Heather Allen

January 2015

I’m a supporter of We Need Diverse Books, a campaign that gained traction in 2014 by highlighting publisher’s failings in publishing and supporting diversity in books and the workplace. It has not gone unnoticed that this is one of the main changes that I foresee happening in the publishing industry. Embracing diversity, reading broadly, these are principles I can stand behind. This is why I pledge to read 15 diverse books this year! 15 may not seem like a lot, but my Goodreads goal is 50, so that’s a fair 30%.

July 2015

This month I made a startling discovery. I was not naturally picking up diverse books. In fact, most of the books I was reading were by men! I wrote this post about why it was important to seek out diverse authors and characters and then my diversity tally really started moving.

September 2015

I updated my Goodreads goal from 50 to 60, so as a result I have increased my diverse book pledge from 15 to 20 (33% of the goal). Tally ho!

December 2015

Hooray! My reading is complete. This wasn’t just a challenge for the sake of challenges, I plan on continuing to read diversely. It’s not just a trend, it’s a reflection of the world. I’d be happy to repeat or attempt to exceed my goal for next year.

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1. Church of Marvels by Leslie Parry (Historical Fiction, Ecco Books): LGBTQIA characters
2. The Color Purple by Alice Walker (Literary Fiction, Pocket Books): POC author and characters
3. In Midnight’s Silence by T. Frohock (Historical Fantasy, Voyager Impulse): LGBTQIA characters
4. Bone Gap by Laura Ruby (Young Adult Magical Realism, Balzer & Bray): Disability inclusive
5. None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio (Young Adult Contemporary, Balzer & Bray): LGBTQIA characters, POC Author
6. Don’t Fail Me Now by Una LaMarche (Young Adult Contemporary, Razorbill): POC characters
7. The Merger by Sunil Patel (Sci-fi Short Story, Book Smugglers Publishing): POC author and characters
8. Orleans by Sherri L. Smith (Young Adult Dystopian, Putnam Juvenile): POC author and characters
9. Zombie Baseball Beatdown by Paolo Bacigalupi (Middle Grade Dystopian, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers): POC characters
10. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (Fantasy, Orbit Books): POC author and characters, LGBTQIA characters
11. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor (Fantasy Novella, Tor.com Publishing): POC author and characters
12. You Don’t Have to Like Me by Alida Nugent (Memoir, Plume): POC author
13. Kindred by Octavia Butler (Sci-fi, Beacon Press): POC author and characters
14. Oh The Moon by Charlyne Yi (Graphic Novel, Harper Perennial): POC author
15. Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor (Sci-fi, Harper Perennial): LGBTQIA characters
16. Ghost Summer by Tananarive Due (Horror, Prime Books): POC author and characters
17. All-American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely (Young Adult Contemporary, Atheneum): POC author and characters
18. The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard (Fantasy, Roc): POC author and characters
19. Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari with Eric Klineberg (Non-fiction, Penguin Press): POC author
20. Luck on the Line by Zoraida Córdova (new adult contemporary romance, Diversion Books): POC author and characters
21. Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older (young adult fantasy, Scholastic): POC author and characters