[REVIEW] Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness

Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness by Peter Godfrey-Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As I start getting interested in the definition of consciousness and the complexity of the brain, reading about octopuses is the starting point, right?
As a vegetarian, it´s been at least 20 years since the last time I hate octopus, which I don´t regret at all. I didn´t know they like/dislike people, I also didn't know they use tools and were so intelligent --> which means that my next reads need to include the book "Are we smart enough to know how smart animals are?" by Frans de Waal...


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[REVIEW] The Five

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I listened to this audiobook while assembling my new bookshelves, so it was a very introspective process.
It was important for me to learn about these women´s lives to understand how life was difficult for women back in Victorian times. The book sounds very well researched and the author is cautious to use words like "likely" and "probably" when making assumptions about their decisions.
The author is absolutely right when she suggests us - as a society - to stop idolizing the murderer and remember the victims... I think this kind of maturity has still a long way to go in today´s mentalities.

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[REVIEW] Sing, unburied, sing

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

High expectations are always a bad thing. I wanted this book to be a 5* and that's probably what ruined my rating... not ruined, it's a very solid 4*, but not more than that -- for me, of course.
I loved the writing, I loved the touch of magical realism, I cared for Jojo and Kayla from the first pages...
It described perfectly the troubles of a struggling family without ever telling too much... a mother with an addiction, the kids' feelings for their absent mom and dad, disease... the amount of magic was enough until the last chapters: when it started to sound more like exorcism, and everyone was "gifted" to see dead people, the book lost me a bit... solid 4*, but not 5.
In the end, I feel the author made an effort to remind the readers of the ones who suffered horrible deaths and should be always remembered and acknowledged, never forgotten. I liked that!

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[REVIEW] Upstream

Upstream: Selected Essays by Mary Oliver
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So, it´s time to say goodbye to this collection…
I have been reading and re-reading it and never wanting to stop… Jumping from page 56, to 21, to 110, to 5 … It was like that for more than 2 years...
The only solution I found was to buy other Mary Oliver´s books (2) in the meanwhile, so I could have (2) reasons to take this one away from my night stand. And so I did, I finished it.
I enjoyed all her reflections, although as a vegetarian I struggled a bit while reading about eating turtle eggs… The chapter about Whitman was not so simple, I took my time and probably need to revisit it a few more times before fully understand it --> it´s poetry in a language different than my native one, after all…
But it´s beautiful! It´s peaceful, it highlighted beauty in birds, dogs, wind, trees… it made me love just the fact I am alive…


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[REVIEW] On Immunity

On Immunity: An Inoculation by Eula Biss
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Imagine you are a scientist (like me) and you read a book about vaccination written by a poet (like Eula Biss)... Now imagine you would stop several times along the book reading to think "How come I cannot write science like this?"
Can you imagine how I am feeling right now?

Well, I have to be honest, the book is not about science only, it explores a lot of scientific concepts, but it´s essentially an exploration of the vaccination subject: the origin of the word, the concept of strange bodies entering our body, conscientious objectors, individualism, public health, pollution & contamination...
I did not feel influenced by the writing or by the author´s opinion, but I have to be honest, my opinion on this subject is too strong to be influenced by anyone... so you might feel differently while you are reading it.
Nevertheless, the language is so rich, and the book travels so far and visits so many new places, you should give it a chance!

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escrever

Tive 1 semana de férias em tempo de COVID e andei satisfeita por estar em férias e triste por andar pela vizinhança e não poder aspirar a outras paragens...
Depois comecei a fazer contas. Não há nada pior do que pegar numa folha de excel e fazer contas... contas à vida!
Contei e apontei os lugares que quero visitar. Contei as horas de trabalho por semana, e as horas de lazer. Contei anos de vida. E contei os anos que me separam de uma coisa que eu gostava muito de fazer e já não faço. A "coisa" é escrever e passaram-se 15 anos.
São 15 anos de novas rotinas, novos hobbies e responsabilidades. É quase uma nova vida! Será que vale a pena sequer tentar?

[REVIEW] A little history of philosophy

A Little History of Philosophy by Nigel Warburton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am a scientist and never really managed to like philosophy until very recently (when my interest for neurology touched philosophy). And this was exactly what I needed. It gave me a short summary of all "famous" philosophers and managed to connect them along the way. Super accessible!

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Black Lives Matter

[REVIEW] The Complete MAUS

The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book doesn't need introductions. It also doesn't need any review from me: it's one of the highest rated books on Goodreads, it won the Pulitzer prize... I mean, do you really need an excuse to read this?
But here is what I would like to share with you: read this, and read more. You might fall in love with reading, if you're not already there. Some experts suggest we are already forgetting that the Holocaust really happened, some schools would like to remove the subject from history books becasue it's not appropriate to children...
Please, read this, share it with your friends and family and make sure Humanity willl never forget one of the darkest episodes of its History.

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[REVIEW] "After the crash"

After the Crash by Michel Bussi
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

What a disaster... I should have DNF-ed this book around page 100 or 150, when the writing became annoying... not sure if the problem was the author or the translator, but annoying nevertheless...
I don’t like when narrators give clues, click bite style, and then say “but I am greeting ahead of myself” or “but you will see what I mean”... the story was not motivating me at all, I had no sympathy by any of the characters, so those clues felt like a desperate way to keep me reading.
I also did not like as women were portrayed in general: good characters are beautiful and a body like a model (or big boobs!), bad characters a ugly and the body is weirdly developed, bitchy characters don’t want kids... [rolling my eyes]
Than, so many shots fired but no ones calls the police! A very noisy-gossipy neighbour knows all the cars parked in his block but did not hear the gunshot... oh, for Christ sake... what a waste of time...

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