan permintaan pembaca dari Amerika Serikat dan Kanada, saya tetap saja mengajukan permintaan ARC-nya, saya sudah kepingin banget! Dan saya pun dikasih ARC-nya. Reaksi saya:

Tabula Rasa - Kristen Lippert-Martin

Lippert-Martin, Kristen. 2014. Tabula Rasa. New York: Egmont USA.

Rating 3,5 stars
(review in Indonesian, click here)

I received this book via NetGalley, it is expected to be published in September 2014.

I first noticed about this book when I saw it in a shelf of a Goodreads fellow. The cover looks cool, and I became very interested when I read the blurb. It says, this book is The Bourne Identity meets Divergent. Well, I haven’t read Divergent yet, but judging from the hype so far, looks like it’s a pretty decent read. And of course, I was AND am a huge fan of The Bourne series, so I was instantly curious about this one. Further reading the blurb, this book is about a girl who lost her memories (my favorite kind of story!). In a nutshell:

Gimme da book! Me WANT!

So, I requested its ARC (advance reader copy) via NetGalley. Although the publisher notes that they are preferred members from US and Canada only, I couldn’t help but just tried my luck, I was really eager to be able reading this! Then, I got the book and I totally did this,

George’s Cosmic Treasure Hunt – Lucy & Stephen Hawking

Hawking, Lucy and Stephen Hawking. 2012. George Berburu Harta Kosmis. Jakarta: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama.

Rating 4,5 stars
(review in Indonesian, click here)

Very bright cover indeed.

Why I read it in the first place?

Okay, I bought this book because I actually have hidden interest on space, stars, and anything cosmic since a long time ago. But I never really tried to explore and learn more about those because apparently my brain capacity was insufficient for that kind of information (shame on me). Then, like a week ago, I saw this book in the book store. Its authors are Lucy and Stephen Hawking. STEPHEN HAWKING. STEPHEN. HAWKING! Judging from the cover, it’s clearly a children book. I know another Stephen Hawking’s book, A Brief History of Time that I always want to buy and always end up put it back on its shelf. I doubted myself I can really comprehend its content, it looks too intellectual or something. But with children book like this one, I must be able to understand most of it, right? I was on the verge of jumping like maniac when I found George’s Cosmic Treasure Hunt (okay, I might have jumped a couple of times). From the title, I knew it has something to do with cosmic and other space thingy. What a joy! If you want to learn more about space and stuff with understandable explanation, what’s the better choice than a children book written by the scientific genius STEPHEN HAWKING himself? With further reading, I know that Lucy Hawking is Stephen Hawking’s daughter and is an expert in delivering science and space knowledge to children. So, I knew I was on good hands.

George Berburu Harta Kosmis – Lucy & Stephen Hawking

Hawking, Lucy dan Stephen Hawking. 2012. George Berburu Harta Kosmis. Jakarta: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama.

Rating 4,5 bintang
(review in English, click here)

Sampulnya 'jreng' banget.

Kenapa saya baca buku ini?

Oke. Saya beli buku ini karena sudah lama saya punya ketertarikan khusus terhadap luar angkasa dan bintang-bintang namun tidak benar-benar mencari tahu lebih banyak karena ternyata kapasitas otak saya belum memadai untuk ilmu pengetahuan yang sebegitu canggihnya. Kemudian saya tidak sengaja menemukan buku ini di toko buku. Penulisnya adalah Lucy dan Stephen Hawking. STEPHEN HAWKING. STEPHEN. HAWKING! Melihat sampulnya saja saya tahu kalau ini pasti buku anak. Saya tahu buku A Brief History of Time-nya Stephen Hawking dan berkali-kali nyaris beli tapi enggak jadi terus karena ragu bisa enggak yah mengerti isinya, kelihatannya intelektual banget, tapi kalau buku anak kan saya pasti mengerti lah kan barang sedikit. Saya hampir jingkrak-jingkrak sendiri di toko buku itu (oke, mungkin saya memang sudah sedikit jejingkrakan waktu itu). Dari judulnya, jelas membahas yang berkaitan dengan luar angkasa. HORE BANGET KAN?! Nah, kalau mau tahu lebih jauh sesuatu tentang luar angkasa dengan penjelasan yang tidak rumit, apa pilihan yang lebih baik daripada buku anak tulisannya si jenius STEPHEN HAWKING sendiri? Dan setelah membaca lebih jauh, ternyata Lucy Hawking adalah anaknya Stephen Hawking dan memang sudah ahli dalam penyampaian ilmu sains dan luar angkasa untuk anak-anak. Jadi, saya tahu, saya berada di tangan yang tepat.