My Books Of 2016 And Reading Resolutions

So, Goodreads generated this cool infographic of all the books I’ve read and reviewed this year. I thought I had a good handle on what I’d read, but turns out it’s possible to forget — I’d read far more than I thought!

Looking at the list, I was pleased to see nearly two thirds of my reads were by women authors. I hadn’t set out to do this, but I like the fly the flag for female

creatives over at my writing tips site Bang2write, so it’s pleasing my subconscious practices what it preaches.

Intriguingly, I’ve read A LOT of books in which the protagonist has some kind of mental health issue – 12 of them!! From anxiety to post-natal depression, to obsessive compulsive disorder and self harm, it would seem creatives are doing their bit to shine a light on these issues.

I’ve also not done too badly at finding books with diverse characters in – those ‘different’ to the ‘norm’. This may include characters who are disabled, Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic (BAME) and LGBT, but also characters of different backgrounds and cultures.

However, I have done extremely badly at reading authors of colour this year. Granted, I don’t know the race of ALL the authors listed here, but you don’t have to be a genius to realise (probably) at least 90% of them are white.

So, that’s my reading resolution for 2017 — read more BAME authors!

If you know of any fabulous writers of colour who write crime fiction, do post your suggestions in the comments, or maybe theme them for a ‘Best of 3’?

What’s YOUR reading resolution for 2017?