Around the World with 9 Books

I have thus far resisted the array of reading challenges that abound on the Internet, but I find that I cannot resist Orbis Terrarum. I have always wanted to be more "well-traveled" in my reading and this challenge, which just started April 1st, encourages readers to pick nine books by authors from nine different parts of the world. I am swayed and have picked the following books to delve into by the end of this year.

1) Far Afield, by Susan Kaysen (US author about Faroes Islands)
2) The Unbearable Lightness of Being, by Milan Kundera (Czech Republic)
3) Murder on the Leviathan, by Boris Akunin (Georgia and Russia)
4) The Harafish, by Naguib Mahfouz (Egypt)
5) The Storyteller, by Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru)
6) Talkative Man, by R.K. Narayan (India)
7) The Periodic Table, by Primo Levi (Italy)
8) A Star Called Henry, by Roddy Doyle (Ireland)
9) The Dew Breaker, by Edwidge Danticat (Haitian-born author, now a U.S. citizen, but about US and Haiti)

After a long period of reading non-fiction, I am excited to wade back into the fictional pool and check out some authors that I have long meant to read. Check back for nine book reviews over the course of 2008. If you would like to join me in this global reading challenge, check out the Orbis Terrarum website and feel free to contact the Book Trout if you need some international reading ideas.