Vacation Reads

The books, in order

1. 1

   Fiction · 15 min

   Poetry That Transforms

   Bráulio Bessa

   Pride in where you come from does not have to be aggressive; it can simply be the dignity of naming your origins without lowering your head.

   See the summary

2. 2

   Fiction · 15 min

   The Little Brunette

   Joaquim Manuel de Macedo

   According to the book, the nickname "the little brunette" hides the girl who needs the least effort to hold Augusto's attention, precisely because she never competes for it.

   See the summary

3. 3

   Fiction · 13 min

   Jane Eyre

   Charlotte Brontë

   People who preach sacrifice to others while living in comfort, like the head of Lowood, use virtue as an excuse to give orders.

   See the summary

4. 4

   Fiction · 17 min

   Wuthering Heights

   Emily Brontë

   Humiliation in childhood can turn into a thirst for payback in adulthood, and the novel shows that seed clearly.

   See the summary

5. 5

   Fiction · 17 min

   To Kill a Mockingbird

   Harper Lee

   According to the book, teaching by example is worth more than a lecture: kids learn from what they see their parents do when nobody is watching.

   See the summary

6. 6

   Fiction · 15 min

   A Thousand Splendid Suns

   Khaled Hosseini

   A childhood friendship can be the first place where someone discovers they are worth something, and that memory can hold a person up through years of hardship.

   See the summary

7. 7

   Fiction · 13 min

   Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

   Robert Louis Stevenson

   Quitting once is only the beginning: the hard part is the day the craving comes back twice as strong and nobody is watching.

   See the summary

8. 8

   Fiction · 16 min

   Frankenstein

   Mary Shelley

   Staying silent when you know the truth and letting an innocent person pay is a way of taking part in the wrong.

   See the summary

9. 9

   Fiction · 17 min

   Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas

   Jules Verne

   In the giant squid attack, Verne puts Nemo, Ned Land, and the crew in hand-to-hand combat, with no time for any plan.

   See the summary

10. 10

    Fiction · 15 min

    Blindness

    José Saramago

    Whoever controls an essential resource, like food, ends up giving the orders, and in the story, collective organization is the counterweight to that power.

    See the summary