Five Decembers - Jonathan Moore

An amazing detective novel, following the mistery of a double murder amidst the chaos of World War II. It starts off unassumingly enough, like your usual murder mistery, but it quickly changes into something completely different, going deep into the psyche of the main character (Joe McGrady my beloved), following his relationships throught the war, and how the nature of conflict and violence can break down and build back up the life of an ordinary policeman.

Love It!

Family Ties (Laços de Família) - Clarice Lispector

This was the first short story collection I've ever read, and it's safe to say it was quite challenging. Clarice's writing is very dream-like, with characters often delving in wild trains of thoughts over mundane situations, which I really like, although considering how etheral the wrinting is, and how short stories have to condense so much into only a few pages, I often struggled to grasp what the stories truly wanted to say. I like how most of the stories are about womanhood and how society shapes women to fit very tight and determined roles, turning their lives into a prison they want to break free from. My favourite story was "Happy Birthday".

Really like It!

No Longer Human - Osamu Dazai

Read this one after my good friend Ray recommended it to me. Deeply disturbing and haunting, this book's character narrator is a completely alienated and empty man, that on his own self destruction journey, ends up bringing other people around him (mostly women) down with him. Despite all of that, the thoughts presented on this book are weirdly relatable at times, and it felt really nice to get through it despite the subject matter, considering how casually the narrator talks about the most abhorrent things ever. The perspective shift at the end really puts into perspective how self-hate can mess up your perception of reality.

Love It!

Mary Shelley - Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus

I loved this so much that I read it two times in a row (first the 1831 then the 1818 edition) and I plan on writing a whole blog post about it. It's a classic for a reason, how can I be able to sum up my thoughts in such a short paragraph? This book is absolutely beautiful, I love the Creature, I love Victor, I love the multilayered narrative, I love the many different themes of the story, from love and obsession, to hate and marginalization. The writing on this is just so good and really pulls you in. I also have to mention how the story tackles at misogyny and motherhood in such gorgeous fashion.

Favorite.

Graciliano Ramos - Barren Lives (Vidas Secas)

Graciliano is my favorite writer. A beautiful and gruesome portrait of the lives of the people from Brazil's northteastern region who struggle with the drought that brings death and famine, forcing them to lead a nomadic lifestyle. The book focuses on how famine and poverty affect not only the bodies of the protagonist family, but also their social life and their whole worldview. I love how the author shows the importance of words and education, and also the anti-capitalistic feeling present on all of his works.

One of the best!

Ursula K. Le Guin - The Left Hand of Darkness

An amazing work of science fiction that is highly regarded as one of the best. The worldbuilding is incredible (the best from the author IMO) and the themes of gender, politics and humanity (even amongst aliens) are amazing and really important to me. The way the book tells the story like it's part of a report on the alien planet, with multiple POVs from different characters interspersed with myths and legends is probably my favorite thing about the novel.