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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

In 2007 I read 79 new-to-me authors which was 90% of my total reading, and in 2008 I read 90 new-to-me authors for 88% of my reading.

This year, for 2009, I read 72 new-to-me authors, which emcompassed 65% of my total reading for the year. Still a lot of new authors, but I went back to some favorites and also kept up with a few series.  Looking at all the wonderful authors below, it’s really impossible to say who my favorites were because there were so many. I really enjoy ‘meeting’ new authors, and though I know I always will, I’m also getting to the point where I want to delve deeper into more of my favorite authors’ works as well. Do I have a prediction for 2010? I’ll take a guess that the new-to-me authors will be somewhere around 50-60%.

1. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson (2006, 368 pp.)
2. The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker (2009, 341 pp.)
3. The Houskeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa (2009, 180 pp.)
4. Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda (1924, 1969 for English translation, 80 pp.)
5. Thousand Cranes by Yasanuri Kawabata (1952, 147 pp.)
6. Fear and Trembling by Amelie Nothomb (1999, 2001 for the English translation, 132 pp)
7. Fugitive Pieces by Ann Michaels (1996, 294 pp.)
8. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (2006, 352 pp.)
9. Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto (1988, 1993 for the English translation; 105 pp.)
10. The Reader by Bernard Schlink (1995, 1997 for the English translation; 224 pages)
11. So Long a Letter by Mariama Ba (1980-81, 90 pp.)
12. Solaris by Stanislaw Lem (1961, 204 pp.)
13. A Tale of Two Gardens by Octavio Paz (various copyrights, 111 pp.)
14. Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors (2004, 344 pp.)
15. The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton (2008, 288 pp.)
16. A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park (2001, 152 pp.)
17. Kira Kira by Cynthia Kadohata (2004, 244 pp.)
18. The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman (1995, 122 pp.)
19. Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer (1966, 90 pp.)
20. Q & A by Vikas Swarup (2005, 318 pp.)
21. Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars (1970, 144 pp.)
22. Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi (2002, 297 pp.)
23. Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry (1940, 128 pp.)
24. Finn by Jon Clinch (2007, 304 pp.)
25. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates (1961, 355 pp.)
26. Petropolis by Anya Ulinich (2007, 324pp.)
27. Natasha and Other Stories by David Bezmozgis (2004, 147 pp)
28. All the Living by C.E. Morgan (2009, 208 pp.)
29. Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo (2009, 270 pp.)
30. The House of Paper by Carlos Maria Dominguez (2005 for Eng. trans., 103 pp.)
31. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (2007, 339 pp.)
32. The End of the Alphabet by C.S. Richardson (2007, 119 pp.)
33. Ravel by Jean Echenoz (2007, 117 pp.)
34. Mistik Lake by Martha Brooks (2007, 224 pp.)
35. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (2005, 498pp)
36. The First Part Last by Angela Johnson (2003, 131 pp.)
37. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (2006, 256 pp.)
38. The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer (2002, 380 pp.)
39. Yarrow by Charles de Lint (1986, 255 pp.)
40. The Tricking of Freya by Christina Sunley (2009, 342 pp.)
41. Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki (2008, 142 pp.)
42. How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff  (2004, 194 pp.)
43. The Optimist’s Daughter by Eudora Welty (1969, 180 pp.)
44. A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor (1986, 224 pp.)
45. Intuition by Allegra Goodman (2006, 352 pp.)
46. Property by Valerie Martin (2002, 192 pp.)
47. The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro (2006, 368 pp.)
48. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (2009, 464 pp.)
49. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (1998, 576 pp.)
50. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck (1931, 368 pp)
51. The Last Bridge by Teri Coyne (2009, 225 pp)
52. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse (1922, 102 pp)
53. Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (1891, 472 pp)
54. Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively (1987, 208 pp)
55. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice (1976, 352 pp)
56. Brooklyn by Colm Toibin (2009, 262 pp)
57. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (2009, 466 pp)
58. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris (2001, 292 pp)
59. Still Life by Louise Penny (2005, 312 pp)
60. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley (2009, 373 pp)
61. Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill (2007, 384 pp.)
62. The Inhabited World by David Long (2006, 288 pp.)
63. The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh (2005, 352 pp.)
64. The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff (2008, 384 pp.)
65. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (2008, 274pp.)
66. Vampire Knight Vol 1 by Matsuri Hino (2007, 208 pp.)
67. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (2005, 656 pp.)
68. The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland
69. The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti
70. The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist (2009, 268 pp.)
71. The Wonderful Adventures of Nils by Selma Lagerlof
72. Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman