10 Diverse Books I Haven’t Talked About In A While

Today I’m linking up with The Broke and the Bookish for their weekly feature, Top Ten Tuesday! This week’s prompt is “ten books I really love but feel like I haven’t talked about enough or in a while.” So I thought I’d talk about a few of my favorite diverse books that need some love!

Enjoy!

contemporary.

1. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Whenever people say there’s such a thing as “too much diversity” in a story, I roll my eyes… because what even?! This book is an EXCELLENT example of how authors can include lots and lots of diversity all in one story while still spending an adequate amount of time on all the diverse characters. Case in point: There’s a lesbian, a bi girl, a trans girl, a deaf girl, women of color, et cetera… even some intersectional diversity!

2. Zac & Mia by A.J. Betts

So as you know, I have very very strong negative feelings towards The Fault in Our Stars. That’s why I’m so glad I read this book – it’s a great alternative to it! It’s about two Australian teenagers who both have cancer and it was so so good. I need to read more Aussie YA ASAP!

fantasy.

3. Cinder by Marissa Meyer

I LOVE how many different countries and cultures are depicted in this series! Also, it’s a perfect fusion of so many different things that I adore: Futuristic worlds, fairy tales, robots… the list goes on and on.

4. The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

I’m so glad that Rick Riordan has begun to include more diversity in his books! I definitely think it’s important to prioritize #OwnVoices books but when you decide to read a diverse book written by someone who doesn’t have personal experience with it, you should at least ask around and see who is well known for doing a good job of describing it. And Rick Riordan is one such author.

science fiction.

5. Adaptation by Malinda Lo

It breaks my heart to think of how this series (Inheritance is the sequel) isn’t very well known, because it’s SO SO GOOD. It’s about bisexuality and gender and polyamory and it just… it leaves other YA science fiction novels in the dust, TBH. I’m tired of reading the same kind of story over and over again so I’m really glad that this one stood out from the rest.

6. The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

SDJGHDFSKGJDHGKSFG WE NEED MORE SCIENCE FICTION SET IN COUNTRIES OTHER THAN THE UNITED STATES. Honestly, I feel like there probably already is quite a bit of it, but it just doesn’t get talked about? Soooo you should totally let me know about your favorite non-US dystopian novels (and non-UK dystopians too, while we’re at it) because I want to find more of them. The House of the Scorpion is set in Mexico and it was really fun to read because it helped me to practice my Spanish a little bit!

memoir.

7. Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

I read this months ago, but I still haven’t gotten around to reviewing it… oops. This is a great collection of essays that deal with a bunch of things – primarily feminism, as the title indicates, but also subjects such as racism and LGBTQ+ issues.

8. I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

I loved this book so much! I thought it was really readable and engaging and… it just felt very FRIENDLY, I guess? I felt as though I were having a conversation with Malala, which was awesome. It’s funny, I hadn’t realized the similarities until now, but I’m glad that I included both Bad Feminist and I Am Malala in this same little section, because they’re both about intersectional feminism and how important it is to listen to women who aren’t white or straight or Christian or whatever.

romance.

9. The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith

AHHHH I’M SO HAPPY I FINALLY OWN A COPY OF THIS BOOK! It’s about two women who fall in love in New York City in the 1950s, and it’s a slow-burn romance, and dfjshgdfjk if you read it you should come fangirl with me because I will love you forever for doing so. I don’t usually get super invested in romance (in books, movies, TV shows, et cetera), but I loved this one because it was so well written.

10. Kissing Kate by Lauren Myracle

This was one of the first LGBTQ+ books I ever read! It’s such a good story and I can really relate – it’s about a girl who is beginning to come out to herself and is struggling with a crush on her friend. I think that no matter your sexual orientation, friend crushes are weird and difficult, but I do think it’s even more difficult if you’re queer because there’s so much more at stake. Like, it’s not just a matter of them not feeling the same way but also a matter of them possibly rejecting an integral part of your very being and thinking that your attraction is wrong.

-~-

What are your favorite diverse books that you A) haven’t talked about in a while or B) think need some more love? Leave your recs in the comments and I’ll check them out!

P.S. Cait @ Paper Fury explained how to place two or more images side by side in WordPress a while ago, so… yeah, thank you SO MUCH for telling me about that! I really like how it makes my posts look and you can bet that I’ll be using it a lot more often from here on out.