March in books

 

It seems like as the months pass my motivation to read keep declining. Reading slump almost got me, if it wasn't for Bolitho I might as well have stopped at 2 books this month. 

Unfortunately for my year-long challenges I eneded up DNFing most of the books that fit the prompts I tried to complete and decided to just read whatever else caught my fancy, which migh change the game completely for the rest of the year :p 

Bateau Mouche: Uma Tragédia Brasileira, Ivan Sant'Anna

That was pretty interesting, it's a relatively new tragedy, I was 4 years old when that happened. And as it happened here in Brazil, it hits closer to home. As always it got a bit boring when talking abt the investigation but that's a me problem. Pretty solid research.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Eversion, Alastair Reynolds

Hadn't read a sci-fi book in a while. The parts set in the past/on a ship were of course much more interesting to me, so it took me a while to get used to the future/sci-fi part, and by then it got more and more predictable, but it was a fun read nonetheless.

⭐⭐⭐

Pílulas Azuis, Frederik Peeters

Another graphic novel abt a relationship, the art seemed good at first but the faces threw me off a bit. I thought it would focus more on the couple raising their family so it was a bit disappointing when that didn't happen.  

⭐⭐1⁄2

Richard Bolitho — Midshipman, Alexander Kent
For a while there I thought this was going to be another case of the perfect main character who can do no wrong, but beside the cliché superior who bullies the MC and him kinda taking control of the whole mission  and knowing exactly what to do at 16 years old, Bolitho and the rest of the characters kinda grew on me, and I'm actually excited to continue the series and see them growing up and moving up the ranks!   

⭐⭐⭐1⁄2

The Fancy Dancer, Patricia Nell Warren

Oh how I struggled with this one. It was mostly cheesy, kind of racist, and oh my god I wanted to punch Vidal so much, what an overall awful character. 

⭐⭐⭐

Claude gueux, Victor Hugo

This is Les Mis redux with an actual essay on human rights. Short and to the point, you go Victor Hugo, say your thing!

⭐⭐⭐

Kurangaituku, Whiti Hereaka

I'm so mad with this book because I just discovered the physical copy is a double sided book, and because the ebook doesn't explicitly say anything I got confused when the story started repeating itself. I really enjoyed it, especially the beginning. Hands down one of the most striking first chapters I've ever read. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This month's DNFs:

• The Wild Iris, Louise Glück - I tried, but I'm just not feeling poetry anomore.
• The Man Who Spoke Snakish, Andrus Kivirähk - Second try for this book and it started out very interesting but kind of nothing was happening and I got bored.
• The Woman Next Door, Yewande Omotoso - I was just not feeling it.
• O Pintor Debaixo do Lava-Loiças, Afonso Cruz - I really want to give another Afonso Cruz book a try bcs I realy enjoyed the one I read but I'm still not in the mood for funny/witty books.
• enquanto os dentes, Carlos Eduardo Pereira - Another second try. Boring.
• Lapvona, Ottessa Moshfegh - I don't get these books where everything seems forcefully gritty and graphic and gory and everyone is poor and suffering, that does absolutely nothing for me.
• O Duplo, Fiódor Dostoiévski - Oh I tried with this one, I really did, but I was getting so mad the the characters I just couldn't go on.
• O Último Homem, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - I was bored and the book was too freaking long for that.