00:29am · a letter to life

I will love you forever in darkness and sun, 

I'll love you past when my whole sweet life is done. — Arthur

I don't remember where did I see this book or what makes me want to read this book. I might found it while scrolling down the bookstagram and got interested in the review made by the person who posted it. The Story of Arthur Truluv -- Upon reading it, I'm wondering what's the story about and what will make me fall in love with this masterpiece? Let's keep on reading to know my thoughts on this book!

The Story of Arthur Truluv is written by Elizabeth Berg, an American novelist who was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA. She is one of the New York Times bestselling author of many novels, including The Year of Pleasures, Say When, The Art of Mending, True To Form and Never Change. Elizabeth Berg also writes non-fiction genre which is Escaping into the Open: The Art of Writing True.

Synopsis

A beautiful, life-affirming novel about a remarkably loving man who creates for himself and others second chances at happiness.

A moving novel about three people who find their way back from loss and loneliness to a different kind of happiness. Arthur, a widow, meets Maddy, a troubled teenage girl who is avoiding school by hiding out at the cemetery, where Arthur goes every day for lunch to have imaginary conversations with his late wife, and think about the lives of others. The two strike up a friendship that draws them out of isolation. Maddy gives Arthur the name Truluv, for his loving and positive responses to every outrageous thing she says or does. With Arthur’s nosy neighbor Lucille, they create a loving and unconventional family, proving that life’s most precious moments are sweeter when shared.

Published Date: July 25,2017 | Publisher: Random House

The Story of Arthur Truluv Review

Truly a beautiful book to read. Upon reading the snippet mentioned on the cover of the book, I keep on wondering what will make me fall in love with the story and the characters. Reading this book feels like cruising over a wonderful journey. No adrenaline rush, less curiosity but more pleasure. I love it! It's about the lost and lonely people who find their way to each other and create a new kind of happiness and hope. Despite the different situations, the age gap, and the personality, it proves that we still can connect with other people, and being kind and understanding is the key to everything. How I wish we could really create this kind of peace and warm place here in the real world. No hatred, no bitter heart, no negativity that stresses you out, only the little blessing we will cherish.

Arthur Moses is an incredibly old man who visits his wife’s grave every day for a chat because he believes she’s still there. Maddy, a broken teenager who lost her mother calls him Truluv for his devotion to his late wife and they eventually become friends. They, as well as Arthur’s nosy lonely neighbor named Lucille, have built an unconventional family together. Not biologically related but fully supportive and caring.

This book is full of sweetness and sentimental values and if you asked me to reread this book, I definitely will. A light book to read in between your fantasy and thriller book. I wish I could ask everyone to read this so we could be kind to each other even though we are all strangers regardless of what we are; black or white, poor or rich, pretty or ugly, and so on. And no matter how hard the world knocks you down, how people disappoint you, or how things don't go the way you want them to be, you could always create your own happiness. Not only twice or thrice but more than you are willing to do to make yourself happy.

Rating: ★★★★★

Isn’t life funny? It could drive you crazy if you thought about it too much. Turn this way and that happens. Turn that way and this happens. — Elizabeth Berg

Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us. — Jane Austen

I am intrigued to read a classic book since I never read any of them. And for the very obvious reason why I pick this Pride and Prejudice, my mind told me it's gonna be a romantic novel so yeah why not give it a try since everyone is talking about it. Even the movie is quite hype. There you go then!

Pride and Prejudice is a masterpiece by Jane Austen and was written in 1813 as a novel of manners. She is an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Her novels have inspired many films, such as Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Love & Friendship.

Synopsis

Since its immediate success in 1813, Pride and Prejudice have remained one of the most popular novels in the English language. Jane Austen called this brilliant work "her own darling child" and its vivacious heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print." The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and her proud beau, Mr. Darcy, is a splendid performance of civilized sparring. And Jane Austen's radiant wit sparkles as her characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, making this book the most superb comedy of manners of Regency England.

Published Date: October 10th, 2000 (first published January 28th 1813) | Publisher: Modern Library

Pride and Prejudice Review

Intrigued by this classic is the reason why I take the chance to read it. I have a little worry about not understanding the figure of speech used in this book and to be honest it's a challenging book to read since English ain’t my first language. But I finally did it anyway with the help of a dictionary and Mr. Google yeay.

This book revolves around love, social status, reputation, and as well as the dangers of false perception. It taught me about something I shouldn't do to someone, like having a bad perception of someone who I don't even know yet. I had a wrong prediction about how the story goes. The rich are portrayed as someone who always thinks highly of themselves. A typical how rich people behave up until nowadays. Something that can never be fixed no matter how many lessons existed out there. While the other character (Elizabeth) always has an advanced judgment against someone which only causes a great misunderstanding. I love how the story unfolds the tension between each other that they acknowledge their mistakes and try to fix them in a good manner. And despite the habit rich must marry rich for the sake of reputation and protect their wealth, this book proves that love conquers all. It's a good read but somehow I think classic is just not my forte. 

My favorite you-go-girl scene in the book is when Elizabeth is being annoyingly persistent in defending her relationship with Mr. Darcy against Lady Catherine who forbids her from marrying him. She pissed her off despite her high social rank because Elizabeth don't give a damn about it. Definitely love this.

Rating: ★★★★

Synopsis

A Heart So Fierce and Broken Review

Image by Angela Lo

I finally learned how to respect my feelings and boundaries. It has been a tough journey but now, knowing that caring about something worthless is really a waste of time and energy, I choose to completely ignore it. Some people often say that I am too sensitive and fragile and weak, so I unequip and get rid of my emphatic traits for them. I bet they have no idea how much it would affect my personality. Telling a person to be less sensitive means telling them to be heartless. The truth of excessive emotions means we all just feel a little too much and everything goes straight to our hearts. And logically, it's not our choice but it's naturally running in the vein.

Now that I am ruined and become total heartless, the feeling is quite a blessing, To turn myself into a winter cold person ain't that easy and it takes time. It's the same as when you try to move on from your ex-partner but keep on remembering your sweet moments together, or that you said you want to have a healthy lifestyle and wanting to lose some weight but still cannot throw away your bad eating habits! When you were being treated badly and someone disrespects your boundaries, stop giving them chances. You don't give them chances to appreciate you but you simply give them chances to rip your soul off. There's a fine line between patience and stupidity. Don't be stupid.

Some might argue that it's not a good thing to do. Like when they say, kalau orang berik bunga, kita berik bunga. Kalau orang berik kita taik, kita berik bunga juak. But it's just ridiculous. I'd rather give them nothing in return which is buat bodoh and distance myself. I'm being kind enough not to start a silly fight. Being heartless doesn't mean I'm turning myself into a bad person. But it means I am having enough and I no longer have the energy to deal with the toxicity or things that hurt me. x

Image by Kristine Wook

Salam aidil adha. Due to this still-crazy pandemic, today hari raya can only be celebrated within family members. No cousins, no friends. But still feeling grateful for the small gathering and the meals! Now let's talk about my covid vaccine story cause this post is purposely created for that experience.

I am the last person in the family to get the vaccine shot and I am honestly anxious that my name is not being selected yet lol. When the AZ vaccine application was open for all Malaysian, we all tried our best to register our names. And my little sister, the first to get the vaccine is helping us out. But none of us were lucky as the application has been fully booked.

Even though we could not squeeze in our names, my siblings and my parents finally got their registration approved after a few days. So they all got their first AZ vaccine while I was still putting on the hope that I would get it. I kept on refreshing my MySejahtera and updating my profile yet nothing, no vaccine offer, no notification.

After a week or maybe two weeks, my friend told me to just walk into one of the vaccination facilities where her friend is working. She tried giving her my name for registration but unfortunately, it was fully booked too. Haih malang sungguh. Pun masih tak dapat. Then I got another text message from my friend asking for my personal details untuk diberikan kepada staff yang kerja dekat vaccination facility tu. And my stepmother also asking for my details to forward it to her friend yang ada kenalan di pusat vaksin tu jugak. I think the next day or perhaps after two days both of them asking me if I got a call for a vaccine shot or not. I jawab tak ada punnnn! 

But my stepmother's friend told me to just go to the vaccination facility that she mentioned cause my name has been registered. I was quite unsure since I got no phone call from them. Nanti tak pasal-pasal kena maki dan kena halau pulak. That time I was working and baju penuh tepung sebab seharian buat kuih and I got no time for a change so terus ke pusat vaksin. Bau peluh pun bau lah ~

By the time I reached there, tak ada banyak orang pun. I just walked in and follow instructions given by anggota rela yang berkerja disana. It's finally my turn! Akhirnya penantian yang ditunggu-tunggu. I've been given a pfizer vaccine and macam biasa since my family all got their AZ, silly thoughts came playing in my head. No offend but I'm kinda scared with the side effect lol. And the funny thing is I even imagined what if we will be separate based on what vaccine we got just like those in Divergent series. Scary!

Disebabkan i sorang dapat pfizer, they are all dengki with me lol. I honestly don't care what vaccine i got and i don't understand why comparing vaccine has become a big deal. Yang penting dapat vaksin kan. I will get my second dose next week and hope that everything will be fine. Dengar cerita second dose will be quite heavy. As for the first shot, I tak demam or tak ada rasa apa-apa. Just that tangan lenguh dan penat lepas kena cucuk.

So this is how I got my covid vaccine yeay. Moga kita semua dilindungi dan dijauhi dari penyakit bahaya macam covid ni. Stay safe and take care semua! x