Books on the Nightstand discussion

Hello, fellow Booktopians. Although I read a lot of diverse middle-grade and YA books, I can't say the same for my grown-up reading list recently. (Lately, it's been skewing very white and very American & British.)

This summer, I aim to change that by reading more books featuring people of color. So, if you would, please recommend some recent books you've read & enjoyed, written by non-white authors about non-white characters. I can easily find lists of diverse books in several places online, but I'm looking for personal recommendations of Booktopian favorites. Thanks in advance!

I loved Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - it took me a while to get through but so good!

The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

Anything by Khaled Hosseini

Heather, that is a great goal!

My recommendations would be Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng (fiction), and also Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill (well-researched historical fiction).

I'm part of another Goodreads group that has been really helpful in terms of introducing me to lesser known titles - Literary Fiction by People of Color. You can find them here: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/376

The Famished Road by Ben Okri, Middle Passage by Charles Johnson, Parable of the Sower or Wild Seed by Octavia Butler, White Butterfly or some of the other Easy Rawlins Mysteries by Walter Mosley are well done. Those are a few recommendations off the top of my head.

Marion

I second Alicia's suggestion of "Americanah." One of the best books I read last year.

Delicious Foods was an excellent read that I would highly recommend.

Brown Girl Dreaming, The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing, All the Birds, Singing, The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, Crazy Rich Asians, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, The Good Lord Bird, Preparation for the Next Life, The Book of Unknown Americans

Silver Sparrow

If you're looking for new releases for summer reading, just ran across this article

http://bookriot.com/2015/05/22/recomm...

Book Riot is all about diversity.

Toni Morrison

Maya Angelou

Amy Tan

Lisa See

Ernest J. Gaines

I second the recommendation for Americanah, I also recommend A FINE BALANCE by Rohinton Mistry, one of my all-time favorites.

Heather, what a great goal for the summer. Of course, you can pick up anything by great authors like Toni Morrison, Amy Tan or Gabriel Garcia Marquez and never go wrong! Also, there are so many books by authors of color that don't get the attention I think they deserve. These aren't necessarily recent reads, but they are some of my favorites.

Tayari Jones
N.K. Jemisin
Edwidge Danticat
Abraham Verghese
Jesmyn Ward
Chinua Achebe
Thulani Davis
Ntozake Shange

The Illicit Happiness of Other People by Manu Joseph was incredible. I highly recommend it!

Dawn by Octavia Butler. One of the best SF writers ever and one of the best books ever.

The People in the Trees, Hanya Yanagihara. One of my favorite books.

1Q84 by Murakami.

Finding Nouf

I got it through my postal book group and it is fantastic. I'm sure you'd like it, Heather. It's a well-written mystery.

I'll recommend Rayda Jacobs - I really enjoyed her book