I'm nabbing this from Susan, but I'm afraid I'm going to do even worse than she felt she did. I am a totally predictable reader, staying well within my comfort zone. Time to take note of my weaknesses.
Name the last book by a female author that you've read.
I'm afraid this is going to be the only easy one for me. I read mostly women authors. I recently finished Georgette Heyer's The Talisman Ring.
Name the last book by an African or African-American author that you've read.
Nothing in the last three years--I'm too embarrassed to go back further.
Name one from a Latino/a author.
The closest I can come is Death Rites by Alicia Giménez-Bartlett. She's actually Spanish. There was a time not too many years back when every third book I read was by a Latino author, so I wonder if I sort of 'read myself out'.
How about one from an Asian country or Asian-American?
Not really. The closest I can come is Peter Ho Davies's The Welsh Girl. Davies is Welsh/Chinese. Yes, that is a bit of a stretch, and I read the book two years ago!
What about a GLBT writer?
Thanks to the Slaves of Golconda, I read Jeanette Winterson's Sexing the Cherry. I also read Affinity by Sarah Waters earlier this year.
Why not name an Israeli/Arab/Turk/Persian writer, if you're feeling lucky?
Again, a couple of years ago I read The Calligrapher's Night by Yasmine Ghata, an author of Turkish lineage who now lives in France.
Any other "marginalized" authors you've read lately?
Would Serbian author Zoran Zivkovic count? Last year I read a collection of his short stories, Steps Through the Mist.
And here I thought I was doing pretty well by reading nine books so far this year that are works in translation. The thing is they are all European authors. I guess I need to shuffle my books around a little and try for more diversity in my reading.