First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?  If you want to make your own post, feel free to use or edit the banner above, and follow the rules below:

• Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
• Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
• Finally… reveal the book!

***

Hello! 

It's Friday again and it's time for First Line Fridays. For today FLF, I will choose a lines from a story that I've just finished. To be honest, I think I should read the story again because, even though it's only a short story, it contained a lot of philosophical thought.

So, here is the first lines for today's FLF.

With a clamor of bells that set the swallows soaring, the Festival of Summer came to the city Omelas, bright-towered by the sea.

Actually, in this first line, you can exactly know what's the story it is, right?

The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin

Source: Goodreads.com

Blurb:

Some inhabitants of a peaceful kingdom cannot tolerate the act of cruelty that underlies its happiness.
The story "Omelas" was first published in New Dimensions 3, a hard-cover science fiction anthology edited by Robert Silverberg, in October 1973, and the following year it won Le Guin the prestigious Hugo Award for best short story.
It was subsequently printed in her short story collection The Wind's Twelve Quarters in 1975.

I read this book because of Spring Day by BTS. Yep, it is believed that the music video of Spring Day used this story as reference. So, to know more about the story, I decided to read it.

That's all for today's FLF. How about you, guys?

Sincerely,

Ra

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl since January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

***

Whoaa. Today's TTT is a little bit difficult for me as I rarely check out the upcoming release book. But, maybe I should try to dig more about this. Well, it would be nice if I can find a book that I really want to read, right?

1. A Sky Beyond the Storm - Sabaa Tahir

I choose the fourth book for this series not because I have read all of the books before. I just remember that I have read the first book and I really love it. Back then when I was in college, I really wait for the second book. Then, I got busy with college stuff and end up haven't read the series yet. 

Well, knowing that the fourth book is coming makes me exciting about this series. I should read the previous book soon, I supposed.

Expected publication: December 1st 2020

2. Dust (Heirs of Neverland #1) - Kara Swanson

To be honest I just curious with the premise of this book. Seems like it's about retelling Peter Pan story. Well, reading a YA book is my favorite, tho. Maybe I can give it a try to read this book.

Expected publication: July 21st 2020

3. Instant Karma - Marissa Meyer

I recognized Marissa Meyer from her Lunar Chronicle's series. I like the way she composed the story. Then, when I search about the upcoming book release, I found that Meyer will publish a contemporary romance book. Well, it's a little bit different from her YA fantasy series. I just want to know how Meyer executes this genre.

Expected publication: November 3rd 2020

4. The Shadows - Alex North

I interest to read this book because of the excerpt. Even though I couldn't watch either horror or thriller movie, but I wouldn't mind to read. So, reading a mystery book like this would be very exciting for me.

Expected publication: July 7th 2020

5. Girl, Serpent, Thorn - Melissa Bashardoust

Another book from the upcoming book release that I interest because of the excerpt. Fantasy is one of my favorite genre. So, it makes me wonder how bad is the curse that Soraya have to carry?

Expected publication: July 7th 2020

6. His & Hers - Alice Feeney

To be honest, I never read a modern crime book as long as I remember. I mean, I always read Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot's story. So, I think reading the modern one would be another experience for me. 

For this book, I interest with the premise and wondering what's happening actually? Who is the actual murder? How the two main characters would be connected?

Expected publication: July 28th 2020

7. The Wicked Sister - Karen Dionne

I think I always interest to read a mystery story. This book is ofc one of book that I interests. From the excerpt, I am wondering what the real mystery that happened in this book? Who is the one who murdered her parents? It makes me curious.

Expected publication: August 4th 2020

8. The Lion of Fifth Avenue - Fiona Davis

It's been a while since the last time I read a historical fiction. This book is really interesting for me because the main character is starting to question her traditional role as wife and mother. Hmm, it's very interesting how the story build around Laura Lyons.

Expected publication: August 4th 2020

9. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars - Christopher Paolini

Last week, I said that Eragon is one of my TBR that I haven'r finished yet. But, when I saw the name of Chritoper Paolini in the upcoming book list, I immediately click the book. Well, this book is about human and alien. I think the journey would be very interesting.

Expected publication: September 15th 2020

10. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - V.E. Schwab

When you have sealed a deal with a devil and there's something that not supposed to be happened is happening, it's time to question what's happening.

The premise of this book is very interesting. I wonder what happened to Addie's deal? How come someone can recognized her? Or, maybe that person is not a human?

Expected publication: October 6th 2020

To be honest, I tried to find any Indonesian book that will be released on 2020. Unfortunately, I have no clue about this. Sigh. I know that this list is super random because I never check any upcoming release book before, but, well, I have a lot of fun when searching these book.

So, what's on your list for today's TTT? It would be very interesting to share what book that we waited the most.

Sincerely,

Ra

Stay Gold. Source: YouTube/Big Hit

On 26th June 2020, BTS has released their newest MV for their Japanese album, which is Stay Gold. After I watched the MV, I really want to make a review for this MV. After I watched again and tried to analyze it--not as detailed as the other ARMY, I supposed, I will try to share my thinking regarding Stay Gold here. 

The Song

At first, Stay Gold song has released one week before if i am not mistaken. I have listened the song via Spotify. You can try to listen it here.

At first, from what I listen and read through the lyrics, I believe that this song is for ARMY. Well, in the chorus, BTS emphasizes how someone should stay gold even though its in a dream. It's like how dark and painful the world is, we should always try to get up and stay strong. 

If we connect the content of the song to the MV, I think we could see clearly how this song will be related to ARMY.

The full lyrics could be read here. I take the full-translation lyrics from Bangtan Subs.

It reminds me of I Need You MV

When I watched the MV, I can feel the I Need You vibe from Stay Gold. Either it's because I just watched I Need You MV again before watch Stay Gold, or it's just because the ambiance is very similar to I Need You. But, the main concept is the same.

In Stay Gold, all of the boys is alone in their room. The looks so depressed and lonely. But, when they are together, we can see they will full of happiness. Even though it has I Need You vibe, I could see the different between I Need You and Stay Gold. 

In I Need You, we can see that all of the boys are torn apart. The happy moment is in the past. It's not the future. In Stay Gold, that happy moment is the ending of the boys' misery.

Reference from the old MV?

Even though I said that Stay Gold gives me I Need You vibe, I noticed that most of the scene at Stay Gold is resembled to so many scene from the other MV. But, most of the scene in my opinion is resembled to Fake Love. 

As I said before, Stay Gold MV begins with a scene for every member in separate room. All of them looks very lonely and sad.

The first member that appeared is Jungkook. He walked through a corridor that of course very resembles to Fake Love scene. Here is the scene that I think very similar between Stay Gold and Fake Love.

Corridor at Stay Gold.

Corridor at Fake Love.

After walking through the corridor, then Jungkook tried to look something from the window. I don't know why, but it remind me of when Jin want to close the curtain in the Fake Love MV Extended version.

Jungkook open the curtain at Stay Gold.

Jin close the curtain at Fake Love.

In the next scene, we can see Suga who sat in the middle of the room, alone. Ahh, I forget to mention. From this scene, we can see that the house where the boys stay is like has been destroyed. A lot of broken things scattered all around the floor, every corner of the room is very dirty and dark. I wonder what's the exact meaning behind of this house. 

Then, back to Suga's scene, I think this scene is similar to the similar scene at Fake Love.

Suga sat down in his room alone at Stay Gold.

Suga sat down in his room alone at Fake Love.

After Suga, we can see Jin lay on the bed, just like what V did on On Stage: Prologue and Euphoria. In this point, I am starting to questioning, why Jin who lied there?

Jin laying down on the bed at Stay Gold.

V laying down on the bed at On Stage: Prologue

The other scene is very vague for me. I mean, I don't think there is a direct reference for RM, Jimin, V, and J-Hope scene.

But, somehow the ambiance from RM's scene makes me remember about Fake Love teaser, especially the Magic Shop part. 

Then, about Jimin's, I don't have much clue. If we talked about a bus scene, as long as I remember, the bus scene only appeared on Love Yourself Highlight Reels. Then, about how Jimin looks so uncomfortable when laying down, it reminds me of when Jin struggle with his ability to time travel in most of MV and short films.

RM scene at Stay Gold.

Jimin scene at Stay Gold.

After that, we can see V and J-Hope on different room. For this, we can see V sat down in front of the fireplace and surrounded by a lot of books. At the other hand, we can see J-Hope who sat on the kitchen. I don't have any idea which scene that resembles from those two scene.

But, if I am being honest, V's scene reminds me of his scene on Fire. Yeah, when he played the video game. It's a little bit similar but with different emotion. Then, about J-Hope and the kitchen scene, I don't think there is a kitchen scene aside from Blood, Sweat, and Tears Japanese Version. 

V in front of the fireplace at Stay Gold.

J-Hope in the kitchen at Stay Gold.

When all of the boys feel very hopeless, finally a golden sparkle appear and lead the boys to leave their room. After that, we can see the important scene from the whole MV, which is the lake of paradise. I don't know how to name that place, but it looks like a meadow in the heaven.

For me, this scene is of course reminds me of Spring Day. It's like a reminder about how every winter will pass and the spring day will come. I mean, it will be very related to the MV. 

The lake of paradise at Stay Gold.

The spring tree at Spring Day.

Why I named it as the lake of paradise, it's because of the lyrics itself. I take the translation lyrics from Bangtan Subs.

Just close your eyes 

Don’t say anything 

I’ll steal your heart 

Just like magic

I’ll show you what a miracle is (Yeah) 

Reach out that hand

This verse definitely talk about magic and miracle, which is could be relate to heaven. Just like at We are Bulletproof: The Eternal lyrics, "We got to heaven". 

Because in the beginning of this MV I said that this song is dedicated to ARMY. So, I believe that golden sparkle will lead BTS to ARMY. You can see there are a lot f purple flower there. I don't know whether the sparkle itself represented ARMY or not, but whatever it is, that sparkle lift up BTS from the darkest place.

Conclusion

Even though this MV is noat part of Bangtan Universe, I believe there are a lot of reference from the old MV. Then, I believe too that there are a lot of hidden meaning for every scene. Even though I said that this MV has I Need You vibe but with happy ending, I ain't 100% sure, tho. I assumed that it has happy ending because the golden sparkle can going through all over the place in that crumble house.

Morever, there is a scene when V touch the tree in the lake of paradise and the golden sparkle started to spread everywhere. Therefore, I come into conclusion that this MV has a happy ending.

Well, because I haven't being a dedicated ARMY who can decipher all of the scene from the MV, I just can share what I saw and what I feel when watch it. But, maybe you have another perspective regarding this MV? Lemme know about it.

Sincerely,

Ra

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?  If you want to make your own post, feel free to use or edit the banner above, and follow the rules below:

• Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
• Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
• Finally… reveal the book!

***

Whoa, it's been ages since the last time I write for First Line Fridays. But, well, if I want to be a so-called active blogger again, I need to try to write more, right? So, basically try to fill my blog with weekly meme would be very fun.

So, here is the first lines for today's FLF.

What? Battle Royale? "What's Battle Royale?" Come on, don't tell me you don't know that!?

Well, it's not that hard what books that has that line's right? Just read on to find out the book.

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

Source: goodreads.com

Blurb:

Koushun Takami's notorious high-octane thriller is based on an irresistible premise: a class of junior high school students is taken to a deserted island where, as part of a ruthless authoritarian program, they are provided arms and forced to kill one another until only one survivor is left standing. Criticized as violent exploitation when first published in Japan - where it then proceeded to become a runaway bestseller - Battle Royale is a Lord of the Flies for the 21st century, a potent allegory of what it means to be young and (barely) alive in a dog-eat-dog world. Made into a controversial hit movie of the same name, Battle Royale is already a contemporary Japanese pulp classic, now available for the first time in the English language

I read this book to fulfill my reading challenge, Balabala Reading Challenge 2020. At first, I thought I won't enjoy it. But, the more I read this book, the more I want to know the finale from this book.

But, even though this book has the movie adaptation, I don't think I could watch it since I really hate a thriller movie.

So, what are you reading this week, guys? Lemme know about it.

Sincerely,

Ra

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl since January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

***

Well, it's very explainable why I choose this topic for today's TTT. When I visit The Artsy Reader Girl, today's TTT is Top Ten Tuesday Turns 10! Option 1: pick a past TTT topic you've done and re-do/update it, and Option 2: pick a past TTT topic you wish you'd done, but didn't get a chance to do.

To be honest, I've got a blogging slumps because so many things happened to me. So, I will choose the second option for today's TTT. Therefore, I choose this topic, books that have been in my TBR the longest and I still haven't read. Most of the books will be a popular book that I really want to read, but I still haven't do it.

1. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs

Since the first time I saw the cover of this book, I feel very curious about the story. Moreover, after its movie released. It makes me more and more curious. I remember I've have the ebook for this book, but then I lost my phone, and it's the end of the story. 

Until now, I haven't read this book yet.

2. To All The Boys I've Loved Before - Jenny Han

Okaaay.. I admit that I have watched the movie. At first, I really want to read the novel first, then watch the movie. Unfortunately, that temptation is bigger. So, I watched it before reading the novel. I just know from my conversation with my friend, there are some different between the movie and the book--well, apparently it happened all the time for novel adaptation.

3. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

I know that Little Women is a phenomenal work. I want to read this novel since high school. But, yeah, me being me. I could't concentrate when reading classic novel--I still remember I give up to read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. At the end, this novel is one of the longest book in my TBR.

4. Eragon - Christopher Paolini

I have to admit that I ever try to read this book. But, as I remember back then, I am kind of in the middle of my high school activity that consume almost of my times. So, I've run out of my time to read this book in time--back then, I have to borrow this book from the library. After that, I don't have a chance to borrow again and until now, I haven't finished to read this book.

5. A Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin

I want to read this book before I know about the series. I always love a fantasy book. So, it's very make sense if I want to read this book. Since I know that the story in the Game of Thrones will be a little bit disturbing, I think I just want to read the story, not watch the series. 

6. Red Queen - Victoria Aveyard

I don't know whether this book will be have the same vibe as Cinder or not, but I curious with the story that will be unfolded in this book. Moreover, the cover has captivated me since the first time I saw it. But, yeah, just like the others book, I haven't read it yet until now.

7. Harry Potter and International Relations - ed by Daniel H. Nexon and Iver B. Neumann

How if we can combine the magic word into academic? This book is the answer. I know about this book since in college and I really want to read it. Sadly, I haven't got a chance to read it. Even, I don't know where to find this book. As I remember, in my university library, this book is not available too. Sigh. I really want to know how these two things can be related. 

8. Jingga untuk Matahari - Esti Kinasih

This is one of my long awaited novel. I mean, I have followed the series since in middle school. I waited for this book for so long. At the end, this book is published when I was in college. Somehow, I have lost interest to read it. But, in some point, I would like to know the continuation of the whole series. Still, until now, after I've graduated, I haven't read this book yet.

9. 1984 - George Orwell

After I read Animal Farm, of course I curious with 1984. I want to know how George Orwell build his story that very phenomenal. But, maybe because I've limited English skill, I couldn't enjoyed this book that much. Therefore, I haven''t finished to read this book. I think, I only can read the first chapter. I should give it a try some day.

10. The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I've know this book for so long. To be honest, I interest to read this book because even though this a children book, you will get a lot of philosophical thought after reading it. I have added this book on my reader apps, but until now, I haven't finished this book. I forget about this book's existence until BTS--yeah, the biggest K-pop band in the world, held their FESTA Celebration. 

One of main theme from their celebration is about this book--well, some ARMY decipher all of the content regarding FESTA and it leads to The Little Prince. Moreover, when Suga held his weekly 06.13 Kkul FM Radio, he and Jungkook took this story for their segment. At the end, I remember that I haven't finished to read this book and it has been on my reading apps for a very long time. Smh. 

That's all for my today's TTT. I am very glad that I can share with you. And, maybe happy 10th years TTT! Thank you for always giving inspirations and place to share the bookish experience everywhere.

Sincerely, 

Ra