Serat Kalbu, A book club

I’m delighted to introduce you to “Serat Kalbu,” the book club I founded yesterday. The name is derived from two Javanese words: “Serat” (writing or text) and “Kalbu” (heart or soul). It reflects our shared love of heartfelt literature, and I think it’s a lovely yet meaningful name for our book club. The name also conveys the idea of teading which, to me, is a meditative process that reminds me to fully appreciate the present moment, and I hope Serat Kalbu will provide us with the very same experience.

The book club currently consists of my friends, but anyone is welcome to join. We’re an online community dedicated to exploring the world of literature and deepening our understanding of life and humanity. Our book choices will range from fiction to nonfiction, from classic to contemporary, and from well-known authors to emerging authors. Every month, we’ll pick a book to read and gather for a fun and inspiring discussion. Serat Kalbu is a place where we can share our reading experiences, deepen our friendships, and broaden our horizons.

To make it easy to stay in touch and share our book recommendations, I’ve created an Instagram account for the book club. However, I plan to run the club in the same way I enjoy reading my books – for fun and without pressure. Here’s a sneak peek at one of our first posts, which recommends heartwarming books worth to read during Ramadan.

I have to admit that my experience of reading has been dominated by non-Indonesian authors. It’s not because Indonesian books aren’t good – in fact, I’m sure they are – but rather because I had very limited access to them. As a broke freshman, I could only read pirated or free books, and the only way to access Indonesian books was by spending money. During my semester breaks, I would spend most of my days at the Gramedia or university library from the moment they opened until maghrib, and I became so well-known to the employees that they recognized me on sight. This habit eventually led me to become more accustomed to reading books in languages other than Bahasa Indonesia.