Diversity Bingo 2017 TBR options

Hello everyone! For those of you who don’t know, Diversity Bingo is a challenge that inspires readers to read more diverse books by having 36 different squares, each one corresponding to a diverse book. For example, one square is a romance with a trans main character. Another is a book by an author of color. By participating in this challenge, readers diversify their reading tastes, ensuring that they are reading more diverse books and not just books about and/or by white cishet neurotypical able bodied people. As soon as this challenge was announced, I knew I had to take part. Reading more diverse books has been a goal of mine for a while and through following people on Twitter who participate in discussions on the importance of diversity in books and participating in those discussions myself, I have become even more determined to reach this goal of mine.

The Bingo Card for Diversity Bingo looks like this:

(Remember: #ownvoices books are strongly encouraged for all categories.)

I have several options for most of the squares, which will give me more choices while doing this challenge. Before I get to my list of options for each category, I need to give credit to the people whose personal TBRs helped me to create mine:

Firstly, this list made by Twitter user @theshenners is amazing. It has loads of books on it, many options for each category. Amazing. I can tell they really put a lot of work into it and I am extremely grateful for their wonderful work.

Secondly, this list by Ann Elise Monte is also wonderful. Since it’s her TBR, there’s only one book for each category but it’s definitely still a helpful resource. I know it was for me.

Thirdly, this list by The Muslim Squad. This list helped me find books with Hijabi main characters.

Fourthly, this list by The Guardian. This is helpful for finding #ownvoices books about trans and nonbinary main characters. (Though all the books on this list may not be exactly #ownvoices. Make sure to do your research on that.)

Fifth, this list by Aimal on Twitter @aimalfarooq. Like Ann Elise Monte’s list, it is a TBR so only one book for each category but definitely very helpful.

And last but not least, this list by Twitter user @bookstorebae. Each category has two good books that could be read for that category, with Goodreads links for all books so that they can be conveniently added to your TBR right away. Also a very helpful list.

I would definitely recommend checking out all of the lists and TBRs linked above because they are all amazing. If you still need more ideas after that, try looking in the #DiversityBingo2017 tag on Twitter, which is where I found all of these wonderful lists/TBRs. Without further ado, let me get into my list of books for each category.

(* = I’ve read the book already, books with links have links to either written or video reviews of those books. Bolded books are the books I will most likely read for their respective category, either because I already own them or the story is especially appealing to me.)

Romance with a Trans MC:

If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo

Coffee Boy by Austin Chant

Dreadnought by April Daniels

When the Moon Was Ours by Anna Marie McLemore

Non binary MC:

A+E 4 ever by I. Merey

First Spring Grass Fire by Rae Spoon

Lizard Radio by Pat Schmatz

Roving Pack by Sassafras Lowrey

Born Both by Hida Viloria

SFF with Disabled MC:

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

The Iron Trial by Holly Black

On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis

The Unintentional Time Traveler by Everett Maroon

Jewish MC:

Hush by Eishes Chayil

Lauren Yanofsky Hates the Holocaust by Leanne Liebermann

The Second Mango by Shira Glassman

Indian MC:

The Library of Fates by Aditi Khorana

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

Soulmated by Shaila Patel

Mirror in the Sky by Aditi Khorana

Queen of Dreams by Chitra Banerjee Divakruni

Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier

Displaced MC:

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Shadows Cast by Stars by Catherine Knutsson

In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner

The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee by Dee Brown

MC with an underrepresented body type:

If The Dress Fits by Carla de Guzman

Dumplin by Julie Murphy

Fat Girl on a Plane by Kelly deVos

Neurodiverse MC:

History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera

Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde

Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner

Retelling with an LGBTQIA MC:

The Little Homo Sapiens Scientist by SL Huang

Braided by Elora Bishop

Sappho’s Fables #1 by Elora Bishop and Jennifer Diemer

Ash by Malinda Lo *

The Dark Wife by Sarah Diemer *

Bisexual MC:

Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde

27 Hours by Tristina Wright

Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley

Out On Good Behavior by Dahlia Adler

The Gallery of Unfinished Girls by Lauren Karcz

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova *

MC with an Invisible Disability:

Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa

History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera

Under Rose Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

Two Girls Staring at the Ceiling by Lucy Frank

MC with Anaphylactic Allergy:

The Tidal Zone by Sarah Moss

My Year of Epic Rock by Andrea Pyros

MC of color in SFF:

The Star Touched Queen by Roshani Choksi

Dove Arising by Karen Bao

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova *

Latinx MC:

The Education of Margot Sanchez by Lilliam Rivera

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina

Gabi, A Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero

Hollywood Witch Hunter by Valerie Tejeda

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova *

Free Choice:

Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown  (Read this review to see why I’m taking it off the list.)

Wintersong by S. Jae Jones

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han*

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh*

Behind the Scenes/Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler*

Non-Western (Real World) Setting:

Swimming in the Monsoon Sea by Shyam Selvadurai

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

The Foreigner by Francie Lin

Listen, Slowly by Thanha Lai

In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park

Own voices (Though #ownvoices books are strongly encouraged for all categories!):

History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera

The Flywheel by Erin Gough

The Emperor’s Riddle by Kat Zhang

Green Island by Shawna Yang Ryan

Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst

MC with chronic pain:

Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi

The Body Broken by Lynne Greenberg

West Asian setting: 

The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco

The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury

Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed

Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji

Arab MC:

It Ain’t So Awful Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye

Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah

When the Moon is Low by Nadia Hashimi

MC with wheelchair:

Push Girl by Chelsie Hill

Mia Lee is Wheeling Through Middle School by Melissa Shang

Book by Author of Color:

Sofia Khan is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao

The Weight of Feathers by Anna Marie McLemore

The Secret of a Heart Note by Stacey Lee

The Reader by Traci Chee

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Biracial MC:

The Sun is also a Star by Nicola Yoon

The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

Heroine Complex by Sarah Kuhn

Skim by Mariko Tamaki & Jillian Tamaki

Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Abby Spencer Goes to Bollywood by Varsha Bajaj

Pansexual MC:

Seven Ways We Lie by Riley Redgate

The Melody of You and Me by M. Hollis

Black MC:

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Tiny Pretty Things by Dhonielle Clayton & Sona Charaipotra

How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon

MC on the ace spectrum:

Every Heart A Doorway by Seanan McGuire

Fourth World by Lyssa Chiavari

We Awaken by Calista Lynne

LGBTQIA+ MC of color:

Huntress by Malinda Lo

Not Your Sidekick by CB Lee

Little and Lion by Brandy Colbert

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova *

Visually impaired MC:

Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom

Run by Kody Keplinger

Blind Spot by Laura Ellen

Book Set in Central America:

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

The World in Half by Cristina Henriquez

Silver People by Margarita Engle

Assault on Paradise by Tatiana Lobo

Contemporary world arranged marriage:

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed

Lovetorn by Kavita Daswani

(Un)arranged marriage by Bali Rai

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Indigenous MC:

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina

Rain is Not My Indian Name by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time edited by Hope Nicholson

If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth

Diverse Nonfiction:

Redefining Realness by Janet Mock

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai

Being Jazz by Jazz Jennings

Fresh Off the Boat by Eddie Huang

In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park

POC on the cover:

Always and Forever Lara Jean by Jenny Han

Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older

Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan

Roots and Wings by Many Ly

I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo

Deaf/hard of hearing MC:

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

You’re Welcome Universe by Whitney Gardner

El deafo by Cece Bell

Deaf Child Crossing by Marlee Matlin

Immigrant or Refugee MC:

American Street by Ibi Zoboi

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok

Lucy and Linh by Alice Pung

The Third Son by Julie Wu

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

Hijabi MC:

The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi

Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah

She Wore Red Trainers by Na’ima B. Robert

Sofia Khan is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik

Love in a Headscarf by Shelina Zahra Janmohamed

 

If any books are miscategorized or have offensive representation, please let me know.

Feel free to leave me suggestions for books for all categories in the comments of this blog post or on Twitter (@annieloveswords)!

I’d definitely recommend participating in this challenge.

Happy reading, everyone!