My Europa Challenge Goals

One of the best things about starting my blog has been discovering indie publishers with exquisite taste who champion lesser-known authors and literature in translation. Europa Editions is one of the best among this group. A few months ago I reviewed their 100th title, Alina Bronsky's darkly comic The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine. And I already decided that three of their books would be on my summer reading list. So when I heard Marie and Liberty were organizing a reading challenge, I jumped at the chance.

Unlike my overly ambitious commitments to prior reading challenges, I am going to sign up for the modest Europa Ami level (4 Europa titles by the end of the year). But I may end up upgrading because I already have 5 books on my list:

• Broken Glass Park, Alina Bronsky's critically aclaimed debut novel (translated from the German by Tim Mohr)
• The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, which spent over a year on the NYT bestseller list (translated from the French by Alison Anderson)
• Hygiene and the Assassin, the first novel by celebrated French writer Amélie Nothomb, now being published in English for the first time (translated from the French by Alison Anderson)
• A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cossé, about a Parisian bookstore (translated from the French by Alison Anderson)
• You Deserve Nothing by Alexander Maksik, the debut book from Europa's new Tonga print, guest-edited by Alice Sebold

Whether you're new to Europa or a loyal fan, I hope you'll consider joining us!