The book blogging community just loves making lists! There are weekly memes surrounding themed lists and the List feature on Goodreads continues to be extremely popular. Lists are always fun but one of my absolute favorite uses for lists in this community is the way folks use the format to building reading lists for diverse authors. Publishing houses disproportionately purchase books from white writers. The small margin of BIPOC that do make the cut are poorly advertised in comparison to their white counterparts. One of the greatest powers in the hands of influencer communities is to share these books via word-of-mouth and help them grow in popularity.
And it works – I promise! One of my favorite stories is about R. F. Kuang, who relied largely on word-of-mouth for marketing of The Poppy War. Now, four years after the first book’s publication, the entire trilogy is getting another printing. If you want to truly diversify your reading, these lists are great places to start. Reading about the experiences of those different than us builds empathy and understanding. From a logistical perspective, popularity and sales of these diverse books or from diverse authors is a concrete indication we can give the industry to show that these types of books will sell. The change is far too slow coming, but we can do our part to help.
Beyond that, these are also excellent lists curated by excellent bloggers and deserve to be perused!
Latino/a/x/e & Hispanic | Black | LGBTQIAP+ | Asian-American and Pacific Islander | Disability | Mental Health | Native American and Indigenous
Latino/a/x/e & Hispanic Books
- 22 YA Releases by Latinx Authors Coming (or Here!) in 2021 – The Literary Phoenix
- Hispanic Heritage Month 2020 | Books on My TBR – Ecstatic Yet Chaotic
- Book Recommendations – 10 Latine Books Releasing Soon to Look Forward To! – The Quiet Pond
- Talk Chisme to Me: Latinx Heritage Month 2021 TBR – A Kernel of Nonsense
- Talk Chisme to Me: Most Anticipated 2022 Releases – A Kernel of Nonsense
- 8 Latine Contemporary and Coming-of-Age Stories – The Quiet Pond
- Top Ten Tuesday: Sixteen Latinx Releases to Add to Your TBR – A Kernel of Nonsense
- Book Recommendations – 8 Latine Science-Fiction/Fantasy and Magical Realism – The Quiet Pond
- Talk Chisme to Me: New Favorites From the Past Year – A Kernel of Nonsense
- Book Recommendations – 9 Latine Romances and Stories About Love – The Quiet Pond
- Latinx Books to Read Instead of American Dirt – Naty’s Bookshelf
Black Books
- 10 YA Books By Black Authors I Recommend – Drizzle and Hurricane Books
- Top 5 Books by Black Authors – Foxes and Fairy Tales
- 9 Books by Black Authors I Recommend – Book Nook Bits
- 18 Interesting Books by Black Authors – Mystery
- Books by Black Authors I Can’t Wait to Read in 2021 – My World of Books
- 10 LGBT+ Books by Black Authors // Celebrating History Month – Luminosity Library
- Sci-Fi Friday: 20 YA SFF Books by Black Authors – The Suspected Bibliophile
LGBTQIAP+ Books
- HAPPY PRIDE! Pride Rec Tag – Sort of – Min and Her Books
- All the Sapphic Books I’ve Read // Parts Three and Four! – Tomes of Our Lives
- 20 YA Books to Read for Pride Month (2020) – Drizzle and Hurricane Books
- 20 YA Books to Read for Pride Month (2019) – Drizzle and Hurricane Books
- 2021 Queer Books with Covers Based on the Colors of the Gilbert Baker Pride Flag – Leosthetics
- My Pride Month 2021 TBE – Leosthetics
- LGBTQ+ Horror Book and Film Recommendations – Wordy and Whimsical
Asian-American and Pacific Islander Books
- Book Recommendations: Asian Pasifika Heritage Month Edition – 35 Asian and Pacific Islander Books to Read Today and After API Heritage Month – The Quiet Pond
- 12 Korean Books to Read Now – The Book Satchel
- My All-Asian TBR for May & Reading Goals (ft. Recs) – Paper Blots
- 21 Books to Read for the Year of the Asian Reading Challenge #YARC2020 – Drizzle and Hurricane Books
- 10+ YA Books by Asian Authors – An Unofficial YARC 2019 TBR – Drizzle and Hurricane Books
- Books on the Rice: March 2021 Releases From Asian Authors – Shut Up, Shealea
- Books on the Rice: January 2021 Releases From Asian Authors – Shut Up, Shealea
- Free Database: 2021 Asian-Authored Books – Shut Up, Shelea
- Books of the Rice: February 2021 Releases From Asian Authors – Shut Up, Shealea
- 23 Books by Filipino Diaspora Authors for Your Shelf – Shut Up, Shealea
- K-Pop Romance Novels to Make Your Fandom Heart Flutter – Shut Up, Shealea
- Tired of Disney’s Live-Action Mulan? Here are Books by Chinese Authors You Can Read Instead – Shut Up, Shealea
- Book Recommedations: 6 Amazing K-Pop Books that Will Light [You] Up Like Dynamite – The Quiet Pond
- 30 More South Asian Books To Read in 2021 – Fanna for Books (NEW)
Disability Books
- Why Autism Representation is So Important + Books with Wonderful Autism Representation – Full of Grace
- Happy Disability Pride Month! 35 YA Books with Disability Rep – Beyond the Read
- Disability Pride Recommendations, Pt. 2! 25 MG Books with Disability Rep – Beyond the Read
Mental Health Representation
- Mental Health Awareness Month: 10 YA Books With Mental Health Representation – Drizzle and Hurricane Books
- 18 YA Books About Mental Health for Mental Health Awareness Month – Drizzle and Hurricane Books
- 10 YA Books Dealing With Anxiety – Drizzle and Hurricane Books
Indigenous and Native American Books
- Spotlighting Indigenous Authors – Ally Writes Things
- Book Recommendations – 9 Books by Indigenous Authors that We’ve Read and Loved! – The Quiet Pond
Did I miss a well-curated list or (eek) misrepresented anything above? Please let me know so I can adjust accordingly! Any suggestions of lists I should add can be emailed to TheLiteraryPhoenix@Gmail.com and I will add it to the database.
Thank you and happy reading my friends!