Dr. Shaun Duke, Professional Nerd

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The #ThoroughlyGoodBooksbyPoc Reading List

Update:  The list is now alphabetical by author!


(Note:  The following books are what was listed on Twitter under the #ThoroughlyGoodBooksbyPOC hashtag at 5:45 PM EST (the 21st of August).  Twitter will not allow me to view anything that might have appeared earlier than the morning of the 21st.

It should also be noted that some folks have expanded the list to include books featuring POC characters, even when such books are written by white authors.)

A little background:

In response to the recent Weird Tales fiasco, author Jim C. Hines decided to switch things around to get people to list their favorite novels by people of color, irrespective of genre.  I’ve decided to compile as many of those books as I possibly can.  The following list will, I hope, be updated over the course of the week (please understand that I am in grad school, which begins anew tomorrow, and so my time may be limited to do this).

(Note:  Some authors will not have specific titles listed.  This is either because people suggested practically everything written by those authors or specifically stated “anything by.”  Please excuse any repetitions you may find.)

Now for the list:

A 

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed
The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years by Chingiz Aitmatov
The Hakawati by Rabih Alameddine
Heaven’s Fate by Andre Alan
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie
How to Traverse Terra Incognita by Dean Alfar
Salamanca by Dean Francis Alfar
Anything by Isabel Allende
Krymsin Nocturnes by Joseph Armstead
No God But God:  The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam by Res Aslan

B

Daytripper by Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
The Tiger Claw by Shauna Singh Baldwin
Dreampark by Steven Barnes
Lion’s Blood by Steven Barnes
Cosmos Latinos:  An Anthology of Science Fiction from Latin America and Spain edited by Andrew L. Bell and Yolanda Molina-Gavilan
Zoo City by Lauren Beukes
Full Moon on the Reservation by Gloria Bird
Noughts and Crosses by Mallory Blackman
Servant of the Underworld by Aliette de Bodard
Saga de los confines by Liliana Bodoc
2666 by Roberto Bolaño
When the Rainbow Goddess Wept by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
Icon by Dwayne McDuffie and M. D. Bright
King Maker by Maurice Broaddus
The Knights of Breton Court by Maurice Broaddus
Anything by Tobias Buckell
Anything by Octavia Butler

C

32 Candles by Ernessa Carter
Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra
Red Earth and Pouring Red by Vikram Chandra
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
Anything by Joyce Chng
Radical Equations:  Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project by Bob Moses and Charles Cobb
Shadow Ops:  Control Point by Myke Cole
The Hanging of Angelique by Afua Cooper
White Talk by Chris Crutcher

D

Wolf at the Door by J. Damask
Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga
Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat
Mare’s War by Tanita S. Davis
Anything by Samuel R. Delany
Playing Indian by Philip Deloria
Anything by Junot Diaz
Black Candle:  Poems About Women from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh by Chitra Divakaruni
Acacia by David Anthony Durham
Pride of Carthage by David Anthony Durham
Anything by Tananarive Due

E

Perma Red by Debra Magpie Earling
The Budayeen Series by George Alec Effinger
Cold Magic by Kate Elliot
Cold Fire by Kate Elliot
Cold Steel by Kate Elliot
The Honey Month by Amal El-Mohtar
Blonde Roots by Bernardine Evaristo

F

Zero by Huang Fan
The Wretched of the Earth by Franz Fanon
Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad by Minister Faust
Shrinking the Heroes by Minister Faust

G

The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez
The Kappa Child by Hiromi Goto
Half-world by Hiromi Goto
Tall Story by Candy Gourlay

H

Redwood and Wildfire by Andrea Hairston
Mindscape by Andrea Hairston
The Ben January Series by Barbara Hambly
When Dreams Travel by Githa Hariharan
Girl, Overboard by Justina Chen Headley
Girl Overboard by Justina Chen Headley
Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier
Changing by Lily Hoang
Cortez on Jupiter by Ernest Hogan
Smoking Mirror Blues by Ernest Hogan
Mean Spirit by Linda Hogan
Anything by M. C. A. Hogarth
Anything by Nalo Hopkinson
So Long Been Dreaming:  Postcolonial Science Fiction and Fantasy edited by Nalo Hopkinson and Uppinder Mehan
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
God’s War by Kameron Hurley

I

Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

J

Anything by Brenda Jackson
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin
The Killing Moon by N. K. Jemisin
Mona in the Promised Land by Gish Jen
Red Moonshine by Alaya Dawn Johnson
Smoketown by Tenea Johnson
Some Prefer Nettles by Tanizaki Junichiro
The Makioka Sisters by Tanizaki Junichiro

K

Atlas:  The Archaeology of an Imaginary City by Dung Kai-Cheung
Good Luck Yukikaze by Chohei Kambayashi
Yukikaze by Chouhei Kambayashi
Polar City Blues by Katharine Kerr
SNARE by Katharine Kerr
Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi
Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King
Warrior Woman by Maxine Hong Kingston
Transmission by Hari Kunzru

L

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Salt Fish Girl by Larissa Lai
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap
Liar by Justine Larbarlastier
The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle
Lucretia and the Kroons by Victor LaValle
The Earthsea Series by Ursula K. LeGuin
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
Night, Again by Dinh Linh
Ash by Malinda Lo
Huntress by Malinda Lo
Adaptation by Malinda Lo
Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord

M

The Crusades Through Arab Eyes by Amin Maalouf
Anything by Naguib Mahfouz
The Dragon and the Stars edited by Derwin Mak and Eric Choi
Fire Logic by Laurie J. Marks
Anything by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Snakes and Ladders by Gita Mehta
Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger
Red Spider White Web by Misha
Tales from Firozsha Baag by Rohinton Mistry
Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry
Such a Long Journey by Rohinton Mistry
Crossfire by Miyuki Miyabe
Bodies in Motion by Mary Ann Mohanraj
Anything by Silvia Moren-Garcia
Anything by Toni Morrison
Anything by Walter Mosley
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
After the Quake by Haruki Murakami
The Legend of Tarik by Walter Dean Myers

N

Priscilla the Great by Sybil Nelson
Rocket Girls:  The Last Planet by Housuke Nojiri

O

The Next Continent by Issui Ogawa
The Shadow Speak by Nnedi Okorafor
Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
Zahra the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor
The Famished Road by Ben Okri
Salsa Nocturna by Daniel Jose Older
The Twelve Kingdoms Series by Fuyumi Ono
Bone Game by Louis Owens
Anything by Helen Oyeyemi

P

Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins
The Darker Mask:  Heroes from the Shadows edited by Gary Phillips and Christopher Chambers
Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon
The Grass Dancer by Susan Power
Harmony by Project Itoh
Genocidal Organ by Project Itoh

Q

None

R

The Umbrella Country by Bino Realuyo
Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves
Anything by Eden Robinson

S

The Chronicles of Elantra by Michelle Sagara
Orientalism by Edward Said
All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka
Ancient, Ancient by Kiini Ibura Salaam
A Strange in Olandria by Sofia Samatar
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Dossouye by Charles R. Saunders
The Imaro Series by Charles Saunders
Black No More by George Schuyler
House of Bees and Mist by Erick Setiawan
FilterHouse by Nisi Shawl
The Woman Who Thought She Was a Planet by Vandana Singh
Flygirl by Sherri S. Smith
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
The Vampire’s Beautiful Daughter by S. P. Somtow

T

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan
Lauriat edited by Charles A. Tan
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum
Dark Matter:  Reading the Bones edtied by Sheree R. Thomas
Wizard of the Crow by Ngugi wa Thiong’o
The Wizard of the Crow by Ngugi wa Thiongo
Apex Book of World SF edited by Lavie Tidhar
Apex Book of World SF 2 edited by Lavie Tidhar
Pluto Files by Neil Degrasse Tyson

U

None

V

Ink by Sabrina Vourvoulias
Lower Myths by Eliza Victoria
The Viewless Dark by Eliza Victoria

W

In the United States of Africa by Abdourahman Waberi
The Lion Hunter by Elizabeth Wein
The Broken Crown Series by Michelle West
Zone One by Colson Whitehead
The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead
Otherland by Tad Williams
Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson

X

Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian

Y

Stories of Ibis by Hiroshi Yamamoto
Sleeping Helena by Erzebet YellowBoy
Dragon of the Lost Sea by Laurence Yep
The Deer and the Cauldron by Jin Yong
NP by Banana Yoshimoto
Ooku by Fumi Yoshinaga
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu

Z

None

Additional Anthologies or Magazines:
Expanded Horizons (magazine)
Philippine Speculative Fiction Anthologies edited by Various
Alternative Alamat by Various

Plus the short story work of:
Aliette de Bodard
Zen Cho
Tananarive Due
Xia Jia
Rahul Kanakia
Yoon Ha Lee
Ken Liu
Rochita Loenen-Ruiz
Shweta Narayan
An Owomoyela
Sofia Samatar
Benjanun Sriduangkaew
Nghi Vo

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