I am looking to diversify the books I read. POC authors only, translations certainly welcome, extra points if the author is female/femme/nonbinary/trans. My favorites tend to be fantasy, magical realism, historical fiction, classics, science fiction, dystopian, etc. Open to any genre, but I prefer little to no spice (but am fine with relationships in general).
by LuckyyyFelix
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Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Babel by RF Kuang
The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn!
Braiding Sweetgrass
fantasy: The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez
classics: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi (autobiographical fiction)
I really enjoyed The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi which is a YA (but upper YA, close to NA) historical fantasy heist book. It’s the first one in a series, and I didn’t love the last book’s ending but I did find it a very enjoyable read with beautiful writing.
If you’re open to middle grade sci-fi, I really love [Sal and Gabi Break the Universe](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/097337c3-ebf2-429a-80de-f345099b142c) by Carlos Hernandez!
Kindred by Octavia Butler
Some of my favourite books ever:
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan — Alternative history set in 14th century China. Author is Asian Australian. Both the protagonist and author are non-binary. Won Best Novel at the British Fantasy Awards. Really good and really dark.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo — YA Historical fiction set in 1950s San Francisco. About the Chinese-American experience during the Red Scare and the butch/femme lesbian culture of the time. Absolutely brilliant. Won the National Book Award. Author is a Chinese American queer woman, as is the protagonist.
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson— Dystopian sci-fi about a woman whose job is to jump between parallel worlds collecting data. Thematically focused on extreme inequality and the cost of survival. The author is a biracial woman. Was nominated for Hugo/Nebula awards. The line-by-line writing is phenomenal.
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
Legendborn and Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn (fantasy)
How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith (non fiction – Smith is a poet as well and the writing is incredible)
Light From Uncommon Stars – Ryka Aoki (trans author). SF.
Against the Loveless World – Susan Abulhawa. Literary, Palestinian author. This one has a lot of emotional weight so it’s worth being in the right place for it if you pick it up.
An American Marriage – Tayari Jones. Literary/romance.
Memphis – Tara M Stringfellow – historical fiction
Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead,
Erotic Stories for Punjabi widows,
The color purple,
Black water sister by Zen Cho
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler is an awesome classic dystopian novel!
Jade City by Fonda Lee is excellent, as is Black Water Sister by Zen Cho.
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H
The Disordered Cosmos by Chanda Prescod Weinstein
The Black Tides of Heaven by Neon Yang
Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi
The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin
[Terra Nullius](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35603581-terra-nullius?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=jSRKSY6PMR&rank=1) by Claire G. Coleman was a real slap in the face !
Fonda Lee and Octavia Butler are too good to ignore. Fonda Lee the newcomer and Octavia Butler a Hall of Famer! Fonda Lee has the Green Bone Saga and I 5 starred all 3. Octavia Butler has a catalogue that authors would kill for, I can’t recommend just 1.
Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner and How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair are two absolutely incredible memoirs. H Mart had me literally crying
Highly recommend Clap When you Land by Elizabeth Acevedo and all of her books.
The Space between Worlds – Micaiah Johnson – Was a 5 star this year for me.
Phoenix Extravagant – Ya Hoon Lee
Rage in Harlem – Chester Himes is a classic noir I really enjoy.
An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
You already have a lot of great recommendations, and here’s some more:
* Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I also enjoyed The Remains of the Day and Klara and the Sun by the same author.
* Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany. Fun, bizarre, pulp sci fi. This author’s style evolved a lot over time. His later books are more “literary” while his earlier books are more pulpy.
* New Suns 2 edited by Nisi Shawl. This is an anthology of short sci fi and fantasy each written by a different PoC author. This is *the* most consistently great selection of stories I’ve ever read.
* The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu. An anthology of short fantasy, magical realism, and sci fi all by the same author.
* Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang, Exhalation by Ted Chiang. Two collections of well renowned short fiction.
* Of Tales and Enigmas by Minsoo Kang. A lesser known collection of short fiction.
The Trickster trilogy by Eden Robinson – modern magical realism based on the Haisla Nation’s legends.
Sula – Toni Morrison