ROLAND GARROS: Yays and Nays

I know that I mostly write about books and tv shows in this blog but to be completly honest, my heart is since long ago occupied by a bigger passion: tennis (Rafael Nadal, oléeee).

This week saw the start of one of biggest and most imortant tournaments of the year, a tournament that belongs to the Grand Slam category and that is one of my favs because it's clay, it's green and orange, it's Rafael Nadal's kingdom (rip for that announcement tho)....so to celebrate this wonderful time of the year, and one of the few tournaments that gathers girls and boys and where everyone takes their best outfit, I'm going to be the fashion police of this Roland Garros.

I know, I never ever comment on looks (even if I swoon over them) but tennis outfits are more than just meet the eye and so I'm going to write about them. And it's probably something I'm never going to write about ever but here we go, let's check the ground and what everyone's wearing!


[let's keep in mind, though, this is a sports event and everyone is supposed to be comfortable!]

YAYS

(via Bola Amarela)

 You'll excuse me but I thought of writing this because I saw Alizé Lim wearing dungarees!!!!! They are soooo cool and Alizé Lim is looking so good, this is definitely the coolest outfit in Roland Garros and also probably the coolest outfit ever in the history of tennis! Apparently Lim drew her own outfit for Le Coq Sportif and these are basically the dungarees I NEED to have for every single sporty or leisure activity. Quoting ABBA: "Gimme, gimme, gimme!"

(via Zimbio)

The gorgeous Laura Robson and possibly a few other gorgeous girls wore this cute Nike outfit. We thank you, Nike, for giving us this pleated skirt that goes well with everything, and especially for giving us this skirt in a tournemnts where Adidas decided to take zebras for a walk.

(via Zimbio)

My countryman João Sousa, David Ferrer, Sam Groth and a few other lads have been wearing this Lotto shirt for a few tournaments now but I love it so much! I like the colour and I like how it looks so soft and comfy. I want to bury my face in this shirt and sleep with it. It looks so soft, it could be in an ad about clothes detergent. I find it hard to believe that this shirt isn't too warm to play in but....softnessssss. 

NAYS

WHO. LET. THE. ZEBRAS. OUT. WHO. WHO. WHO.
Remember the music? Yeah, so did Adidas.
Adidas thought it was a good idea to do this to like 10 players and transform our lovely clay into a savannah.

And to think Tomas Berdych left H&M for this.........
(In the pics: Alexader Zverev and Ana Ivanovic)

 (via Zimbio)

I think Jan-Lennard Struff buys his own clothes and doesn't have a sponsor which okay, doesn't make it so bad, but still I have to wonder: why these shorts?

 (via Zimbio)

Stanislas Wawrinka and his reflective vest, courtesy of Yonex, just in case a collision happens on court and he needs one. It's better than his shorts from last year and it looks great in shadow-y photos....

And that's that! I'm very surprised that I wasn't able to include Bethany Mattek on this list but to be honest I don't recall seeing her around the French Open.... anyone knows where this fashion icon is hiding these days?

Me Thinks #4: We Were Liars

Title: We Were Liars
Author: E. Lockhart
Year / Pages: 2014 / 312
Discription here

Rating: 4 de 5 pastilhas-elásticas

WHAT THE EFF??? WHAT IS THIS? WHAT EVEN HAPPENED IN THIS BOOK? JESUS H. ROOSEVELT, SWEET MOTHER OF CHRIST....WHAT HAVE I JUST READ????

I just finished this book this mornin. It's a book that you read super fast, I did it in 3/4 days.... I know that there are people who are on their toes waiting to see what happens next but to be honest, I didn't feel that with this book and I didn't really feel excited to finish it.

I didn't know what was going to happen, even though I did imagine that nothing good was going to come out of this book but I can't exactly say that I was very surprised about this ending either! I feel that it might have been because I had a hundred theories on my mind (and none of them came true but still!) and I was more like WHAT THE FUCKKKKK.

To be honest, at the start I wasn't understand anything about this story and this family. And even now, that I have finished the book, my friend asked me what I thought of it and I can only tell her that this is one of the most weird books I've ever read! It is certainly worth for the writing but the story in itself and the characters are really strange and there are so many metaphors that I sometimes wondered if things were real or not (Well, at the end we learn about everything there is to know!).

To make a little summary of the book (NO SPOILERS), the Sinclairs are this rich class that belongs to the creme de la creme of NYC. Grandpa Harris is the head of the family, he has 3 daughters and those daughters have several childs. The most important of these children are: Mirren, Johnny and Cadence; later on (well, pretty early on in th story), one of the daughters gets together this man who has a boy, Gat. The problem is that Gat and his dad aren't caucasian and that created a lot of troubles in this typically american family. Everything about the Sinclairs is about appearances and all the rules are set by grandpa.

The Sinclairs have a private island where they spend all their summer holidays and on summer 15 there is a huge accident with the eldest granddaughter, Cadence, that leads herto lose her memory. Basically, the book is about finding what really happened on summer 15 so I think you can easily tell how nothing good can come out of here. Yup.

WHAT I LOVED [NO SPOILERS]:
- The writing: the writing of this book is sooooooo good and it's definitely what led me to give it 4 stars! SO. MUCH. WORD. PORN. I know that not a lot of people will love this writing style but I did and it was what made me read the whole thing. I feel that if this book had a normal writing style, I'd have drop it in the first pages.
- The personification of emotions: you will know when you read it, everything feels so real.
- Cadence's mum: you will also understand when you read the book. You will probably hate her at first, like I did, but at the end you'll be like *hugs* and *hearts*

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE [NO SPOILERS]:
- The title: I don't feel like it made much sense (will talk more about this one bellow the cut, with the spoilers);
- Too many characters at once: I read this article where it said that the author shouldn't introduce too many characters at once (max. 4!) and that happened here. There were so many names that I didn't learn any of them and I feel like it might have made me be lost in the story most of the time. Since I was reading in ebook it wasn't easy for me to go back to the start to check the family tree.

- The characters:  I wasn't able to connect with any of the characters, none of them had traits that were relatable. They were manipulative and awful and I honestly wasn't even able to feel sorry for them.

And that's it! My spoiler-free part ends hereeeee!!! You already know that bellow the cut there will be spoilers because I have SO MUCH to say about the final. Oh, God, I have so much to say!!!

p.s.: this book has a lot of GOOD reviews but also a lotof BAD reviews, so my advice is: pick up the book, give it a try and decide if you like it for yourself :) and do not read spoilers!!!!!!

p.s.s.: my favorite quote of the book is this oneeee (considering I have already shared my top favorite in my 'First Lines' post):

“We read all twenty-eight emails. 
When she is finished, Mirren kisses me on the cheek. "I can't even say sorry," she tells me. "There is not even a Scrabble word for how bad I feel.”

****************THERE ARE SPOILERS BELLOW THE CUT ****************

TOP 5 WEDNESDAY: Characters I defend

It's wednesdayyyyy, tomorrow is a holidayyyyyy, life is goooooood!

(p.s.: tomorrow is a holiday in my wonderful Portugal. If wherever you live it's not, sorry for that. Come live here!)

Now, we're here gathered today to talk about character I defend! Off the top of my head I can think of 2 characters I strongly defend and that I will fight you if you hate on them. Seriously. I will. So don't come at me with that attitude.

(kidding, this is a free space and we can alllll share our opinions!)

Top 5 Wednesday were invented by Lainey and are now managed by Sam and you can see everything about them and about the event hereeeeee. (or by clicking in this entire sentence).

Here we go:

1. Tatiana Metanova from The Bronze Horsemen (Paullina Simons)

Tatia is my baby!!!! Honestly. You cannot mess with this girl. I know she was very silly and naïve at the beginning but I started loving her so much and by the end, no matter how many bad decisions she took, I loved her anyways. She's my little baby, I'm her mama. And I will fight anyone who shits on her... including you, Mr. Alexander Belov.... if tht's your real name!

2. Bellamy Blame from The 100 (the book is by Kass Morgan but it's shit so don't read it)

I sooooo defend Bellamy (the one from the show). He's my favorite character from a show and I think he is very misunderstood. I feel like he is more than just a pretty face and bad decisions, I think he is one of the characters that developed the most in a show and I know that if you shit on him, he will fight you. But I'll be behind him cheering him on.

3. Emma from The Proposition/The Proposal (Katie Ashley)

Emma is one of my favorite characters in one of my favorites books. I think this book is indie but omg I love her sooooo much! All she wanted was to be a mum and then she got with a guy to get preggers and oh God, oh God. I love Emma <3

4. Kaye from Skygods (Sarah Latchaw)

Another characters from one of my fav books. Hurry up, Sarah Latchaw!!!!! I need to know that my baby Kaye is alright with or without Sam!!!! (I also need to know that Sam is alright but Kaye is my main girl here).

5. Clive from Wallbanger (Alice Clayton)

Clive is a cat but who caressssss? Clive has to be immortal. He will never die, he will never starve, he will never be cold and a pat behind his ears should always be available for whenever he feels like it. Also, he can purr all he wants and he can ruin how many blankets he wants. He is Clive. And Clive is KING!

First Lines #3: We Were Liars

THE INTERNET IS FOR (WORD) PORN, 

THE INTERNET IS FOR (WORD PORN), 

WHY DO YOU THINK THE NET WAS BORN? 

(WORD) PORN, (WORD) PORN, (WORD) PORN!

I'm currently reading 'We Were Liars' by E.Lockhart and honestly, WORD PORN is all I can say!


What kind of writing is this, my Lord? Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Okay, it's weird, you may tell me but I have come to realize and accept that the weirder the writing is, the more I am likely to love it.

These full stops. In the middle of the sentences.  (See what I did there?)
I really like it!!!! I think sometimes people tend to overdo when they want to have a more poetic writing styles so they put full stops and paragraphs all over trying to be more dramatic but in this book, it's soooooo perfect and sooooo well done.

And so what if I have understood zilch about this story? And so if some of the metaphors leave me wondering: 'is this real? is this a metaphor? is anything real?'

I haven't been able to connect very well with the characters yet, may be because they are not very relatable or simpy because I have understood zilch about this book but I am already tempted to give this book a positive rating just for the writing.

Also, I am already picturing how that Cady accident wasnt just an accident. There is probably something hidden about it and everyone is probably involved seeing as every single person in this book acts wayyyyy sketchy. Either that or the whole story is just a dream and nothing ever happened. Maybe the Sinclairs aren't even real. I have no idea. I'm probably very wrong about it.

After all I am in love with the writing. And I understand zilch about the story.


p.s.: I'll leave you one of my fav quotes, this one left me with heart eyes and is very word porn:

"Mirren. She is sugar. She is curiosity and rain.

Johnny. He is bounce. He is effort and snark.

Gat, my Gat, once upon a time my Gat—he has come out to see me, too. 

He stands back from the slats of the fence, on the rocky hill that now leads to Clairmont. He is contemplation and enthusiasm. Ambition and strong coffee."

p.s.s.: have you noticed how I always post First Lines on Mondays? Seems good, first lines, first days of the week. It fits.

p.s.s.s.: has someone else had the same thought as I when they read the main character was called "Cady"?

PRISON BREAK IS BACKKKK!

Not reaaaally back. At least not yet. But the new trailer was released and I am SO excited.
This was my favorite tv show EVER.

So, seeing this trailer I only have one thing to say: who's up for binge re-watching the first 4 seasons? Ahhhhh.

Reading Challenge - A Book at the Bottom of your TBR

Remember this challenge? I swear I hadn't forgotten about it but I actualy haven't been reading books that fit in any of the categories. Today, I thought about it again and I noticed that there are a few categories that I don't need to read a book to e filled so here we gooooo, I'll be filling those categories while I read more books. Sounds like a deal.

Title: The Book Thief
Author: Mark Zusak
Year / Pages: 2006 / 552

For this category, I have to choose a book that is at the bottom of my TBR and I have a really big TBR. Looking at my Goodreads, I am choosing the book that is on my TBR but that I feel the less inclined to read. And that will be: The Book Thief by Mark Zusak. 

I knowwww. This is one of the books that is so loved by everyone! I have had this book in my house in one of those situations where "let's buy a book that we really want to read for that distant cousin that we see once every year so that we have time to read it before we actually see that cousin" but turns our my distant cousin showed up after a month and there goes the book without me reading it.

Truth to be told, I did get the ebook afterwards but when my old PC died (rest in peace, my fellow companion of so many years) I never really bothered to get it again.

And I kind of don't even really feel like it??!!(is this the moment where you throw sticks at me?)

Okay, okay, so I will explain my aversion to the book that doesn't even exist. A lot of my friends have read this book and they spent a lot of times telling me how good it was and how much I had to read it. "This is going to be the best book in your life, you'll see!" they told me. "You won't regret it, it's sooooo good," they told me.

And then I'm like this, with very high expectations and so affraid to read it and not love it as much as everyone wants me to and seems to love it. I feel like I will read a book that has bad reviews quicker than the ones everyone raves about, simply because if I read a bad book and it's bad, then that's that. No expectations on that one, but if I hate a book my friends love....oh, boy. I feel like that's why I haven't read any of these books (and you can throw sticks at me here, yes):


a. Harry Potter (okay, fine, I deserve to have two or three sticks thrown for this one);
b. Lord of The Rings / Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien;
c. Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (started the 1st book, once upon a time. I consider this progress!);
d. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (gave up);
e. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (and it's not gonna happen);
f. The whole Mortal Instruments thingie by Cassandra Claire (after the first book and after a that wanna be vampire (not wanna be, he kinda is) I decided I was done!).

Obviously, I still will read some of these books. Harry Potter has even been moving up in my list... I feel like I just don't like to read books while all the hype is still up. I prefer to let it die down and not let it influence my opinion.

Unfortunetly, there's no quote for this book because I still haven't read it.

(and now, you can scream at me! I will still like you all!)

(15 of 50)

10 quotes from "The Bronze Horseman"

In case you haven't noticed, I am in love with this book! I gave it 5 stars out of 5 in Goodreads and I admit that I would have given it more, if I could. Even if at time, Alexander was a little too much for me and I felt like kicking his ass.

I, mostly, want everything good to (almost) every single character of this book.

Anyways, like the quote lover I am, this book was like a gold mine filled with cutsey sentences and love quotes and urghhh. Heart eyes! So, I chose 10 quotes that I hope are spoiler free, so that you, person who hasn't read this book, can hopefully feel tempted to.

And you, person who has read this book, well... I'm sure you will bawl remembering the story.


With no more delays, here are the 10 quotes that made my heart beat faster and that caused goosebumps to appear:

---

1.

---

“Ask yourself these three questions, Tatiana Metanova, and you will know who you are. Ask: What do believe in? What do you hope for? What do you love?”

---

2.

---

“What will you say about me to your next girl?” He grinned.

“I’ll say that you had perfect breasts.”

“Stop it.”

“That you had young, perky, incredible breasts with the biggest, most sensitive cherry nipples …” he said, climbing on top of her and holding up her legs high against his arms. “And lips for the gods, and eyes for kings. I will say,” Alexander whispered hotly, pushing himself inside her and groaning, “that you felt like nothing else on this earth.”

---

3.

---

“Alexander, were you looking for me?" "All my life.”

---

4.

---

“They had no past. They had no future. They just were.”

---

5.

---

“Alexander — there is one place I’m comforted. I wake up there, and I go to sleep there; I am at peace there, and loved there: your subsuming arms.”

---

6.

---

"How did you get here?”

“All part of my plan, Alexander.”

“What plan is this, Tatiana?” 

She whispered, “To be with you when I die of old age."

---

7.

---

“Alexander, my nights, my days, my every thought. You will fall away from me in just a while, won’t you, and I’ll be whole again, and I will go on and feel for someone else, the way everybody does. 

But my innocence is gone forever.”

---

8.

---

“I don't want to die," whispered Marina, "and not feel just once what you feel." She struggled for her breath, "Just once in my life, Tania!" 

"Tanechka..." she whispered. "What does it feel like?" 

Tatiana continued to gently caress Marina's forehead. 

"It feels," she whispered, "as if you're not alone.”

---

9.

---

“Someday we’ll meet in Lvov, my love and I.”

---

10.

---

"My love, my dear, dear Shura,

 I think of Dasha. (...) But her face is not the last face I see before I sleep. Yours is. You are my hand grenade, my artillery fire. You have replaced my heart with yourself. Are you thinking of me with your rifle in your hands? What do we do? How do we keep you from dying? These thoughts consume my waking minutes. What can I do from here to keep you alive? Dead or wounded, those Soviets will leave you in the field. 

 Who is going to heal you if you fall? Who is going to bury you if you die? Bury you like you deserve—with kings and heroes. 

Yours, Tatiana.”

Ten Books We Picked Up On A Whim

Hiiii! Do you remember how once, many many many posts ago, I decided to do a Top Ten Tuesday? Okay, so today I'm doing it again. Ever since doing that one post, I didn't connet with the topics and so I kind of stopped doing it (which I found OK since I always do the Top 5 Wednesday)!

Top Ten Tuesdays were invented by The Broke and the Bookish and it has been going on for yeaaaars. So check it out, 'cause it's fun.

This week's topic is "Ten Books We Picked Up on a Whim" and I was reading their blog and chose to do this topic on a whim. So here we go. These are my 10 books I picked on a whim.

1. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

There was this mornng I was heading to work and I felt like reading, which was pretty common. The only problem was that the night before I had a dinner party and couldn't get to my computer so I didn't have any new book on me. When I opened Aldiko, I saw there was this book there that I hadn't read yet and voilá... I picked it up on a whim.

2. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

I actually picked this book up today! Yesterday I got a few ebooks and this was one of them so when today I finished the book I was reading, I started this one. I heard both good and awful things about this book but I got it without a second thought. I'm just very curious!

3. The Love Me With Lies trilogy by Tarryn Fisher

THIS BOOKS. I saw them on Goodreads and I got them in ebooks right away and I think I read the trilogy back to back and I loved them SO much, it was such a good story and what I liked the most was how there were 3 people involved, and each other told the story from a different prespective.

4. See Me by Nicholas Sparks

.... because I get all of his books on a whim.

5. The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory

I loved "The Other Boleyn Girl" so I got all books after that one on whim. Turns out I got to the Queen's Fool and gave up on the saga. Ooops.

6. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green ft David Levithan

I was reading 'An Abudance of Katherines' and loving it when I went into FNAC and saw this baby with a discount so I picked it up right away. I didn't read it for the longest time (and I don't reckon I'd have bought it if I had read a snippet online but okay) but I just had to have it. This was my phase "John Green Books, come to meeeee!"

7. The Fall Up by Aly Martinez

I saw this book on the Goodreads Awards thingie and like the title so I picked it up in that second and started it that second and...didn't quite like it.

8. O Meu Irmão by Afonso Reis Cabral

(I don't reckon this book exists in english but it's called "My Brother" and is about a man in his forties whose parents die and the family has to decide who will take care of their brother who has Down Syndrome, so the story is about the life of that man with his brother).

This book was so so so spoken about here in Portugal after Afonso Reis Cabral (who just so happens, is the grandson of a huge portuguese author, Eça de Queiróz) won the Leya award and this book was so hyped and I really wanted to read it. This one, I didn't get it on a whim because I had read the first page in a bookstore but this one day I went to Lisbon's bookfair and I just had to buy it. That day was a year ago. The book still hasn't been read.

9. Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

I was going to go on holidays and be stuck in an airplane for 3 hours, so I thought 'I ought to take a few books to keep me company' and so I was on an ebook website and I was getting some books and I saw this one and that blue cover spoke to me, so bam, I got it. (And I loved it).

10. Lolita by Vladimir Nobokov

There was this once where I was at an ebooks website and I saw this book there and I thought 'so many people have read this book and I haven't' so I got it and I read it like in 2 days. I wasn't particularly enchated by it like so many people seem to be but that prologue is word-porn!

I have now understood that most books I read are on a whim. Yup. I could list books for ages in this list.

Me Thinks #3: The Bronze Horseman

Title: The Bronze Horsemen
Author: Paullina Simons
Pages / Year: 811 / 2009
Discription Here

 Ahhhh, after sharing my euphoria about this book when I was still at very beginning (here, here, here), I am now here to give you the final review of this book! I gave it 5 STARS but I will warn you: this review is loooooong and it will have spoilers (but I'll put them under a cut and let you know beforehand so you can stop reading if you wish!)

I finished this book last week but this is a book that, no matter if you like it or don't (I've read several reviews and there were a lot of mixed opinions), it leaves us exhausted after reading it! There are people who complain about repetition in events, either about war or hunger or even the love scenes but, in my opinion, the amount of those scenes and how repeated some of them were was what made me live in that book during the 3 days I read it. It's a book that you can't help but live intensely, I felt so many emotions throughout the pages from anguish to nerves....there was even a moment where I wanted to stop reading because I was affraid of what would follow. I got to the end so tired, it was such a ride, and that is why I have decided to have a week off between reading and writing about it so I could get my head in the game, again.

I felt as if I was a member of Tatiana's family, as if I lived in the little room she had, as if I walked everyday to the store to get their food. I felt as if I had only 200g of bread per day to eat and as if I had to put on every single clothing piece in my dresser to not freeze to death. If you are waiting for an easy romance book, you won't find it here!

This is, above all, a story about war. A story told from the battle front but also from the people who don't carry weapons but feel the effects of the war everyday. The writing is beautiful, to me it's one of the most easy writing styles I've seen and I think that because the author was born in this time period in Russia, it was so easy for her to write so well the scenes and the whole vibe of war.

I fell in love with Tatiana! She is the main character and I must tell you that I have never seen a better written character that has grown so much along the story! It's very likely that when you begin, you will find yourself frustrated with this 17 year old, very naïve, very selfess and helpful to the point where she suffers with it but I can also guarantee you that you will feel as if you have to protect her. About other characters, I will talk in the spoilers.

Which will start now. So, if you don't want to read any spoilers, this is where you should stop reading. From here down, I will yell and scream and probably spoil a few facts of the story for everyone. Eventhough the book is split in 4 parts, I will split it in 3: Pre-Lazarevo; Lazarevo; Post-Lazarevo.

If you're not reading further, I have to say that I reccomend this book SO bad. It consumed me, I got angry with some characters and I rolled my eyes sometimes but this is such a beautiful story, especially if you love History and the Soviet Russia period. This book will present you the communist life from the eyes of someone who has always lived there (Tatia) and from the prespective of someone who came from USA (Alex).

p.s.: there isn't even a love triangle here!!!!

********* THERE ARE SPOILERS BELOW THIS LINE!!!!! *********

TAGS: The Jonas Brother Book TAG

Today who writes you is a 13 year old Cat while the 24 year old Cat hides behind the sofa (or in this case, in the bushes?!)

And you ask: "Seriously, Cat? Jonas Brothers?? Really, really?" and I will reply: "Yes, guys, reaaaaally!". Because, who wasn't a fan of Jonas Brothers when they were 13? (Or well....when I was 13!). Ohhh what great afternoons spent waiting for MTV to play a videoclip of their songs (yeah, MTV still showed music videos in that time, so you can see how long ago it was). It's true, I will forever remember how I was going to marry Nick and my best friend was going to marry Joe, how we sang their songs at the top of our lungs and how we planned to miss school if they ever stepped a foot in our country (which never happened but still, our academic careers thank you, Jonas Brothers!) 

Anyways, this tag was created by La Ladrona de Libros  and I found it somewhere on youtube while watching TAG videos. You can click on the name of her channel to watch her video but I will tell you that I chose to do the version adapted by Tiago Dante who switched some of the songs. Also, I don't reckon this TAG has been translated yet so I translated it but if there has been someone that translated it before me, please let me know.

Ahhh let's go, back to our childhood! To simplify (for you and me, since I can't remember some of the songs anymore) I'll try and leave the songs if you wanna listen to them as you read my answer (and please don't mind the crappy formatting of the youtube links. I officially can't understand blogger's HTML!). 

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PLEASE BE MINE

A book you desesperatly need
 

---

I have just finished "The Bronze Horseman" by Paullina Simons and I LOVED IT so I'm going to say that I reaaaaally need the 2nd book. And to be honest, I know I can just go out and buy it, I had it in my hand two weeks ago but I feel like I need to take a break to breathe before I read another book of this series. So I deseperatly need it but I am also forcing myself to not get it right away (self control, self control...ahhh). 

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S.O.S.

A book that saved you
 

---

This one is difficult. I don't know if I can say that a book has saved my life because I don't reckon I have ever been in a situation I needed to be saved but I'm going to go with  "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green ft David Levithan which was a book that I kind of hated but that made me stop and think about how I was treating people around me. Was I being the best me I could be? So I think that because I hated how the main character treated his family, I learned that we have to treat the ones we love the best we can no matter how many problems we have at hand. 

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HELLO BEAUTIFUL

A book you own that has the prettiest cover in your shelf 

---

I mostly read ebooks so the covers (books) I have at home aren't all that many. Staring at my bookshelves, I am going to pick a portuguese book called "D.Amélia" by Isabel Stillwell which is a book about the last queen of Portugal. I have the edition with the velvet red cover and it's beautifulllllll and I waited for monthes until it was at a price I could actually buy because I didn't want to get the black cover. 

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CAN'T HAVE YOU

A book you have searched for but can't have

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Can't have is a bit of an exagerated word nowadays, right? Because if I don't find a book at the store, I can order it online. A book that I have searched for monthes in every book store I know was "Wallbanger" by Alice Clayton because I read it as an ebook and I really wanted the physical copy...I couldn't find it (I think it's yet to be translated to portuguese???) but I got it online. 

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GOODNIGHT & GOODBYE

A book that was boring and that you DNF

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I don't usually DNF books but, my God, how boring was "The Accidental Billionaires" by Ben Mezrich???? I adored the movie, about Facebook, and I thought that the book would be even better but NO. It was sooooo boring, I struggled to get into it and I feel like I only read like half of the book because I was stubborn and I kept telling myself it would get better. This was a nice sleep pill, I tell you. Urghh, no.

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LOVEBUG

A book that hooked you from the first page 

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I'm going to have to choose the last book I've read "The Bronze Horseman" by Paullina Simons because I loved it sooooo much. I was hooked from the first page, I felt a lot of compassion and empathy with Tatiana even if at the beginning I wanted to hold her hand and tell her what she was doing wrong. (At the end, though, I was like you go girl!!) 

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PARANOID

A book that made you go crazy 

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I was going to reply the same as in the last categorie because I actually went quite crazy because of the book (I mean, I dreamt I was running away from Stalin while eating a raw potato, no biggie) but I will choose another book that when I read it left me very ???? and 'ahhhhhhhh'. I don't even know if it was for a good reason or a bad one. This book was the "Consequences" Trilogy by Aleatha Roming which is the most weird, macabre thing I have ever read but then there are these plot twists that left me like 'whaaaa???'. Seriously, by the end I didn't know if the whole book was crazy or if I was the crazy one for having....liked it? I can't even, it was one of the most weird things I have ever read. 

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WHAT DID I DO TO YOUR HEART?

A character that you can't stand anymore

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More like "what did you do to my heart? did you break it apart?". Well, there is one kind of character that I am soooooooo done with and that kind of character is "female characters by John Green". I think they are one dimensional, they are copy/paste  from each other, the only one I thought was remotely different was Lindsay from "An Abudance of Katherines" but maybe that was because it was the first book I read from him and I had no comparation basis. 

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I WANNA BE LIKE YOU

A character that you would love to be

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"Oohbedoo, I wanna be like you-oo-oo, I wanna walk like you and talk like you too".... Claire from Outlander! Because I love her, because she is the last cookie in the packet, she is a coke in the desert, she is too beautiful, too smart, too stylish, too everything. Claire is 10 out of 10 in every single category and on top of it all she is married to Jamie who is my favorite male character eveeeeeer. They are my fav couple in my fav book ahhhh. 

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YOUR BIGGEST FAN

An author you have recently became a fan of

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Paullina Simons! Well, I'm not sure if I am a fan of her already because I have only read book of hers but I loved it so much and I feel like the book is like 3 books in one. She stabs me in the chest and I ask for more, I cried, I screamed and then I went back and picked up the book again. So, I think I became a fan of Paullina Simmons but I still have to read more books....let's see if I continue under her wrath mwuahahaha (---> attempt at a malefic laugh). 

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FIRST TIME

A book of your favorite genre that you read for the first time

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My favorite genre in historical romance and I think the 1st book I have ever read of that genre (and that I only read once for school) was "Felizmente Há Luar" by Luis Sttau Monteiro (roughly translated: "Fortunetly, there's moonlight"). This book is a play and it's about the dictatorship lived in Portugal and how the PIDE police would receive anonymous complaints and not even check its veracity. It's a beautifl book and even nowadays, a lifetime after reading it, one of my favorite quotes is the last one of this book: "Fortunetly, António, fortunetly we have moonlight!"

And that's that! I'm not gonna tag anyone in particular, I will TAG every single person that was or still is a Jonas Brothers fan, let's come together and reminisce!

Top 5 Wednesday: Characters You are Most Like

It's wednesday, wednesday, gotta get down on wednesdayyyyy.... well, it went more or less like this....right?

It has been a while since I have done this T5W, like a week or something, but I'm hereeee and this week we're doing: "Characters You are Most Like". The goal here isn't to discribe what we want to be like, but what we are truly like which is an awfully hard topic for people, who like me:
a.  have a hard time discribing themselves (won't even tell you how much I tremble everytime I get asked in job interviews: 'tell me your strengths and weaknesses');
b. only can point out weaknesses about themselves.

I thought about escaping from this topic but I think this will be a good exercise for me. Maybe this list will be mostly bad traits but oh well. I promised myself I would include at least 2 good ones!
As usual this topic was created by Lainey and is now managed by Sam and you can find everything about it hereeeee!

Alright, so let's get on this topic of a lifetime. I have placed the characters and our shared trait in each title:

1. Lincoln (Attachments, Rainbow Rowell) // Unhappy Happiness 


The title sounds really weird in english but anyways. Linc is this character who feels a bit blocked in his life, like he isn't doing anything and he wants much more even if he does like the life that he lives. I am a bit like that, I am happy doing what I do and living the way I live but I can't help but feel like I want more and I want different things. Also, like Linc, I just have a hard time getting there.

2. Claire (Outlander, Diana Gabaldon) // Opinative

Wow, okay, like Claire no one can keep be quiet if I have something to say. If there is something be to be said, it is going to come out of me one way or another. I don't think this trait is always good and positive even though sometimes it's just easier to speak out than to let things drag on and cause problems later on. I have opinions about pretty much everything and I can mostly defend them pretty well, though we all have those 'because I said so' moments. I can usually win every argument but I don't get too upset if I don't.

3. Scout (Please, Don't Kill the Mockingbird, Harper Lee) // Justice

Scout could never understand why some people have some rights and other people have other rights. She was never able to understand discrimination. I am a bit like that, I hate injustices whether it's about the colour of our skin or our sexual orientations or even just a stupid football game. I considering going into Law for sometime simply for this reason but then understood that I probably wouldn't do so well.

4. Kaye (Skygods, Sarah Latchaw) // Criative

Kaye is one of my favorite characters and we share many traits. One of them is that she, like me, has a degree in Marketing and she even has her own advertising and PR company (unlike me, I'm just unemployed). I adore her and I feel like we are much alike in that we are both very creative and like to create campaigns and find strategies to help out others.

5. Erica (Ice Princess, Camilla Lackberg) // Perceptive

Like Erica, it's very difficult to have something pass unnoticed by me. I am very curious and I have an elephant's memory so I remember most of what has been said to me or around me. Because of this and because I am very observant, I am also very perceptive so most of the times I can understand things very fast, even if people don't tell me everything about something. The bad part is at Christmas, when I figure out all my gifts before I open them (sorry, fam!!)

Me Thinks #2: The Player and The Pixie

It's official: Penny Reid and LH Cosway, take my soul, I surrender my life to this "Rugby" saga!

I finished this precious jewel last week but I had just posted about the first book of this saga, The Hooker and The Hermit, and I wanted to wait a bit before posting this. Plus, all my feelings for this were still so present that I couldn't be rational about it.

I confess that in the beginning I was so in love with this book, I was ready to swear this was the best book I had ever read and it was far more interesting than The Hooker and The Hermit, to which I had sang praises. I simply adored Sean and Lucy, their chesmitry, their relationship and all their bickering, it was something that left me laughing for minutes but even if I loved all this, it's also true that I kind of began to kind of fall out of love as I moved on in the book?!

Don't get me wrong, I ADORED this book and I found the story so interesting, like the 1st book, there are no clichés and you can't predict what is going to happen because there's something unexpected at every turn (which is great since I usually can figure the whole book in the first pages and that makes things less interesting), however as I turned the pages I understood why I sang high praises to Hooker, I loved the characters so much more.

Things that I found interesting that I just have to mention: during Hooker, I hated Sean and thought he was such a dolt but now, during Player, I kind of got pissed off at Ronan! I feel like this comes down to the good writing of the authors, they make us see both sides of the same coin and feel compassionate about them. Another thing that I loved was to see this huge player, mega playboy be bad in the sack. AH AH AH. I loved this twist!


We can't all be good at everything and we all have the right to learn, like Sean. I feel like it's really important to pass this message in books especially since lately there are masters of sex coming at us from every corner. There's the Christian Greys, there's the Gideon Cross's, there's the masters of BDSM, there's the masters of his street. Enough! We want men who aren't good in the sack at all and need a little hand (no pun intended?), men who can live without slapping a bum with a paddle and men who look a bit more like the ones we find in real life.

I'm giving this book 4 stars and a huuuuuge round of applause to these 2 ladies. I am now super anxious for the 3rd book!!!!



p.s.: psssttttt, you thought I would forget about one of my fav things ever? Aka a book quote? Naaaah. Check out this sweet one:

"I don't want to close my eyes when I could be looking at you."

Saturday 4 Show: Shows I'm never EVER watching

*Taylor Swift voice* I am never ever ever watching these series...together??? Well, this isn't how the music how and Taylor is far more talented at making lyrics than I am (also...that is her job, so...) but you get my point.

Today, I am talking about TV Shows that I am never, ever, EVER going to watch. I just don't want to watch them, either because they sound yucky or boring or because I am annoyed by the amount of tumblr posts they have (because tumblr posts can also be counterproducive, even if I started watching series simply because of my pals at Tumblr).

I have no intentions of offending anyone who is a fan of these shows because this is MY opinion and it really isn't worth much (tho, I know that if someone bad mouthed BBC Sherlock I'd be enraged). So, come be enraged with me or alongside me on my comment box.

Here is my top 4 shows:

1. Once Upon a Time

 (source)

Just no. I actually thought of this topic this one time where my friend was like 'I'm watching OUAT' and I told her I was never ever going to watch it. This is a case of tumblr-itis, where so many OUAT related stuff have been shoved down my throat that it has me annoyed. I don't find the storyline appealing, I don't really like the main actress, I don't like magic, I don't like too much fantasy on a show. Honestly, I think it would be hard to place together more things I don't like in a show.

2. Chicago Fire

 (source)

One of my friends ADORES this show and like all of us do when we adore a show, she spent weeks telling me about it and how I should give it a go, so I did. I actually streamed the 1st episode of this show and watched the first...10 minutes?! And then I gave up. It's nothing about the storyline or the characters, it's the fire, really. I hate fire, I am scared of fire and I have been near too many fires in my short lifetime, so I am probably never going to watch this because the fire makes me panic.

3. The Originals

 (source)

I have been there and I did that for a few seasons of The Vampire Diaries and I am never, EVER going to watch something with vampires again. Like, ever. The only reason I actually watched TVD was Damon and Klaus, who I suppose is now on The Originals but enough is enough. I decidely don't like supernatural tv shows.

4. Doctor Who

(source)

Well, okay, this comes at 4th because there's a slight chance I will watch it someday. I like the idea of the show and I like the actors but the thing that throws me off is that there are so many seasons! I have been told I could start watching midway but could I really? I mean, do we know me? Would I really start watching midway through the show? Not likely. So the decision to not watch Doctor Who is just an attempt to preserve my social life because let's be honest....I would probably binge watch it in a week.

This is my top for the week, if you do this top link meeeee so I can see your choices :)
Next week I'll bring you....hmm... well, Shows that I REALLY REALLY want to watch! (That way we can have a nice balance here).

First Lines #1: The Bronze Horseman

Today, I am writing this to let you guys know that I am in love. In love in enough to walk down the aisle and get hitched (aka to give this book 5 stars and place it in my shelf of favorite books, the one I dust
more often than not. kidding.). I am not going to write a full review (hence why this entry is called 'First Lines') because I am still at page 131 of 720 according to my Aldiko, and so I imagine that a lot of things will still happen that will make me freak out.

(Settle down, pet, I will tell you allllllll about it when the time comes)

I read somewhere that this book was reccomended to people who had loved Outlander and of course I felt that was a comment directed at me so I picked up this book right way. You may have noticed that I am a bit of an history gig and I have always said that if I had chosen an History degree at uni, I would have liked to be a specialist on Soviet Russia. This Bronze Horsemen is  spent exactly during that time, in USSR and so I obviously feel very attracted to it. The story unravels during the II World War and focus on the Metanov family, composed by the grandparents, the parents and their 3 teenagers: Pasha and Tatiana, both 17, and Dasha, a few years older. Tatiana is the main character alongside Alexander, a 'Russian' soldier (who is actually an American).

I'm not going to resume the story because that's why the Goodreads book description exists. No, I came here to proper fangirl about this book. In the beggining of this book, Tatiana seemed so silly to me. You know those times where you are actually menthally screaming "Tatiana, no!!!" and Tatiana goes and says "Tatiana, yes!!!".... at least she hasn't gotten into any troubles (so far). From missing her bus stop to getting lost to wasting the money her father gave her to buy provisions on ice-cream to who knows what else, my maternal instinct (if I have that) was anxious to hold Tatiana's hand and tell her "no, child, this is the way... come on, my petal".

I think Tati is a dreamer and she is very innocent and in love with an Alex that is supposedly dating her sister, Dasha, who is...very rude!!!! Have I been the only one to have noticed that? Sometimes I feel very physical and want to slap her family silly (especially her mum, urgh! You go wash the dishes, Irina!) but Dasha seems like she is always trying to embarrass her sister. What a dolt! And Tatiana is always aiming to please her family and her sister....yeah, fine enough, family love and all that but enough with the humiliations! Stand up for yourself, Tati, or at least steal the blankets during the night so Dasha stops being so grrrr.

I find everyone so charming and beautiful and even if I want to slap Tati's mum and pull my hair out due to frustration, I love this story and this book SO much already. I love it so so so much that I am even gonna leave you photos of who I imagine to be the characters (which i never do because I usually don't imagine them). Supposedly, this is a love triangle Tatiana-Alex-Dasha but for me it's a love-square so here's a bonus of Dimitri:

Tatiana (Noémie Schmidt) // Alexander (Alexander Ludwig) // Dasha (Anna Popplewell) // Dimitri (Borna Coric)

(let's just imagine a blonder, almost white haired Tatiana and a brunnete Alex, shall we? I have no idea if Dimitri is blonde or not but Borna Coric just has the PERFECT face for a bad boy who isn't bad at all).

Also, let's just stop a minute (or twenty) to drool over this book's cover! It's soooooo pretty, honestly. Which is very surprising considering good books always have the most awful covers of all times. Yikes. I'm so happy that this is a trilogy and that the 3 books are HUGE. I feel ready to give away my whole year and become a slave of these books.

p.s.: yeah I know that Tati isn't actually Tati and they call her Tania/Tatia/Taneschka but I have formed a bond with this little one so leave me be.

p.s.s.: come and be fangirls in the comments bellow! I may take a week to reply. I gotta read all this first ;)

p.s.s.s.: I am going to cry, ain't I?