So, here are some of the titles to work towards another year of reading around the world. As I barely made it through 13 titles in an ENTIRE year last year, I’m starting off with these 20 and will add as I go along the way:
1. The Successor, Ismail Kadare, Albania
2. The Swallows of Kabul, Yasmina Khadra, Algeria
3. The Witch of Portobello, Paulo Coelho, Brazil
4. Soul Mountain, Gao Xingjian, China
5. Tales from the Town of Widows, James Canon, Columbia
6. The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz, Dominican Republic
7. Sugar Street, Naguib Mahfouz, Egypt
8. The Inheritance of Loss, Kiran Desai, India
9. Let It Be Morning, Sayed Kashua, Isreal
10. From Harvey River, Lorna Goodison, Jamaica
11. In the Country of Men, Hisham Matar, Libya
12. The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsin Hamid, Pakistan
13. Links, Naruddin Farah, Somolia
14. The Quarry, Damon Galgut, South Africa
15. The Speed of Light, Javier Cercas, Spain
16. In a Free State, V.S. Naipul, Trinidad
17. Snow or My Name is Red, Orham Pamuk, Turkey
18. Babylon Rolling, Amanda Boyden, United States
Additions to the list because I don’t feel like alphabetizing before dinner:
19. A Hard Witching, Jacqueline Baker, Canada.
20. Got You Back, Jane Fallon, England. Or Somewhere Towards the End, Diana Atill, England. Or Little Black Book of Stories, A.S. Byatt, England.
21. Ignorance, Milan Kundera, Czech Republic.
22. The House of Spirits, Isabel Allende, Chile.*
*Technically, Allende was born in Peru, and so if I was sticking to my own self-imposed regulations around the challenge, I’d be crossing off that country instead. But the blurb in the back of the book specifically calls her a “Chilean” novelist and I’m not about to argue.
23. Under the Skin, Michel Faber, The Netherlands
24. Bonjour Tristesse, Francoise Sagan, France
You have some really good reading there. The Swallows of Kabul,and Soul Mountain are among my top recommended reads of the year. Let It Be Morning and Snow are right up there too. I also read and enjoyed Oscar Wao. I see a couple of titles that are new to me. I must investigate. Happy reading in 2009
A great, very eclectic list. I have read the first eight so far (yes, I’m reading them in alphabetical order for no reason) and must add that so far my favorite has been Tales from the town of Widows by James Canon: what a story! It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me angry. Thanks for the list.