So today I thought I’d do a post talking about what type of things I like to see more of in books,these are all related to diverse books because while there are some great books out there, there are some things I’d love to see more of.
- More Jewish Characters
I’m Jewish and I really really want to see more books about Jewish characters that aren’t set during the Holocaust. I’d love to see books about non-practising Jews or practising Jews. It would honestly make me so happy to read somebody like me.
2.Diverse Historical Fiction
I love Historical Fiction with a burning passion but it’s pretty white and straight. I’d really love more books like Book of Negroes or The Paying Guests. I am so excited for the Gentleman’s Guide To Vice and Virtue and I really hope that more books like it will come out.
3. Diverse ChickLit
I absolutely love Chicklit, and basically Sophie Kinsella is a genius who has me in tears from laughing. I’d love a Sophie Kinsella style book but with lesbians or PoC characters. It would honestly make a chicklit a thousand times better.
4.Cute Diverse Middle Grade
Honestly I would probably die of cuteness if I ever read a LGBT+ Middle Grade novel and while I don’t often read middle grade, I would definitely reach for it more if it had more Diverse Characters.
5.More Anxious Characters
Honestly I’d love to see more character of all different types of mental illnesses but this one is more special to me as I have anxiety.I’ve read some books with anxious characters but none that have really resonated me. I’d just love more books portraying different anxious characters.
6.More Ace/Aro Spectrum Characters
This is probably the area of the LGBT community that has been written about the least. I know there are more books that are being published about this, but I honestly kind of want a million books featuring Ace characters. I mean there are as many asexuals as there are redheads so if virtually every book can have a redhead I think we can have a few aces.
What do you want to see more of? Do you know of any books like these?
The Book Thief Without Words 
Amen to number one and two 🙂 there are wonderful diverse historical fiction books when it comes to Judaism ( check out Maggie Anton, T.K Thorne, Rebecca Kanner) and none of one’s I mentioned are related to Holocaust. Also check out Heavy Sand-Anatoli by Anatoli Rybakov, ( does contain wwii but it’s from Russian Jewish point of view)
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I too wanted to see more historical fiction with Jewish characters that didn’t take place during the Holocaust or Spanish Inquisition. I felt so strongly about this that I wrote 6 novels of my own.
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That’s great : )
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For YA, do check out the most dangerous thing by Leanne Lieberman. If you are looking for more Jews recommendations, hit me up and I can give you more 🙂
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Thank you this is really great, I really appreciate it 😀
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I gotta say, I agree with you on these. I especially like number one: I really haven’t read many books outside of WW2 fiction where Jewish characters are prevalent, and I’d like to see that more. Other areas of diversity I’d like to see would be more autistic spectrum characters who aren’t prodigies, and more biracials. (I kinda fit into both of these, that’s why I like them). And more diverse historical fiction! That’d be really interesting!
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I’d definitely love to see more autistic spectrum characters. I feel as though the only one I’ve seen have been boys, but it’s be great to see some more variety in that area. And yeah more books about bi-racials would be great!
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T.K thorne’s noah’s wife features a woman on the spe trump who happens to be a main character 🙂
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Ah, I shall have to check that out. Thanks!
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Yeah, come to think of it, most autistic spectrum characters are male…where are the girls? There are several types of autism, so I feel writers should use that. And would it be so difficult to write more biracial characters?
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also I feel as though there needs to be more diverse characters who have autism or things like that. Where are the Poc autistic people?
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Oh, and I so agree with more anxious characters. I’m doing a research paper on anxiety spectrum disorders, and I think it’d be good for more characters to appear with them.
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I totally agree with you! Number #4 would be so great, so younger kids can see diversity as something normal in their books and feel identified 🙂
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Mike Jung writes MG books with diverse characters.
For chick lit – Sofia Khan is not Obliged is wonderful. There are a lot of Indian MCs in chick lit too. If you look at Goodreads’ Readers Also Enjoyed section for some of these books you can get lots of suggestions, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/128000.The_Village_Bride_of_Beverly_Hills
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Thank you!!
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I totally agree with your list. The ones that resonate the most with me are 2, 4 and 6. I can understand you wanting books that you can identify with, I wan’t the same.
Have you read Saree? It’s kind of historical fiction set during the time of the Sri Lankan Civil War – fairly recent history.
I’m sure you’ve read the Percy Jackson books, I remember them being pretty diverse. I actually want to read them again to freshen up my memory.
I recommend Finding Your Feet for ace spectrum – especially if you love stories about dancing.
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No i haven’t read Saree, though I really want to,it sounds great. yeah the percy jackson series have some A+ diversity,more in The Heroes Of Olympus series. I’ve heard of Finding Feet and the other books in that series and i’m dying to read it,it sounds soo good.
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I would agree that we need more diversity in novels for young adults. Look around for books set in South or Central American, in the South Pacific, in the Middle East, in Philippines, and you will find very few books. Since I live in Washington State I want to explore characters who represent the diversity of our state: Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, Latino-Americans, Muslims, Jewish students, African Americans, LGBT, etc.
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Twitter and Goodreads have really helped me find more of the kinds of books I like to read, which are books that cross cultures and originate from within other cultures. I joined a ground called ‘Around the World’ on Goodreads which has some excellent lists, I also now read a lot more translated fiction, because that is really the only way to read with the kind of diversity I seek – books written and published outside the UK/US, which we often here little about.
I follow quite a few people who read books by LGBT authors and they are often a good source and another friend only reads books with LGBT characters and I’ve learned so much from listening to her tell me how she came across her community who share books to read.
I think if you have a particular interest to read more of something, it’s not a matter of waiting for it to come into the mainstream, but seeking it out, by finding other readers who are already reading those specialities, once you start digging, you’ll be amazed at what gems you can uncover.
Very though provoking post, thanks for sharing it.
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yeah i think you’re definitely right, and that I know these these books are there and it’s just a matter for looking for them.
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