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Hi all!

I have realized my shelves are woefully skewed towards straight, white, cis-gendered people in general, and men especially. I have therefore created a list for myself of authors I should read (or read more by) in 2018. I have some "classics" in there, but of course my first love is SFF so any recos in genre are especially appreciated. Who has some authors who are of color, LGBTQIA, or differently abled that you've enjoyed?

Second question, would anyone be interested in doing a "more diverse side read" list next year?

Here are the authors already on my list, in no particular order (sorry, I should've organized it):

-Ntozake Shange
-Sister Souljah
-Nalo Hopkinson*
-Celest Ng
-NK Jemisin*
-Sun Tzu
-Valeria Luiselli
-Octavia Butler*
-Yoon Ha Lee*
-Sherman Alexie
-Alice Walker
-Owl Goingback
-Vandana Singh*
-Marjorie Liu**
-Ted Chiang*
-Susan Power*
-Roxane Gay
-Ralph Ellison
-Angie Thomas
-Nnedi Okorafor*
-Ken Liu*
-Cixin Liu*
-Hanya Yanagihara
-Daniel Jose Older*
-Malinda Lo*
-Samantha Irby
-Michael-Aaron Hall*
-Toni Morrison
-Salman Rushdie*
-Kai Ashante Wilson*
-Tananarive Due*
-Sabaa Tahir*
-Annie Allen
-Nicola Griffith*
-Marie Lu*
-Basma Abdel Aziz*
-Taiyo Fujii*
-Yangsze Choo*
-Aliette de Bodard*
-Silvia Moreno-Garcia*
-Charlie Jane Anders*
-Alyssa Wong*
-Samuel R. Delaney*
-Walter Mosely*
-Steven Barnes*
-Melissa Scott*
-Joanna Russ*
- Rivers Solomon*
-T.A. Pratt*
Karen Lord*
Becky Chambers*
Julia Ember*
Samanta Schweblin*
-John Ridley*

*SFF book
**comic book/graphic novel

I like this idea.

Around this time last year I realized that most of the books I've read are by old/dead white guys so I decided to try to read a bit more broadly. This year I aimed for half of the books I read to be by women, and got pretty close. I'd like to read a bit more diversely next year.

I really like anthologies as a starting place to discover new writers. There are some great ones out there showcasing work of POC and LGBTQIA people.
These two were both wonderful:
Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time: An Indigenous LGBT Sci-Fi Anthology
Beyond: the Queer Sci-Fi & Fantasy Comic Anthology (comics, there's a second collection coming out next year)
These two are on my TBR list:
Elements: Fire (Comics)
Meanwhile, Elsewhere: Science Fiction and Fantasy from Transgender Writers

Allison wrote: "Second question, would anyone be interested in doing a "more diverse side read" list next year?"

Yes!

I've tried to read more diversely in the past two years or so, and this year I've also been trying to read more books that weren't originally written in English. So basically translated fiction, but not completely, because English isn't my native language, even if it is my preferred reading language.

Allison already mentioned many of the authors I love/like/am wanting to read, but here are some of the less popular diverse (ownvoices) books I've enjoyed this year:

The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz
Literary-ish Egyptian dystopia

Gene Mapper and Orbital Cloud by Taiyo Fujii
Mysterious computer geekery in near future Asian rice fields and mysterious contemporary space geekery around the globe and in orbit

Iraq + 100: stories from a century after the invasion edited by Hassan Blasim
10 pieces of SFF short fiction from Iraqi authors imagining life in Iraq 100 years after the war, heartbreaking and depressing at times

Spirits Abroad and The Terracotta Bride by Zen Cho
Beautiful fantastical short fiction from Malaysia, the UK and somewhere in between, with a stopover in Chinese Hell

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
Historical fantasy with a slight YA-vibe set in Chinese Malaysia, and we're back in Chinese Hell


I want to read The Red Threads of Fortune / The Black Tides of Heaven by J.Y. Yang very soon, and I just reserved Nigerians in Space by Deji Olukotun from the library.

There are obviously many more, but that's what came to mind immediately. I'm hoping to find some Latinx SFF, so far most things on my radar are all YA.

I love these suggestions!! Thank you both! TBR is a-growin :)

ETA: I believe Daniel Jose Older identifies Latino, or is at least very vocal about diversity and inclusion of that culture in particular, but I think he's the only Latino SFF author on my list (I guess some of his books are YA but not all?), so I also hope to find more.

Yes, him and also Malka Ann Older, but I can't think of anyone else. But I'm also thinking of revisiting some old magical realism favorites, those would balance my world map nicely.

TBH, for me I would need to diversify by reading more PoCs and more males - looking at my bookshelves. My personal collection skews very female.

But also more Science Fiction.

So, my contribution:

I've read The Other Half of the Sky which is a great SF anthology that required either a woman author or a woman MC. I reviewed the entire thing here: (I also highlighted my favorite stories in the GR review)

It is where I ran into Aliette de Bodard and Vandana Singh: both authors I WILL read again.


I finished up Lightspeed Magazine, June 2014: Women Destroy Science Fiction! Special Issue as well. It, too, was pretty wonderful. I did not review all because its huge, lol.


I also have a few highlights on GR.

My big goal for reading next year is to pay more attention and make more of an active effort to read diversely. So yay for all the wonderful suggestions here.

For Latinx authors, I'll throw out Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

Also, the anthology, Latin@ Rising: An Anthology of Latin@ Science Fiction and Fantasy would be a good place to sample some Latinx SFF.

A few years back I read all of The Mammoth book of sci-fi by women which I actually went to my laptop so I could link but could not find so F you goodreads you sexist.
Anyway it opened up my eyes to dozens of authors I hadn't heard of before but now I notice quite a lot of.

The Mammoth Book of SF Stories by Women

Found it!! SF...you tricky book - sorry GR, my bad

Jordan wrote: "My big goal for reading next year is to pay more attention and make more of an active effort to read diversely. So yay for all the wonderful suggestions here.

For Latinx authors, I'll throw out [a..."

Thank you!

Rachel wrote: "The Mammoth Book of SF Stories by Women

Found it!! SF...you tricky book - sorry GR, my bad"

lolololol

Allison wrote: "Hi all!

I have realized my shelves are woefully skewed towards straight, white, cis-gendered people in general, and men especially. I have therefore created a list for myself of authors I should r..."

Hmmm, what is a CIS? I am so far behind on these abbreviations.

LMAO @ Rachel!!

Thank you MrsJ and Jordan! I may put up a list of books in genre I intend to read (or ask others what they intend to read) so that maybe we can explore together.

'shelves are woefully skewed towards straight, white, cis-gendered people in general, and men especially.'

Would female authors in general work, or do they need that something extra as well? Would being a marine count as something extra? Like if they were a female marine in the late sixties/early seventies?

Well, if yes, then I'd mention Elizabeth Moon for both fantasy (Legacy of Gird, Paksenarrion. Paladin's Legacy and science fiction (Vatta's War, Vatta's Peace, Serrano Legacy).

Non-white men
Fantasy
Ramsey Isler: Clockworkers
F.C. Yee: The Epic of Genie Lo

Science Fiction
Steven Barnes: Far Beyond the Stars; Dream Park series (with Larry Niven)
Ramsey Isler: Ghosts of Arcadia
Ryosuke Takeuchi - All You Need is Love

LGBTQIA :
There are some author's I'm not including because I do not actually know where they fall LGBTQIA, race, nationality, etc.

LGBTQIA Men
Fantasy:

M/M fiction
Nathan Burgoine: Triad Blood series
Alex Gabriel: Love is for the Cold Blooded
Ricardo Pinto: Stone Dance of the Chameleon series

lesbian Fiction
Alexis Hall: Kate Kane series

Female authors

Lesbian Fiction
Fantasy
Saxon Bennett: Big Love
Bridget Essex
Sam Farren: Dragonoak series
Jane Fletcher: Lyremouth Chronicles
Rebecca Harwell: Storm's Quarry series
Catherine Lane: Tread Lightly
Brooke Radley: Nightshade
Zoe Reed: Breaking Legacies
Justine Saracen: Ibis Prophecy series
Brey Willows: Afterlife inc series
Barbara Ann Wright: Katya and Starbride series

Shifter fiction
Shei Darksbane & Annathesa Nikola Darksbane: Auralight Codex: Dakota Shepherd series
Alison Grey & Jae - Vampire Diet Series
Jae - Shape-Shifter series
Gill McKnight - Garoul series
Kate Owen - Once Bitten
Winter Pennington: Kassandra Lyall - series
L.L. Raand - Midnight Hunters series
Nell Stark & Trinity Tam: everafter series
S.Y. Thompson - Under series

Vampire fiction
Winter Pennington - Rosso Lussuria series

Science Fantasy
Jane Fletcher - Celaeno series
Barbara Ann Wright: Godfall Novels

Science Fiction
Annathesa Nikola Darksbane & Shei Darksbane - Starlight Saga
Fletcher DeLancey: & Past Imperfect
Diana Jean - Tokyo Love
K.G. MacGregor - T Minus Two
S.Y. Thompson - The Flaw in Logic
Gerri Hill - Paradox Valley
Ali Vali - Beneath the Waves

Apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic
Missouri Vaun - Return to Earth series

Military science fiction
Sandra Barret - Terran Novan series

Time Travel:
Robin Alexander - Gift of Time
Kelli Jae Baeli - Pitfall
Rachel Spangler - Timeless
M Ullrich: Time will Tell

Dj wrote: "Allison wrote: "Hi all!

I have realized my shelves are woefully skewed towards straight, white, cis-gendered people in general, and men especially. I have therefore created a list for myself of au..."

cis is the opposite prefix of trans in Latin, so it's used to mean people whose gender assignments at birth match their actual gender identity (i.e. the doctor said "it's a girl!" when I was born, and that was true). So, people who are not cis are those who are trans, non-binary, or in some definitions, intersex. :)

Oh and during my last break from WoK I finished The Prey of Gods

which had south africanish viewpoints; plus gay; plus demigoddesses....; plus emergent AI....and I could go on.

The only ones missing from that list that immediately come to mind for me are Charlie Jane Anders (trans), Alyssa Wong (gay, Asian-American), Samuel R. Delaney (gay, African-American), Walter Mosely (African-American) and Steven Barnes (African American).

I do distinguish between "non-white" and "minority," even though most Americans conflate the two. I personally don't count people like Cixin Liu as "minorities" because in his country there are literally a billion people just like him. If they are a minority within their country, then maybe, but then you run into issues such as calling Charlize Theron "African-American", which is technically true, *and* she's a minority in her native South Africa, but... Vandana Singh is also one of those odd cases, since she's born and raised in India, which she still considers home, but currently lives and works in Boston. Minority or merely a visitor?

I don't consider Latinos to be either minorities *or* people of color. If they are, then so am I, being half Italian. One can make the argument that southern Italians are actually more POC because of our mixed-race heritage which includes Middle Eastern and African infusions over the centuries. (It's not a coincidence that sickle cell anemia is prevalent in both African and Italian populations.)

Honestly I think I read more women than men except for my desire to read all the hugo winners! And Sanderson of course. So weird that a white straight morman dude makes the best magic systems!!

Oh, I just remembered Marie Lu. Chinese-American, I think.

Dj wrote: Hmmm, what is a CIS? I am so far behind on these abbreviations

“Cis�� isn’t an abbreviation, it’s a term meaning someone who identifies with their assigned birth gender (ie, who isn’t trans gender or intersex)

On that topic, Allison, if you’re looking for SF written by someone trans, have you tried All the Birds in the Sky ? I read it recently, it’s a really cute and quirky story about the end of the world.

Wow, thanks Lexxi! And thanks, Trike!

You're right, of course, the designations are extremely arbitrary. For me, as OP, I am open to people's stories who are majority in their own nation, provided that they are not in the majority in mine, which I should have specified, my bad! I am in the US, so I am counting Chinese authors of Chinese ethnic descent as that is not a culture in which I have read deeply.

Also I am delineating Latino from Hispanic people, as Hispanic is "people from Spanish speaking nations" while Latino is from Latin American ethno-groups. I think that more closely captures the cultural identity I've come to realize I am lacking on my shelves.

And as far as determining minorities/white, again you're right to note how arbitrary it can be, so for further clarification, I mean authors who are part of a cultural group which does not (or would not) benefit from white privilege.

for someone trans (or similar - I'm etting to old to get all the additional ones after LGQT) there's Yoon Ha Lee! Can't wait for the last book in the trilogy next year!

Allison wrote: "Dj wrote: "Allison wrote: "Hi all!

I have realized my shelves are woefully skewed towards straight, white, cis-gendered people in general, and men especially. I have therefore created a list for m..."

Ahhh, thanks.
Maybe I am just old, but I find that I don't really want to know all that much about my Authors. I just care that the book is good. LOL. Of course MTV made it so I didn't want to see the bands I listened to as well, so maybe it is just me.

samuel delany - gay/bi African-American (looks white) - I loved Dhalgren

Aliette de Bodard = French-Vietnamese woman who writes sci-Fi & Fantasy On a Red Station, Drifting

Melissa Scott = won several Lambda awards

Joanna Russ = The Female Man considered one of the top 10 essential SciFi books by some

Allison wrote: "Wow, thanks Lexxi! And thanks, Trike!

You're right, of course, the designations are extremely arbitrary. For me, as OP, I am open to people's stories who are majority in their own nation, provided..."

So that brings up another interesting question: many would argue that white women still benefit from white privilege but it certainly seems they are severely underrepresented in our chosen genre.

I am really, really excited to read Rivers Solomon's debut novel An Unkindness of Ghosts. The cover is gorgeous (one of my favorites this year), it's getting glowing reviews, and the author brings the perspective of a nonbinary person of color to a generation-ship saga.

I have never considered an author's categorization to dictate whether I read their work. I know that in general women mostly read women and men mostly read men, which is weird to me. Sexual orientation or religious affiliation has usually been opaque to me unless they're known for such things. Until recently, race was also usually invisible. I didn't know for decades that Steven Barnes was black, for example. Not that it would have mattered, but there's no clue in his name and I'd never seen a photo.

My favorite books as a young boy were The Call of the Wild and Little House in the Big Woods. It never occurred to me that people would think it odd that I loved a book written by a woman. Only later in life did I encounter that attitude. As a teenager, one of my all-time favorites was (and still is) The White Dragon, and I was really into the Deryni series by Katherine Kurtz.

So far this year I've read 47 "real" books (not graphic novels or art/photo books), 21 by men and 24 by women, 2 story collections by both. That wasn't a conscious choice, merely what looked good to me at the time. I have four more books lined up for this year, two from each.

Graphic novels tend to be male-dominated, but I have read 3 by women (words & art) and 13 by both, but 20 by men.

You all rock, keep 'em comin'!

DJ, for me, it's about making sure I hear different voices, and that I support groups that seem to be under-represented. I love my trans friends and I want the world to see them, so I look for people like them in my media. Ditto the rest of the US minority groups. I am not trying to sell anyone on my worldview or condemn just reading for fun. I am however extremely appreciative of everyone willing to share or explore with me!

When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore is written by a woman married to a trans gendered man, and one of the main characters is trans. It's magic realism and very beautifully written. She has a few other books as well, but I haven't read those yet.

Blood Engines by T.A. Pratt is written by a white male who is married to a woman, but he is bisexual. One of the main characters in the story is gay. This one is urban fantasy.

I'll have to check my list for what else I have that fits the bill.

Rachel wrote: "So that brings up another interesting question: many would argue that white women still benefit from white privilege but it certainly seems they are severely underrepresented in our chosen genre."

I think that we would be conflating life with commercial success.

As a whole, women are underrepresented in publishing, period.

As Hank reminded us all earlier, we have a really good thread about women in SFF.

/topic/show/...

I don't wanna steal it's thunder. Suffice to say, Rachel, I think that's a brilliant question and you should head over to hash it out. Again, as this is a list for me and not the world at large, I have a decent population of women to men on my TBR, I am just...behind in equalizing them. I mostly blame the pre-internet years when I'd read deep rather than broad, because it was hard to find new authors, and very easy to find a 689th Black Stallion book.

Anyways, I'm already working on balancing genders, I just need some oomph in the other areas. You're all really good at oomph-giving!

ETA not that I'm not thrilled with the list Lexxi provided, or that I'd naysay other suggestions for lady authors! I am just more interested in people I am having a harder time finding.

I would like to mention Everfair, an alternate history novel by African American author Nisi Shawl. This was my top read of 2016.

some comments on the list at the beginning of the thread:
- Jemisin is on my TBR, I have a library hold on The Fifth Season but I might have to wait a while
- Ted Chiang - I read Stories of Your Life and Others earlier this year and really liked it, especially the title story and “Hell is the Absence of God��
- Salman Rushdie - I loved Haroun and the Sea of Stories& Midnight's Children; I’ve tried a couple of his other books and haven’t finished them, but I might read more someday
- Octavia Butler - I thought Kindred was excellent and I have the Patternmaster series on my TBR, but I didn’t like Dawn for some reason

I also have some non-Western classics I want to read; Rostam: Tales of Love & War from Persia's Book of Kings is on my list for next year, and also Snow in Midsummer (I hope to see the latter at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival next year.)

Allison wrote: "You all rock, keep 'em comin'!

DJ, for me, it's about making sure I hear different voices, and that I support groups that seem to be under-represented. I love my trans friends and I want the world..."

I feel that reading, much like almost anything else opinion based, is entirely up to the individual in regards to why they do one thing as opposed to another. And far be it for me to say boo about that. LOL.

I get different voices in my head all the time. But I try to ignore the ones that cry out for violence unless I am writing. LOL.

Lol, DJ! It's good to be able to hold conversations with yourself. Never lonely!

Phew! I have now gone through everything (I think) that people recommended and updated my now overgrown TBR. You are enablers!

Allison wrote: "Lol, DJ! It's good to be able to hold conversations with yourself. Never lonely!

Phew! I have now gone through everything (I think) that people recommended and updated my now overgrown TBR. You ar..."

It is a virus. The TBR spontaneously recreates until it is beyond the imagination of all who behold it. LOL

Well, there's me. I use my husband's surname in my writing, because I come alphabetically then right after Clarke, a good place to be on the SF shelf. I am Chinese-American, and have a handwritten pedigree in Chinese that I can't read that goes back 17 generations.

Brenda wrote: "Well, there's me. I use my husband's surname in my writing, because I come alphabetically then right after Clarke, a good place to be on the SF shelf. I am Chinese-American, and have a handwritten ..."

Oh my god. I am so embarrassed.

I have literally been online-communicating with you for at least 25 years and I didn't include you on my list.

Mea culpa. I shall now go self-flagellate now. Hashtag shame spiral.

This is a great thread! Lots of authors I'm going to need to check out...the never-ending TBR pile gets bigger and bigger...
I've noticed the majority of what I read tends to be written by women, but I've definitely been trying to read more diversely in general as well. Your list looks really awesome, Allison--lots of authors I've either read or want to read from. I see Roxane Gay on your list and since this is a SFF group I'd want to mention that I saw her speak a few months ago and she mentioned that she's thinking of getting into writing SFF! I love her writing so that'd be awesome. Several of her stories in Difficult Women had fantasy or magical realism elements.

A few SFF authors that I'd recommend but don't see already listed above (sorry if they're already up there!):

Karen Lord - she's from Barbados
Becky Chambers - she identifies as gay
Julia Ember - she identifies as bisexual
Samanta Schweblin - she's from Argentina

Oh, and Louise Erdrich's new book is SF. I haven't read it yet, though, so I can't officially recommend.

Travis wrote: "I am really, really excited to read Rivers Solomon's debut novel An Unkindness of Ghosts. The cover is gorgeous (one of my favorites this year), it's getting glowi..."

That book sounds amazing. I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Erdrich's new book, Future Home of the Living Godwas definitely sci-fi. Also, she wrote The Antelope Wife, which I believe won the World Fantasy Award.

To be honest with you I've never really worried about what the nationality of the author is or whether they are male or female. If the Blurb intrigues me I'll get the book and read it.

I recently read one book "Assasins Apprentice" that just seemed to go on forever due to the fact that it never really peaked. Not sure if I'll be reading any more of Robin Hobb's or not.

Then there is another Trilogy for which only two of the 3 books are out. And I've been waiting 5 years for the last book and she just came out with a new trilogy for which she started. I'm referring to Xina Marie Uhl and the Gauntlet Trilogy. I am reluctant to start any more of her books as I don't know if they will ever be finished.

Lexxi Kitty as far as whether or not the author is gay, straight trans whatever ever I don't look for that like I said if the book interests me I'll read it.

John, this thread isn't for debating whether or not we read them. This is for collecting names.

This whole "I must read X because it was written by a person who falls into socio/economic class Y" needs to come to an end in my opinion. I have always judged a book and an author by their content/work, I don't get why Skin Colour or who they choose to sleep etc with has to come in to the equation? If a book is good, it's good, it doesn't matter whether it was written by a Wealthy White Aristocrat or a Poor Black Woman living in a Slum. If you write good books then I want to read them and I think this is the only honest and meritocratic way of approaching reading.

Sarah Anne wrote: "John, this thread isn't for debating whether or not we read them. This is for collecting names."

Well then why did Lexxi Kitty think it imperitive that she listed them by who in the world they sleep with? Who Cares.

Oh I realized I listed the book but not the author - prey of Gods is by Nicky Drayden .

Are we talking only authors type or also content?
For example the above - I know she is a nonwhite but don’t know about genderness (there’s gotta be a better catch all term??) but the content certainly has non cis-straight etc

So that's like 40 new books on my TBR! Thank you all very much. You've made my life simultaneously easier (in that I don't have to hunt as hard now!) and also harder (OMG! So many books!)

I think I feel a challenge/read-a-thon coming on...more on that later!

Allison wrote: "So that's like 40 new books on my TBR! Thank you all very much. You've made my life simultaneously easier (in that I don't have to hunt as hard now!) and also harder (OMG! So many books!)

I think ..."


Well now that there could be interesting keep me posted on that there as My TBR list is pushing the 300 plus mark currently. And I've got to get it tamed down. LOL

Jack, that isn't the point of this thread. This thread is about finding those authors for me and my personal reading list.

However, since you asked, the point is that it's extremely unlikely that men are actually three times better at writing than women, or that white people are four times better at writing than people of color, and yet that's the skew of award winners and published pieces. So, my intention is to find the meritorious that are being hidden through various biases and politics. I dislike being used to support a system I disagree with through my lack of intention (i.e. if I only read award winners, I'm supporting a system that rewards some and ignores many others for no objective reason). I therefore want to make my decisions intentionally. It is not wrong to do it some other way, but there you have it, the reason why I started this thread. I want to act on the knowledge available and see what else there is to learn out there. That's all :)

John wrote: "Sarah Anne wrote: "John, this thread isn't for debating whether or not we read them. This is for collecting names."

Well then why did Lexxi Kitty think it imperitive that she listed them by who in..."

Did you happen to read the first post or did you just rush in and start with the posts after it?

From the first post: 'Who has some authors who are of color, LGBTQIA, or differently abled that you've enjoyed?'

I did, in fact, include some LGBTQIA male authors. But I did not say who they slept with, for all I know they could be all asexual, the kind that doesn't sleep with anyone as opposed to those who are sex positive. When I put down things like 'M/M Fiction', and 'Lesbian Fiction', that refers to the fiction itself, not the author.

All of the men I listed under LGBTQIA, except Pinto, I would not have otherwise mentioned but for the LGBTQIA part. Since they are white men.