en-US Sat, 10 May 2025 23:01:36 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg ReadStatus9411084295 Sat, 10 May 2025 23:01:36 -0700 /review/show/7559537083 Puty started reading The Convenience Store by the Sea by Sonoko Machida
]]> Review7477660858 Sat, 10 May 2025 21:53:55 -0700 /review/show/7477660858 Puty gave 5 stars to Green Dot (Paperback) by Madeleine Gray
This is probably personal, but I love it. It's super predictable and still, tragically funny. It's about Hera, a girl in her 20s, tangled up in an office affair with an older married man called Arthur. You can even tell what happened in the end from the blurb: "An irresistible and messy love story about the terrible allure of wanting something that promises nothing."

I like how this book can describe a lot of feelings while making us laugh and understand at the same time; often hilariously yet still on point. For example, how Hera describes her friend, Sarah, "Sarah is my most competent friend. She has a jewellery stand for her earrings, so they never get all tangled together. At pub trivia she'll whip out some facet about transit policy in 1987 with such confidence that the rest of us just nod differentially, like, of course Sarah knows that. Sarah works in comms and sheer has never said the word 'communications' to me - it's comms."

Or how she describes the feeling of having affair as, "For the first two moths of our affair, I am so spaced out on endorphins and the prospect of my day job not being my only life, that I push aside the task of thinking about how to deal with the problems of our future. It's like putting off doing taxes, it's like not buying early-booking flights for a holiday that you are definitely going to take."

The metaphors and the banters are witty, especially if you're from the same generation as me. I'm in my mid-30s and I can feel Hera and at the same time, I can understand Arthur. I could see my younger self being a hopeless romantic idiot like Hera, and without justifying cheating, this kind of plot happens in real life, probably all the time. This novel gives us the POV of the mistress and all the risks and pain she naively chose to take and experience. It's women's irony. We can see that in the first quarter of the book, Hera was so... witty, funny about everything, and cynical about the world, and slowly, as her affair with Arthur unfolded, she lost herself.

Again, maybe it's personal but I gave 5 of 5 stars. Not recommending it if you hate 'cheating' theme in general because it can be triggering. ]]> Review7547699135 Thu, 08 May 2025 08:42:39 -0700 /review/show/7547699135 Puty gave 2 stars to The Diagrams Book: 100 ways to solve any problem visually (Kindle Edition) by Kevin Duncan
Suprisingly 'meh'. Will recommend 'The Decision Book' instead. ]]> ReadStatus9400732766 Thu, 08 May 2025 01:56:24 -0700 /review/show/7552442289 Puty is currently reading Geisterdiebe by Boris Pfeiffer
]]> ReadStatus9393883069 Tue, 06 May 2025 08:02:06 -0700 /review/show/7547699135 Puty is currently reading The Diagrams Book: 100 ways to solve any problem visually by Kevin Duncan
]]> Review7475611513 Wed, 30 Apr 2025 11:07:46 -0700 /review/show/7475611513 Puty gave 4 stars to THE ANXIOUS GENERATION (Paperback) by Jonathan Haidt
bookshelves: parenting
A very important book, well-written, backed up with data and it comes with a lot of recommendations. I'm just a bit surprised that a lot of people found this book surprising because I thought we all understood that social media is depressing and internet kinda makes us... a coward? (and a sleep deprived one?) 😅 ]]> ReadStatus9368628306 Tue, 29 Apr 2025 19:34:50 -0700 /review/show/7530072863 Puty wants to read Yeonnam-dong's Smiley Laundromat by Kim Jiyun
]]> ReadStatus9350379365 Fri, 25 Apr 2025 05:15:45 -0700 /review/show/7517450431 Puty is currently reading Surat Untuk Putriku by Han Sung-Hee
]]> Review7498741778 Fri, 18 Apr 2025 10:37:29 -0700 /review/show/7498741778 Puty has read Umur 40, Kok Gini Amat? (Paperback) by Han Sung Hee
bookshelves: korean-lit
Lagi, buku 'hugging essays' asal Korea yang diterjemahkan oleh Penerbit Haru. Buku ini ditulis oleh seorang ibu untuk putrinya yang memasuki usia 40-an. Sebuah perspektif yang menarik dan jarang muncul karena secara umum, orang yang berusia 40an tidak lagi dianggap butuh petuah. Mereka dianggap sudah memahami segala sesuatunya dan 'beres' dengan diri masing-masing. Padahal di usia ini banyak kecemasan yang terjadi, apalagi di masa modern yang penuh ketidakpastian ini. Pencapaian yang ada tidak mungkin dipertaruhkan, namun rasanya masih banyak yang ingin dieksplorasi. Lebih dari itu, ada kegundahan tentang anak juga orang tua. Melihat ini semua dari perspektif orang yang lebih tua memberi semangat baru; usia 40 itu belum tua-tua banget kok! You're doing fine! Jangan terlalu cemas :)

Saya sendiri saat ini berusia 36 tahun dan merasa relate dengan banyak bahasan di buku ini. Membacanya rasanya hangat walaupun ada beberapa poin yang terasa diulang-ulang dalam beberapa tulisan. ]]> ReadStatus9293023068 Thu, 10 Apr 2025 06:42:28 -0700 /review/show/7477660858 Puty is currently reading Green Dot by Madeleine Gray
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