The Diverse Books Tag

This year Naz at Read Diverse Books started his own book tag, The Diverse Books Tag, which was predictably awesome! I took part on instagram but thought with the new blog focus I’d do a proper tag post. Since my focus is on reading women of Color I thought I’d look for/recommend a book for every category at the intersections of WOC. Also, as far as I’m aware these books are all #ownvoices. Lastly, I’m basically treating this as a personal tbr 😀

Here are the rules:

1. Credit the original creator, Read Diverse Books.
2. The Diverse Books Tag is a bit like a scavenger hunt. I will task you to find a book that fits a specific criteria and you will have to show us a book you have read or want to read.
3. If you can’t think of a book that fits the specific category, then I encourage you to go look for one. A quick Google search will provide you with many books that will fit the bill. (Also, Goodreads lists are your friends.) Find one you are genuinely interested in reading and move on to the next category.

1. Find a book starring a lesbian character.

Jam on the Vine by LaShonda Katrice Barnett 

A Black lesbian lit classic about the first female-run African-American newspaper, Jam! On the Vine, set during the Jazz age. Doesn’t that sound amazing?

2.Find a book with a Muslim protagonist.

Sofia Khan is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik 

Basically romance but I want to read more fun lit and I’ve heard good things about it from Muslim book bloggers, so will give it a try.

3.Find a book set in Latin America.

Malambo by  Lucia Charun-Illesca,translated from Spanish by Emmanuel Harris II. 

It’s important to seek out Afro-Latina voices and I read barely any Peruvian lit so this one sounded like a good start.

4.Find a book about a person with a disability.

Dirty River by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha 

Love her poetry and have a copy of her memoir waiting on my shelf.

5.Find a Science-Fiction or Fantasy book with a POC protagonist.

The Stars Change by Mary Anne Mohanraj 

This is set on a South Asian settled university planet on the brink of war between humans, aliens and modified humans. This book is “an erotic science fiction novel-in-stories” and sounds pretty cool. If you’ve read this let me if it’s romance heavy please!

6.Find a book set in (or about) any country in Africa.

Go Tell the Sun by Wame Molefhe 

The stories in this collection are set in Botswana and I’ve read that there’s lesbian rep in at least one of them. The author also contributed a story to the Queer Africa collection.

7.Find a book written by an Indigenous or Native author.

Not Vanishing by Chrystos 

Menominee poet Chrystos is a “warrior, writer, and arrow in the throat of colonization.”

8.Find a book set in South Asia (Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, etc.).

The Quilt & Other Stories by Ismat Chughtai 

Ismat Chughtai was a feminist Urdu writer exploring gender, sexuality and caste in Muslim India’s middle-class. So happy my friend Vishy gifted me one of her books!

9.Find a book with a biracial protagonist.

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow 

The main character Rachel is the daughter of a white Danish mother and an African-American father and goes to live with her grandmother after a tragedy. I reviewed this book here.

10. Find a book starring a transgender character or about transgender issues.

Me Hijra, Me Laxmi by Laxmi 

This is the memoir of Indian hijra activist Laxmi. Though it has been translated from Marathi and apparently also slightly edited by the translators. Still on my tbr!

Have you read any of these? Where to start? Let me know in the comments!

Basically, everyone’s done this tag already but if not, consider yourself tagged! 🙂