A bordo dos Descobrimentos (Portuguese) (on board the Discoveries)

By Matilde Silva:

Source: A Bordo dos Descobrimentos - Matilde Silva. Chiadoeditorakidscom. 2018. Available at: https://www.chiadoeditorakids.com/livraria/a-bordo-dos-descobrimentos. Accessed March 31, 2018.

This story was written by a 14-year-old girl! It is an adventure fiction aboard the ships that left Portugal under the direction of the navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral, in the year 1500 after Christ. The trip was destined for India, previously discovered by Vasco da Gama, but perhaps intentionally, deviated enough from the route and eventually discovered Brazil.

«Route taken by Cabral from Portugal to India in 1500 (in red), and the return route (in blue)»:

Source: Pedro Álvares Cabral. Enwikipediaorg. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_%C3%81lvares_Cabral#/media/File:Cabral_voyage_1500.svg. Accessed March 31, 2018.

«Romantic depiction of Cabral's first landing on the Island of the True Cross (present-day Brazil). He can be seen on the shore (center) standing in front of an armored soldier, who is carrying a banner of the Order of Christ»:

Source: Pedro Álvares Cabral. Enwikipediaorg. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_%C3%81lvares_Cabral#/media/File:Oscar_Pereira_da_Silva_-_Desembarque_de_Pedro_%C3%81lvares_Cabral_em_Porto_Seguro_em_1500.jpg. Accessed March 31, 2018.

It is a book that is recommended to all young people, as it gives a very realistic image of the hard life on board the ships of the Portuguese Discoveries.

«A book (...). It is a meeting between two people through the written word.», by Chiado Editora.

Mansfield Park (O Parque de Mansfield [Portuguese])

By Jane Austen:

Source: O Parque de Mansfield. Goodreadscom. 2018. Available at: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3905683-o-parque-de-mansfield. Accessed March 25, 2018.

With this book, I completed the reading of all Jane Austen's novels. It was published in 1814, after «Sense and Sensibility» (1811) and «Pride and Prejudice» (1813). For me, her best novel was «Persuasion» (posthumous work, published in 1818), followed by «Pride and Prejudice». «Mansfield Park« is, in my opinion, as good as «Emma» (1815), being richer in describing virtues and characters, while «Emma» is more cheerful.

At present, making a trip to the beginning of the nineteenth century is very interesting! People socialized more face-to-face/physically, took great walks in the gardens and woods, exchanged letters, performed dances where they introduced young women to society, played the piano or harp to rejoice an afternoon of rain, did embroidery, painted, finally, there was no television, radio, much less internet or mobile phones. How would live in that time? Would we be happier?

This novel had a beautiful plot and Jane Austen criticizes, as only she is capable of doing, the vices, prejudices, and bad characters intrinsic to society, both of that time, as the current, because they are, unfortunately, eternal.

His black sheep bride (a condessa rebelde [Portuguese])

By Anna DePalo:

Source: A condessa rebelde. Goodreadscom. Available at: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35733940-a-condessa-rebelde?from_search=true. Accessed March 4, 2018.

Nothing better than a Harlequin novel to enhance a woman's mood on a rainy afternoon! Exciting plot, lots of love, happy ending... It's better, lighter and more romantic than «Fifty shads» by E. L. James, I promise. A story with characters from high society, who share their property between New York and the United Kingdom.