Diversity in Reading

I saw this meme over at Iliana's and was curious to see how I'd do. I tend to think that I'm quite good at reading a variety of authors, but let's see!

1. Name the last book by a female author that you’ve read.
I read mostly female authors so the answer to this is The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale, which I finished this week. And actually, looking at my list of books read this year, the balance between male and female authors isn't as bad as I thought!

2. Name the last book by an African or African-American author that you’ve read.
I know that this is terrible to admit but Africa is last on my list of regions that interest me. I just don't connect with it and I only have natural curiosity for it, but no passion. Asia, especially the Far East, is the region that I'm drawn to most, for some reason. Strange, eh? Having said that, I have several books by African authors on my TBR shelf, because I do want to find out more about this continent... so I am trying to branch out! The last book I read in this category was in December - Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.

Do you connect with certain regions more than with others?

3. Name one from a Latino/a author.
I read The Witch of Portobello by Paolo Coelho earlier this year. I keep meaning to read more Latino/a authors, especially those of magical realism. Any suggestions?

4. How about one from an Asian country or Asian-American?
The Good Women of China by Xinran - fantastic book.

5. What about a GLBT writer?
Hmmm... this might be where my weakness is. I read Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson last year... I'm not always aware if the authors I read are or are not GLBT, to be perfectly honest.

6. Why not name an Israeli/Arab/Turk/Persian writer, if you’re feeling lucky?
The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi was one my first graphic novels and I now love the genre and the author.

7. Any other “marginalized” authors you’ve read lately?
I suppose that Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky would count, since the author was a Jew during WWII, so definitely marginalised.

I didn't do too badly! Go on, fill this in yourselves, you know you want to! And make sure you let me know in the comments so I can check out your answers! :-)

The Goose Girl

Author Shannon Hale and in particular her book The Goose Girl is one of my first blogging finds. I don't think I would have ever heard of her if I hadn't started blogging. This is one of the aspects I really appreciate about our community!

So I've been wanting to read this for over a year, I think, and it's been sittting on my shelf for about 6 months. I picked it up now for Carl's Once Upon a Time challenge.

I'm disappointed that I didn't love it. I liked it but there were so many fantastic reviews that I so wanted to love it! I wanted it to be one of those books that engrossed me completely, I wanted to read it and forget our world and become part of the story. For whatever reason - and it may well be that I have some big stuff distracting me at the moment - this didn't happen. Well, maybe until the last third of the book - I didn't really want to put it down then.

I guess I should be happy that I really liked it, rather than upset that I didn't love it, but hey, that's what happens when you have too many expectations!

The Goose Girl is a fairy tale about Princess Ani who has led a sheltered life and is forced to grow up very quickly when certain events come to be. She has to learn to be independent, she has to deal with her friends betraying her and she has to learn who she really is, aside from her background and her title. And it's not like she fits in where she ends up - she looks different than the others, has serious secrets and can communicate with animals... it's certainly not easy but she gets through it and comes out a winner.

The tone of the book is completely magical. I'd start reading and feel all warm inside. The characters are great and the story has some nice twists that keep it interesting. Most interesting is Ani's coming-of-age journey of self-discovery. She does it so well too - she has the perfect balance of confidence and strength and self-doubt. I think her thinking process is beautifully captured.

I'll definitely try another Shannon Hale book, her writing is superb - any thoughts on which one I should get next?

Challenges: 999 Challenge, Countdown Challenge, New Authors, Once Upon A Time, What's in a Name?, Young Adult Challenge, YA Romance

A challenge completed and a challenge failed...

I completed the Jewish Literature Challenge! It was hosted by Callista and ran from 21 December 2008 until 27 April 2009 - I finished my last book just in time! My original post had many options, as usual, but here's what I ended up reading in the end:

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
Night by Elie Wiesel
Nothing's Sacred by Lewis Black
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

I'm glad that not everything I read was about World War II, but I regret not reading anything that would tell me more about Jewish culture and customs. Next time, eh Callista? :-)

My favorite book was Night - it's one that I think everyone should read!

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And I failed the Latin American Reading Challenge, hosted by Katrina at Katrina Reads. As you can see from my sign-up post, I had lots of great books planned, but I only managed to read one (The Witch of Portobello by Paolo Coelho) and this one was only mediocre... challenge or no challenge, I hope to get to some of the other books on my list later this year.

Thanks to both hosts for helping me discover new books! :-)