I am trying to read more widely. On the one hand I’m beginning to read more classics but those are mostly written by dead white guys.
I’d like to read books from more diverse authors and, equally importantly for me, stories that open up windows on other places, cultures and ways of living. Historical fiction based in different cultures is welcome, too. I am white European, living in the UK.
What would you suggest?
by Sunshine_and_water
11 Comments
Pachinko is a recent personal favourite!
Thnigs fall apart, half of a yellow sun, beneath the lion’s gaze. These are some of my favorite from African authors
The walnut mansion, it’s a translated classic
It’s set in Croatia (it covers 5 generations of the same family though so you also get Yugoslavia and the ottoman empire)
hello from canada!
[a list of books from cbc about the history of first nations, inuit and metis people ](https://www.cbc.ca/books/14-books-to-read-for-national-indigenous-history-month-1.7562483)
on the fiction front
[the round house ](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13602426-the-round-house)by louse erditch
[the berry pickers](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123036004-the-berry-pickers?ref=rae_8) by amanda peter
since you’ve interested in classics,[ bookriot has a wonderful list of classics by poc](https://bookriot.com/100-must-read-classics-by-people-of-color/). i’ve been reading few a few of these and have really enjoyed it!
Some books by living, brown women to counter the dead, white men – Nigeria – anything by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, Purple Hibiscus, Americanah, Half of a Yellow Sun. Sri Lanka- Brotherless Night by V. V. Ganeshananthan.
omg “things fall apart” by chinua achebe is like the perfect mix of what you’re looking for! its about pre/post colonial nigeria and i read it last semester, super eye opening.
I always recommend Dorje Dolma’s memoir Yak Girl about the remote Dolpapa region of Nepal for this. She grew up without any of the fundamental pillars of Western life. No medicine when you got sick. No vehicles of any kind. Really interesting.
The Last Aloha by Gaellen Quinn.
Dragonfruit by Malia Mattoch McManus.
The Legends and Myths of Hawai’i by David Kalākaua.
The Caliph’s House by Tahir Shah is excellent.
*Guests of the Sheik* by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea
Brotherless Night.