[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!

[REVIEW] Bitch Planet

Bitch Planet, Vol. 1: Extraordinary Machine by Kelly Sue DeConnick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book 1 was just enough to get a glimpse of a word where women must be compliant, otherwise they are sent out to a facility where they are supposed to be re-educated... but actually never leave.
First time I heard about the Bitch Planet was from a feminist reader I admire who had a non-compliant tattoo. I fell in love with the book without even looking at its cover ahahah and here I am now, enjoying this brutal story. Looking forward for what follows <3
Non-Compliant forever!

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[REVIEW] The Wisdom of Wolves

The Wisdom of Wolves: How Wolves Can Teach Us To Be More Human by Elli H. Radinger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well, I am completely biased in this review for 2 reasons: 1) I am fascinated by wild animals, but I have a soft spot for wolves (and horses); 2) every book about conservationism is for me of utmost importance.
You should pick up this book if you love wolves, to understand more about the species and their behavior, also to understand more why they are vilified by farmers, shepherds and other communities, if you want to learn what to do in case you find yourself facing a wolf (that´s a privilege, by the way!).
5 stars for this book because of the passion with which it is written, but also because after 200-something pages reading about wolves I started wondering if it would be possible to visit Yellowstone to try to see them and, hey!, there are tips at the end of the book even on where to stay (accommodation), behavior in the park and even recommended guides if you are not experienced to go into the park alone!!
Loved it!

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[REVIEW] Digital Minimalism

Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had already read somewhere that Social Media was not making people happier or smarter, but watching The Social Dilema on Netflix was still shocking...
That's what motivated me to read this book and the introduction of the book is very familiar to the Netflix documentary.
The big (and good) difference, is that this book gives us techniques to stay way from the ("evil") apps and also to replace the doom-scroll time by meaningful activities.
What amazed me the most was the benefits of solitude - I made fun of myself so many times for being "anti-social" and trying to avoid people, in particular when I needed to think. I always had a journal since I was a kid and never understood why in tough moments in life, I immediately turn to writing. Or crafting, painting mandalas, making paper flowers. All these actions calm me down but I never had read an explanation for this before, so it was very insightful!
The last part of the book describes several techniques to incorporate technology in life, while paying attention to the time spent using these technologies, and they all make sense.
We should control technology, not the other way around.
If you have social media apps installed in your phone, you should read this book.

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[REVIEW] T-Rex Trying

T-Rex Trying by Hugh Murphy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is so good! So appropriate for T-Rex lovers <3

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