If there is to be a 2015 World Lit Challenge, I'd like to put in my two cents' worth and suggest the same categories as 2014, with the addition of two "Russia and Eastern European Writers" such as Anton Chekhov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Nicolai Gogol, Boris Pasternak,and Ludmila Petrushevskaya, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Ivan Turgenev, all Russians, and Milan Kundera, Czech; and

"Emigrant/Immigrant" (meaning any author who has changed his/her 'homeland' and written about that transformative experience.   I explained this in my 8/8/2014 post in the "2014 World Lit Mini-challenge" thread in this Forum, giving four titles that exemplify this category (The American, by Henry James; Call It Sleep, by Joseph Roth; The Frozen Waterfall, by Gaye  Hiçyilmaz; and White Teeth, by Zadie Smith.

Additionally, although it's not fiction, I'd like to recommend The Uprooted, by Oscar Handlin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian who took as his theme emigration, "the central experience of a great many human beings."

I really enjoyed the challenge. I read from the six given categories and added Nordic as a seventh rather than a sub. I think adding Russia/E.European is an excellent idea...and perhaps Canada too. As subs I'd offer Native American, Emigrant/Immigrant Writers, and/or authors who write in any other language that doesn't fit into any of the main categories (kind of a language wild card if you will).

Thanks for your input, Barbara B.  I especially like the addition of a "language wild card" category, since I have been wondering how to encompass a writer such as Giovanni Verga (whose novel would illustrate 'verismo italiano' ) and some others such as Alberto Moravia, Ignazio Silone, and Giuseppe di Lampedusa.   (To get Milan Kundera in, I expanded that new Russian catergory to include "Eastern Europe")

I'm particularly impressed by Canadian lit in general, both the number of serious writers and the caliber of their output.  No "perhaps" about it, Canada should be included (and I can supply a generous listing of authors).

Plus, looking over the books participants read for 2014 will provide a pretty broad range of suggestions for 2015, if the same categories are followed again.  But for the novelty-seekers in the group, a few new categories will liven things up.

Yes, please, I would like to see some new categories to add to the mix. I tend to read novels from places I'd like to visit or have visited. I have a lot of novels on  my TBR shelf that have been translated into English, but they are mostly European authors, so I like the Language wild card option. 

I've always understood the  Czech Republic to be middle European,  not Eastern European. With some marvelous writers, like Bohumil Hrabal, a highly gifted storyteller.

I, too, like the Nordic and Scandinavian categories since I have a bunch of Scandinavian mysteries I'd like to get to. 

Have you considered simplifying the challenge by reading from a country in each of the seven continents?

Asia (includes India, Mideast countries)

Africa

North America (includes Canada, Mexico, perhaps some Central America)

South America

Europe (includes Scandinavian countries and Eastern Europe)

Australia

Antarctica (includes adventures, explorations, wildlife, travel, and more)

Just a thought.

how about Nobel prize winners.

Tentatively, then:

North America (Canada, the United States of America, and Mexico)

Latin America: the 7 Central American countries and the 13  South American countries, one of which is a department of France  The seven  are: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.  The 13 are: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela.  (If you select this category, you will find a list of 20 suggested titles by going to my list, "Latin American Writers, a selection".   More info on Latin American authors can be had by using the search term, Latin American Literature, in the Classics Forum.)

Europe: the Scandinavian countries--Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark; and those countries and a portion of Russia which lie between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Ural Mountains to the east, and between the Barents Sea to the north and the Caucasus Mountains and Mediterranean Sea to the south

Africa: the countries of the land mass bordered on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, and on the south by the Southern Ocean, and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the east by the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean

Asia: composed of the part of the Eurasian land mass commonly referred to as "the Middle East" , it is bounded on the west by the Mediterranean Sea and extends eastward to the Pacific Ocean, and is bounded on the north by the Russian Federation, and on the south by the Indian Ocean; and it includes the islands of Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Australia:  the continent that is an island, surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Coral Sea, the South Pacific Ocean,  and the Southern Ocean.    Nearby New Zealand is made up of two islands, the North Island and the South Island, and lies between the Tasman Sea (northeast of Australia) and the South Pacific Ocean.

Antarctica: see https://www.goodreads.com/places/112-antarctica and http://www.bookssetin.com/BookSearch.aspxViewPlace=Antarctica

Thank you for the links, Valerie H.

Valerie H.  I don't know anything about Antarctica, really.  I leave it to you to list a few book titles, if this category gets the nod from Challenge participants for 2015.

I'd still like to suggest an "Emigrants/Immigrants" category.

Hi Bonnie, Here is a link to Goodreads list of 49 books set in Antarctica: https://www.goodreads.com/places/112-antarctica

and a link to a website that lists 21 books:  http://www.bookssetin.com/BookSearch.aspx?ViewPlace=Antarctica                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Newcomers to the WorldLit Reading Challenge can find ideas for 2015 in the reading lists of those who participated in the 2014 Challenge.  In the Foreign Language/World Lit forum, use as a search term "2014 World Literature Mini Challenge Lists.  I recommend using the instruction "In-line" so that you will be shown how the idea developed, starting with R.E.K. (bigstone) message of 12/14/2013, and continuing to show the lists of those who participated in that Challenge.

I propose each of us who intend to do the 2015 Challenge choose a half dozen categories that have something to do with WORLD literature, and read any kind of book (fiction, non-fiction, prose, poetry, whatever) that falls into the category.  After all, the main idea is to become more international, or cosmopolitan, or global-minded, or whatever you choose to call it, in our reading.  It's a great way to overcome provincialism.

Last year we read books written by authors from different countries. Are we now changing that to books just "set" in various countries? I'm confused. I thought the idea was to explore the point of view of a foreign author.

Barbara, I apologize. My previous post probably led to your confusion. I was unaware of the distinction between author nativity and book setting. Please ignore my post. In fact, I am happy to delete, if that will help. Please let me know. Thanks.