Author Archives: portiabridget

Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy by Cathy O’Neil

Posted on October 11, 2019 by portiabridget

Product info (from Goodreads): We live in the age of the algorithm. Increasingly, the decisions that affect our lives—where we go to school, whether we get a car loan, how much we pay for health insurance—are being made not by … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, contemporary, non-fiction | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Secrecy World: Inside the Panama Papers Investigation of Illicit Money Networks and the Global Elite by Jake Bernstein

Posted on October 4, 2019 by portiabridget

Product info (from Goodreads): A two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist takes us inside the world revealed by the Panama Papers, a landscape of illicit money, political corruption, and fraud on a global scale. My impressions: Do you think superwealthy people love … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, contemporary, crime, non-fiction | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Brasyl by Ian McDonald

Posted on September 27, 2019 by portiabridget

Product info (from Goodreads): Three separate stories follow three main characters: –Edson is a self-made talent impressario one step up from the slums in a near future São Paulo, a city of astonishing riches and poverty. A chance encounter draws … Continue reading →

Posted in adventure, alternate history, book review, contemporary, crime, fantasy, sci-fi | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Movie review: Serial (Bad) Weddings (2014) directed by Philippe de Chauveron

Posted on September 20, 2019 by portiabridget

Product info (mainly from Wikipedia): Claude Verneuil (Christian Clavier), a Gaullist notary, and his wife Marie (Chantal Lauby), a Catholic bourgeois from Chinon, are proud parents of four daughters: Isabelle, Odile, Ségolène, and Laure. The three eldest are already married. Unfortunately their husbands are … Continue reading →

Posted in comedy drama, contemporary, movie review | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Illusion by Andrew Neiderman

Posted on September 13, 2019 by portiabridget

Product info (from Goodreads): Jillian Caldwell, late twenties, works for an advertising agency in New York. Ron Cutler, early thirties, comes to her for a promotional project for his upstate New York Department stores. A romance ensues. Shortly after Ron … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, contemporary, romance, thriller | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Movie review: Adventures of Aladdin (2019) directed by Glenn Campbell

Posted on September 6, 2019 by portiabridget

Product info: A new remake of an old fairy tale. With the help of a magical lamp, an impoverished young man transforms himself into a prince in order to win the heart of a beautiful princess. My impressions: This was … Continue reading →

Posted in book into movie, fairy tale, fantasy, movie review | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Reviewing a classic: Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick

Posted on August 30, 2019 by portiabridget

Product info (from Goodreads): Jason Taverner woke up one morning to find himself completely unknown. The night before he had been the top-rated television star with millions of devoted watchers. The next day he was just an unidentified walking object, … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, classic, dystopia, grimdark, sci-fi | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Movie review: Red Sparrow (2018) directed by Francis Lawrence

Posted on August 30, 2019 by portiabridget

Product info: Dominica Egorova’s (Jennifer Lawrence) life turns upside down when, during a Bolshoi Theatre performance, she collides with her partner and breaks her leg. An accident or not, a prima balerina with a broken leg has to end her … Continue reading →

Posted in book into movie, book-film-show, contemporary thriller/horror, movie review, spy movie | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Kremlin’s Candidate (Red Sparrow Trilogy 03) by Jason Matthew

Posted on August 16, 2019 by portiabridget

Product info (from Goodreads): The novel opens with Russian president Vladimir Putin planning the covert assassination of a high-ranking US official with the intention of replacing him with a mole whom Russian intelligence has cultivated for more than fifteen years. … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, contemporary, crime, spy novel, thriller | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Movie review: Redbad (2018) directed by Noel Reine

Posted on August 9, 2019 by portiabridget

Product info: The 8th Century in Western Europe, a time of significant religious tension. When an army of Christian Franks approaches one tribe of pagan Frisians the bloodshed is inevitable. Redbad (Gijs Nabel) is caught right in the middle of … Continue reading →

Posted in costume drama, historical, movie review | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments