Reads

One of the ways I get my Brazil fix is through reading. My search for Brazilian and Portuguese language books, however, has not been easy. Whether at that the book store or online, I always find a plethora of non-academic texts about other countries in Latin America or in other foreign languages and never too much about Brazil or anything written in Portuguese. Occasionally, I'll find a classic Portuguese language book on Amazon.com for sale by a vendor for upwards of $25, sometimes as much as $80. For a freaking book! My main point is that Portuguese language books are not sold in the U.S. like all the Spanish and French titles we read in high school and college. 


Buying a Kindle did give me more options, however. A few contemporary Brazilian titles, while not available in paperback, do have Kindle editions for purchase on Kindle Brasil. I also discovered a few websites that have almost every classic Brazilian title and a number of more recently published titles available for download as a PDF file, free of charge. Once I've downloaded the file to my desk top, I can send it to my Kindle email account which automatically transfers the file onto the reading device. 


So here is the running reading list. Most titles I've read. A few I haven't, but I'll get to them soon. Some titles are higher brow than others. But all are, in some way, shape, or form, related to Brazil.


English language non-fiction:

• Brazil on the Rise: The Story of a Country Transformed by Larry Rohter - modern history of Brazil
• The New Brazil by Riordan Roett - Modern history of Brazil
• Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City by Greg Grandin - True story of Henry's Ford's failed Amazonian rubber plantation
• The River of Doubt: Theodor Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Miller - True story of President Roosevelt's expedition through the Amazon
• Favela: Four Decades of Living on the Edge in Rio de Janeiro by Janice Perlman - The culmination of four decades of research on life in Rio's "slums" and the policies that perpetuate them
• A Father's Love: One Man's Unrelenting Battle to Bring his Abducted Son Home by David Goldman - David Goldman's account of the repatriation of his son from Brazil
• Culture Is Our Weapon: Making Music and Changing Lives in Rio de Janeiro by Patrick Neate and Damian Platt  - Music and grass roots activism in Rio's favelas
• The Accidental President of Brazil: A Memoir by Fernando Henrique Cardoso - Cardoso's autobiography through the end of his two terms as President of Brazil
• Samba by Alma Guillermoprieto - The author's account of her year living in a favela and dancing with one of Rio's most famous Samba schools
• The Greatest Gift: The Courageous Life and Martyrdom of Sister Dorothy Stang by Binka Le Breton

English language fiction:

• Heliopolis by James Scudamore - The son of a house keeper is adopted by the family his mother works for and assimilates into their life of luxury
• Brasyl by Ian McDonald - Sci-Fi novel that takes place in Brazil

Portuguese language:

• O Alquimista by Paulo Coelho (also in English) - Like his other books, heavy on the messaging
• Clandestinos na América by Dau Bastos - Random book I came across for R$ 5 on the street in Rio. Story of two friends in the risky business of illegal immigration to America
• O País Carnaval by Jorge Amado - Amado's first novel, which he published at the age of 19,  about a man in search of fulfillment
• Feliz Ano Velho by Marcelo Rubens Paiva - Paiva recounts the true story of an accident that left him paralyzed from the waste down and his long and arduous rehabilitation

Download books for free:

• Lívros Grátis
• 4 Shared

Order books online:

• Atlantico Books

If you have recommendations that aren't already on the list let me know! I'd love to hear from you.