Mia choose September's country to read because she's recently been listening to a lot of this location's music. I love the music too along with this country's passion for soccer (or football as many call it).
Still unsure which country we're talking about? Play the video below for some great background music while you read on. (It's a catchy song from there which translated into English is titled, "The Telephone Rang Again.")
Ooh! Samba, funk, rock & bossa nova merged wonderfully together. Nice choice, Mia! :)
Any guesses as to the country we're adventuring to next month? Well, if you know where samba & bossa nova are from, you've probably guessed correctly. Brazil!
Their main language is Portuguese. It's the largest country in South America covering 3.3 million sq. mi. (8.6 million sq. km) which is around 47% of the continent & it has one of the longest coastlines in the world at 4,655 mi. (7,491 km) long. In addition to music, Brazil is most famous for it's Amazon River, the annual carnival in Rio de Janeiro & seriously huge football/soccer stars like Pele, Ronaldo, & Ronaldinho not to mention their successful World Cup team who has won an astonishing 5 times.
And don't get me started on the food! As this gorgeous cookbook by a Rio de Janeiro native notes, "Brazilian food is an explosion of color and flavor—the mixture of three distinct cultures, Portuguese, African, and native Indian."
Brazilian cheese bread (pão de queijo) is crispy on the outside while soft & chewy on the inside filled with a cheesy tang. Fritters, croquettes & empanadas are deliciously-fried guilty pleasures while dulce de leche cake with a sour cream sorbet makes the perfect Brazilian dessert.
The very addictive caipirinha made with cachaça, sugar & lime is the national cocktail.
Brazil will be an amazing country to read & we'd love to hear book suggestions from you. Just let us know by Mon., Aug. 14 11PM ET. (That's NYC time. See this converted to your local time below.)
Please note - We're specific in the books we read, they must:
- Largely occur in the country specified unless the world described is an alternate universe
- Be written by an author born there who has spent a good portion of their life there
- Exist in paperback & ebook available on both Amazon & Kindle at least in the US & hopefully elsewhere