We Need Diverse Books

In 2014, the book worlds attention was drawn to the fact that there is a lack of diversity in publishing.  Behind the desks, at the bookstore, and in the pages, the make-up of our world is not adequately represented.  To help make our own bookshelves more diverse, here is my list of books that I have reviewed on my blog either written by a person of colour or with main characters of colour.

Abouet, Marguerite
Aya

 Abraham, Carolyn
The Juggler's Children

 Adams, Stacy Hawkins
Coming Home
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi
The Thing Around Your Neck
Americanah 

Aguirre, Carmen
Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter

Al-Solaylee, Kamal
Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes

 Alexis, André
Pastoral
Fifteen Dogs

 Ali, Ayaan Hirsi
Nomad

Armstrong, Kelley
City of the Lost

 Atta, Sefi
A Bit of Difference

Badami, Anita Rau
The Hero's Walk

 Baruwa, Yahaya
Struggles of a Dreamer

Basu, Arjun
Waiting For the Man

 Beah, Ishmael
Radiance of Tomorrow

 Benaron, Naomi
Running The Rift

 Benson, Angela, Marilynn Griffith, Tia McCollors
A Million Blessings

Billingsley, ReShonda Tate
Holy Rollers
Sinners and Saints
The Secret She Kept
A Family Affair
Friends and Foes

 Blair, Peggy
The Beggar's Opera
The Poisoned Pawn 
Hungry Ghosts


 Bowen, Rhonda
Boyden, Joseph


Brice, Carleen
Children of the Waters

Briscoe, Connie
Money Can't Buy Love

Burton, Shana
Flaws and All
Flaw Less

Coates, Ta-Nehisi
Between the World and Me

 Chin, StaceyAnn

Choa-Johnston, Simon
The House of Wives

Chow, Olivia
My Journey


Cole, Teju
Every Day is for the Thief

Clarke, Austin

Clay, Bryan
Redemption

Compton-Rock, Malaak
If It Takes A Village, Build One

Deraniyagala, Sonali
Wave


Enahoro, Carole
Doing Dangerously Well

Ferguson, Will
419



Grady, Wayne
Emancipation Day



Hammond, Michelle McKinney
Divanomics







LaBoucane-Benson, Patti
The Outside Circle

 Laferrière, Dany

LaFlesh, Teri

Lahiri, Jhumpa
The Lowland


Levy, Andrea
The Long Song

Lewis, John

Lindberg, Tracey
Birdie

Lomong, Lopez
Running For My Life

Mabanckou, Alain
Broken Glass

 Mahal, Zeenat
She Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

 Maharaj, Rabindranath
The Picture of Nobody

Malik, Ayisha
Sofia Khan is Not Obliged

 Mam, Somaly
The Road of Lost Innocence


McFadden, Bernice
Glorious
Gathering of Waters

McKinstry, Carolyn Maull
While The World Watched


McWatt, Tessa
Higher Ed

 Mengistu, Dinaw
All Our Names







Oyeyemi, Helen
Boy, Snow, Bird

Ozeki, Ruth

Park, Linda Sue
A Long Walk to Water

Patel, Ayesha
Priya in Heels

Richardson, Jael Ealey

Riley, Lucinda
The Midnight Rose

Rostampour, Maryam and Marziyeh Amirizadeh

Saberi, Roxana

Saeed, Aisha
Written in the Stars

 Selasi, Taiye
Ghana Must Go

Shepherd, Sherri
Permission Slips

Simpson, Jon Chan
Chinkstar

 Skloot, Rebecca
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks


Suzuki, David
The Legacy

Thomas, Jacquelin
Samson

Thuy, Kim
Ru

Townsend, Jacinda
Saint Monkey

Tubbs, Sharon

Unigwe, Chika

Uppal, Priscila
Cover Before Striking

Venkatesh, Sudhir

Viswanathan, Padma
The Ever After of Ashwin Rao

Walton, Nikki

Warren, Tiffany L.
In The Midst of It All

White, D.L.
Brunch at Ruby's

Williams-Garcia, Rita
One Crazy Summer

Woodson, Jacqueline
Brown Girl Dreaming

Everything, Everything

Yousef, Mosab Hassan

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"The Guestbook" by Holly Martin

Image
Welcome to Willow Cottage - throw open the shutters, let in the sea breeze and make yourself completely at home.  Oh, and please do leave a comment in the Guestbook! Annie Butterworth is the landlady of Willow Cottage, a beautiful cottage in the English countryside with a colourful array of guests.  Every guest is encouraged to write their thoughts in the guestbook and do they ever!  Love, loss, happiness, sadness, guilt, affairs, births, and surprises, it’s all in there.  Even Annie’s life gets caught up in the book. As a young widow, Annie herself is going through some changes.  And the appearance of her brother-in-law, celebrity crime writer Oliver Black isn’t helping.  As the guests of Willow Cottage go about their seaside vacations, Annie and Oliver must figure out how to move on in their lives, and most importantly, if they will do so together. The Guestbook by Holly Martin is a lovely, sweet, and unique book.  Written in the format of notes left in the guestbook,
Read more

"Dreaming of Elsewhere: Observations on Home" by Esi Edugyan

Image
“But where are you from, really?” This is a question that Canadians of all walks of life are often asked.  Part of our identity as Canadians is that we all come from somewhere else, and no matter how long ago, it is a defining part of who we are.   But for many people, this question is about more than where their family came to Canada from.  For many, it brings about a question of home and belonging.  These are the ideas that Esi Edugyan explored in her 2013 Henry Kreisel Memorial Lecture, Dreaming of Elsewhere: Observations on Home .  Born in Canada to parents from Ghana, Esi Edugyan has travelled to and lived in various countries, all the while searching for her identity and coming to understand the meaning of home. As an author, Edugyan also reflects on Canadian literature and the notion of the “Canadian story.”  Her wildly successful novel, Half-Blood Blues , was set outside of Canada, and something she often heard was that it was not a typical Canadian novel.  But a
Read more

Literary Giveaway Blog Hop

Image
I am so excited to be participating in the Literary Giveaway Blog Hop, hosted by Judith at Leeswammes' Blog . There are over 50 participants hosting giveaways on their blog between October 15 and October 19. Be sure to hop around and check out all the awesome giveaways! My Giveaway Award season is underway in the Canadian literary world and to celebrate I would like to send someone some fabulous Canadian literature. One lucky winner will be able to choose which book they would like me to send them. Here are the choices (click on title to find out more about the book): A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews (bought at library sale) Life of Pi by Yann Martel The Last River Child by Lori Ann Bloomfield The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden (bought at library sale) Two of the books were bought at a library sale as mentioned. They are still in good condition but are obviously well-loved and do still have the library stickers on them. The other t
Read more