In the year 2015, I've resolved not to read a single book written by a white, male author.
I'm doing this because white men are overrepresented in almost every aspect of the publishing industry, and I tend to read their books disproportionately by default.
After a long time reading books written by people in publishing's privileged majority, I want to spend a year seeking some balance in the perspectives and voices I take in. Hence, this personal diverse books challenge!
So far I've turned to Twitter for a very specific kind of book recommendation.
In 2015 I'm not reading any books written by white, male authors. What books should be on my to-read list?
Here's what some people suggested:
@alexisthenedd 'Americanah', anything James Baldwin, Tennessee Williams, anything Toni Morrison, specifically Sula etc lol
@alexisthenedd @BuzzFeedBooks The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
@IsaacFitzgerald @alexisthenedd Sarah Manguso's Ongoingness, Maggie Nelson's The Argonauts, and Alejandro Zambra's My Documents.
@alexisthenedd @IsaacFitzgerald Dawn, Octavia Butler. Spirits Abroad, Zen Cho. The Bone People, Keri Hulme.
@IsaacFitzgerald @alexisthenedd the new James Hanaham, Delicious Foods!
@IsaacFitzgerald @alexisthenedd Sara Barron (humor/nonfic), Amelia Gray (David Lynch-esque fic), Amelia Kahaney (YA)
@IsaacFitzgerald @alexisthenedd Mr Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo
@alexisthenedd The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck), Drown (Junot Díaz), & The Book of Unknown Americans (Cristina Henríquez)
@alexisthenedd @BuzzFeedBooks A Brief History of Seven Killings
(If you have any suggestions for what I should be reading this year, let me know in the comments below!)
I'll update this post every month with my progress, as well as list the books I'm reading for those who also want to diversify their book lists!
