Expanding Horizons Challenge

The Expanding Horizons Challenge is hosted by Melissa of Book Nut. The challenge goes from January 1 through April 2008.

There are two ways to approach this challenge. Either read four books by authors in one of the six categories (you can read more than one category, but you must read four books; not two books in one category and two in another) OR read six books, one from each of the six categories. The categories are:

1. African/African-American.
2. Asian/Asian-American (This is not just East Asian -- Chinese, Korean and Japanese -- but also Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, and the Central Asian -Stans.)
3. Hispanic/Latin American
4. Indian/Indian-American (Again, books by Indian authors; not books by white authors set in India.)
5. Middle Eastern (Iran, Iraq, Israel, Palestine, Turkey...)
6. Native Peoples (Can include Native American, Inuit, Polynesian --Maori, Samoan, etc -- Siberian natives and Australian Aborigines.)

I haven't necessarily chosen my books yet. But I have chosen my focus. I think...think being the key word...that I'll focus on Asian/Asian-American. I don't have access to all the books below, but they look like good places to start...

Revolution Is Not A Dinner Party by Ying Chang Compestine
The Magical Monkey King: Mischief in Heaven: Classic Chinese Tales by Ji-Li Jiang (Note to self: YS 398.2 JIA North Youth Nonfiction)
Year of the Rat by Grace Lin
Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang (don't have access to)
When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Sue Park (Fowler/North TEEN F Par)
The Kite Fighters by Linda Sue Park (Fowler/North TEEN F Par)
Seesaw Girl by Linda Sue Park (Fowler/North TEEN F Par)
A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park (Fowler/North TEEN F Par)
Girl With The White Flag by Tomiko Higa (Don't have access to)
Twist: Yoga Poems by Janet Wong (Don't have access to)
Good Luck Gold by Janet Wong
A Suitcase of Seaweed by Janet Wong
The Rainbow Hand by Janet Wong
Night Garden by Janet Wong (Don't have access to)
A Step From Heaven by An Na (Might have access to)
The Fold by An Na (Coming 2008...don't have access to)
The Invisible Thread: An Autobiography by Yoshiko Uchida (North YS B UCH)
Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah (Fowler Youth Nonfiction YS B Mah)
Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society (North Teen F Mah)
Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi (Fowler J F CHO)
The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston (North B Kin)
Any of the 46 Titles by Laurence Yep at my local library

Edited to add:

Confessions of A Mask by Yukio Mishima (Fowler Adult F MIS--Listed On Order as of 12/19/2007)
The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima (Don't have access to)

Other titles by this author available at my local library are:
Acts of Worship: Seven Stories (North Branch F MIS);
The Temple of Dawn (North Branch F MIS);
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea (Fowler F Mis);
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion (North Branch F Mis).

The Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson, and Issa edited by Robert Hass (North Adult Nonfiction 895.6132 ESS)

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami (Don't have access to)
Other titles by this author that are available at my local library:

The Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami (North Adult F Mur)
Underground by Haruki Murakami (North Adult Nonfiction 364.1523 Mur)
South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami (North F Mur)
After Dark by Haruki Murakami (Fowler and North F Mur)
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (Fowler F Mur)
After the Quake by Haruki Murakami (North F Mur)
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami (Fowler and North F Mur)

And these are random titles that I found by chance at my local library's online catalog:

Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata (North Adult F Kaw)
First Snow On Fuji by Yasunari Kawabata (North Adult F Kaw)
The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata (North Adult F Kaw)
The Lake by Yasunari Kawabata (Fowler Adult F Kaw)
The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata (Fowler Adult F Kaw)
The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki (North Adult F Tan)
Quicksand by Junichiro Tanizaki (North Adult F Tan)
The Gourmet Club by Junichiro Tanizaki (North Adult F Tan)
Beyond the Curve and Other Stories by Kobo Abe (Fowler F ABE)
Tokyo Stories: A Literary STroll, edited by Lawrence Rogers (North ADult F Tok)
Mistress Oriku: Stories From A Tokyo Teahouse by Matsutaro Kawaguchi (Fowler Popular F Kaw)
Tales of Tears and Laughter: Short Fiction of Medieval Japan translated by Virginia Skord (Fowler F TAL)
A Boy Called H: A Childhood In Wartime Japan by Kappa Senoh (North Adult F Sen) {Note to self: this one looks like it could be a must-read.}

And these two I've got checked out right now:

Facing the Bridge by Yoko Tawada
The Ocean in the Closet by Yuko Taniguchi

I, of course, reserve the right to add titles to this list as I find them. I hope that there are plenty of 2008 titles that will qualify. I hope :) But if not, I'll rely on my local library.