Books I've read that show the varied face of the United States.

Science fiction, fantasy, and otherwise unreal fiction I've read. Also including authors I've read more than one book/story from whose work tends to fall in this category.
I am choosing titles that tend more towards the "weird" - for example, I'm a big fan of Kazuo Ishiguro, but I think that Never Let Me Go isn't strange enough for this list, despite the sci-fi conceit.
Another favorite author of mine is Shirley Jackson. Many of her stories have a creepy edge, but so far I'm only including The Sundial and The Haunting of Hill House because they are the novels that lean most towards the supernatural.

Books that describe the processes and effects of economic activity.

Differing from traditional portrayals of female characters.

Books that I've read that focus on senses other than sight.

This article by Jayashree Arunachalam in The Hindu uses the the term "parallel literature" to refer to stories using the characters and/or settings of previous literary works.

Short stories in this vein include John Langan's "Technicolor."