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#diverse reads
ya-world-challenge · 2 years
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15 YA Books for Hispanic Heritage Month
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Just a tiny selection of some of the great Hispanic & Latinx books out there. I just finished Woven in Moonlight the other day and it has such a gorgeous world and magic, I’m tempted to get right to the sequel.
Lobizona by Romina Garber Furia, Yamile Saied Mendez Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez Meet Me Halfway, Anika Fajardo The Lightning Dreamer by Margarita Engle With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante Solito: A Memoir, Javier Zamora Where I Belong, Marcia Argueta Mickelson The One Who Loves You Most, Medina Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything, Raquel Vasquez Gilliland Breathe and Count Back from Ten, Natalia Sylvester Together We Burn, Isabel Ibañez Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish by Pablo Cartaya The Lightning Queen by Laura Resau
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mundanemoongirl · 2 months
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Happy Black History Month!! To celebrate, I made this list to share some of my favorite books written by Black authors and have Black main characters
Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury
This is one of my absolute favorite books. It’s about a Black girl who was born into a witch family, and in order to get powers, she has to pass a task given to her by one of her ancestors. Her task happens to be to find her first love and destroy them. This book has elements of fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, and romance and the sequel is just as good. I will never stop recommending it.
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
Although the main character of this book is in middle school, I think it’s a good read for people of all ages. The story follows Sunny, a Nigerian girl with albinism. After learning she is a witch, she begins to live a double life. One where she pretends to be her same non-magical self to her family, and one where she learns about magic and herself with Orlu, her friend from school; Chichi, Orlu’s mysterious friend; and Sasha, an American boy who moved to Nigeria.
Caucasia by Danzy Senna
Caucasia is the coming of age story of a girl born to a White mother and Black father in the 1970s. As someone who passes for White, she struggles to find where she belongs. She experiences being both Black and White, changing her race as easily as changing clothes, depending on who she needs to be at the time. She also has to deal with her family splitting up and her parents’ activism that might get them into serious trouble.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
I’m sure everyone’s heard of this one, but in case you haven’t: Starr was in her friend’s car the night he was killed by a police officer. She struggles afterwards to cope with his violent death and to speak up while remaining anonymous. This book is so so important. Police brutality never seems to stop, even in my own neighborhood. Everyone will benefit by learning more and speaking out against it.
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
Black Cake is about siblings Byron and Benny who are left with only a black cake and a tape recording when their mother dies. In the recording, their mother tells the story of someone they don’t even know, and the two have to learn to be a family again after a falling out they had years ago.
Here are some more that aren’t my favorites but I think others might love
Rust in the Root by Justina Ireland
This one is about a Black, queer mage in 1930s America trying to get a license to practice magic. Her new government job sends her on a journey to fix a blight that is more deadly than anyone expected.
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Set in a land similar to Africa, the magi, people who have magic, have all been killed by the monarchy. One day magic returns and one of the last remaining magi teams up with the princess to protect magic and prepare the magi to fight for their lives.
Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
200 years of Cinderella dies, the land is ruled by Prince Charming, who forces all young women to attend a ball to find a suitor. Sophia, who is queer, opposes this lifestyle and runs away. Once she’s away from the prince’s influence, she discovers the true story of Cinderella and what she can do to stop the balls.
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desdasiwrites · 6 months
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Happy Bi Visibility Day!
(And happy Bisexual Awareness Week! 💗💜💙)
Here's a list of books with bisexual representation, or by bisexual authors.
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Books in the pictures are:
Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta
Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld
Revolutions of All Colors by Dewaine Farria
Running With Lions by Julian Winters
Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley
Heartstopper, by Alice Oseman
Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert
Difficult Women by Roxane Gay
I’ll Be the One by Lyla Lee
Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles
A Darkly Beating Heart by Lindsay Smith
Fresh by Margot Wood
Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster by Andrea Mosqueda
Subatomic: And Other Stories By and About Bisexuals edited by Mariëlle S. Smith and Sìne Màiri Ní Ailpín
I Hate Everyone But You by Gabe Dunn and Allison Raskin
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mags1324 · 12 days
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Queer Book Recommendations
It's pride season in Wellington, New Zealand and my local library has published its second "Teen Staff Picks" zine! In that spirit, I bring you, a collection of lesser-known queer books featured in the two that have been released so far! I've narrowed the lists down to books that have 1000 or fewer reviews on Goodreads as of posting (though I actually use Storygraph personally). I haven't read most of these, they're new to me as well but looking forward to getting into them.
Sapphic
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Trouble Girls - Julia Lynn Rubin
Planning Perfect - Haley Neil
Improbable Magic for Cynical Witches - Kate Scelsa
The Meadows - Stephanie Oakes
Never Trust a Gemini - Freja Nicole Woolf
This Is All Your Fault - Aminah Mae Safi
The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet - Jake Maia Arlow
Youngblood - Sasha Laurens
In the Role of Brie Hutchens - Nicole Melleby
Achillean
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We Are Totally Normal - Rahul Kanakia
Two Can Play That Game - Leanne Yong
Blaine for the Win - Robbie Couch
I Like Me Better - Robby Weber
The Language of Seabirds - Will Taylor
The Feeling of Falling in Love - Mason Deaver
Charming Young Man - Eliot Schrefer
Emmett - L. C. Rosen
Pages I Never Wrote - Marco Donati
Trans Characters
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Across a Field of Starlight - Blue Delliquanti
Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure - Lewis Hancox
The Borrow a Boyfriend Club - Page Powars
If I Can Give You That - Michael Gray Bulla
Transmogrify!: 14 Fantastical Tales of Trans Magic - G. Haron Davis
Jess, Chunk, and the Road Trip to Infinity - Kristin Elizabeth Clark
Magical Boy - The Kao
Kisses For Jet: A Coming-of-Gender Story - Joris Bas Backer
Between Perfect and Real - Ray Stoeve
Featuring Queer People of Colour
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Ander & Santi Were Here - Jonny Garza Villa
The Loophole - Naz Kutub
Spell Bound - F. T. Lukens
Tim Te Maro and the Subterranean Heartsick Blues - H. S. Valley
Rise to the Sun - Leah Johnson
Never Kiss Your Roommate - Philline Harms
Rainbow! - Bloom & Sunny
Other Ever Afters: New Queer Fairy Tales - Melanie Gillman
Anne of Greenville - Mariko Tamaki
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Expectations: In Which Diverse Stories Have Extra Criteria
CW: mentions of racism, brutality, colonization, more of a vent post than anything informative
As much as I don’t like it, I feel as though the best way to start this off is to provide context on my own background. I’ll get to why I don’t like it in a moment, so bear with me. I’m a first generation born Filipino American. My parents are from Tarlac (and a DNA test shows that we also have lineage traced back to Northern and Western Philippines as well some Central & Eastern and Southern China), and they raised us in a semi-traditional Filipino fashion. They didn’t teach us the language in fear of us being made fun of by other Americans, but we did grow up eating the food, respecting our elders, and practicing Filipino Catholic traditions that my parents grew up with in their homeland.
Needless to say, the remarks that followed me into my adult life have pulled my resonance with my heritage in every which way. To other Filipinos and other Asians, I looked part white, and they would ask for pictures of my parents for “proof” that I wasn’t. True story: I remember one of my college friends grabbing my phone and showing her friends in an “I told you so” manner, as if my race was some mystery for them to crack. It wasn’t. I fully told them from the start that I’m Filipino. My Titas would tell me that I looked “mestiza,” and how many young girls in the Philippines would want to look the way I do, and I didn’t know how to explain to them that I started hating how pale I am because of how other Asians would assume my race because of it.
At the same time, my non-Asian counterparts (yes, majority of the people who made these comments were white) would assume that I was some hodge-podge of all Asian cultures. I remember my high school teacher showing us a Vietnamese medicine commercial (this was a class on medical malpractice, and, if I remember correctly, she wanted to show us how medicine is advertised internationally), and she walked into class saying, “The only one who might understand this clip is Rory.” She’d used my deadname at the time, but you get the idea. Jaw-dropped, I had to say, “I don’t speak Vietnamese. I’m not Vietnamese.”
I know, what does this have to do with writing? We’ll get there; don’t worry.
Around 2018, the term “decolonization” entered my realm of awareness. I would see other children of immigrants from all over the world dive into their heritage and continue their ancestors’ practices. Thinking that this would be a genuine way to connect with my roots (I had, and still have, a complicated relationship with the Catholic Church, so I was excited to hear about other Filipino faiths), I began doing my research. At the time, I had a sizable following on TikTok, and I would post entertainment-only sort of videos regarding my spirituality and craft, and I even had to put out a video explaining why I didn’t go into more detail with the Filipino aspects of it. I wasn’t as learned with it as I am now, and I was afraid of the criticism and backlash others would have towards it. In hindsight, I really shouldn’t have given a sh*t, but the internet, as we all know, is cruel.
See, I use my writing as a way to connect with myself and other people, mainly. Yes, I have a story to tell, but a majority of my purpose is to discover and process my own emotions and findings. I use what I observed in society and how I grew up as well as what I learned from my own research. I won’t go into detail of the racism Asian Americans face nor the brutality we have endured over the years; frankly, if you are not already aware of it, Google is free.
Still, my work seemed to be followed by one main criticism: this isn’t yours to tell.
There were a myriad of reasons behind it. I wasn’t born in the Philippines, I’m white-passing, I wasn’t raised with anitismo, other marginalized groups have it “exponentially” worse, etc. I’d be lying if I said this didn’t affect my writing. I froze. I grappled with what I was “allowed” to tell based on all of these criteria. I’d pull up article after article of what I learned in hopes to justify the reasons for including certain aspects in my work; but because of my own upbringing, it never seemed to be enough. What’s worse, a portion of these criticisms completely dismissed the aspects of racism that Asian Americans have spoken up about time and time again (once again, because other’s have it worse or because there just wasn’t enough awareness about it for it to be “valid.”)
Imagine that. We read of thousands of iterations of medieval fantasies from white authors, thousands of European fae romances, thousands of Greek mythological retellings, and treat it as the default. There is no question of whether the author is Greek or Gaelic enough or if their ancestors played a huge role during the medieval era. Hell, my first published work was based on Greek and Celtic mythology, and no one talked about my race then, whether it was about how white I look or how I'm not white at all.
But gods help us if a minority doesn’t fit the ultimate minority model while telling their stories. To be honest, this was why I started disliking the need to talk about my background; it has begun to feel as though it is more to provide credentials rather than to satiate genuine curiosity from other people.
Yes, I do recognize that I wasn’t born in the Philippines and that I was raised Catholic, but I’ve come to terms with how I feel like that is okay.
First of all, if we want to hear from more diverse writers, we cannot keep projecting this “model minority” expectation towards them. Otherwise, it will discourage other diaspora writers, such as myself, from connecting and relaying their heritage in fear of not being “[insert marginalized group here] enough,” whatever that even means at this point.
Secondly, our history is full of movement, whether it was by our own will, such as my parents’ decision to come to America, or if it was forced upon us by our oppressors. As such, those raised outside of their homeland only further enriches our culture, not dilutes it.
To filter the perspectives of or to project your own biases towards diaspora writers is to promote the narratives of the colonizers. We are valid, and our stories should be, too.
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sapphicbookclub · 1 year
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Author Spotlight - Rien Gray
Rien Gray, author of Her Wolf in the Wild, brings a fascinating guest post about the history of lesbian mystery novels! Her Wolf in the Wild is a paranormal romance that our members are current reading.
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Like a lot of F/F readers, I struggled finding books with sapphic protagonists when I was younger, and held onto every book I could find like it was worth its weight in gold. So when I found out about the history of lesbian mystery novels, I was shocked to find out that hundreds of them had been published since the 1970s, often distributed through mailing services, magazines, and independent feminist presses like Naiad.
Also known as lesbian detective fiction, these books follow, you guessed it, lesbian detectives. Despite the name, plenty of characters in these novels are also bisexual or unlabeled but clearly attracted to women, and the gamut of the queer community tends to appear as the mysteries in question progress. 
The genre appears to have started with A Reason to Kill by Eve Zaremba in 1978 with her middle-aged lesbian private investigator Helen Keremos. Mary Wings joined soon after with a butch protagonist named Emma Victor, a private eye. Nikki Baker became the first Black writer of lesbian mysteries with In the Game, a series that follows financial analyst and burgeoning sleuth Virginia Kelly. And there are dozens and dozens more.
Most of these authors wrote substantial series, following the same protagonists for years, taking their detectives through new jobs, heartbreaks, and self-discovery with each case. It’s worth noting that a lot of these characters are cops, but what I found interesting about that in the novels I read was how deeply the authors engaged with what that means when a protagonist is both queer and a member of law enforcement, and how often that clashed, especially in decades-old books where gay bars being raided was in recent memory.
If you want to know more about the genre, Megan Casey wrote The Lesbian Detective Novel, which features a database of every fitting writer and title the author could find, as well as several essays on the books in question.
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intotheescape · 2 months
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this semester's reads (spring '24)
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caribeandthebooks · 15 days
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An Ordinary Wonder by Buki Papillon
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Adult Fiction
Setting: Nigeria
Description: An Ordinary Wonder is a powerful coming of age story of an intersex twin, Oto, who is forced to live as a boy and adhere to prohibitive Yoruba traditions despite his desire to live as a girl. His wealthy and powerful family are ashamed of him and we see Oto become more estranged from his twin sister and experience heart-breaking brutality at the hands of his mother…Read more on Goodreads/Storygraph
Content Warning information can be found via the above Storygraph link.
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black-is-beautiful18 · 5 months
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I started a dive into my tbr and it’s amazing how many genuinely good fantasy books get overlooked by the booktok girlies because the protagonists aren't white. Like I’m just beginning Beast if Prey with Skin of the Sea and The Gilded Ones up next and I am just BAFFLED (not really because racism) that the same people who swoon over half-baked “fantasy” books on booktok are ignoring and under promoting these genuinely great books. It’s just so painfully transparent that booktok and bookish spaces in general are for white people and the books that keep them front and center, and it irks me beyond belief.
I’m just now seeing this, but the white part of booktok and the other small parts that try to kiss up to them are deeply unserious. Fourth Wing was blowing up on there even with actual critiques from ppl who have read it. Not to mention the fact that the author is a weirdo. Then the fact that there are so many good books by Black and Brown authors but it’s either they’re not talked about or ppl act as if only one book/author can be praised at a time. That’s not how it works. Also, while it is on my shelf, I’ve heard Skin of the Sea actually has harmful portrayals of the Orisha so ppl are saying that it probably isn’t the best book to read. But I literally am doing two projects on diverse reading and even the mistreatment and disregard of Black characters in media for school. Like it’s absolutely ridiculous. So many amazing books and they not reading them cuz they “can’t relate” when that’s not the point. Like be fr 🙄
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leskami · 10 months
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First episode is out!
The first episode of my original audiobook has been posted to YouTube!
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Thalassophobia is set in a world where demons roam the earth along side humans. The two species are far from a harmonious cohabitation, and nowhere is this more true than in the town of Reveldad. Due to a prophecy woven many years ago, Reveldad underwent an oppressive rule governed by the wolf demon known as Ma'relle. Her rule ended the day that the human woman known as Krona cast her into the ocean. Ma'relle escaped her imprisonment after a year, but has since opted to live a life far removed from what anyone would consider a reign. As such, demon-kind was forced to suffer a terrible retreat and their hope and faith in Ma'relle as their hero wanes by the day while humanities faith that Krona is the 'one true victor' foretold by the prophecy grows ever stronger. Still, demons remain a presence in Reveldad, making it so visitors are rare, and often leave as quickly they come. New residents, however, are nearly unheard of. So when Vitala Ston, a woman free from any experience with demons or prophecies, decides to make herself at home in the town of Reveldad, she will earn experiences far beyond what she imagined when she set out with her horse and cairn terrier. Her curiosity and thirst for knowledge will earn her friends, enemies, and most unexpected of all: a love that may be the catalyst for a prophecy that has long waited to be fulfilled.
This story is, at its core, a lesbian love story, but that's not all it's got going for it. Are you into monsters? Fleshed out characters? Fleshed out characters who are monsters? Warrior women? Swords? Good stories? Or are just intrigued by the description above? Well, welcome to Reveldad!
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annelisreadingroom · 19 days
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Do you have any books based on Asian mythology that you would recommend? I recently read A Mortal Song and I quite liked it. It's a story about Japanese kami who live among humans.
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afropuffsstudios · 4 months
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🗣️Native Book Spotlight 📖
Title: Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story
Author: Kevin Noble Maillard
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gwen-tolios · 2 years
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Books Where The Ace Character Has A Relationship
There needs to be more of these. Some of us do want relationships!
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All these books have canon ace characters - word on the page vs headcanons fyi.
1) Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann. This book gets a lot of buzz, as it should, for its portrayal of a black ace girl navigating a relationship. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31625039-let-s-talk-about-love
2) Chameleon Moon by RoAnna Sylver, and the other stories about Parole. This has a poly relationship with an ace character and a whole lot of other rep. It reads like a blockbuster action movie, if that's your thing. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31938167-chameleon-moon
3) Thaw by Elyse Springer. Featuring a relationship between a model and a librarian, I love how this is such a standard romance novel. All the beats are there - it's just got an ace woman in it ^_^ https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32673586-thaw
4) The Spy with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke. Wolf is demisexual (hello ace brethren) and his romance is his B-plot. This is completely okay because trying to sabotage Hitler takes priority. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38650956-the-spy-with-the-red-balloon
5) Returning to You by Gwen Tolios. That rare partnership between an ace and aro character (neither of whom are aro ace), full of pining, family drama, and going from friends to lovers. As aces do. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60497147-returning-to-you
6) Three Stupid Weddings by Ann Gallagher. Fake dating, friends to lovers, but make it gay and ace? Yes. You need this. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41074778-three-stupid-weddings
7) His Quiet Agent by Ada Maria Soto. This is a classic ace romance, released way back in 2017, that reads like the gentle sickfic in the hurt/comfort tag on Ao3. Nurse your ace coworker back to health, and now you're a couple. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35238838-his-quiet-agent?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_9
8) Making Love by Aidan Wayne. This features an aro and a ace character realizing they're falling for each other in a world of cupids and succubi. Suuuper fluffy. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33120447-making-love?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_26
9) Enchanted Soles edited by Sasha Miller. This is a queer anthology featuring stories about shoes, but the last story called Hallowed Veil is the gold star. It features TWO ace characters, one in a relationship, and highlights the spectrum of desires. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30075296-enchanted-soles
10) How to Be Ace: A Memoir Of Growing Up Asexual by Rebecca Burgess. Non-fiction graphic novel about growing up ace, including dating troubles. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54403237-how-to-be-ace
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desdasiwrites · 1 year
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– Erik J. Brown, All That's Left in the World
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twigsandhearts · 2 months
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"Twigs and Hearts is an amazing project! I feel really inspired by this amazing team of young, independent, and passionate creators. This podcast truly feels like a labour of love, with a diverse cast of characters (because we all know how much representation matters) and a surprising story."                             - Teresa CR (she/they), voice actor
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musingsofmonica · 7 days
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January 2024 Diverse Reads
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January 2024 Diverse Reads:
•”How We Named the Stars” by Andrés N. Ordorica, January 30, Tin House Books, Literary/LGBT/Hispanic & Latino/Coming of Age
•”Red String Theory” by Lauren Kung Jessen, January 09, Forever, Romance/Romantic Comedy/Asian American
•”Come and Get It” by Kiley Reid, January 30, G.P. Putnam's Sons, Literary/Coming of Age/Women
•”Martyr!” by Kaveh Akbar, January 23, Knopf Publishing Group, Literary/Family Life/LGBT
•”The Storm We Made” by Vanessa Chan, January 02, S&S/Marysue Rucci Books, Literary, World Literature/Asia/Historical /20th Century/Post-World War II/Women
•”The Mayor of Maxwell Street” by Avery Cunningham, January 30, Hyperion Avenue, Romance/Historical/African American/Women
•”The Queen of Sugar Hill: A Novel of Hattie McDaniel” by Reshonda Tate, January 30, William Morrow & Company, Biographical/Historical/African American/Women/Own Voices/World Literature/American/20th Century/Post-World War II
•”A Quantum Love Story” by Mike Chen, Mira Books, January 30, Romance/Time Travel/Science Fiction/Time Travel/Family Life/Siblings
•”The Bullet Swallower” by Elizabeth Gonzalez, January 23, Simon & Schuster, Literary/Hispanic & Latino/Magical Realism
•”When Things Don't Go Your Way: Zen Wisdom for Difficult Times” by Haemin Sunim & Charles La Shure (Translator), January 23, Penguin Life, Buddhist/Mindfulness & Meditation/Philosophy/Personal Growth/Buddhism 
•”Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism” by Jenn M. Jackson, January 23, Random House, Women/American Government/Feminism & Feminist Theory/Women's Studies
•Our Hidden Conversations: What Americans Really Think about Race and Identity” by 
Michele Norris, January 16, Simon & Schuster, Ethnic Studies/Discrimination & Race Relations/Social Classes & Economic Disparity/Cultural & Social
•”River East, River West” by Aube Rey Lescure, January 09, William Morrow & Company, Literary/Coming of Age/Family Life/Asian American/Cultural Heritage/World Literature-China/21st Century
•”Where I Belong: Healing Trauma and Embracing Asian American Identity” by Soo Jin Lee & Linda Yoon, January 09, Tarcherperigee, Ethnic Studies/ Asian American Studies/Mental Health/Personal Growth
•”Your Utopia: Stories” by Bora Chung & Anton Hur, January 30, Algonquin Books, Horror/Science Fiction/Short Stories/World Literature/Korea
•”On Thriving: Harnessing Joy Through Life's Great Labors” by Brandi Sellerz-Jackson, January 09, Ballantine Books, Personal Memoirs/Inspiration & Personal Growth
•”The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years” by Shubnum Khan, January 09, Viking, Historical/Gothic/Women
•”Behind You Is the Sea” by Susan Muaddi Darraj, January 16, Harpervia, Literary/Short Stories/Humor/Coming of Age/Women/Family Life/Cultural Heritage/Feminist/Muslim/Own Voices/World Literature/Middle East/Arabian Peninsula
•”Be a Revolution: How Everyday People Are Fighting Oppression and Changing the World--And How You Can, Ijeoma Oluo, January 30, HarperOne, Activism & Social Justice/Ethnic Studies/Personal Growth/Anthropology/Cultural & Social/Race & Ethnic Relations/Civil Rights/Social Activists/United States/21st Century/Human Rights/Motivational & Inspirational
.”The Night of the Storm” by Nishita Parekh, January 16, Dutton, Thriller/Mystery & Detective/Family Life/Asian American
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