Has anyone taken the Challenge?

[netmouse]

In February 2015, K. Tempest Bradford issued A Challenge: Stop Reading White Straight Cis Male Authors for One Year.

Did any of you try that? Or something close?

If you're still looking for things to read, there's a list at the bottom of that article, or you can subscribe to Tempest's web series on her Challenge page.

I sometimes post reviews of what I'm reading on Goodreads. I will try to make more mentions of things here.

What are you reading?

What did you read in the past year that maybe changed your perspective on things?

Comments

[yarram.livejournal.com]

Most of my reading just so happens to qualify for the challenge, because so few of my preferred authors are Straight Cis White Males. I'm currently reading the English translation of 刘慈欣 Liú Cíxīn's Three-Body trilogy and enjoying it, though it's got problems when viewed through a feminist lens. Previously I read the latest installment of Seanan McGuire's InCryptid series, which was a fun romp. And before that was Okorafor's Binti and Akata Witch, which were enjoyable reading, though there are some bumps in the plotting and writing.

None of these works particularly changed my perspective, though Okorafor's writing did introduce me to concepts I'm unfamiliar with (because I'm not Nigerian), incidentally broadening my knowledge of that corner of the world via Google.

[netmouse.livejournal.com]

If you're interested in Nigeria, you might enjoy Okorafor's book Lagoon, and I also highly recommend Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

I've not 100% taken the challenge, but I guess something close, I'm trying to make sure that when I try new authors, those new authors are not White, Straight, Cis Male. I do have a conflict in this, though, as I'm a member of a book club that is focused on reading "great" works -- and far too many of the (western) classics are by WSCMs.

So far this year, this has resulted in me reading books by:

Katharine Addison
Elizabeth Bear
Jacqueline Carey
Kate Griffin
Laurie J. Marks
Kristine Smith
Megan Whelan Turner
K. B. Spengler
Sofia Samatar
Genevieve Valentine

The club hasn't done too badly this year:
Gabriel Garcia Marquez (whiteness unclear)
Ralph Ellison
Virginia Woolf
Lewis Carroll (likely WSCM)
Sun Tzu
Kazuo Ishiguro

[netmouse.livejournal.com]

Have you by chance read Redwood and Wildfire, by Andrea Hairston? I'd be interested to know what you make of it.

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

I have not. Assuming it is available, I can add it to my to-buy-and-read list.

[netmouse.livejournal.com]

Yup. You can get it at Amazon.com, or directly from the publisher at Aqueduct Press (http://www.aqueductpress.com/books/978-1-933500-52-2.php)

[dionysus1999.livejournal.com]

Nope, though I'm always looking for more diversity in my reading lists. Over half of the books I read were by women last year, and one of the reasons it's nearly half is the Russian authors, whom I assume were cis male.

Four minority writers, I'm going to try to increase that, though I consider the Russians as 'other' in important ways. How do I count 12th Century Sufi poetry?

Who were your four minority writers?

[netmouse.livejournal.com]

What sort of things do you like to read? Maybe I can suggest someone.

Re: Who were your four minority writers?

[dionysus1999.livejournal.com]

I'm not too fussy, I like the high fantasy the least, but I enjoy most speculative fiction.

Re: Who were your four minority writers?

[netmouse.livejournal.com]

I expect you might enjoy several things by Nnedi Okorafor, especially Binti, Which just won a Nebula Award, and Lagoon, my review of which is here (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1586124609).

Since you just read something by Karen Lord, you might find Lagoon a good next read.

Re: Who were your four minority writers?

[dionysus1999.livejournal.com]

Missed the title.

James Baldwin, Karen Lord, Hanif Kureishi, and Ta-Nehisi Coates. W.E.B. Dubois is on my to be read list. Sarah recently read a biography by Lisa See, about her Chinese ancestry, that one looks interesting as well, On Golden Mountain.

Re: Who were your four minority writers?

[netmouse.livejournal.com]

I've been feeling the need to read more W.E.B. Dubois lately. What did you read by James Baldwin? I have The Fire Next Time on my to read shelf.

Re: Who were your four minority writers?

[dionysus1999.livejournal.com]

I read No Name in the Street last year, essays regarding his experiences with the civil rights movement.

I read Giovanni's Room this year. A good character piece, told from the perspective of a bisexual man.