The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum

Sometimes, on very rare occasions, you stumble upon things that seem like to be specifically tailored for you. Clothes. A boy. Books. I will talk about the last.

Source: Goodreads

The Poisoner's Handbook is a collection of poisoning cases, both intentional and unintentional ones. The author categorizes the case based on the poison involved. For each poison, there are several cases presented and usually there is one case elaborated among them. That case is usually a major one, meaning that in the day it happened, it became headline in virtually every media, was discussed in daily basis, and always in people's head. The beauty of Ms. Blum's narrative is that she succeeds in telling three stories in one shot. First, the case, from almost every aspect (the poison and the human factor). Secondly, the poison involved - the general information, physicochemical characteristics, and mode of action. Thirdly, the development of forensics and the rise of career (with all the obstacles and difficulties in the way) of two brilliant scientists at that time - Charles Norris and Alexander Gettler. 

AW. Norris is the one with beard. Gettler is the dude fiddling with chemical instrument.

I keep mentioning 'that day', 'that time'. Exactly when? That's the extra beauty of this book. They all happened during the Jazz Age - the crazy period when everyone seemed to be experimenting with everything. Also quite a period for the teetotalers and non-teetotalers, because alcohol is prohibited, hence the term Prohibition. It seemed to be an interesting time to live... With all the speakeasies, flapper attire and attitude, art deco, and jazz. Oh. My.

This book inspires me to take Toxicology class - a decision I am thankful for making :D You do not need to be an expert in chemistry or biology to enjoy and understand this book, although having some knowledge helps enhancing the enjoyment of this book. If you like any of these things: Jazz Age, poisons, historical stuff, forensic stuff - I can say with total conviction that this book is for you. Ms. Blum composes a very good book - both structurally and content-wise, so I think this book can be suitable for everyone. Ten stars for The Poisoner's Handbook!   
PS: My favourite poison will be the stealthy carbon monoxide. It is undetected during its action (at least in that period) and the only trace it leaves is the characteristic cherry-red shaded blood of its victim. LOVELY.

Such a Pretty Fat by Jennifer Lancaster

I realize that I am fully responsible in selecting my reading materials. The time that I spent reading this book can actually be used for reading my Biosafety material. Quiz は来週の月曜日-and so far the polling is for close book quiz (13 vs 12 - slim, slim difference). But well. I have read all of them last week, I will just re-read them tomorrow and day after tomorrow.

Her first to books are more interesting because the problems she detailed in them are real world problems that I can actually sympathize and empathize with. In her third? Not so much because it is about her struggle to reduce her weight using various dieting methods and of course, hard exercise.

It is a damned first world problem that I, a girl from third world country*, who is struggling to get her bachelor** finds reaaalllly hard to sympathize.

Then, lady, perhaps you should consider walking a block instead of driving a block.

Perhaps you should eat smaller servings.

Perhaps you can take the stairs instead of the lifts.

She complains about unable to eat steak because it will hamper her weight reduction.

I cannot eat decent steak because it will suck up the fund I can use for, you know, graduating my ass off.

 

She complains about the discomfort of gym in the beginning, although she enjoys it later. Lady, at least you can still pay for gym membership and there is a possibility to enjoy a decent gym close to your quarters. She whines constantly about Atkins (ketosis phase sounds truly nasty) and expresses some dissatisfaction about Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers, and all I can think is...

Yes Jesse, my sentiment exactly.

What. A. Thankless. Bitch.

And she tells in a witty way how she, after being treated like a queen during her book tour, had to go back to reality. The thing that pulled her down to earth is cleaning dog poo and dog-piss-drenched carpeting.

I'll kiss the damned dirt if the worst thing that I should face in reality is cleaning the freaking canine excretion!

By reading her work, I contribute to her increasing fame (and bank account). I have moral dilemma here... but still, she is very entertaining. AUUUUGGGGHHHHH. And I just read her status in Facebook about how she bought a damned coffee machine because she is too lazy to climb the stairs to use one that is available!

AAA

AAAAA

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Six stars for this book because it's still witty but but but almost unendurable. 

Conclusion:

Life is unfair. Time to take some pictures, Photoshopped them decently, and advertise myself as a mail-order bride.

Or...

Signing up to migrant worker office...

Current speed: 9 male shirts/ 45 minutes, some folded in different sizes.

Or... 

Time to go all Walter White...

Or.

Time to read the Biosafety material. Or some Fitzgerald.

* face it, Indonesia - claim as much as you want that you are happy and not dirt poor, but nah, you bloody are.

** I will bring up this issue as much as I like. If I don't get it, then I shall consider the possibilities of becoming a mail-order bride (I have listed the possible countries in my head) and migrant worker. I still need to work on my ironing skill, but otherwise I am good in vacuuming, wiping, washing dish. I AM THIS DESPERATE. 

Koala Kumal by Raditya Dika

He is my favourite Indonesian comedian! I prefer reading his jokes and anecdotes to listening to his stand-up sessions, though. I just cannot see the beauty of stand-up comedies. So far I've only watched Indonesian ones. Perhaps I should give the ones from other countries a whirl.

So after a wait that feels almost eternal (four? five? six years? I honestly cannot remember) I was ecstatic upon learning that he published a new book! Oh. YAY! The title is as usual, distinctive.

At least two hours of fun!

And so, I read it and the same thought occurred over and over again.

Dude just, I don't know, six, seven years older than me, tops? And he swims in money (at least that's how it looks, I mean, frequent hang out at malls? Kemang? Eating those GODDAMNED SHIOYAKIS?).*

Dreaming away and wept

And I also feel that the tone is more mature and serious. He seems very self-examining, without sacrificing the funny, in some parts. Good for him, bad for me because I do not want to thiiiink. I want a book equivalent to candy floss, not a fancy hundred-courses French meal, for example. I was waiting so enthusiastically for his books because his books for my brain is like Bailey's Irish Cream for my soul.** In the end, he admitted that there is a theme for every stories in Koala Kumal.

It is loss. And how to deal with losses.

I was silent for a while after reading that. 

This book cannot come in a more perfect moment. I felt severe, profound loss at that time. I cried my eyes out on the daily basis. After waking up, during the day, before going to bed, during bathing - in short, all the freaking time. My eyes were swollen all the time. But of course everybody is busy, admittedly with far more important thing than me.*** But then, came toddling along this book. This book made me laugh. Made me forget about my loss. Lifted some of the stress. Thanks, Raditya Dika.

I think I'll give this nine out of ten stars. Why not the perfect score? Because of the mature tone. Sorry! 
______________________________________________________________________________

*Yes, I mull about money a lot. Sorry, Saint Timothy. Like a computer, there's a part of my brain dedicated solely for thinking about that thing. How to spend less and to obtain it. Let's just say it's fortunate for me and my family (core and extended) that I spent twelve years in a Catholic school and I don't remotely look like Dian Sastrowardoyo (for you Indonesians who will certainly get the reference!) or Jessica Alba.

**Oh. Bailey's...

***Losing me has more pros than cons, at least to the world in general and my family. Less mouth to feed, less land to spare (for housing, etc.), less water will be used, one less fertile female to populate the cramped world.

Bright Lights, Big Ass by Jennifer Lancaster

Hiya!
Updating my blog this frequently is unusual, I admit. But this is the only way to prevent me from posting:

1. Self-pitying status on either Facebook and/ or LINE (self-pitying comment has already been written - too late to do anything about that);
2. Picture containing self-pitying statement; 
3. Profanity-filled status on the two aforementioned social media;
4. Picture stating my current/ latest emotional condition (angry/ super pissed off/ worried shitless/ helpless/ desperate/ sad - yeah, no positive feeling at all. AT ALL. I almost wished my flight fell into Hindia Ocean or something. Just kidding! Just a macabre, inappropriate joke. After all, I am not nice enough to enter any version of heaven in any religion. If my heart is weighed against the feather in Egyptian version of heaven, the scale wouldn't freaking balance. The side that carries my heart will maybe just drop. I need to bank more good deeds. Heh.)
5. This

Ain't she charming?

Because every time I feel annoyed, I always post Adora or use her as my profile picture. Sorry, gal. Don't stub me with your cigarette stub. 

Or, stab me with your stiletto. I beg you, don't.

And this is also the only way to prevent me from controlling a lady named Mayberry Delancey (Mayberry Oss after marrying Edvin Oss) for THREE FREAKING STRAIGHT HOURS. 

Binge Sims 3 gaming, commence. That poor PC.

Blogging and reading a fun book are admittedly counterproductive, but they are the least counterproductive from all the activities I can choose. And I did productive things before. But, after all,  you can only have that amount of dirty dishes. And you can only eat that much before you feel full and/ or balloon. And, counterproductive as they are, at least they are good media for practicing my English.

So now, it's about the book. As you maybe have deduced from the title, this book is a light read. I don't care, judge away. I frankly prefer reading materials that entertain me, not the ones which make me seem more intellectual or whatever. This book is a sequel to Bitter is the New Black, which I have read before. I read Bright Lights because I like Bitter.

Why was I interested in Bitter in the first place?

Because of the subtitle, obviously ^^

Whoa. Carrying a Prada bag. To the unemployment office.  マジ？

After finishing reading it (didn't take a long time because Jennifer Lancaster is a very entertaining author), yes, マジ。

But I've read Bitter quite a long time ago, so I cannot really review it. On the contrary, I just finished re-reading Bright Lights recently (as recent as two-three hours before this post is published) so I am absolutely in good capacity to review it.

I like Jennifer Lancaster plenty as an author. Her tone is witty and there is enough sarcasm and dry wit in her books. Bright Lights highlighted the events after Bitter, in which their situation gets better after unemployment caused of the burst of the dot-com bubble. Bright Lights can be enjoyed as both sequel and standalone novel. After reading two novels by her (and in the middle of the third), I must say that I think Jen Lancaster's husband is either a saint or crazy about her or both. Both is very probable. 

The lifestyle you can have from a couple (whose female half working a temp job and writing and the male half working a permanent job, but not necessarily long lasting) in Chicago, Illinois, USA is very different from Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. But maybe the fact that this couple only has two human mouths to feed (not counting two dogs and three cats, if I recall correctly) also contributes to the difference. I mean, this couple can still consume lots of food I consider luxury (pork chops, liquor), buying things at IKEA, and buying new things. 

Here, in Indonesia, you are very lucky if you can still pay the taxes and mortgages and whatnot with the salary you get from that kind of job. That kind of lifestyle? Impossible. Eating outside is also ちょっとダメ as well. 

I feel a bit strange about the author's stance about her weight. I understand that inner beauty is important (But sometimes the nastiest girls get the best boys, solely because of their beauty - and that's life. Being pretty and cute is important, actually. At least, it helps. Anyone who's telling you that only inner beauty is important is either a liar or as naive as you), nobody should feel ashamed about his/ her weight, and nobody should develop bad body image. But, uhm, when well... your size keep increasing and your diet seems delicious but you rarely exercise (as in driving instead of walking a block), I think you need to watch out. Because, although Jen Lancaster maintains that her cholesterol level is fine and blood pressure is awesome and she is pretty and decked in good taste on daily basis (I don't know about the first two, but I certainly agree on the third), having that kind of weight cannot be healthy in the long run, in my opinion. As you get older, you can wave hi to your soon-to-be-仲良し - the dreaded atherosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes type II.

 

Chances of encounter are high!

And I am amazed on the amount and type of drugs she takes. Xanax? Zoloft (if I am not mistaken).

Let's just say that USA is a very different country, judging from this book.

But they have awesome food there. As comparison and example, I have desperately sought an affordable cheese that can melt. 

This. The only one that is available in whole country.

To no avail. Either they don't produce it anymore (PLEASE DON'T SAY THIS IS WHY I DIDN'T FIND ANY) or four stores simultaneously run out of this cheese. But I haven't tried the コンビニ, although admittedly I am pessimistic I can find it in コンビニ. If they no longer produce it, I am ちょっと fucked because that means my only options are spreadable (ProChizz, quite OK but still IT'S NOT MELTED CHEESE), no melted cheese for the rest of my life if I am trapped here, or the insanely expensive real mozzarella which retails for Rp 42.500,00 (equals 3.24 USD, 2.92 euro - dirt cheap for you, freakishly out of range for me).

In Chicago, a couple that considers themselves 'saving and broke' can still buy and consume Brie, nice take-outs, and five different kinds of nice cheese. So different. But it maybe because decent cheese is a staple there and a luxury here. I don't know.

Reading Bright Lights is very entertaining, but also makes me feel a bit bitter. Still, ten stars.

And lots of apologies if this post is not too focused.

Deep Blue Goodbye by John D. MacDonald

OOOH.
I love bad boys with morals. They are the best :)

I was finishing a book by Charles Ardai, Fifty to One. This is a decent book but now I am not in the mood for reviewing it. I was pleasantly surprised upon knowing that this book was written fairly recently because the hardboiled tone is perfect. That means they still make 'em after all!

Not a scene from the novel, but still freaking awesome

Ardai is definitely in my list of to-watch authors from now on.  

Okay, back to the topic. In the postface, Ardai writes about 'mythical, legendary books people say in whispers that are probably exist'. One of them, he says, is MacDonald's Travis McGee 'black book'. That made me curious. The only books that have colour-related titles that I know are Mao's Little Red Book and the Yellow Book, an Islamic holy book, apparently. So, what's that black book and how important is it? Why the fuss? And so I decided to Google John D. MacDonald and Travis McGee. The premise hooked me immediately because I like 1. flawed heroes, 2. bastards with carefree attitude on the outside but golden hearts inside. The premise is also very similar with The Finder, a not-so-successful TV show (the characters guest-starred in one Bones episode, once) which I enjoy. 

So I got the books pretty soonish and started reading the first pretty soonish as well.

The reading experience had been enjoyable. The book proved to be a good read in almost every situations. Before going to bed, in the middle of journey when you're a passenger in either a full backseat of a car or a sleepy morning train, waiting for PCR, etc. This is not a book that makes you feel like you have to read it non-stop, but you'll also hate to just skip to the end. Deep Blue Goodbye is a darling :) a Coca Cola of book. No boring moment, the pacing is perfect, the characters are logical. Travis seems to be really charming though - almost all the ladies want to jump him, but it is a common feature from books from that period. And, I mean, from the author's skillful description, he's damn irresistible. Who can resist a tanned boy (not overtanned or something) from Florida, who can look as if he's anyone, (accountant, boat boy, salesperson, anyone), is confident without being cocky, witty, clear-headed, good with boat, a decent poker player, has good physique, can survive in almost any conditions, and can extract himself from almost any sticky conditions? Not me. I will definitely jump him as well or give him some chaste - or not so chaste - kisses. 

At least a hundred. Each time with different warpaint colour

The antagonist is a loathsome bastard. I am surprised that he can get away with his deeds for quite a long time, because his nastiness is pretty obvious. He is so awfully disgusting that it will take me some time to be able to view someone with the name Allen in a good light again. I cannot see the reason behind his crimes, though, because I cannot wrap it around my head the reason someone wants to corrupt and degrade another human so thoroughly. 

The damsels, though in great distresses, are proven to be able to hold themselves well. They got beaten, humiliated, fleeced, but in the end, it is proven that without them McGee's accomplishment will not be as good and smoothly achieved. Not all of them get the happy endings, which makes the story feel more realistic. 

If you love hardboiled genre but want to read one set not in a Windy City or any city full of smokes, gutters, rainy days, and whatnot, the Travis McGee series is a good choice. 

I'm willing to bestow it 10 stars. Just because.

Double Indemnity

Lately, I am hooked to noir and hardboiled. I love noirs... especially the ones set in the 1920's. They are from different era when guys called women 'dame'. They are awesome. They sweep me away.This book is touted as one monumental noir novel, and its author (James M. Cain) as a highly influential person to noir development. I made a resolution to read this book when the right moment come. It came around two days ago. I devoured it instantly. I enjoy it thoroughly.The narration is done by an insurance agent who has a funny name, Walter Huff. Mr. Huff as a nickname is pretty funny, it sounds like sound that you make when you puff. The narration is fast-paced and built with the signature diction of noir. It is gritty. It is dark and self-examining.So, what is double indemnity? 

dou·ble in·dem·ni·ty

noun

NORTH AMERICAN

1. provision for payment of double the face amount of an insurance policy under certain conditions, e.g., when death occurs as a result of an accident.
2. 
   
3. This term is very relevant in this book, in fact, it's one of the main characters motive, beside lust. In the beginning, we are introduced to an insurance salesman doing his usual routine. Walter Huff tried to sell a policy renewal to his client, a Mr. Nirdlinger. However, he wasn't home when Walter paid him a visit. Walter seemed like an OK guy, a regular joe. But then he met a woman that will change his life and dirty his hands, Phyllis Nirdlinger. This is the exact moment when his moral is tested. And he failed the test. This moment makes me wondering. If you know that someone plan a homicide, why don't you prevent it? Are lust and money so big a temptation? I mean, Walter's life is plain, but it isn't dull. He can assess people well - it's one of his asset - and he enjoys selling insurance policies, which are exciting for him. He is good. It's a respectable life, he isn't a beggar. Is it possible to want someone so much after your first meeting that you decide to risk everything you have? When I read this book further, I feel that the two characters who conspire to take another human being life are so disconnected and distant. I mean, well... taking someone's life is a huge sin, morally and religiously. It will need a huge temptation to do the aforementioned act. But I didn't sense that Walter is tempted enough. It feels so insignificant compared with other things that he had already had.
4. 
   
5. Then Phyllis. She is first shown as a woman with a plan, then a willing accomplice in adultery and marricide, then later we learn that she is really crazy. The crazy talk she said at the beginning? Totally not an act. She is also more... ahem, experienced than Walter. Let's say that poor Walter should have done a more complete background check about his soon-to-be partner in crime. I dislike her depiction as a crazy woman, because it feels incongruous with her former acts. They were coldly and logically calculated.
7. The biggest irony in this book is when Walter tried to be a teacher in Murder 101, the pupil was more experienced. And Phyllis fared better when her acts were one-woman-acts. When a new partner was introduced, it was proven to be a big, fatal failure. A real pity, Phyllis.
8. 
   
9. 

And Walter? WRONGEST DECISION EVER, dearie.

See?

There are several memorable quotes in this book. I'll give you two.

I had killed a man, for money and a woman. I didn't have the money and I didn't have the woman. 

That's all it takes, one drop of fear, to curdle love into hate.

Skin Tight by Carl Hiaasen

The first Mick Stranahan book! Well... who is Mick Stranahan?
Mick Stranahan is an Irish ex-cop, ex-District-Attorney-employee, veteran of five marriages (all to waitresses) and numerous romances. After leading such turbulent and tumultuous life, it is no wonder that he wants a little peace at his very rustic house in a secluded area near the sea which is famously called Stiltsville Village.
But, one day, the peace was suddenly shattered when a hit man attacked Stranahan at his own house. A very unwelcome act, not to mention life-threatening, which was quickly remedied with a quick wit and reflexes and a cooperative marlin wall mount... Days after the incident, Stranahan's life quickly became more interesting with amazing speed.

I read this book after I read its sequel, Skinny Dip. It affects my enjoyment of the book only a little. This book is funny and hilarious too, with Hiaasen's standard fare - the environmentalists, nature's enemies, and a criminal case that pits those opposing sides against one another.

A very refreshing read. I recommend this book for the ones who want or need hearty laugh or just light reading.

Kitab tentang Yang Telah Hilang oleh John Connolly

Aslinya berjudul The Book of Lost Things, seperti yang bisa dilihat pada gambar sampul di samping.
Buku ini sudah lama terbitnya sih, dan saya juga bacanya sudah lama. Tapi buku ini meninggalkan kesan yang sangat dalam buat saya. 
Awalnya, saya membeli buku ini karena tertarik pada retelling cerita dongeng. Saya lemah banget pada iming-iming 'retelling cerita dongeng'. Buku ini terbukti memuaskan. Beberapa cerita dongeng yang di-retelling dan turut membentuk alur cerita buku ini adalah dongeng Rumpelstiltskin dan Si Jubah Merah (Little Red Riding Hood). Keduanya diceritakan ulang menjadi sangat gelap dan kelam. Atmosfir buku ini memang gelap dan kelam, bahkan sejak awal.
Buku ini diawali dengan peristiwa kehilangan yang besar. Kehilangan istri dan kehilangan ibu. Wanita yang meninggal adalah ibu dari David, protagonis utama kita. David adalah anak laki-laki yang biasa-biasa saja, introvert. Hubungannya dengan ayahnya semenjak kematian ibunya cukup dekat, walaupun David selalu merindukan ibunya.
Sampai ayahnya bertemu Rose dan menjalin hubungan dengan Rose.
Ayah David dan Rose lalu menikah (MBA, by the way) dan pindah ke rumah Rose. Beberapa bulan setelahnya Rose melahirkan bayi laki-laki, Georgie. Georgie bukan bayi yang mudah diberi simpati. Dia rewel, dan penyakitan. Hal ini membuat perhatian ayah David dan Rose terpusat pada Georgie. David semakin menarik diri dari dunia dan menenggelamkan diri dalam buku-buku dongeng yang bertulisan nama 'Jonathan'. Buku-buku yang berbisik kepadanya. Di samping itu, semenjak pindah ke rumah baru dan tenggelam dalam dunia buku David sering pingsan dan mengalami khayalan yang seolah nyata. Tetapi ayahnya hanya menganggap David kena ayan.
Relasi David dengan Rose sendiri tidak pernah baik. David tidak suka pada Rose yang dianggap tidak layak menggantikan ibunya. Rose sendiri berusaha mengambil hati David, tapi selalu gagal, walaupun ada satu saat langka ketika keduanya bicara dengan baik-baik. Dalam percakapan ini, David mendapat pengetahuan baru tentang Jonathan.
Keadaan semakin diperparah dengan kedatangan si bayi baru. Rose yang kelelahan semakin sulit mengontrol emosinya dan pada suatu ketika, amarahnya pada David meledak. David, yang sudah menanggung banyak beban baru (kehilangan perhatian, penyakit aneh) juga meledak dan lari ke reruntuhan dekat rumah. Dan pada saat bersamaan, pesawat tempur Jerman jatuh di dekat reruntuhan itu.
David pingsan. Dan ia bangun di dunia yang asing dan baru baginya... Dunia yang mengerikan. Di mana cerita dongeng menjadi nyata. Sayangnya, bukan dongeng yang indah.
Apalagi yang selanjutnya terjadi pada David? Well, seperti para ksatria dalam dongeng, David diuji. Luluskah David dari semua ujian yang ia alami? 
... untuk itu, baca sendiri bukunya untuk menemukan jawabannya :)
Beberapa dongeng yang di-retelling selain dua dongeng di atas:

• Childe Roland
• Sleeping Beauty
• Hansel dan Gretel
• Snow White

Itu saja yang saya ingat. Selebihnya, saya tidak mengenali dongeng yang di-retelling. Dongeng hasil retelling benar-benar sangat berbeda dengan dongeng aslinya. Lebih dewasa dan lebih gelap, dengan pesan moral yang juga lain sekali dengan pesan moral yang tersirat dalam dongeng originalnya. 

Aftertaste yang saya rasakan setelah membaca buku ini adalah perasaan hangat bercampur kesedihan. Perasaan hangat karena ternyata masih ada hal yang indah dan baik setelah melewati segala hal yang mengerikan itu. Kesedihan karena ternyata orang baik tidak selalu mendapat upah yang sesuai dengan perbuatannya di dunia - entah bagaimana dengan upah di akhirat. 

Cocok sekali untuk penyuka cerita fantasi maupun retelling fantasi.

Good job, Mr. Connolly! Sayangnya saya malah belum membaca satu buku pun dalam seri supernatural-kriminal Anda. Kalau boleh menyimpang, banner website Anda sangat saya sukai. Archangel Michael, sedang mengalahkan setan :)

Going Postal by Terry Pratchett

Wow. I really like this book. It is a very refreshing read.

Meet Moist von Lipwig (pronounced Lipvig, thank you) a.k.a. Albert Spangler, incorrigible con man with a face so unforgettable that his mother once brought home a wrong kid from school. And he would hang tomorrow... But an angel came, an angel who would come only once for every man.
Thus, Mr. Spangler was hanged. He was dead. But immediately he got a new life as Moist von Lipwig and even got a job as a Postmaster. A unenviable job, because four Postmasters before him had been dead in unexplained circumstances... And not only that. By accepting that job, he found himself became a rival of clacks company, Grand Trunk, which was headed by a dangerous man.

This book is fast-paced. I find Moist to be a charming character. He thinks fast, and talks even faster. His falling in love with Adora Belle Dearheart, a girl who could see who he was through-and-through is funny and sweet. Ms. Dearheart's name is bound to give a wrong impression - bear in mind that she was nicknamed 'Killer' and 'Spike'. Affectionately, of course.
The concept of clacks is interesting. Clacks is equivalent to the Roundworld telegraph, but I feel that Sir Terry describe it as the more modern invention - the Internet. The description of its operators remind me to Google and Apple and Microsoft employees, you know, that type of people. 
The application of clacks and stamps can be seen as successful attempt to modernise Ankh-Morpork. It pleases me when an author continues to improve the city he creates. Because of it, Ankh-Morpork feels real. An ever-changing, dynamic city.

I've also watched a part of the movie adaptation, and I must say...
...that it disappoints me. I wholly disagree with its description of Moist. The movie Moist is too easily angered and too moral. I cannot imagine the Moist von Lipwig in the book haunted by his past doings, of people he has conned. Adora Belle's portrayal is fine - Claire Foy is suitable for portraying Adora. The other thing that disappoints me is a standard issue in movie adaptation - the omitting of the book parts. Because of these reasons, I cannot finish the movie - I cannot stand seeing Moist being made like that. 

Ten stars for the book.
Six for the movie.

The Summer of the Ubume

I first knew this book's existence by browsing my 'Recommendations' in Goodreads. Here is the short summary from amazon.com:

In Japanese folklore, a ghost that arise from the burial of a pregnant woman is an Ubume. 
The Summer of Ubume is the first of Japan's hugely popular Kyogokudo series, which has 9 titles and 4 spinoffs thus far. 
Akihiko "Kyogokudo" Chuzenji, the title's hero, is an exorcist with a twist: he doesn't believe in ghosts. To circumnavigate his clients' inability to come to grips with a problem being their own, he creates fake supernatural explanations--ghosts--that he the "exorcises" by way of staged rituals. His patients' belief that he has vanquished the ghost creating their problems cures them.
In this first adventure, Kyogokudo, must unravel the mystery of a woman who has been pregnant for 20 months and find her husband, who disappeared two months into the pregnancy. And unravel he does, in the book's final disturbing scene.

Whoa. Let me list the things that hooked me immediately. 20 months pregnancy? Check. An exorcist who doesn't believe in ghost? Check. What kind of exorcist has no belief of the existence of the very thing he meant to exorcise? A seemingly supernatural case with logical explanation? Check. A ghost that I hear for the first time? Check.

And this is what I felt after finishing it.

This book is completely scary. It covers both fields of fear - the irrational (ghosts) and the rational (all the psychological twists and dramas). 
The book starts with lines that commonly found in mystery books - lines that spoken by someone we don't know. Sometimes we dismiss it, but later in the story those lines are found to be important. Such lines.
The story starts innocently enough. A poor journalist, Sekiguchi, visited his friend, Chuzenji 'Kyogokudo' Akihiko who was an owner of a used-books store in order to share a controversial story.
However, it was soon revealed that one of the person involved in the story was none other than their high school friend, Makio. After knowing that fact, Sekiguchi decided to further investigate the story. In doing it, he asked for help from his friend who was a private investigator, Enokizu and Kyogokudo's sister, Atsuko. By a strange twist of fate, Enokizu got a new client who was another key player in the weird story, Kuonji Kyoko, the sister-in-law of Makio.
And this is where the book begins to ride the crazy train.
The narrator - Sekiguchi - became more and more unstable along the story. I really want to shake him real hard or give him a good slap. CAN'T YOU BE A LITTLE BIT SANE, PLEASE. And grow some backbone. Buck up, man! At some point, I wonder which ones are crazy/ unusual. Is it Kyogokudo and Enokizu? Or is it Sekiguchi? I think it's the latter.
There was a long lecture about the nature of memory, brain, consciousness, subconscious, ubume, and quantum theory which I found to be a little bit tedious but interesting enough. Because I've watched Moryo no Hako before, those seemingly-out-of-topic lectures didn't bother me too much. I skimmed through some parts of them though - sorry, author. They were appropriate additions to the book.
The solution was a bit unbelievable. I can't imagine how a pair of eyes can thoroughly fooled their owner by unseeing something that was clearly there. I can understand if it just happened to one person. But three? And one of them didn't have any ties with the other two? Erm. I'm having a hard time to imagine, let alone believe, that such thing can happen.
This is a very noir book. It leaves a taste that needs to be cleaned fast, without delay. I don't recommend you to read another heavy or dark book after reading The Summer of the Ubume.
Nine stars. Deducting one for the solution.

Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen

Finally I met another book that makes me hooked.
It's been a long time since I read a book almost non-stop. It's even been longer since I found a book that makes me wants to re-read it immediately after I finished it.
I found this gem hidden among old tattered books at the book sale at Gramedia. I was curious because one of my group reading choices is another book by the same author titled Bad Monkey. I haven't read Bad Monkey at the time I purchased Skinny Dip - I just started it now because I like Skinny Dip so much. I had some reservations before purchased it (never read any works by this author, can spend the money on other things), but all those reservations gone BAM after I read this sentence:

I married an asshole, she thought, knifing headfirst into the waves.

Those words are enough. I was owned immediately and brought this book to the cashier and paid it without hesitation.

And boy, it's worth every rupiahs I spent. Absolutely no regret. My thanks to the original owner who was willing to depart with this precious book so someone else can enjoy this refreshing reading.

The book is fast-paced and exciting. The author manages to tell us, his readers, about big bad environmental problem without using too much technical lingo. Neither does he make us yawn. Bravo. He successfully keep the issue from being lost along the storytelling, because the issue itself is an important part of the story. So it keeps echoing from the first time it was mentioned until the ending.

The characters feel original for me. I rarely sympathize with female character who is rich, smart, beautiful, getting true love, and likes to shopping branded things, but this is one of the rare moment. I don't know why, but I find Joey Perrone is extremely likable. All the protagonists are likable.

The antagonists themselves have some qualities that make them less fearsome and disgusting. They are admittedly not likable. But they are laughable. Especially Chaz Perrone. Gosh. This is the first time I see a man as shallow as he is and a biologist that hates nature as he does. A biologist that litters, runs over snakes with his expensive Hummer, and hates nature? LOL. He is everything that every biologists (or soon-to-be) I know are not.

I highly recommend this book for anyone feeling that he/she can use a good laugh and biologists (or biologists-to-be) so they can be more dedicated to their work, using Chaz Perrone as reflection of WHO YOU SHOULD NOT BECOME.

Perfect ten stars.

The Habitation of the Blessed

Title:  The Habitation of the Blessed
Series/ standalone?: first book in A Dirge for Preter John series
Author: Catherynne M. Valente

WARNING: This review is heavily-ridden with spoilers. Beware!

I just finished reading A Dirge for Prester John: The Habitation of the Blessed. This is the first book in the (plotted) trilogy of A Dirge for Prester John.

Who is Prester John? His detailed enough description can be read in the Wikipedia entry about him.

My expectation before reading this book had been high, because the authoress is none other than Catherynne M. Valente herself. I’ve been enchanted by her adaptation of Russian folk tales, Deathless. So I expected to be captivated by The Habitation of the Blessed. Moreover, I am intrigued by the blurb which said, among other things ...’Hagia, the blemmye wife of Prester John...’ and ‘... the mythical land of Pentexore with its strange creatures...” I Googled blemmye immediately, found its description, and thought that maybe Valente doesn’t stick with that description. How wrong am I. 

But. My reading experience has been terrible. Oh, oh my. I feel very disturbed and repulsed and disgusted upon reading this book, from shortly after the beginning until its very end. By the part that makes me feel very queasy, I read it with skimming method. Well, I guess this book is not for everyone. 

Catherynne M. Valente as usual tells the story with beautiful prose that constructed by carefully chosen beautiful words. The narrative style is books within a book; storyteller that tells stories that have been read and hurriedly transcribed by another storyteller and has been told and written by at least three different storytellers.  

When did I start to feel queasy? At the beginning, when John was tried in his sailing on a vast sea of sand and forced to eat fish. Raw. With its internal organs - while their shape and constructing substance are different from those of the fish in our world - removed hurriedly and shabbily. Well, that can be expected from a man that had been threatened with death from famine and reduced to eat his robe. But still. Yuck.

When did I start to feel very queasy? When John had an intercourse.
With a crane. Crane, as in one specific specie of the Aves class, Grus antigone antigone. This makes me nauseous and disturbed. Why? Well, John was a priest who had taken a vow of celibacy. His breaking of the vow disgusted me. That feeling was exacerbated by the fact that he had broken it with a bird. With a frigging freaking bird. Please! The scene when the pygmies rutted with the cranes also disgusts me. 

Also I am repulsed by the fact that he, Prester John, married a blemmye, Hagia. And impregnated her. Eugh. Interspecies sex, as in between human and vampire or werewolf whatsoever doesn’t disturb me as long those who involved assumes same shapes. A man/ woman have sex with some entity that assumes the appearance of a beast - or a decapitated human, in blemmye case - doesn’t stand well with me. That’s why I felt disturbed when reading the stories in Greek mythology when Zeus seduced Leda in form of swan, or wooed Io in form of a beautiful white bull, and when Pasiphae attracted to a bull, their liaisons resulted in birth of monstrous half-man, half-bull of the Crete labyrinth, Minotaur. Maybe the interspecies sex in this book is an allegory to interracial marriage - which I don't mind nor oppose - but it just failed to depict that.

I am also unable to symphatise with the protagonist, Prester John. Well, maybe his character is typical of the missionaries in that age. He was thankless to those who had helped him, he was a man with holier-than-thou attitude, yet he was easily trapped in sin of adultery. I found it easier to symphatise with Hagia. 

The thing that horrifies me is although John saw his act of bringing Christianity as a good one - similar to one bringing a brightly burning candle to a dark land - it is actually a destructive action. It is more similar to the act of the Serpent tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit of knowledge and give it to Adam. Pentexore and its creatures had established a working system long before John, and Didymus Thomas (yes, he was there too, and also Alexander the Great), came. Each of them worshipped different gods and had different beliefs, yet it didn’t cause any friction amongst them. They didn’t have concept of sin, they lived harmoniously. With Christianity that John brought and tried to spread, they now knew the concept of sin. In Pentexore before Christianity, there was only a lamia with her natural instincts and urges. After Christianity, there was a whore lamia. That’s what Christianity did to Pentexore. It erased its carefree life, its innocence. 

And the thing that just makes me hate him even more? His cheating in Abir. The reason, said by the cheater himself, was to be the perfect entity, a king-priest, just like Christ. But, if that is the real intention, why did he pray so his queen will be Hagia? Heh. I believe that his motivation for cheating is not purely the king-priest perfection, but just a lesser, worldlier one – he wanted to rule, with a female he desired so, the blemmye Hagia.

One more thing that disappoints me is the way Valente describes Pentexore. She gave a map to give us a picture of Pentexore location, and that’s good and appreciated. But, I also want the map of the internal parts of Pentexore. I want the map that show where the Sea of Sand starts in the world we've known and ends in Pentexore, I want to see where we can reach it and its border with our world. Her description of the creatures is too general. She even doesn’t explain some creatures appearances, such as meta-collinara. I know that in the ‘original’ letter of Prester John those creatures’ names are mentioned, but when you read this book, you tend to forget what cametenna, tensevetes, etc. look like because there are so many strange creatures with names no less exotic than themselves. She also made some allusions and cameos (Alexander the Great with his gate and Apostle Thomas a.k.a. Didymus Thomas), but they are not deeply explored and felt like decoration only.

I can’t give it a high rate. Ten is the perfect score, and I will deduce some for each aspect that I loathe. Eating raw fish with its internal organs glistening? Eeuw. Minus one. A protagonist with attitude so bad I barely can stand him? Deduce one. A type of sex that repulsed me? Minus one again. The insufficient description of the creatures and Pentexore landscape (they should be more detailed, I think), minus one. So the end score is six.

I recommend this book for Valente’s hardcore fans. The Goodreads reviewers rated it 5 stars, and most of them are fans of Valente’s. One reviewer compared this book with In the Night Garden by the same authoress, so if you’re the fan of In the Night Garden, maybe this book will suit you. 

And finally, the picture.

A blemmye

Sources:

• amazon.fr
• en.wikipedia.org