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Here is my list (not including unpublished manuscripts) : 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 :)

Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan

I first heard about Half-Blood Blues the week before the Scotiabank Giller Prize. After reading the synopsis I knew it would be the winner. Not to toot my own horn but I know how to call 'em!

There is no denying that the prize was well deserved. Esi Edugyan's use of dialect is instrumental in composing the tone of the story and the relationship between the members of the jazz band. Her characters leap off the page; I fell in love with Chip even though I cringed at every other thing he said. But it is the structure of the book that captured me. Edugyan's novel is, at its core, a beautifully crafted tale of friendship. By shifting the action back and forth between 1940 and 1992, Edugyan lets the reader get to know Sid and his friends at two very different periods of their lives. Over the course of the retrospective narrative I learned so much about Sid's motivations and insecurities that when the final twist was revealed I was shocked but forgiving.

Half-Blood Blues was an excellent read. Through the experiences of young black musicians, Edugyan reveals an aspect of history that I never considered: the lives of blacks in WWII-era Europe. Hiero's statelessness broke my heart especially since this is an issue that many people still face. The commentary on race is woven in delicately but it cannot be ignored. This book is an eye-opener that will easily stand the test of time.