My aim isn't necessarily to read all of these books, although I'm hoping that by writing out such a long list I will be "in the mood" for at least one of these books per month. That way if I'm having an especially white/middle class/American/male month, at least I'm getting a little variety in my diet. The idea isn't that these are the only POC/female/non-fiction reads I'm interested in nor are they the only ones I'll read all year. I might end up reading very few of these particular books but still bring up my end of year stats with other books that I discover throughout the year. Basically, I'm hoping that by listing out some diverse reading options here I'll be able to switch something on in my brain that will subconsciously lead to me picking up more of these types of books.
As for the types of books on this list, I'm aiming for more non-fiction, more female writers and more non-American and POC US writers. Ideally those non-American writers won't simply be Australian/English/Canadian authors, but let's not shoot for Pluto when we haven't yet walked on the Moon. And as you'll see from the list, technically some of these books fulfil two or three of the criteria which is just an awesome bonus.
The Anatomy of Motive by John Douglas
The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore
Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay
House of Psychotic Women: An Autobiographical Topography of Female Neurosis in Horror and Exploitation Films by Kier-La Janisse
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
The Supergirls: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy and the history of comic book heroines by Mike Madrid
Them: Adventures with Extremists by Jon Ronson
As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Ewles
Superheroes!: Capes, Cowls, and the Creation of Comic Book Culture by Laurence Maslon, Michael Kantor
Severed: A History of Heads Lost and Heads Found by Frances Larson
Nobody Knows My Name by James Baldwin
Dear Life by Alice Munroe
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
Kissing the Witch by Emma Donoghue
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Mr Fox by Helen Oyeyemi
Bringing up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
Panopticon by Jenni Fagen
The Night Gwen Stacy Died by Sarah Bruni
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Odaatje
Under the Skin by Michel Faber
The Returned by Jason Mott
We by Yevgeny Zamytin
Popular Hits of the Showa Era by Ryu Murakami
Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
