Randomness Inside My Head

Judul: Randomness Inside My Head
Pengarang: Rijo Tobing
Penerbit: indie
Tahun Terbit: 2016
Halaman: 124
Harga: Rp. 75.000 (Bisa dibeli di Gramedia, Periplus, Kinokuniya. Untuk online shop bisa di Gramedia.com -- ada diskon)

Randomness Inside My Head merupakan buku kumpulan cerpen berbahasa Inggris yang ditulis oleh pengarang Indonesia, Rijo Tobing. Ada 12 cerita pendek di dalamnya yang mengangkat berbagai topik. Ada masalah sosial seperti kisah Ali, the Beggar yang bercerita tentang rasa penasaran Ali, si Pengemis, untuk mengendarai motor dan akhirnya merasakan pengalaman singkat yang mendebarkan, lalu Take a Peek yang secara ide mirip kisah Ali, the Beggar namun dengan akhir yang berbeda. Ada pula kisah keluarga dalam A Short Break dan Missed You, Oppung, serta The Fire Exit yang bercerita mengenai problema kehidupan tiga orang karyawan kantor dengan benang merah tangga darurat gedung.

Untuk yang menginginkan kisah manis dengan bumbu romantis, ada Listened to My Mother dan Reunion. Ada juga kisah Better Be Single dan (One of Too) Many Girl Friends yang membahas tema yang bisa dibilang dekat dengan kehidupan sehari-hari: dilema menjomblo atau menikah. Tema kehilangan juga dibahas melalui cerita  Bid You Farewell dan Interlude. 

Kisah terakhir, Prince Charming, entah apa yang dipikirkan pengarang ketika menulisnya, kok malah membuat saya teringat dengan situasi keluarga mantan penguasa negeri ini. Seperti... doa? Haha. Saya tidak berani membahas lebih jauh deh.

Under the Lights

Judul: Under the Lights (Daylight Falls 2)
Pengarang: Dahlia Adler
Penerbit: Spencer Hill Contemporary
Halaman: 280
Harga: Rp. 180.000 (Opentrolley)
Bahasa: Inggris

Vanessa Park merasa kesepian semenjak sahabatnya, Ally, melanjutkan kuliah ke New York. Ia juga semakin didesak oleh orangtua Korea-nya untuk berhenti menjalani "hobi" beraktingnya dan mulai serius memikirkan masa depan. Padahal, buat Van, akting adalah segalanya. Ia menyukai dunia gemerlap Hollywood dan pencapaiannya sebagai bintang muda berdarah Asia yang berhasil menjadi tokoh utama di serial hit Daylight Falls tentu bukanlah main-main. Namun demikian, dalam dunia hiburan, segala hal bisa berubah dengan cepat. Setelah Daylight Falls berakhir, akankah ada masa depan bagi karir Van?

Josh Chester adalah musuh bebuyutan Vanessa. Walau dia adalah sahabat Liam, kekasih Ally, dan juga klien Ally sebelum Ally pergi kuliah, Van tidak pernah tahan berbicara dengan cowok kelewat PD yang bermulut kasar dan selalu memanggilnya "K-Drama" itu. Namun, siapa yang tahu, ternyata Josh dilanda masalah yang sama dengan Van. Josh yang sedang kekurangan pekerjaan dipaksa ibunya yang juga artis untuk ikut serta dalam reality show yang menurut Josh konyol. Jika tidak, ibunya mengancam akan mengambil alih mansion Josh di Malibu. Selain itu, Josh dilanda iri hati pada sahabatnya, Liam, yang selalu tampil sederhana namun selalu banjir pekerjaan. Hidup Liam dengan pekerjaan yang keren dan pacar yang keren juga terlihat begitu sempurna. Walau akhirnya Josh bisa ikutan berperan di Daylight Falls guna menutupi kekosongan yang ditinggalkan Liam karena syuting film perang, Josh masih merasa inferior dibanding sahabatnya itu.

Vanessa lalu bertemu Brianna, anak sekaligus intern dari publisisnya, Jade. Brianna kini ditugaskan mengurusi Vanessa. Brianna cantik dan berani, namun, yang mengejutkan Van, ada getar-getar aneh dalam dadanya setiap saat ia bertemu Brianna. Sesuatu yang bahkan belum pernah ia rasakan pada pacarnya yang juga seorang idola, Zander. Dan keadaan menjadi rumit ketika Brianna mengaku kalau ia biseksual dan tertarik pada Van. Seakan masalah hidupnya belum rumit, kini masalah percintaan dan orientasi seksual pun menghantuinya.

Josh tidak menyangka kalau di antara semua orang di dekatnya, hanya Vanessa yang bisa diajak bicara. Perlahan-lahan, ia merasa tertarik dengan cewek mungil itu. Dan ketertarikannya pada Van bukan semata-mata karena dorongan seksual. Ia nyaman dengan keberadaan Vanessa di sekitarnya. Apakah akhirnya Josh jatuh cinta?

Bagaimana nasib Vanessa dan Josh selanjutnya?

Posting Bareng BBI Januari : Behind the Scenes

Judul: Behind the Scenes (Daylight Falls 1)
Pengarang: Dahlia Adler
Penerbit: Spencer Hill Contemporary
Tahun Terbit: 319
Harga: Rp. 184.000 (Opentrolley)

Buku berbahasa Inggris. Review dalam bahasa Indonesia karena diikutsertakan dalam Baca Bareng BBI Januari 2016.

Alexandra Duncan alias Ally adalah seorang cewek 18 tahun yang biasa-biasa aja. Dia siswa berotak encer yang punya impian masuk Columbia University--dan dia sudah diterima duluan, dan punya ayah yang menderita kanker kulit melanoma stadium 4. Yang membuatnya berbeda dari cewek biasa adalah sahabatnya sejak kecil, Vanessa Park, yang kebetulan seorang idola remaja yang sedang naik daun.

Walau bersahabat dengan artis terkenal, Ally tidak iri dan sama sekali tidak tertarik dengan dunia Van. Melihat Van harus berulang kali jatuh bangun demi lolos audisi--yang mana sering gagal cuma karena kenyataan kalau Van punya darah Asia, bukan karena kemampuannya--membuat Ally memandang semua orang di dunia gemerlap Hollywood berpikiran dangkal dan palsu. Sampai tiba saatnya Ally harus terjun ke dunia itu juga.

Pengobatan ayah Ally memakan banyak biaya, termasuk tabungan kuliah Ally. Ally harus mencari uang untuk membayar kuliah dan asrama di New York nanti. Van lalu mengusulkan agar Ally menjadi tutor SAT sekaligus asisten pribadinya. Bayaran yang diterima Ally akan cukup besar. Hanya saja, Ally harus siap berada di tempat syuting serial Daylight Falls, serial remaja yang dibintangi Van bersama aktor yang juga sedang naik daun, Liam Holloway. Walau tadinya Ally tidak ingin memedulikan Liam, kenyataan kalau Liam sangat tampan dan juga bersedia membayar dia mahal untuk jadi tutor bahasa Prancis Ally membuat Ally tak bisa mengalihkan perhatiannya dari Liam. Apalagi setelah mengetahui kalau Liam sama kutu bukunya dengannya dan memiliki masa lalu yang suram yang membuatnya mau tak mau harus menjalani dunia keartisan.

Tanpa bisa ditolak, Liam dan Ally menjadi dekat dan mereka memutuskan untuk mencoba berpacaran. Sayang, kemesraan mereka tidak berlangsung lama karena tak lama setelahnya, demi strategi mendongkrak popularitas Daylight Falls, Liam harus pura-pura pacaran dengan Van. Hubungan Ally dan Liam harus dirahasiakan dan Ally harus kuat melihat pacarnya bermesraan dengan sahabatnya sendiri.

Apakah berpacaran dengan artis Hollywood merupakan keputusan yang pintar? Bagaimana dengan masa depan Ally selanjutnya?

Opini Bareng: Sidekick Characters - Paper Towns

Judul: Paper Towns
Pengarang: John Green
Penerbit: Speak
Tahun Terbit: 2008
Halaman: 305 + excerpt The Fault in Our Stars
Harga: Macam-macam tergantung versi. Bisa cek di sini ya.. PERIPLUS

Okay... Saya baca buku ini versi bahasa Inggrisnya. Tapi karena posting kali ini dalam rangka Opini Bareng bulang Juli, saya bakal tulis resensinya dalam bahasa Indonesia aja ya (padahal karena udah kagok nulis resensi bahasa Inggris tuuh).

Singka cerita, Paper Towns ini bercerita tentang petualangan Quentin, seorang cowok senior di High School, dalam mencari tetangga sekaligus cewek yang diam-diam dia taksir sejak lama, Margo Roth Spiegelman, yang minggat dari rumah. Margo ini cewek yang nyentrik. Dia memang sudah beberapa kali minggat dan biasanya meninggalkan petunjuk supaya dia dicari oleh orangtuanya. Sayangnya, kedua orangtua Margo cuma menganggap Margo cari perhatian dan malas mencarinya. "Nanti juga balik sendiri," begitu kira-kira pendapat orangtua Margo.

Kepergian Margo kali ini berbeda, karena semalam sebelum pergi, Margo mengajak Quentin menjalankan 11 misi Margo yang ajaib. Pengalaman itu sangat berkesan pada Quentin. Dan, setelah kepergian Margo, Quentin merasa Margo meninggalkan pesan untuknya. 

Bersama kedua sahabatnya, Ben dan Radar, Quentin pun berusaha mencari keberadaan Margo. Sampai akhirnya Quentin menemukan petunjuk kalau Margo mungkin berada di salah satu Paper Towns, alias kota palsu yang ada di peta. Tapi yang mana???

Struck by Lightning

Pengarang: Chris Colfer
Penerbit: Little, Brown and Company
Tahun Terbit: 2012
Halaman: 258
 Harga: Rp. 138.000 di Periplus

Carson Phillips adalah seorang remaja yang salah lahir. Besar di sebuah kota kecil dengan mimpi yang terlampau besar membuat hidupnya sulit. Carson Phillips sejak dulu bercita-cita menjadi seorang jurnalis terkenal yang bekerja di media massa terkenal macam New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, dan the Boston Globe. Ia selalu melatih dirinya untuk berpikir kritis. Sayangnya, lingkungan sekitarnya di Clover malah menganggapnya mengganggu. Mulai dari ibunya yang pemabuk, yang menganggap Carson lahir karena kecelakaan, sampai teman-teman sekolahnya yang menganggapnya terlalu banyak omong. Bahkan guru bimbingan-konselingnya menganggap mimpi Carson sebagai terlalu muluk. Carson bertekad mendapatkan beasiswa kuliah agar bisa meninggalkan Clover dan meraih impiannya.

Impian meraih beasiswa terganjal persyaratan: Carson harus bisa menerbitkan majalah sastra yang diterbitkan bukan oleh dirinya seorang diri. Bagaimana mungkin ia bisa mengajak teman-temannya untuk berkontribusi untuk majalahnya sedangkan tidak ada yang mau mendengarkannya? 

Lalu, suatu hari Carson mendapatkan jalan keluar: Ia akan melakukan pemerasan kepada teman-temannya, terutama yang populer dan berpengaruh, agar mereka mau menulis untuk majalahnya dan mendukung impian Carson. Dan untuk itu, Carson harus mengetahui aib-aib yang mereka tutup-tutupi.

Berhasilkah Carson menjalankan rencananya?

Breathe

Title: Breathe (Sea Breeze #1)
Author: Abbi Glines
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Year Published: 2013 (Simon Pulse first published)
Page: 333

Life was tough for a 17 years old Sadie White. Living with a very beautiful but reckless mother who happened to be knocked up by some stranger (again) forced Sadie to earn some money to help supporting their lives and the baby-to-come.

When working as a maid in a beautiful mansion in a private island near Sea Breeze, Alabama, Sadie coincidentally met the owner of the mansion, a famous teenage rock star, Jax Stone. Jax instantly interested with her because Sadie was so beautiful with her blonde hair and blue eyes and--most of all--didn't go crazy over him and didn't put his posters on her bedroom wall like any other women out there. Falling in love with a teenage rock star was the last thing Sadie had dreamed of. But Jax's true personality and gentleness made it unavoidable.

Sadie knew that she couldn't be with Jax because she had a job to secure and, especially, because she knew that being with Jax would be temporary. She didn't want to be Jax's other summer girl. She didn't want to end up like her mother. Jax also realized that being with Sadie would only bring misery for her. He was a rock star and bringing Sadie to his already crazy life would only hurt her. Stepping away from each other was the best choice for them. 

But how could they do that when the chemistry was too strong to break?

To All The Boys I've Loved Before

Judul: To All The Boys I've Loved Before
Pengarang: Jenny Han
Penerbit: Simon and Schuster
Tahun Terbit: 2014
Harga: Rp. 169.000 di Books & Beyond // Rp. 130.000 di Periplus

(Buku berbahasa Inggris, review dibuat dalam Bahasa Indonesia karena dalam rangka Baca Bareng BBI)

Lara Jean Covey adalah anak kedua dari tiga bersaudara Covey. Ia memiliki kakak perempuan yang akan kuliah di Skotlandia, Margot, dan adik yang masih SD, Kitty. Bertiga, mereka lebih suka dipanggil Song Girls, mengikuti nama keluarga mendiang ibu mereka yang keturunan Korea. Karena telah ditinggal sang ibu sejak kecil, Margot bertindak sebagai ibu bagi kedua adiknya. Ia sangat disiplin dan selalu mempersiapkan segala kebutuhan ayah dan adik-adiknya. Margot yang sempurna adalah panutan bagi kedua adiknya. Namun kini, dengan perginya Margot ke Skotlandia, Lara Jean harus mengambil alih peran Margot.

Margot memiliki pacar yang tinggal di sebelah rumah mereka, Josh, yang juga sangat dekat dengan Song GIrls. Tanpa saudara-saudaranya ketahui, Lara Jean sebenarnya juga memendam perasaan suka kepada Josh, malah sebenarnya ia yang terlebih dahulu menyukai lelaki itu dibanding kakaknya. Lara Jean memiliki kebiasaan menulis surat kepada lelaki yang ia sukai dan menyimpannya. Isi surat itu sebenarnya bukanlah surat cinta, namun lebih ke surat penutup bahwa ia tidak lagi menyukai lelaki tersebut. Ketika Margot dan Josh berpacaran, Lara Jean memutuskan untuk menulis surat untuk Josh, sebagai penutup perasaannya kepada Josh. Sebelum pergi ke Skotlandia, Margot memutuskan hubungan dengan Josh.

Kehidupan setelah kepergian Margot sangatlah berat bagi si anak tengah Lara Jean yang selalu gugup dan kurang percaya diri. Ia canggung dalam menyetir mobil, ia tidak pandai memasak, dan adiknya kerap melawannya. Seakan siksaan terhadap Lara Jean masih kurang, tiba-tiba ia mendapati surat-surat yang ia biasa tulis untuk lelaki yang pernah ia sukai terkirim kepada setiap lelaki tersebut--termasuk Josh.

Akankah Josh mengetahui perasaan Lara Jean kepadanya? Bagaimana nasib Lara Jean selanjutnya?

Racing Savannah

Title: Racing Savannah (Hundred Oaks #4)
Author: Miranda Kenneally
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Year published: 2013
Pages: 292
Price: USD 9.57 at Book Depository // Rp. 129.000 at Opentrolley

Savannah Barrow practically grew up with horses. Following her father who worked as a groom, Savannah had used to interact with horses. When her mother died because of cancer, Savannah found sanctuary on her father's boss' horse named Moonshadow but something tragic happened to the horse and Savannah didn't want to feel the same lost anymore.

On her senior year, Savannah had to follow her father to move to Tennessee, to Cedar Hill Farm. Her mother's death had left Savannah's family with a lot of debt so that the only choice for Savannah's father was to move to a richer farm, which is owned by John Goodwin. Savannah had never agreed to move but she had no choice because she knew her family needed money so bad.

When Savannah wanted to apply as an exercise rider at the farm, she coincidentally stopped a horse named Tennessee Star, who happened to be owned by Jack Goodwin--John Goodwin's son. Impressed by Savannah's ability to calm Star, Jack then approved Savannah to be an exercise rider, and later on, a jockey to Star. 

Savannah soon became close to Star, and also to Jack because Star was Jack's initial project to prove that he deserved to be the next farm's boss. There was no denying that both Savannah and Jack had fallen for each other.  

But how could a boss dating his employee? And would Savannah risk her family for this forbidden love?

Head Games

Judul: Head Games (Pretty Tough #3)
Author: Keri Mikulski
Publisher: Razorbill
Year Published: 2011
Pages: 288
Price: USD 6.98 at BetterWorldBooks

Taylor Thomas was a promising basketball athlete in Beachwood High. She was tall, talented, and very focus. Thanks to her father who was also an athlete during his youth. However, Taylor was an awkward and unpopular person outside the court. Only her BFF and talented designer, Hannah, thought that Taylor has a material to be a model so that she chose Taylor as her fashion show model.

Taylor had been secretly crushing Zachary Murphy for so long. Zachary was a handsome and popular jock and also a boyfriend to Taylor's teammate, Kylie Collins. One day, Taylor found out that Zachary had broken up with Kylie and had decided to make a move on her. Excited but also confused, Taylor didn't know how to accept Zachary's feeling toward her. When Kylie knew what happened between Taylor and Zachary, Kylie started to make dramas and threatened the basketball team to win the competition, an important one because it decided Taylor's future in college.

Taylor knew that staying focus was the only thing that she needed. But how could she be focus with all those dramas?

Stealing Bases

Title: Stealing Bases (Pretty Tough #4)

Author: Keri Mikulski

Publisher: Razorbill

Year Published: 2011

Pages: 271

Price : Rp. 50.000 (Kinokuniya sale at FX)

Former drama queen Kylie Collins had decided to start her junior year as a new person and forget everything about her and Zachary Murphy, her ex-boyfriend. She had decided to be nicer to other people and concentrate only in softball in order to get the ticket to UCLA. But everything in her life was so messed up currently. Her parents had been divorced and her yoga instructor father who had decided not to use his ex-wife's money had brought Kylie to move into his friend's guest house, a.k.a Zachary Murphy's guest house. Kylie couldn't reach her mother who had moved to New York. And worse, she was threatened to lose her UCLA ticket. A new transferred student, Amber McDonald, was a great pitcher and it didn't take so long for her to snag Kylie's position as a starter pitcher.

Kylie put a poker face in front of her friends but deep down inside she was broken. Only Zachary knew her true feeling. Zachary, her childhood friend who knew her best but also the one who had betrayed her and broke her heart.

Was it right to forgive Zachary and to give him one more chance? Could Kylie handle all these problems and stand strong?

An Abundance of Katherines

Title: An Abundance of Katherines
Author: John Green
Publisher: SPEAK
Year published: 2006
Pages: 229 (not including John Green's Q&A and an excerpt of The Fault in Our Stars)
Price: USD 9.49 at Book Depository

When it comes to girls (and in Colin's case, it so often did), everyone has a type. Colin Singleton's type was not physical but linguistic: he liked Katherines. And not Katies or Kats or Kitties or Cathys or Rynns or Trinas or Kays or Kates or, God forbid, Catherines. K-A-T-H-E-R-I-N-E. He had dated nineteen girls. All of them had been named Katherine. And all of them--every single solitary one--had dumped him.

Colin Singleton was a child prodigy.  It means he could memorize things that interested him and process any difficult mathematics formulas better than any normal person could. That's why he was so good in remembering history, making anagram, and making mathematics theorem. However, he's not a genius (for the difference between prodigy and genius, you have to read it by yourself in the book). Although being a prodigy can be categorized as "special", what happened to Colin was beyond it. Because no other prodigy had dated 19 girls named Katherine like him. And got dumped by all of them also.

After the 19th times, Colin felt devastated.  He then started to make this theory about Katherine to predict how long his future relationship would last. His best friend, Hassan, then asked him to have a road trip to mend his broken heart and Colin accepted it.

On their road trip, Colin found a hand-painted billboard: "EXIT 212-SEE THE GRAVE OF ARCHDUKE FRANZ FERDINAND-THE CORPSE THAT STARTED WORLD WAR I." Feeling curious, Colin and Hassan went to Gutshot, Tennessee, and met Lindsey Lee Wells, who guided them to the grave of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Long story short, Colin and Hassan ended up in Lindsey's pink mansion and got a summer job. Her mother, Hollis, who had a tampon string factory (yes, tampon), hired Colin and Hassan to do the  interview with people in Gutshot.

So many new things happened in Gutshot. But Colin couldn't stop thinking about Katherine and tried so hard to complete his theorem. Until he realized that maybe his memory was not as accurate as he thought it was..

What would happen next to Colin and his theory of Katherines?

The Beginning of Everything

Title: The Beginning of Everything
Author: Robyn Schneider
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Year Published: 2013
Pages: 335
Price: Rp. 124.000 at Periplus ; Rp. 99.000 at Books & Beyond ( paperback) // USD 17.09 at The Book Depository (hardback)

Ezra Faulkner once was a popular jock in high school. He was a tennis athlete. He dated a popular and pretty (but mean) girl named Charlotte, and he was the strongest homecoming king candidate. It all changed after a car accident hit him and made his feet badly injured.

After the accident, Ezra thought that he must leave his former clique because who was he without his tennis skill? So he restarted his school life and tried to find his new place by entering debate team with the new girl, Cassidy Thorpe, and his childhood best friend, Toby. Cassidy was such a unique and smart girl and it didn't take a long time for Ezra to fall in love with her. Life became interesting again, until he found out that Cassidy was hiding something, that maybe related to his past.

What will happen next? What secret does Cassidy hide?

Star Crossed

Title: Star Crossed (Stargazer #1)
Author: Jennifer Echols
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Year Published : 2013
Pages: 375
Price: USD 7.59 at The Book Depository // Rp. 98.000 at Opentrolley Indonesia 

This is the first Adult-Romance book that Jennifer Echols writes and it tells about a celebrity PR named Wendy, who is nearly fired from her agency. The bosses then ordered her to handle Lorelei Vogel's case as her final bet.

Lorelei Vogel is a talented young starlet. She is talented in acting and singing but after broke up with Colton Farr, another young talented artist and her co-star in a teenage series, she began to lose her self control and her concert tour is on the edge of cancellation. Wendy must fly to Las Vegas to fix this problem, which means she also have to meet Colton, the handsome artist who reminds her of her abusive ex, and Daniel Blackstone, Colton's PR who is also Wendy's arch nemesis since college.

Fixing Lorelei's problem means cooperating with Daniel since Lorelei's act is due to her relationship with Colton. Wendy's is forced to spend most of her time in Vegas with Daniel, making strategy to help their celebrities. As they spend time together making strategy, Wendy finds out that Daniel is not as bad person as she thought before. But then, something strange starts to happen. Wendy's hair keep missing and one night, she is attacked by a mysterious person. Wendy's life is in dangerous.

Who is Wendy's attacker? What will happen to Wendy's career?

Pivot Point

Title: Pivot Point (Pivot Point #1)
Author: Kasie West
Publisher: HarperTeen
Year Published: 2013
Pages: 343
Price:  Rp. 132.000 (Hardcover : Aksara Bookstore) // preorder the paperback Here or Here

I just don't know how to retell this in English, so I will just gonna use Indonesian. If you can't understand Indonesian but still want to read this review, please use google translate :)

Addie tinggal di sebuah tempat bernama Compound. Compound ini terletak dekat Texas, Amerika, namun tersamarkan oleh gunung-gunung. Orang biasa yang hidup di luar Compound (mereka menyebutnya Norms) hanya akan melihat gunung jika melintas di atas Compound. Compound ini berisi orang-orang berkekuatan di atas normal karena mereka lebih mengoptimalkan fungsi tubuh mereka ketimbang orang normal. Addie, misalnya, memiliki kekuatan untuk melihat masa depannya dalam dua alternatif ketika ia dihadapkan pada dua pilihan. Jadi, ia bisa memilih mana yang lebih baik. Teman Addie, Laila, memiliki kekuatan untuk menghapus pikiran. Yang lain, punya kekuatan seperti telekinesis, manipulasi massa, mengontrol mood, dan sebagainya.

Ketika orang tuanya memutuskan untuk bercerai, Addie dipaksa memilih, akan hidup bersama ibunya di Compound atau bersama ayahnya di Norms. Sang ayah harus pindah ke Norms karena tuntutan pekerjaan. Ayah Addie bisa membedakan kejujuran dan kebohongan, oleh karena itu sering bekerja sama dengan polisi menangani penjahat. Beberapa orang di Norms tahu mengenai keberadaan Compound dan bekerja sama dengan mereka. Addie kemudian memutuskan melakukan Search, alias melihat dua alternatif masa depannya.

Jika ia memilih tetap tinggal di Compound bersama ibunya, Addie akan didekati cowok populer quarterback Lincoln High, sekolah Addie, bernama Duke. Semua cewek tergila-gila pada Duke. Jadi, betapa beruntungnya Addie. Addie juga akan menjadi anak yang pemberontak. Jika ia memilih tinggal di Norms bersama ayahnya, Addie akan mengalami hidup yang kesepian tanpa teknologi canggih dan kekuatan super, namun ia akan berkenalan dengan cowok baik hati bernama Trevor dan memiliki banyak teman. Namun, kedua jalan tersebut ternyata menuntun Addie ke bahaya yang sama, yang berhubungan dengan kasus yang sedang ditangani ayah Addie, dan berakhir dengan sesuatu yang buruk yang akan mengakhiri nyawa salah satu orang yang disayangi Addie.

Masa depan mana yang akan Addie pilih?

A Midsummer's Nightmare

Title: A Midsummer's Nightmare
Author: Kody Keplinger
Publisher: Poppy
Year Published: 2012
Pages: 291
Price: USD 8.13 (Bookdepository) // Rp. 118.000 (Opentrolley)

The story begins with Whitley waking up in stranger's bed. It was an after Graduation Day party, and Whitley was sure enough that the night before, she had had sex with a guy (an amazing one!). And yes, there he was, waking up beside her. A sexy brown-eyed guy named.. Uh.. What was his name? Whatever..  And when the guy asked her phone number, Whitley didn't gave it. It's not like she was gonna meet him in the future right?

Whitley had planned to spend her last summer holiday before entering University of Kentucky (UK) in her father's condo. Her father was a news anchor. He was popular and full of fun. So different with her mother who had never cared of Whitley and was still obsessed with her ex-husband after the divorce. Whitley had expected a fun summer nights, drinking vodka with her father and her father's temporary hot chicks. But what hit Whitley was the fact that her father finally decided to settle down. He had moved from his condo to this neat and cute suburban house, with his soon-to-be-wife and her two teenage children. And the most surprising of all, Whitley soon-to-be-stepbrother was a random guy she had had sex with on the after Graduation Day party. And his name was Nathan.

All the new situation pissed Whitley off. Living with perfect people like Sylvia, Nathan, and Bailey was certainly the opposite of what Whitley had expected before. How could her dad not inform this before? How could her dad change? Whitley then tried to channel her anger by attending parties and doing wild things. She drunk a lot, she hooked up a lot, and she appeared in social media a lot. Until she realized that maybe her new family were not as bad as what she had expected. Maybe her definition of "perfect summer holiday" had been wrong and now was her chance to finally feel what the "perfect summer holiday" was.

Could Whitley wake up from her Midsummer's Nightmare?

The Truth about Forever

Title: The Truth about Forever
Author: Sarah Dessen
Publisher: Penguin Group
Year Published: 2004
Pages: 374
Price: USD 9.71 at The Book Depository

After her father's death, Macy lived her life focus on her study. Having a boyfriend who was smart and excelled in everything he did, Macy thought she had already got what needed to reach her goal. But one summer, her boyfriend, Jason, left her for the Brain Camp and asked Macy do his job at the library. Too bad, everyone in the library seemed like hating Macy. When Macy told about it to Jason, he unexpectedly asked Macy for a temporary break.

Heartbroken, Macy spontaneously joined Wish Catering, a catering that served one of her mother's party. There she met Delia, the owner, sisters Kristy and Monica, and brothers Bert and Wes. Doing a job in Wish Catering brought new ambiance to Macy. Her quiet and peaceful life soon changed to unpredictable and full of surprises life. And the most important of all, she finally found an opportunity to move on from her silent grieve after her father's death.

Out of Play

Title: Out of Play
Author: Nyrae Dawn and Jolene Perry
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Year Published: 2013
Pages: 318
Price: USD 9.10 at The Book Depository

After almost died because of OD, Bishop Riley, an 18 year old drummer from Grammy winner band, Burn, was sent to Seldon, Alaska, to get treatment by his manager. Anything was difficult at first. There was nothing to do in Alaska and Bishop's hands kept trembling because his body needed more pills. He kept trying to contact his drug dealer, Marryanne, to send some package to his place. But then he met Penny, the owner's daughter of the guest house he was renting.

Penny was a kick ass hockey player. She was the only female on her team and she played really well. Every body on the team respected her and also loved her. But Penny didn't think that everybody understood her. All she wanted was staying at Alaska and going to college there so that she could take care of her Gramps but seems like everybody wanted her to move and go to better colleges outside Alaska. Surprisingly, only the boy who stayed in a cabin her family owned, understood her.

Bishop and Penny soon became close. In Penny and Gramps, Bishop found people who really trusted him and he started to feel better without the pills and drinking. Penny also thought that in Bishop, she finally found a person who truly understands her. But what would happen after Bishop's secret is revealed? Would everything still be the same?

Moonglass

Title: Moonglass
Author: Jessi Kirby
Year Published: 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 232
Price: New USD 16.14 (hardback); USD 9.49 (paperback); Used: USD 7.48 (hardback)

Anna and her mother used to walk in the beach looking for colorful sea glass. But when Anna was seven, while following her mother walking in the beach, Anna saw her mother committed suicide by drowning herself into the ocean. At the same night, Anna found a red sea glass called moon glass, which she still wears it as a necklace.

Ten years later, Anna's father, who is a lifeguard, decides to go back to the beach were he first met Anna's mother. Being in a place with such memories and where other people know more about her parents than herself, makes Anna feels uncomfortable. But the new situation with many new friends and activities makes Anna slowly open herself and try to find out more about her mother that her father never told.

The Hazards of Skinny Dipping

Title: The Hazards of Skinny Dipping
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy
Year published: 2013
Format: Smashwords E-book
Price: USD 2.99 (buy here)

Before starting her college year, Juliet Monroe was given tasks to do by her cousin, Amy.

Juliet's Must-Do Before College List

1. Get drunk (and no, a buzz from sugary drinks does not qualify as drunk).
2. Go to a bar. Any bar will do, but you need to at least know what they look like inside.
3. Wear something you know would give your father a heart attack if he saw it.
4. Kiss a random guy, and don't let it go further.
5. Go skinny dipping.

All 4 were done, leaving the skinny dipping a.k.a swimming naked, the hardest one for Juliet. But finally she decided to do it on the pool of her family's beach house. While she skinny dipping, her neighbor, Dylan, came home and saw her. Dylan had been Juliet's forever crush so that it surprised her a lot when Dylan decided to join her in the pool. The skinny dipping ended with sex. A surprisingly bad one. And Juliet decided to go home quietly.

Now, a freshman in Harrison University, Juliet joins Delta Nu, a sorority where her cousin, Amy, joined before. And Dylan is the president of Phi Omega. Juliet has been avoiding Dylan but it can't be forever. Dylan finds her and claims that Juliet is her girlfriend, which she can't refuse and makes her quite frustrated.

How will Juliet's college time be? Is being Dylan's girlfriend really that hazardous?

A Gathering Light

Title: A Gathering Light
Author: Jennifer Donnelly
Year Published: 2003
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 389
Price: USD 6.98 (via Better World Books)

A Gathering Light (a.k.a A Northern Light) is a historical fiction novel inspired by the real murder case of Grace Brown, happened in 1906, in Big Moose Lake, Adirondacks, USA. Grace who was found drowned in pregnant condition, had left letters from her final days, that pointed Chester Gillette, her secret lover, as her murderer. In this story, Grace Brown's life intertwined with the fictional character, Mattie Gokey, and helped her to make a big decision of her life.

Mattie Gokey was a country girl with a tough life. Although her family had enough land and livestock to fulfill their needs, they were lack of manpower to work on it. Mattie’s brother, Lawton, had left the family after a fight with his father. Mattie’s mother had been dead and had left Mattie to take care her 3 younger sisters. Mattie was actually a talented student in literature. She loved to read books and write. Unfortunately, all people near her, except her teacher, Mrs. Wilcox, and her friend, Weaver, didn’t see her talent as useful. They wanted Mattie to help her family and became a housewife as soon as possible.

One day, Mattie got a scholarship to Barnard College, New York City, but she didn’t have money to pay the rent and living cost. Also she knew that she couldn’t leave her family. Her dilemma became worse after her neighbor, the handsome and rich Royal Loomis, showed his interest to Mattie. Mattie thought she had to forget her dream but deep down inside she knew that living as a farmer was not what she really wanted.

When the holiday season came, Mattie worked as a maid at Glenmore Hotel to earn some extra money for her family. There, she met Grace Brown, who later trusted her letters to Mattie to be burned before she got drowned.

What influence did Grace Brown’s letters have to Mattie’s life? Would Mattie finally decide to leave or stay?