Whenever life goes sucky and I feel blue, I run away. There are four reasons why I do this and they're pretty darn simple: 

1 - I need to get out of the place that reminds me of what's upsetting me;

2 - I need to surround myself with people who are always positive towards me and who I love most;

3 - I love traveling and being on a plane;

4 - I love organizing and packing so much that it is an actual thing I do to calm myself down.

The first 3 are perfectly fine and common, right? But it's number four that usually make people go "what?" all over me. Don't fret, though. I'm not completely insane. I think. I've been practicing my packing skills from a very young age. We moved around a lot, which meant boxes and suitcases were a thing of common use. And I quickly learned how to be able to pack well, at a time when packing cubes were not a thing. Soon enough I realized there was something soothing about evaluating the things I had, choosing which of them went with me, matching them together with shoes and accessories and neatly organizing them in a bag. Satisfying, even. I'm weird, whatever.

I have no idea what you mean by "this is such a late post"... I have not been procrastinating, what are you saying? I totally finished this last night... ok, last week... ok, fine, never mind, it's been a couple of months already... I'm sorry okay. Life happens. You get carried away. The point is, it's here. It's happening. I'm reviewing my next top 5 books I have to read this year. WE ARE GOING TO MAKE IT.

The Secret Garden is a classic children's book I had never read before. Nor had I seen the movie. Or if I did watch it, well, I forgot all about it. I knew to expect a little girl who would find a secret garden and have an amazing time there. I did not have a single clue about anything else regarding the story. However, cruising around the book store a couple of years ago I found this absolutely lovely edition of the book published by Penguin - one of my favorites - and I could not in a million years resist. The Little Princess, also from Burnett, had been one of my favorite children's book when I was younger, magical but emotional and touching. I have had Little Lord Fauntleroy staring at me from my book case for ages now and I never touched it. But something about The Secret Garden made me want it more. Maybe it had to do with the beautiful edition. Or maybe I knew that a point in my life would come in which I would need a book filled with magic and joy.

There is no better way to describe it. From the moment you start reading this story, you can feel how light it is. How filled with innocence and virtue. How obvious and yet how grand the moral lessons are.

It is one of those books in which you learn to love the main character, which you initially hate. It's a book about finding happiness and the importance of nurturing the things you love. How much do we forget that on our day-to-day lives? Coming and going from our boring jobs, we forget to nurture our love and enchantment for music, for reading, for creating, for sharing. In it's very romantic, at times religious (catholic, I would say), and innocent way, The Secret Garden reminds us how much joy and love can cure us all. We just have to look for the magic that's been hidden.

After reading the sweeter than sweet The Secret Garden, I dug into the completely opposite Thirteen Reasons Why. I've finished it in August. Took me a week, or less. It's going to be an intense review is all I can say. 

Unfortunately, I was not able to take a vacation from my internship to be able to spend the entire days with them, but I did meet them after work. One of those meetups was at Confeitaria Colombo, an 120 year old coffee shop in the center of town. Eating there is like a trip to a century ago. The mirrored walls, the antique dishes, the old style tables, the decorative details, the spread out pictures of past days. The place in itself is a work of art. History in a coffee shop. Add to that the deliciousness of the pastries, hot chocolates, coffee and cakes and it's the perfect spot for a mid-afternoon snack.

Finally, as if all these spots weren't enough, we had the almost unrealistic experience of going to the World Cup final. The experience was surreal. Even if it wasn't Brazil playing, we were all very invested in the game. It's almost impossible not to be when you are there. Not only Maracanã is a marvelous place but the pre-show was so much fun (I mean, who would have thought that it would ever be possible to see Shakira, Ivete Sangalo, Santana, Alexandre Pires, and more at once?) and the game was nerve-wracking. Not an experience I will easily (or ever) forget.

During the stream of "Top 5" posts I made at the end of last year, I made one dedicated to the 5 books I wanted to read in 2014. Although it took me quite a while to get started on that list (it is already the end of July, I mean...) since I had been reading Sense and Sensibility since December 2013, now that I have, I seem to finally be on a role with my reading. 

I started my list with book number 2: The Absolutist, by John Boyne.