Off the Beaten Shelf

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A Re-Commitment to Reading Diversely

Let's be real here. The only thing Columbus discovered when he landed on North America was a land already inhabited by indigenous people. To combat Cultural Appropriation Day today, (commonly referred to as Columbus Day) I decided to re-commit to reading diversely. Because, frankly, I don't think a dude who made a wrong turn on his way to India--which sparked centuries of racist thinking by white guys who write history books--ought to have his own national holiday. 

It turns out that I owned more diverse books than I thought I did, though I haven't yet read most of the ones in the photos and several books have common authors. But I will. Step 1 is adding the books to your TBR (to be read list). 

Here's my Hispanic/Latino section. Gabriel Garcia Marquez is my all time favorite author, so at least half of the books pictured above are in his canon. Since I liked him so much, I wanted to branch out into Julia Alvarez and Isabel Allende, whom I've been told are excellent. I'm also pretty excited about The Mystery of Rio since I have a soft spot for Brazil and I've recently become interested in mysteries. 

Here's my Black/African American section. I read Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye earlier this year, so I'm really excited to dig into more of her canon. Likewise, several people have told me good things about Zadie Smith. 

Here's my Middle Eastern section. Paltry, I know. I've hardly spent any time researching books by or about Middle Easterners. 

My Asian section is rather paltry as well, unfortunately. The first two books are by well-renowned Indian author Jhumpa Lahiri, followed by two tales translated from Japanese and French, respectively (though the author of the second is Chinese). 

I'm calling this paltry section my European section since there are two books by French authors and one by a Belgian author. Again, terribly scant. 

This is where I need your help. As you can see, though I try, my bookshelf isn't terribly diverse. But I want it to be. So if you know of any diverse authors and/or titles that you'd recommend, tell me in the comments.