Last year I read Gaía Passarelli’s book “But are you going alone?” where she describes her travels, gives tips and everything about the experience of venturing alone through the world. There is no way not to be inspired by her stories of contact with nature, gastronomic experiences and adventures lived in various corners of the world.

“Mas você vai sozinha?” is physically beautiful, with unique illustrations and perfect layout. Gaía’s writing is inspiring and easy to digest, she is that woman that we look at and say “I want to be like her one day”.

The funny thing is that I was so inspired by this reading that my desire to travel the world was reborn and for the first time the fear of going alone did not intimidate me.

And now that I’ve decided to go, I made a video about traveling alone:

So, for all those who need to remember that we are independent and that freedom makes us live dreams, I recommend this reading. For all those who just want a light and inspiring reading, I recommend it too.

To buy, access this link, by which you help the blog continue to grow.

Kisses,

• The Movie of My Life: Selton Mello (2017)

One thing that the three films will have in common is the poetic way of telling stories. In “The Movie of My Life”, we follow with lightness the story of Tony Terranova, a young man who needs to deal with the absence of his father, who left without warning his family and has not given any news to his son since then.

Passionate about books and the movies he watches in the big city cinema, Tony makes love, poetry, and cinema his great reasons for living. Until the truth about his father begins to emerge, forcing him to take the reins of his life.

Elena: Petra Costa (2012)

Could it be that through clippings, we can understand a whole life? In this film, director Petra tells the story of her sister, Elena. Elena travels to New York with the same dream as her mother: to be a movie actress. She leaves behind a childhood spent in hiding during the years of the military dictatorship. She leaves Petra, her seven-year-old sister. Two decades later, Petra also becomes an actress and leaves for New York in search of Elena. She has only clues. Home movies, newspaper clippings, a diary.

At all times Petra expects to find Elena walking the streets in a silk blouse. She takes the train that Elena took, she knocks on her friends’ doors, she walks their paths. And she ends up discovering Elena in an unexpected place. Gradually, the traits of the two sisters are confused, it is no longer known who is one, who is the other. The mother senses. Petra deciphers. Now that she has finally found Elena, Petra must let her go.

Stories that only exist when remembered: Júlia Murat (2011)

Lightness, stories and different lives meet in this film. In Stories That Only Exist When Remembered, backpacker Rita (Lisa E. Fávero) arrives in the fictional village of Jotuomba, in the Paraíba Valley, with her iPod, her digital camera and some empty cans turned into pinholes.

It turns out that, in Jotuomba, Rita finds what the type of slow exposure pinhole photography always aims to record: the passage of time. It’s not just the arrival of the young backpacker that destabilizes the routine of the elderly in the valley; it is the contact with the recording of their own old age in images that transforms the characters of Stories That Only Exist When Remembered.

Oh, this movie inspired a personal project of mine, the Stories that Only Exist when Told. Check it out here!

All of these movies are available in full on YouTube, and you can find them by clicking on the links below:

• The Movie of My Life HERE
• Elena HERE
• Stories That Only Exist When Remembered HERE.

These movies touched me deeply and showed me how Brazil is full of wonderful artists. Oh, and do you know of any other movies? I love exploring the world of Brazilian cinema, so please leave your suggestions in the comments!

Until next time,

kisses.

O Filme da Minha Vida (The Movie of My Life), Selton Mello (2017)
One thing these three films have in common is their poetic way of telling stories. In “O Filme da Minha Vida”, we gently follow the story of Tony Terranova, a young man who has to deal with the absence of his father, who left without warning the family and has not been in touch with his son since.
In love with books and with the films he sees at the cinema in the big city, Tony makes love, poetry and cinema his great reasons to live, until the truth about his father starts to surface and forces him to take control of his own life.

Elena, Petra Costa (2012)
Is it possible, through fragments, to understand an entire life? In this film, the director Petra tells the story of her sister, Elena. Elena travels to New York with the same dream as her mother: to become a film actress. She leaves behind a childhood spent in hiding during the years of the military dictatorship, and leaves Petra, her seven‑year‑old sister. Two decades later, Petra also becomes an actress and goes to New York in search of Elena. She only has a few clues: home movies, newspaper clippings, a diary.
All the while, Petra expects to find Elena walking down the street in a silk blouse. She takes the train Elena took, knocks on her friends’ doors, retraces her paths. And she ends up finding Elena in an unexpected place. Little by little, the features of the two sisters blend together, and it is no longer clear who is one and who is the other. The mother senses it. Petra deciphers it. Now that she has finally found Elena, Petra needs to let her go.

Histórias que Só Existem Quando Lembradas (Stories Only Exist When Remembered), Júlia Murat (2011)
Lightness, stories and different lives meet in this film. In “Histórias que Só Existem Quando Lembradas”, the backpacker Rita (Lisa E. Fávero) arrives in the fictional village of Jotuomba, in the Paraíba Valley, with her iPod, her digital camera and a few empty tins turned into pinhole cameras.
In Jotuomba, Rita finds exactly what this slow‑exposure type of photography always longs to capture: the passage of time. It is not only the arrival of the young backpacker that unsettles the routine of the elderly inhabitants of the valley; it is the contact with the visual record of their own old age that transforms the characters of “Histórias que Só Existem Quando Lembradas”.

Oh, and this film inspired a personal project of mine, “Histórias que Só Existem Quando Contadas”. Go check it out.

All these films are available in full on YouTube.

• O Filme da Minha vida HERE
• Elena HERE
• Histórias que só existem quando lembradas HERE.

These films moved me deeply and showed me how full of wonderful artists Brazil is. And do you know any other films? Exploring the world of Brazilian cinema is something I love, so leave your suggestions in the comments.

Until next time,
kisses.

The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. It is impossible to talk about vampire books without mentioning this saga, made up of four books: Twilight (2008), New Moon (2008), Eclipse (2009) and Breaking Dawn (2009).
A vampire falls in love with a human girl and this gives rise to four books full of romance, adventure and mystery.
The books in this saga grip you from the first page to the last.

The Vampire Diaries by L. J. Smith. A saga made up of seven books: The Awakening (1991), The Struggle (1991), The Fury (1991), Dark Reunion (1991), Nightfall (2009), Shadow Souls (2010), and Midnight (2011).
The most haunting love triangle of all. Two vampire brothers, one good and one evil, are in love with the same human girl.

House of Night by Kristin Cast and P. C. Cast. It has twelve books and, so far, only two have been published in Brazil, Marked and Betrayed.
A world similar to ours, except for the fact that in it vampires have always existed.

Evernight by Claudia Gray. This saga has three books released so far: Evernight, Stargazer and Hourglass (or the titles used in Portuguese: Noite Eterna, Caçadora de Estrelas and Névoa do Tempo).
Determined to leave everything behind, Bianca runs away on the morning of the first day of term and accidentally bumps into Lucas Ross. A new student, admitted because of the recent policy of welcoming pupils who do not fit Evernight’s usual profile, he enchants her at first sight.
After that, many things happen. I was absolutely hooked on this book and was really surprised by many of its twists. I recommend it.

This kind of reading is my favourite, since it plays so much with what is real and what is imaginary.
Highly recommended.

CLAUDIA GRAY – Evernight p.13