50 Books By POC Suggested Reading: Updated 2014 & An Evolving Work in Progress
50 Books by POC Challenge
1-10
Nikki Giovanni, Racism 101.
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart.
Shobhaa Dé, Bollywood Nights.
Colson Whitehead, The Intuitionist. (recommended by DarkFantasy.org POC in Fantasy Roundtable)
Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu, Zarah the Windseeker. (recommended by DarkFantasy.org POC in Fantasy Roundtable)
Nikki Giovanni, Sacred Cows...and Other Edibles.
Virginia Hamilton, Justice and Her Brothers. (recommended by DarkFantasy.org POC in Fantasy Roundtable)
Octavia Butler, Wild Seed.
Virginia Hamilton, Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush. (recommended by DarkFantasy.org POC in Fantasy Roundtable)
bell hooks, Feminism is for Everybody.
11-20
Zadie Smith, On Beauty. (recommended by thegreenyear)
Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower. (recommended by rocza)
Lorene Cary, Black Ice.
Virginia Hamilton, The House of Dies Drear.
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man. (recommended by leastlikely)
Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider. (recommended by sparkymonster)
Cherrie Moraga, Gloria Anzaldua, This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color. (recommended by sparkymonster)
Jan Wong, Beijing Confidential. (recommended by heliophobe)
Tom King, The Truth About Stories. (recommended by heliophobe)
Paulo Friere, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed. (recommended by Bill P.)
21-30
Chenjerai Hove, Shebeen Tales. (recommended by liquidwoman)
Bill Adler, Ines Hernandez, & Patricia Riley, Growing Up Native American. (recommended by liquidwoman)
Richard Wright, Native Son. (recommended by thegreenyear)
Richard Wright, Eight Men. (obliquely recommended by thegreenyear, who said I should read his short stories.)
Tayeb Salih, A Season of Migration to the North. (recommended by rocza)
Arjun Appadurai, Modernity at Large. (recommended by rocza)
Michael Dorris, A Yellow Raft in Blue Water. (recommended by liquidwoman)
Ngugi wa Thiong'o, The River Between. (recommended by leastlikely)
ZZ Packer, Drinking Coffee Elsewhere. (recommended by leastlikely)
Buchi Emecheta, The Joys of Motherhood. (recommended by joyshine & leastlikely)
31-40
Junot Diaz, The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. (recommended by hawkorhandsaw)
Richard Wright, Black Boy. (recommended by hawkorhandsaw)
Jorges Luis Borges, Borges: Collected Fiction. (recommended by hawkorhandsaw)
Haruki Murakami, Dance Dance Dance. (recommended by hawkorhandsaw)
Haruki Murakami, The Windup Bird Chronicles. (recommended by hawkorhandsaw)
Mohamed Choukri, For Bread Alone. (recommended by leastlikely)
Mahasweta Devi, Imaginary Maps. (recommended by leastlikely)
Rawi Hage, De Niro's Game. (recommended by leastlikely)
Fadia Faqir, The Cry of the Dove. (recommended by leastlikely)
Zola Maseko, The Life & Times of Sara Baartman: the Hottentot Venus. (recommended by leastlikely)
41-50
Yamina Benguigui, The Perfumed Garden. (recommended by leastlikely)
Moufida Tlatli, Silences of the Palace. (recommended by leastlikely)
An Na, A Step from Heaven.
Horace L. Griffin, Their Own Receive Them Not: African American Lesbians and Gays in Black Churches. (linked by wondersheep)
Cristy C. Road, Bad Habits: A Love Story. (recommended by heliophobe)
Jan Wong, Red China Blues: My Long March from Mao to Now. (recommended by heliophobe)
Feel free to suggest things to be added to this list! And check out 50books_poc for more great recommendations.
ETA: This post originally appeared December 31, 2009. My goal at the time of both reading and reviewing all these books was in retrospect impossible during law school. Bumping this post this date as a recommended reading reminder: all books with links I've read, unlinked still unread. Addenda & alternate recommendations will continue to appear below & are encouraged in comments.