POC Reading Challenge—June update

I have many reasons for wanting to diversify the book industry but first I have to diversify my own reading. I was not conscious of how few of the books I read include people of color until I decided to participate in the POC Reading Challenge.

Inspired by this blog, I committed to go above and beyond the Level 5 challenge. Instead of reading 16 – 25 POC books for the year, I wanted to read only POC books. For my purposes, a POC book is a book in which at least two main characters are people of color.

That didn’t work out so well. There are many good books out there that don’t include people of color, and restricting myself was draining. But, by making the extra effort to seek them out, I have read 20 POC books in the last five months!

Here is my list (not including unpublished manuscripts) : 

The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende

The Obamas by Jodi Kantor

Half-BloodBlues by Esi Edugyan

Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat

The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi

Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Ru by Kim Thuy

WicketSeason by Gabrielle Prendergast

The Headmaster’sWager by Vincent Lam

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Salsa Nocturna by Daniel José Older

I would love to more read books with Native characters. Any suggestions? I want to hit 40 POC books by the end of the year!

Want me to review a book on the list? Just ask. I’ll be happy to whip one up :)