World Literature stats for 2009

This year I read 20 books in translation in 10 different languages, and 34 works of English by foreign authors for a total of 54 out of 112 books read. Not bad, but 2008 was actually a better year in world literature for me.

First, the books in translation:

Chinese

• The Good Women of China by Xinran

Japanese

1. The Houskeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
2. Thousand Cranes by Yasanuri Kawabata
3. X-Kai- Vol. 2 by Asami Tohjoh
4. Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto 
   
5. Vampire Knight Vol 1 by Matsuri Hino

Spanish

1. Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda (Chilean author)
2. A Tale of Two Gardens by Octavio Paz (Mexican author)
3. The House of Paper by Carlos Maria Dominguez (Uruguayan author)
4. The Angels Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Spanish author)

French

1. Fear and Trembling by Amelie Nothomb (Belgian author, Japanese setting)
2. Ravel by Jean Echenoz

German

• The Reader by Bernard Schlink
• Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

Norwegian

• Kristin Lavransdatter III: The Cross by Sigrid Undset

Polish

• Solaris by Stanislaw Lem

Portuguese

• The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho

Swedish

• The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
• The Wonderful Adventures of Nils by Selma Lagerlof

Yiddish

• Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer

Written in English by authors not from the USA:

Senegal

• So Long a Letter by Mariama Ba

Canada

1. Fugitive Pieces by Ann Michaels
2. Natasha and Other Stories by David Bezmozgis
3. The End of the Alphabet by C.S. Richardson
4. Yarrow by Charles de Lint
5. Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
6. Unless by Carol Shields
7. The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro
8. Still Life by Louise Penny
9. A Fatal Grace (aka Dead Cold) by Louise Penny
10. The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny
11. A Rule Against Murder (aka The Murder Stone) by Louise Penny
12. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
13. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
14. Mistik Lake by Martha Brooks

UK

1. Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith (2001, 227 pp.)
2. The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith (2002, 191 pp.)
3. The Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith (2004, 198 pp.)
4. In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith
5. Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith
6. Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
7. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling
8. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith
9. The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith
10. Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith
11. Dream Angus by Alexander McCall Smith
12. Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (1891, 472 pp)
13. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (2009, 466 pp)
14. Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively (1987, 208 pp)
15. The Remains of the Day by Ishiguro

India

• Q & A by Vikas Swarup
• The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh

Ireland

• Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

Not counted in the totals, but of note, authors who were born citizens of another country and now live in the US:

• Petropolis by Anya Ulinich (2007, 324pp.)
• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (2007, 367 pp)
• Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman (2006, 400 pp.)
• The Namesake and Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

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