Hi and welcome back to another Top Ten Tuesday post! This week is a genre freebie and I’ve been saying that I wanted to continue my lists of books to diversify your reading. So, why not combine these two into one topic? I therefore present to you: Books To Diversify Your Reading, The Young Adult Edition! I believe YA is the most diverse genre I’ve ever encountered and even though I’ve outgrown the main characters’ age range, I still applaud those books for digging deep and discuss the more difficult themes adult novels often don’t dare touching upon. Yes, adult fiction gets more diverse too, but nothing will top YA in its diversity. This genre therefore is a good starting point when you want to diversify your reading some more!
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
- How It Feels To Float by Helena Fox – When I read this book back in 2019 or so, I couldn’t really get into it. However, this might be due to the story getting lost in translation, although this Dutch translator is really good. Or maybe it was just me misunderstanding the aim of this book. However, this story talks about mental health and mental illness, so please consider carefully if it’s okay for you to pick up.
- A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard – I still have to read this book, but both main characters have a disability. One of them lives with selective mutism, the other has a hearing impairment. I meant to read this book already, but you know… outgrowing the genre and all that.
- Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia – I read this book in 2018, according to my Goodreads tracking stats. I remember this book not really being for me at the time, I struggled with it. Many people loved it, but maybe main character Eliza’s interests didn’t really align with mine. However, this book addresses living with crippling anxiety to the point that it’s impossible to leave the house and/or talk to other people.
- Scars Like Wings by Erin Stewart – I’m not sure if I ever shouted about this book on this blog, but I was captivated by this story from start to finish. After a disastrous house fire, Ava gets badly injured and after a long period of rehabilitation, it’s time to get back to school. A new school, where nobody knows her. Her burns leave her physically disabled, which proves to be challenging for her.
- Cinder & Ella by Kelly Oram – Another book that completely blew me away is this one. Also about a burns victim with physical disabilities, but I cared more for the themes lying underneath.
- Turtles All the Way Down by John Green – Admittedly this is not his best book, but main character Aza has a lot of mental health struggles, so it definitely belongs on this list. It hink it’s a bit overlooked though, because no one is talking about it anymore.
- Salaam, With Love by Sara Sharaf Beg – This book is actually set during Ramadan, so if you want to read a book during this month, it should be this one. It is on my TBR so I maybe should follow my own advice and pick it up. Probably after finishing my current read.
- I’ll Be the One by Lyla Lee – I freaking LOVED this book. It seems a bit shallow at first as it’s about K-Pop, but there are so many deeper layers woven into this book. The main character is Korean and plus sized, which makes everyone believe she doesn’t fit into the K-Pop formula where everyone should meet certain beauty standards. Is the dream of becoming an idol crushed or is there a way to change the system? I unexpectedly finished this book in one day because I was just so invested.
- I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston – Nope, not this author’s best work, but it contains a f/f romance.
- Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles – This book has been on my TBR for ages, but I haven’t picked it up yet. This book tells the story of a black teenager brutally killed by a police officer and how their family deals with it and is seeking answers.
Pfew, I made it! Choosing just 10 books was so incredibly hard as I wanted to pick as diverse as possible. I just didn’t want to stick to one topic, which made it even harder to choose. This is just the tip of the iceberg, there is so much diversity in YA. I picked only contemporary novels as I seem to enjoy these the most.
Have you read any of these books? Or are any of them on your radar?
Previous lists to diversify your reading:
More posts on YA:
