41. A book by a new-to-you BIPOC author

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Many people read in order to expand their worldview, and this week, we are looking past the traditionally published authors to include more diversity in our reading. You are tasked with reading a book by a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, or Person of Color) author that you haven't read before.

-----------------------------------
Suggestions:

What is BIPOC?
Best Books Written by BIPOC Authors Listopia
YA Releases Featuring BIPOC on the Cover
2020 Most Anticipated Books by Indigenous Authors Part 1
2020 Most Anticipated Books by Indigenous Authors Part 2
25 Best Books by Hispanic and Latinx Authors
25 Books by Asian-American and Pacific Islander Authors
100 Must Read Books by Asian Authors

ATY Group Listopia

-----------------------------------
Optional Questions:
1. What are you reading for this category?
2. Who is the author? Do you want to read more books written by them?
3. What book would you recommend to others for this category?

[Ellie]

I'm looking forward to The Gilded Ones and Dial A for Aunties.

[Sam]

I'm considering either The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin, The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr., or The Removed by Brandon Hobson.

I like the idea of picking up N.K. Jemisin or Brandon Hobson's books because if I like them, they already have a catalogue of other work I can check out. But I love reading and supporting debuts so I'm strongly interested in Robert Jones Jr.'s book. Cannot decide!!!

[dalex]

Yet another prompt with so many options. I have 30 options on my Owned & Unread pile!

A few books I'd recommend:
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi - Black (Ghanaian/American)
The Gods of Tango by Carolina De Robertis - Latinx (Uruguayan/American)
The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins - Black (British/Jamaican)
An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon - Black (British)
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward - Black (American)
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng - Asian (American/Chinese)
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie - Asian (Pakistani/American)
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri - Asian (American/Indian)
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - Latinx (Mexican/Canadian)
Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan - Black (Canadian)
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro - Asian (British/Japanese)
The Mothers by Brit Bennett - Black (American)

[Thomas]

Bit of a cheat but The Remains of the Day the author is Japanese althoough he immigrated at a young age so I assume he is non white

[Nadine in NY]

Here's a GR list of some new(ish) books by Indigenous authors; several of these are authors I have not read, maybe this will help others, too.

https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/1...

[Nancy]

I have An American Marriage planned for this one.

[SadieReadsAgain]

1. What are you reading for this category?
Girl, Woman, Other
2. Who is the author? Do you want to read more books written by them?
Bernardine Evaristo, and I love the sound of Mr. Loverman so I'll definitely give that a go too.
3. What book would you recommend to others for this category?
If you haven't, you should - Toni Morrison. Also The God of Small Things, Brick Lane, Interpreter of Maladies

[Jette]

1. What are you reading for this category? The Henna Artist
2. Who is the author? Do you want to read more books written by them? Alka Joshi. I will definitely keep her in mind for other books.
3. What book would you recommend to others for this category? I don't have any recommendations because I only look at the origins of the author for challenges such as this one. Typically, I only look at the synopsis to see if the book is interesting to me or not.

[Angela]

What are you reading for this category?
Dark Emu, by Bruce Pascoe


Who is the author? Do you want to read more books written by them?
Bruce Pascoe, an Australian author with a Bunurong, Tasmanian and Yuin heritage.

What book would you recommend to others for this category? Beloved, by Toni Morrison

[Marie (UK)]

I am reading Ring Shout P. Djèlí Clark

I had this book for another challenge I had never heard of the author and don't care if he falls out of the ether and I never hear of him again
The book is rubbish and the narration worse

I find looking for something to fill a prompt related to the author more difficult than those related to storyline. I read widely and have some five star reads by BIPOC but I find myself picking something simply because (in this case) I haven't read anything by them before, they fit a particular group and the book is easy to access.

I would recommend anything by Ta-Nehisi Coates

I enjoyed The Hate U Give Little Fires Everywhere and The Color Purple

[SpookySoto]

I just want to point out that just because an author is latino (the word latinX doesn’t make any sense to us actual Spanish speaking latinos), that doesn’t mean that he/she/they isn’t white. I saw in the Listopia list Isabel Allende, and she’s white.

[Nadine in NY]

SpookySoto wrote: "I just want to point out that just because an author is latino (the word latinX doesn’t make any sense to us actual Spanish speaking latinos), that doesn’t mean that he/she/they isn’t white. I saw ..."


"Latinx" is a currently accepted term in the USA, granted it's not proper Spanish OR English, but it removes the gendered nature of the word.

I agree that Isabel Allende is a white woman. But a lot of readers get confused about that.

[SpookySoto]

Nadine wrote: "SpookySoto wrote: "I just want to point out that just because an author is latino (the word latinX doesn’t make any sense to us actual Spanish speaking latinos), that doesn’t mean that he/she/they ..."

LatinX doesn’t make any sense in Spanish, and anyone outside the US from a LatinAmerican country would tell you that’s the most ridiculous thing they’ve ever heard, in fact I don’t get offended by pretty much anything but that word. Latino IS the neutral form of that word, using the X is negating or invalidating our language itself, you’re pretending to erase our language’s rules.

I don’t want to enter in a controversy but I just wanted to point that the use of that world is mocked by pretty much every latino that’s not an American-latino.

[Evelyn]

1. What are you reading for this category?
The Deep
2. Who is the author? Do you want to read more books written by them?Rivers Solomon
I would like to read An Unkindness of Ghosts by the same author.
3. What book would you recommend to others for this category?

[Raquel (Silver Valkyrie Reads)]

I read a picture book for this prompt, which I can't link to at the moment (goodreads glitch), but is the picture book version of Hidden Figures.

I'm not a hurry to read the adult version of the book, but I did really like picture book version and the movie, and would consider getting around to reading the full version someday.

My top recommendations for this category:
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Written by Himself
The Housekeeper and the Professor
The Girl With Seven Names by Hyeonseo Lee
A River in Darkness by Ishikawa Masaji

[Jill]

What are you reading for this category?
I read The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji

Who is the author? Do you want to read more books written by them?
Author as above. It would seem this author usually writes Manga, which is something I have no interest in.

[Laurel]

1. What are you reading for this category? My Sister, the Serial Killer
2. Who is the author? Do you want to read more books written by them? Oyinkan Braithwaite - Yes, I would like to read more
3. What book would you recommend to others for this category? Indian No More (children's book by Native American author), A Bollywood Affair (romance by Indian author), When No One is Watching (thriller by Black author), and The Great Passage (literature by Japanese author)

[star_fire13]

1. What are you reading for this category?
Empress of a Thousand Skies

2. Who is the author? Do you want to read more books written by them?
Rhoda Belleza - Yeah, I liked their general writing style. I had some issues with the pacing of this novel, but it was their debut novel, so I'll cut them some slack.

3. What book would you recommend to others for this category?
SO MANY. I've been reading a ton of BIPOC this year! Here are the authors that I've read in this year alone - Kalynn Bayron, Vivien Chien, Marie Lu, Ibi Zoboi, Arvin Ahmadi, Roseanne A. Brown, Liana Liu, Melissa Bashardoust, and Kacen Callender

[GailW]

1. What are you reading for this category?
I read Dust Tracks on a Road: A Memoir

2. Who is the author? Do you want to read more books written by them?
Zora Neale Hurston. I do want to read Their Eyes Were Watching God

3. What book would you recommend to others for this category?
Anything by Ta-Nahisi Coates, Colin Whitehead, Louise Erdrich, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Isabelle Allende, Haruki Murakami, Chang-Rae Lee, Sujata Massie, Celeste Ng, Tommy Orange, Elif Shafak, Angie Thomas, Jacqueline Woodson, Nicola Yoon. These are certainly in no particular order and not a complete list from me.

[Joan]

1. What are you reading for this category? A Promised Land
2. Who is the author? Do you want to read more books written by them? Barack Obama and yes. He is eloquent and intelligent but always long winded but with his writing I can deal with it.
3. What book would you recommend to others for this category? Michelle Obama, Angie Thomas, Celeste Ng, Nic Stone

[Samantha]

1. What are you reading for this category? The Only Good Indians
2. Who is the author? Do you want to read more books written by them? Stephen Graham Jones. I am not sure if I will read anything else by him but would be open to it.
3. What book would you recommend to others for this category?
Bluebird, Bluebird
Scythe
Severance

[Marie]

1. What are you reading for this category? The Deep
2. Who is the author? Do you want to read more books written by them? Rivers Solomon and I would be very interested in reading more of faer books.
3. What book would you recommend to others for this category?

[Sherri]

1. What are you reading for this category? This Close To Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith
2. Who is the author? Do you want to read more books written by them? Leesa Cross- Smith. Yes I would read other books written by her.
3. What book would you recommend to others for this category?

[Anne]

I am reading 'I know why the caged bird sings' by Maya Angelou.
Yes I would like to read other books by Maya Angelou.
I can recommend 'The colour purple' by Alice Walker.

[NancyJ]

I really liked this prompt. ]

I read:
Girl woman Other by Bernardine Evaristo
and
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philya

I also liked:
The Deep, by Rivers Solomon, POC, LBGTQ + Non-binary
The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo*
The Henna Artist
A Tale for the Time Being*
The Sympathizer*

* I read several books by Asian and South American authors this year, and I don't know if they would consider themselves persons of color.

[Severina]

1. What are you reading for this category?
I read A Scone to Die For by H.Y. Hanna

2. Who is the author? Do you want to read more books written by them?
H.Y. Hanna. I really enjoyed this book and would not be averse to getting the second book in the series.

3. What book would you recommend to others for this category?
The first book that comes to mind is Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad

[Andrea]

For this prompt, I read Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli. She does not have many published novels, but I would read them if I chanced upon them.

Other books that qualify for this challenge and are sitting on my shelf awaiting my attention are A Girl Is a Body of Water by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi and Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

[Suzanne]

1. What are you reading for this category?
Wandering in Strange Lands: A Daughter of the Great Migration Reclaims Her Roots

2. Who is the author? Do you want to read more books written by them?
Morgan Jerkins is a black woman writer. I would potentially read more books by her. Her first two books are nonfiction but she published a novel Caul Baby this spring.

3. What book would you recommend to others for this category?
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory
Somebody's Daughter by Ashley C. Ford
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

[Karen]

I read Miracle Creek by Angie Kim, who is an author from South Korea. I enjoyed the book, and would likely read more from her, but I think she's only written the one novel for now.

[LeahS]

1. What are you reading for this category?

Potiki

2. Who is the author? Do you want to read more books written by them?

Patricia Grace, a Maori author. I'd be happy to read another book by her.

3. What book would you recommend to others for this category?

The Girl with the Louding Voice.

reply | flag *

[Pearl]

The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett

I recommend it. I would like to read more books by her.

I also recommend
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

[JessicaMHR]

I read Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden. I'd recommend it and wouldn't mind reading more from him.

[Tiffany]

I read Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu and recommend it. The main character's perspective is one I've never imagined/seen/read before.

I would recommend anything by Toni Morrison,
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston,
Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicleby Haruki Murakami,
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,
and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.

[Joanne]

I read The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin who I have been meaning to read for years and hadn't gotten to yet. I still have many of her other books on my tbr.

[Trish, Annular Mod]

I read and really enjoyed Elatsoe,, by Darcie Little Badger. A good paranormal YA mystery with a basis in Apache lore. I really hope she writes more about thses characters.

[Anna]

For this prompt read Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams. I liked the book but more on an average level. I would read a book by the author again though.

[Dana]

1. What are you reading for this category?
My Heart Is a Chainsaw

2. Who is the author? Do you want to read more books written by them?
Stephen Graham Jones. I saw he has some interesting titles that I want to get to.

3. What book would you recommend to others for this category?
Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker is one of the best out there!

[Pam]

1. What are you reading for this category? I am a Japanese Writer

2. Who is the author? Dany Laferrière (Haitian/Canadian)
Do you want to read more books written by them? Maybe! This one is pretty odd/quirky but I am still enjoying it. I'm only 70% done.

3. What book would you recommend to others for this category?
There There by Tommy Orange
Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese

[Stacey]

1. What are you reading for this category? Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls

2. Who is the author? Do you want to read more books written by them? Yesss! I can't wait to read more from T Kira Madden. Her memoir was such a treat.

3. What book would you recommend to others for this category? There are so many, but here's what comes to mind: Americanah, The Other Black Girl, Homegoing, On the Rez, Ten Little Indians, plus anything by Isabelle Allende, Haruki Murakami, Junot Díaz and Gabriel García Márquez.

[Marie]

I read The Toughest Indian in the World by Sherman Alexie. I've not read any of his before, and maybe this wasn't the best way to start as I'm not a fan of short stories in general, and I didn't really enjoy this so I'm not particularly motivated to read more of his work.

[Hannah]

1. What are you reading for this category?
I read Homegoing.

2. Who is the author? Do you want to read more books written by them?
This is Yaa Gyasi's debut novel and I thought it was stunning, so I'm definitely looking forward to reading Transcendent Kingdom!

3. What book would you recommend to others for this category?
I adored Exhalation by Ted Chiang and would recommend it to anyone even slightly open to science fiction - I think this collection of short stories would be great for someone who's not sure if they really like sci fi.

If you're looking for a book that addresses racism/the BIPOC experience, I have to recommend Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo. Such a unique book and I love the idea of writing books about identity from the perspectives of many people, so you get a fuller, more nuanced understanding.