Went shopping for Brazil reading material at Amazon.com.

Paulo Lins' City of God: Drawing on his childhood upbringing in Rio's Cidade de Deus housing project, Lins, uses his knowledge of drug trafficking and gang warfare as the basis of this novel.

Annette Haddad and Scott Doggett's (eds) Travelers' Tales: Brazil: An anthology of extracts from books and magazine articles by journalists, anthropologists, historians, and other travellers to Brazil.

Alma Guillermoprieto's Samba: The author, a trained dancer and well-known journalist, describes a year she spent in Rio's Mangueira favela preparing with its inhabitants for Carnaval.

And, for Travis, who's a bit behind the curve in terms of trip reading:

Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island: Highlights his travels across Britain.

*Brazil book descriptions taken from The Rough Guide to Brazil.