I recently posted a list of resources for worldwide issues, which you can find here, and on it, I included a list of books you can read to educate yourself on numerous causes, but I also wanted to create a list of books that aren’t solely educational, but are still written by diverse authors. I’ve organized this list by genres, so you can easily find books on your favorite subjects.
This list will be updated regularly as I find more books. If you have any suggestions or recommendations of books to add, please let me know in a comment, or you can send it to me on Instagram, Twitter, or at my email. My Instagram is @Imaginereaders, my Twitter is @Imaginereader01, and my email is imaginereaders@gmail.com.
Posted: August 31, 2020. Last Updated: September 6, 2020
All of the books will be hyperlinked to their Goodreads page so you can read a full description and find reviews.
Fantasy
A Blade So Black by L.L McKinney
A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow
Blood Heir by Amelie Wen Zhao
Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
Black Girl Unlimited by Echo Brown
Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
The Deep by River Solomon
Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron
A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy
Daughters of Nri by Reni K. Amayo
Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee
When The Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
The Simoqin Prophecies by Samit Basu
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
The Tiger At Midnight by Swati Teerdhala
Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibanez
Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim
We Hunt The Flame by Hafsah Faizal
The Candle and The Flame by Nafiza Azad
Nocturna by Maya Motayne
Descendant of The Crane by Joan He
Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho
Mirage by Somiaya Duad
Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore
Science Fiction
War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi
The Weight of Stars by K. Ancrum
The Marrow Thieves by Cheire Dimaline
Rosewater by Tade Thompson
Want by Cindy Pon
Rebel Seoul by Axie Oh
Ignite the Stars by Maura Milan
A Spark of White Fire by Sangu Mandanna
This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar
To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
Historical Fiction
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
Inventing Victoria by Tonya Bolden
Butterfly Yellow by Thanhha Lai
The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji
Earth and Ashes by Atiq Rahimi
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
The Last Time I Saw Mother by Arlene J. Chai
The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vasquez
The Cario Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz
Fools Crow by James Welch
Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
The Silence of Bones by June Hur
Middle Grade
King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender
Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
The Only Black Girls in Town by Brandy Colbert
Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Santiago’s Road Home by Alexandra Diaz
Stand Up, Yumi Chung! by Jessica Kim
Efren Divided by Ernesto Cisneros
The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman
When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller
Paola Santiago and the River of Tears by Tehlor Kay Mejia
Contemporary
You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
Mad, Bad, & Dangerous to Know by Samira Ahmed
The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan
A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi
Love From A to Z by S.K. Ali
Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Maika Moulite
Slay by Brittney Morris
Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett
The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus
History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera
Moth Smoke by Mohsin Hamid
Like A Love Story by Abdi Nazemian
I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver
Starlight by Richard Wagamese
The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar
I’ll Be The One by Lyla Lee
Parachutes by Kelly Yang
Classics
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai
Native Son by Richard Wright
The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu
Kokoro by Natsume Soseki
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
Dream of The Red Chamber by Xueqin Cao
A Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oe
Noli Me Tangere by Jose Rizal
Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
Border Town by Shen Congwen
Near To The Wild Heart by Clarice Lispector
Poetry and Verse Novels
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
Other Words For Home by Jasmine Warga
Night Sky With Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong
The Tradition by Jericho Brown
The Collected Poetry by Léopold Sédar Senghor
The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta