Expanding Horizons Challenge

I'm happy to report that the semester is done, grades are in, and now I can turn to the really fun stuff! Melissa, over at Book Nut, is hosting a reading challenge that I'm looking forward to. I've been working on my reading list for a while now, but she tells me that I can't officially start until the first of the year :-)

The challenge runs from January through April, and works as follows...

Either read four books by authors in one of the six categories (you can read more than one category, but you must read four books; not two books in one category and two in another) OR read six books, one from each of the six categories. The categories are:

1. African/African-American.
2. Asian/Asian-American (This is not just East Asian -- Chinese, Korean and Japanese -- but also Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, and the Central Asian -Stans.)
3. Hispanic/Latin American
4. Indian/Indian-American (Again, books by Indian authors; not books by white authors set in India.)
5. Middle Eastern (Iran, Iraq, Israel, Palestine, Turkey...)
6. Native Peoples (Can include Native American, Inuit, Polynesian --Maori, Samoan, etc -- Siberian natives and Australian Aborigines.)


I've decided to go the second route and read one out of each category. Here's my preliminary list, always subject to change.

1. African/African-American: So Long a Letter, by Mariama Bo
2. Asian/Asian-American: Happy Birthday or Whatever, by Annie Choi
3. Hispanic/ Latin American: A Simple Habana Melody, by Oscar Hijuelos
4. Indian/Indian-American: The Inheritance of Loss, by Kiran Desai
5. Middle Eastern: The Saffron Kitchen, by Yasmin Crowther
6. Native Peoples: Potiki, by Patricia Grace

So thanks, Melissa, for hosting and for the good excuse to stretch a little and read some new things that I might not have tried otherwise!