Sofia

Amazing (if I can say that about a topic like this) autobiographical book about the brutality of the South against the sheer desperate will it took to survive as a black boy. Maybe a little slow in the beginning but it's a great witness of what it was like being an African American in the American Deep South in the early 1900's. Slavery had been abolished of course, but the South's white supremacists were having none of that, Jim Crow laws made sure that the blacks were treated as second class citizens.

I'm not a sci-fi lover at all but what a book from Andy Weir!

I loved The Martian for all the scientific references but with Project Hail Mary we are on an another level. Especially the ones with a STEM background will appreciate all the math, experiments and science facts.

The plot then is really intriguing: Ryland Grace, an high school science professor, wakes up in a spaceship in another star system and the rest of the crew is death. He's experiencing amnesia so he doesn't remember why he is there and what's the mission. With some flashbacks he starts to remember something: he have to save the solar system from a micro organism called Astrophage which is essentially eating the sun.

The plot twist occurs at a third of the book when Grace meet a friend who is trying to accomplish the same mission. I'll stop here.

It's difficult to explain why to read this book without any spoiler but, trust me, it is definitely worth reading.

p.s. Ryan Gosling is already writing the screenplay of what could be one of the best sci-fi movies of all time.

I've just finished Greenlights. It is a wonderful memoir written by the great actor Matthew McConaughey. It is honest, humble and straight to the point. I've never read something like this before.

In the book there's a concept that resonate with me so much: you have to want it but don't need it. It is something I always tried to apply to my work from the day one as a freelancer. I know that it might seems counterintuitive but I promise, it works. When you go to a client meeting wanting the job you are hungry, you put everything on the table; but if you need the job, if the client understands you're hopeless, you lose your negotiation power and most of all you start thinking about results and you're not focused on the process anymore.

Matt refused romantic comedies jobs for 20 months, he was ready to change career when he was on top to be a better actor, to work on something he appreciated more. When he stopped needing Hollywood, the phone rang.

Written by an experienced therapist, this book talks about how childhood's traumas can affect our adult life and how those children have developed a false sense of self. Even if it's a short book, it has been a tough read because it forced me to face my own past.

The book was first published in 1981, thus you'll find some generalization but, especially if you grew up in a toxic environment, you'll find some help between these pages.

I've always desired to get answers to difficult questions that I have been too afraid to ask a black person before so this is definitely the right book. A genuine and honest discussion to impart understanding for the nuances of black culture and the lasting legacy of racial systems and biases.