Alexander Hamilton: The Graphic History of an American Founding Father

“Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.

Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it,

or because it may have been planned by those whom they dislike.

It’s not tyranny we desire; it’s a just, limited, federal government.”

– Alexander Hamilton

I received a free digital copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Since the successful musical, Hamilton, the story of Alexander Hamilton’s life has become such a popular topic. Many fans of the musical want to learn more about Alexander Hamilton and his work as one of America’s Founding Father, including me. And though he was one of the most influential figures in United States’ history, non-Americans is not too familiar with his life story, unlike with the other Founding Fathers such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Now, author Jonathan Hennessey and comic book illustrator Justin Greenwood bring Alexander Hamilton’s world to life. Through this graphic novel, they tell the story of improbable hero who helped shape the United States of America.

The Inevitable Collision of Birdie and Bash by Candace Ganger

“There are reasons—many reasons—some particles shouldn’t combine, no matter how curious you are about the outcome. Sometimes things explode; sometimes they dissipate, evaporate, disintegrate. And sometimes they collide and become something so much more than you ever thought they could.”

I received a free digital copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sebastian ‘Bash’ Alvarez was only come to a party at a roller skate rink where he works to make sure that his sort-of-best-friend Wild Kyle didn’t do stupid things when he met Birdie Paxton, the ‘Couch Girl’ who shouldn’t be at that party at all. There’s a bit of traction and friction between the two of them, but they got separated before both of them can act on it. Their two worlds collide again when Wild Kyle’s car hit Birdie’s baby bother. Bash was on the passenger seat, Birdie doesn’t know that. Bash also didn’t know that the kid that Kyle hits is Birdie’s brother. The two getting closer when Birdie begin to work at same roller skate rink as Bash. When they begin to really fall for each other, the truth is slowly unfolding and could change their life in a way that both of them won’t be expecting.

Paintbrush by Hannah Bucchin

“We’re a mess, aren’t we?”

“All the best people are messy.”

I received a free digital copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Paintbrush tells a story about Mitchell and Josie, two teenagers who live in a communal village along with a lot of other colorful people in the mountain of North Carolina called Indian Paintbrush. Mitchell and Josie used to be best friend, but now they are not as close as they used to be. Josie doesn’t really enjoy going to high school and wish she could spend all her life at Paintbrush, while Mitchell can’t wait to get out of Paintbrush to escape the bizarre noisy community and live a normal life. Luckily for both of them, they’re weeks away from graduating high school. But when Mitchell’s mother makes a scandalous announcement that might rock the peaceful Paintbrush community, and Josie’s younger sister keeps on making bad decisions, the two find themselves leaning on each other for support. Their childhood friendship change into something more as they deal with their families. But as graduation approaches, Josie and Mitchell forced to figure out what exactly their relationship is and which path they will choose in the future.

Caterpillars Can’t Swim by Liane Shaw

“A caterpillar is basically gross and ugly. But then it gets to hang out in a cocoon for a while and ends up changing into a gorgeous butterfly. No one cares if it’s a boy or a girl. It’s just a caterpillar that changed into a butterfly. And it’s okay and right and normal.”

I received a free digital copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In Caterpillars Can’t Swim we meet Ryan, a wheelchair-bound 16 years old boy who is also a member of Swim Team in his school. One day he rescues Jack, one of his schoolmate from the water. Ryan keeps Jack’s secret about the water incident and even though both of them doesn’t really like it, their lives become connected. Ryan knows that Jack needs help, and Jack feels since Ryan knows and keep his secret, he can open up a bit to him. Then there’s also Cody, Ryan’s best friend and fellow swim team member who even though a nice kid, doesn’t understand why Ryan would want to hang out with Jack when everyone in their school gossip about Jack’s sexuality. Against Cody’s will and his better judgement, Ryan decides to invite Jack on a trip to Comic Con that he has planned with Cody for a long time. On this trip the three kids will each have the chance to be true to themselves and others, and show whether they are brave enough to go against the stereotypes.

May 2017 Reading Recap

It’s time for monthly reading recap. This month I read more books than I expected, only one more though. I win a Goodreads giveaway and the book came in the middle of May so I feel like I should read and reviewed it as soon as possible. Though I only ended up writing a very short review of that book on Goodreads. Well then, without further a do, let’s continue to this month reading recap. These are all the books I read on May 2017:

City of Saints and Thieves by Natalie C. Anderson (ARC)

“People don’t look for revenge to make them happy.

They do it because they must.”

City of Saints and Thieves tells a story about a girl named Tina, who escaped from Congo with her mom years ago as refuges and begin their new safer life in Sangui City. Unfortunately for them, safe doesn’t last long. Her mother was murdered, shot dead in the middle of the night. Seeking for revenge, Tina spends her life on the street and training as a master thief with local gang, the Goondas. Four years went by, and now her job with the Goondas brings her back to a place where her mother was killed and open a path for Tina to avenged her mother’s death. But revenge is not an easy game to play as the faces from the past starting to haunt her and unravel some dark truths that Tina might not ready to face.

April 2017 Reading Recap

Hello folks, it’s time for monthly reading recap. This month I read three books for the first time and reread three books. Let’s start from the books I read for the first time. I honestly thought I could only read 2 new books this month, but I managed to put one other book into my list.

Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner

“Funny how people move through this world leaving little pieces of their story with the people they meet, for them to carry. Makes you wonder what’d happen if all those people put their puzzle pieces together.”

I win a signed ARC of Goodbye Days from OwlCrate Giveaway on Instagram. Thank you, OwlCrate! OwlCrate is one of the most awesome YA book subscription box, check them out on their website here.

Goodbye Days is the second YA novel by Jeff Zentner. It tells a story about Carver Briggs who lost three of his best friends when he sent a text to one of them right before they were killed in a car crash. Carver can’t stop blaming himself, and neither can one of his best friend’s twin sister and one of his best friend’s dad. Carver might even go to jail because his best friend’s dad is pressuring the district attorney to open a criminal investigation on Carver’s role in that horrible car accident. Fortunately, Carver found an unexpected allies in one of his best friend’s grandmother who asks him to spend a Goodbye Day with her and share their memories and say a proper goodbye. Soon his other best friends’ families are asking for a Goodbye Day with Carver. But their motives might be different than one of his best friends’ grandmother. This is a story about how we handle our grief when we lose someone or someones we love.

Frostblood by Elly Blake (Frostblood #1)

“Affairs between fire and frost rarely end well.”

First of all, I win a copy of this book from a giveaway that held by FairyLoot, so thank you so much! If you don’t know what FairyLoot is, it is one of the most awesome book box subscription for YA fantasy lovers and they delivered monthly and worldwide. You can check them out on their website here. Now let’s get to the book. Frostblood is a YA fantasy debut novel by Elly Blake. It is also the first book in the Frostblood saga. This book sets in Tempesia, a land governed by Frostblood, people who are gifted with the power of ice. They are ruled by a cruel Frost King who is determined to capture and kill every Fireblood, people who are gifted with the power of fire, their counterpart. Unfortunately for our main character, Ruby, she’s born with a gift of fire. One day the soldiers ransacked her village and then captured Ruby. She lost everything dear to her and she’s start losing hope as she is now imprisoned. But then come two Frostbloods, an old man named Brother Thistle and a mysterious hooded young man named Arcus who offer her a chance of freedom and revenge to the Frost King. Only, Ruby doesn’t know that her freedom and revenge will come with a price.

March 2017 Reading Recap

Hello folks, it’s time for my monthly wrap up or reading recap. I have to admit I don’t hit my target. I’ve set my target at seven books, but I only managed to finished four books this month. That’s because I have some personal issue that affected my reading time in the middle of this month. And just two weeks ago, I started a new job so I don’t have much time to read or other fun activities because there are so much things to learn in my new office. Okay, enough with venting about things unrelated to books, just like Li Shang said, let’s get down to business!

January and February 2017 Reading Recap

Okay, the picture says monthly, but really, this post is bi-monthly recap because yours truly is a messy human being who forget things and only realized her mistakes when it was too late. I’ve been meaning to do monthly reading recap post since last year, but I always forgot, and so I promise to do it starting in January. Guess what? I forgot again. So this post is going to be a bi-monthly recap. I promise after this one, the recap post will be monthly. But who am I kidding? I’m a messy human being, so let’s just say that I will try my hardest to make this a monthly thing.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

“My mother and father held hands.

I wonder what that was like, to hold someone’s hand.

I bet you could sometimes find all of the mysteries in the universe

in someone’s hand.”

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe tells a story about Dante, an angry, loner teenage boy who meets Dante, another loner, but also a know-it-all teenage boy. When they first meet each other at a swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as they spend the whole summer together, they discover that they share a special kind of friendship—the kind of friendship that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And through their friendship, Ari and Dante will learn the truth and secrets about themselves, and about the kind of people they want to be.

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

“Both love and hate are mirror versions of the same game and you have to win. Why? Your heart and your ego. Trust me, I should know.”

The Hating game is a debut romance novel by Sally Thorne. Which actually kind of surprised me, because for a debut novel, the writing is really great. Meet Lucy Hutton, our lovable protagonist who is a nice, quirky, office darling and love to wear red lipstick and cheerful clothes. Then meet Joshua Templeman, Lucy's cold, joyless, uptight, arrogant co-worker, who—according to his subordinates—is pretty much the "military commander" in their office. Both of them work as executive assistants to co-CEOs of a recently merged publishing company, Bexley and Gamin. Both of them sit across each other. Both of them hate each other. And both of them have no problem displaying their hatred toward each other in a series of ritualistic petty, childish, and passive agressive games.

Now competing for the same promotion to become a COO, their game has come to a new stage as both of them refuse to back down. But the tension between Lucy and Joshua has also elevated into a steamy boiling point. As their game escalated, both of them discover that maybe they don’t hate each other. Or maybe this is just a new dangerous deceptive level of their hating game.

Breaking Barriers by Aimee Dawis

“What does it mean to be a Chinese woman in Indonesia?”

Social issues is the one thing that always driven me to read non-fiction books. And with the heated prejudice and racism in Indonesia, especially towards Chinese-Indonesian people, I feel like I need to pick up more books about this issue. Because when we’re facing sensitive issues like race, we need to try to be more well-informed first, before we’re opinionated. Unfortunately for me, getting my hand on one of the books that talk about this issue—in this country—is quite hard. Mostly because they’re quite pricey and the one and only library in my city doesn’t have them. So when I saw that this book was sold at a bargain price on Periplus, I know I have to get it. Especially since one of my childhood hero—Susi Susanti—is also in this book.

Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid

“And maybe the only way to find what you’re looking for

is to get lost along the way”

Let’s Get Lost is a YA contemporary novel by Adi Alsaid. This book tells a story about Leila, a girl who went on a road trip to see the Northern Lights. Along the way, Leila will meet four strangers: Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia. The four of them find a friend in Leila, and for better or worse, their lives are forever changed when Leila left them. But it’s not just the four strangers lives that will change, Leila will also discover things that she’s looking for when she get lost and zigzagged her way to see the Northern Lights.