Read Around South America Challenge

Read at least one book by an author from each country in South America.

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Best books from South America (558)
181.

Winning the Game and Other Stories by Rubem Fonseca EN

Rating: 3 (1 vote)
Description:
With an unflinching, unsentimental eye and a soupçon of black humor, Fonseca chronicles the foibles, manias, and obsessions of the people of Brazil's metropolises

182.

Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon by Jorge Amado EN

Rating: 4 (4 votes)
Description:
Ilhéus in 1925 is a booming town with a record cacao crop and aspirations for progress, but the traditional ways prevail. When Colonel Mendonça discovers his wife in bed with a lover, he shoots and kills them both. Political contests, too, can be settled by gunshot... No one imagines that a bedraggled migrant worker who turns up in town–least of all Gabriela herself–will be the agent of change. Nacib Saad has just lost the cook at his popular café and in desperation hires Gabriela. To his surprise she turns out to be a great beauty as well as a wonderful cook and an enchanting boon to his busi... continue

183.

City of God : A Novel by Paulo Lins EN

Rating: 4 (2 votes)
Description:
The searing novel on which the internationally acclaimed hit film was based. “A Scarface-like urban epic . . . punctuated with lyricism and longing” (Publishers Weekly). City of God is a gritty, gorgeous tour de force from one of Brazil’s most notorious slums. Cidade de Deus: a place where the streets are awash with narcotics, where violence can erupt at any moment over drugs, money, and love—but also a place where the samba beat rocks till dawn, where the women are the most beautiful on earth, and where one young man wants to escape his background and become a photographer. When City of God e... continue

184.

Daydream and Drunkenness of a Young Lady by Clarice Lispector EN

0 Ratings
Description:
'The morning became a long, drawn-out afternoon that became depthless night dawning innocently through the house' Tales of desire and madness from this giant of Brazilian literature. Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; t... continue

185.

Dancing with the Devil in the City of God : Rio de Janeiro on the Brink by Juliana Barbassa EN

0 Ratings
Description:
Rio de Janeiro is a city of extremes: from Carnaval's hedonistic delights, to the poverty of the favelas, to the softly seductive samba beat. But there's a dark side to this beautiful city: for years, Rio was ravaged by inflation, drug wars, and crooked leaders, and the legacy of decades of corruption can be seen in the very real struggles the city faces today. Now, Rio is ready to remake itself, this time into a global, modern capital ready for its turn on the world stage with the Olympics in 2016. But at what price? Armed with sharp prose and a reporter's instinct, Rio-born journalist Julian... continue

186.

Daytripper Deluxe Edition by Gabriel Ba EN

Rating: 5 (2 votes)
Description:
The Eisner Award winning DAYTRIPPER follows Bras de Olivias Dominguez during different periods in his life, each with the same ending: his death. DAYTRIPPER follows the life of one man, Bras de Olivias Dominguez. Every chapter features an important period in Bras' life in exotic Brazil, and each story ends the same way: with his death. And then, the following story starts up at a different point in his life, oblivious to his death in the previous story-and then also ends with him dying again. In every chapter, Bras dies at different moments in his life, as the story follows him through his ent... continue

187.

Child of the Dark : The Diary of Carolina Maria de Jesus by Carolina Maria de Jesus EN

Rating: 5 (4 votes)
Description:
An uneducated Black woman exposes the squalid living conditions and savage human relationships that she experienced in a Brazilian slum.

188.

The Curse of the Flores Women : A Novel by Angélica Lopes EN

Rating: 5 (2 votes)
Description:
In this haunting novel about the enduring bonds of womanhood, a young girl weaves together the truth behind her family history and the secrets that resonate through generations. Eighteen-year-old Alice Ribeiro is constantly fighting--against the status quo, female oppression in Brazil, and even her own mother. But when a family veil is passed down to her, Alice is compelled to fight for the rights of all womankind while also uncovering the hidden history of the women in her family. Seven generations ago, the small town of Bom Retiro shunned the Flores women because of a "curse" that rendered t... continue

189.

The Hour of the Star (Second Edition) by Clarice Lispector EN

Rating: 5 (3 votes)
Description:
Clarice Lispector died of cancer at the age of fifty-six on 9th December 1977. "The Hour of the Star" was published that same year and acclaimed by the critics as 'a regional allegory' of extraordinary awareness and insight. Lispector herself defined "The Hour of the Star" as a book 'made without words ... a mute photograph ... a silence ... a question'. The tale of Macabea can be read at different levels and lends itself to various interpretations. The book's subtle interplay of fiction and philosophy sums up Lispector's unique talent as a writer and her lasting influence on contemporary Braz... continue

190.

Cross-Cultural Exchange in the Atlantic World : Angola and Brazil during the Era of the Slave Trade by Roquinaldo Ferreira EN

0 Ratings
Description:
This book argues that Angola and Brazil were connected, not separated, by the Atlantic Ocean. Roquinaldo Ferreira focuses on the cultural, religious, and social impacts of the slave trade on Angola. Reconstructing biographies of Africans and merchants, he demonstrates how cross-cultural trade, identity formation, religious ties, and resistance to slaving were central to the formation of the Atlantic world. By adding to our knowledge of the slaving process, the book powerfully illustrates how Atlantic slaving transformed key African institutions, such as local regimes of forced labor that preda... continue