Shelf Examination: World Fiction

The second in our series of quick guides to the fiction shelves tackles the world of world fiction.  Here are four picks that show off the diversity of this collection, which features books from around the world, translated into English.

 The Book: The Chess Machine, Robert Lohr.

 Check it out if you like:  chess, con artists, 18th-century Europe, German authors, political intrigue, scandal, mystery, or scrupulous attention to historical detail.

The Book: Stories of Little Women and Grown-Up Girls, Sonia Rivera-Valdes.

Check it out if you like:  Interlinked short stories, coming-of-age narratives, contemporary Cuban issues, the joys and challenges of women’s friendships, or down-to-earth prose styles.

The Book:   Nightwatch, Sergei Lukyanenko.

 Check it out if you like:  urban fantasy,  ill-fated romances, stolen artifacts, intricate plotting, dark humor, the Moscow scene, books that eventually become movies.

 The book: Everyday Life, Lydie Salvayre.

Check it out if you like:  Unreliable narrators, office politics, troubling portraits of the perils of growing older, generation gaps, or the rapidly changing corporate world.

Jonesing for more?  Take a peek at this booklist, and this one, for good measure.

Until next time, enjoy exploring brave new (or new-to-you) worlds!

–Leigh Anne