[REVIEW] Rich Dad, Poor Dad

Rich Dad Poor Dad: What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money - That The Poor And Middle Class Do Not! by Robert T. Kiyosaki
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked it, the message opens up a few "windows" and lets you understand that mindset and drive are key for success.
But if the neoliberalism typical of some Americans irritates you, skip this one --> it's all me, me, me at all costs.
Also, not the best language ever, but the topic is not literary fiction or poetry, so don't expect more than a coffee table talk.

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[REVIEW] Faithful Place

Faithful Place by Tana French
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What I think Tana French does really well in this Dublin Murder Squad series is the fact that we´ve met all protagonists in the previous books, so it´s like we already have a relationship with them and in each book we get to know them better...
In this particular book, I cared for Rosie and Francis, I cared for the whole Mackie family who has been trapped in the consequences of alcoholism for their entire lives...
I won´t give away anything from the plot, just say that it is a nice entertaining story to read on raining sunday afternoons or at the beach.


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[REVIEW] Good Talk

Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations by Mira Jacob
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was excellent! Super easy to read, engaging, original and addressing the hot topic of race. Really loved and recommend it to everyone!

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[REVIEW] NW

NW by Zadie Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is my first novel from Zadie Smith and I have seen many reviews stating that Smith's best work are essays not novels. I think I understand why -- this book is not completely easy, in particular for a non-native. It changes structure several times, it introduces us to a character that we end up liking, to later not referring to him again at all... Was that really needed? Maybe yes, to show how everyone knew everyone in that NW neighbourhood...
It also explores the lives of 2 girls, best friends, where 1 is able to be herself with her best-friend, but the other ends up having a (somewhat weird) parallel life. All this is shown, not told, so I think I understood the reasons, but I'll never be sure. Also, the end of the book does not bring closure to many topics and I got the feeling of something almost done but not completed... I cannot explain it better than this...
Basically, I think I got it (but I am not sure LOL) still, I really liked it, enough for a 4 stars rating :-) however, I would definitely NOT recommend this book to everyone.

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[REVIEW] The Client

The Client by John Grisham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was my first re-read! ever!
I remember being at home, 12 or 13 years old, and desperate to find something to do on a rainy week day, during holidays. And suddenly I saw on my mother's bookshelves these "compiled editions" from Reader's Digest. This was one of the 4 stories in that book and I think it was the one that made me fall in love with reading and with mysteries & thrillers...
At that time I might have thought about this book as 5*, today (and 300 books later) it's a 4* but the clear--no bullshit--writing style is still amazing and even comforting...
How different it would be to write this story in a time where 11 year olds have smartphones, ha!
It was a nice travel back in time.
PS - I am not becoming a regular re-reader, too many books to read in life and too little time.


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[REVIEW] The Likeness

The Likeness by Tana French
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nice mystery/thriller, it kept me engaged until the end... I find it hard to believe how someone can be someone else entirely in a few days, but for the purpose of the murder story behind it, I pretend I believed it...

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[REVIEW] Men explain things to me

Men Explain Things to Me: and Other Essays by Rebecca Solnit
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved all Solnit´s essays in this book, from the men who like to explain things to her, to the Pandora box, or closets, which hopefully will never be closed again.
An essay that particularly struck me was about obliteration... how women are obliterated from family trees, and from family names, how you can follow a family lineage and go back even hundreds of years but you will ONLY find the men... however I happen to be reading Sapiens at the same time and the paradox is fascinating: how despite so much effort to obliterate women, nature is actually preserving us --> the only genetic code preserved through time is actually from mothers, inside our mitochondrias, so the origin or root science can actually follow is from the first mother, also known as "Mitochondrial Eve"...
I highly recommend this book, very fast read but very rewarding --> and I came to love Solnit´s writing style!

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[REVIEW] A Discovery of Witches

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

For a few weeks, I tried to gather my thoughts around this book. In particular, how could a book rated as 4 stars on Goodreads, could actually be a 1 star reading for me... But that's the amazing power of books, they depend so much on the story and the writing style, as they depend on the reader's mood, favourite genres, etc...
There are other reviews than summarise the book much better than this one --> for the moment I will just say that this book did much more "tell" than "show" (for example, it tried to convince me the vampire was dangerous, but we only saw him doing yoga, not doing any killing) and it is full of patriarchal elements:
- the most powerful witch ever born is not able to defend her self at all
- the woman's purpose is to have babies
- the woman's life is in danger so the man meets with other man (behind closed doors) to decide what she will do, while she waits outside and knits (... eyes rolling...)

But, hey, there are positive things: the main character is an historian that focused on alchemy --> I am a chemist, so I could I not like this? But I learned very little, so I will focus on alchemistry books instead of this fantasy series.

So, as a summary, and with all due respect for the author and fans, this book is not for me.

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[REVIEW] In the woods

In the Woods by Tana French
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was my first Tana French, and it had been a long time since my last mystery/thriller... So right before the book ended, I was thinking "wait a second, there are not enough pages to figure out everything that happened in this book..." and apparently that's the way Tana French's books are --> the characters are flawed, they make mistakes, not all their issues are solved and they definitely do not live happily ever after.
This is kind of refreshing for me, much more realistic!
So in this one, Rob is a troubled guy, something terrible happened when he was young and it basically ruins him. He might be a good cop, but at some point he let's his fears and emotions gets in the way.
I am giving 4 starts to this book, because it managed to make me angry and frustrated with some characters while keeping me engaged in the story.
I am definitely going to read the rest of the Murder Squad novels!

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um 2021 com muitas vacinas, poucas redes sociais e boas leituras

é o que eu desejo a todos sem excepção!

Gostava imenso que em 2021 as pessoas começassem a passar tanto tempo com livros como o tempo que passam no Instagram, mas já sei que é pedir demais...

OK, segunda tentativa: por favor leiam o Digital Minimalism ou vejam o Social Dilema na Netflix. E mais não digo...

Gostava que em 2021 as livrarias independentes em Portugal deixassem de viver no século XX e apostassem no serviço digital. Nove meses no meio de uma pandemia e ainda há livrarias que não têm um motor de pesquisa decente no site, ou não têm loja online, muitas delas não têm sequer website... amigos, páginas de facebook e blogs não contam... Dói-me na alma querer ajudar o comércio tradicional português e não poder fazer nada online a 2000 km. de distância...

Gostava imenso que em 2021 os telejornais portugueses deixassem de perder 20 minutos com futebol. Que deixassem de mostrar resultados do campeonato de futebol inglês, espanhol, italiano, francês... esqueci-me de algum? É por demais!