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.