Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
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How diverse is your reading?
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I'm not super proud of some of my stats. Way too much white authors and pretty much exclusively British and American (despite my being Canadian! I read loads of Canadian and local authors last year!) But I am happy that the vast majority are female authors so that's good and I have a decent spread in genre although it could be a lot better.
Caveats: I counted 3 I am almost finished
- I have several authors by whom I read more than one book and in those cases I counted each book as if by a separate author so it would be easier to make sure I counted correctly (ie I would have 30 authors divided male/female)
- some categories I counted content and author (lgbtq and poc) although I do agree with the "not about us without us"
Here goes!
P.O.C (incl. indigenous) 6 (non white author-4)
White author- 26
Female Authors- 24
Male- 6
LGBTQ+ (author and content)- 2
Mental Health/Disability (content)- 10
Fiction- 19
Non-Fiction- 11
Plays/poems/short stories- 2
Memoir- 4
Historical (NF)- 2
Sci-fi/fantasy- 5
Mystery/Thriller-8
Romance- 2
Historical fiction- 1
Psychology memoir/narrative (NF)- 4
Author Origins-
British- 8
USA- 20
Canada- 1
Germany- 1
I'm pretty okay with my stats at the moment. The only thing that seems off balance so far is the lack of comics/graphics novels (which I love) and the overwhelming number of North American/American books.Male author - 33
Female author - 29
POC - 22
Disabilities - 7
LGBTQ+ - 11
Classics - 12
Poetry - 2
Plays - 3
Literary Fiction - 23
Memoir - 7
Current events/history - 8
Sci-fi- 11
Fantasy - 15
Romance - 6
Middle grade/YA - 7
Graphic Novels/comics - 2
Mystery/Thriller - 7
Short story - 6
Non-fiction - 17
Historical fiction - 12
North America - 39 (3 Canada)
Central & South America - 2
Europe - 15 (11 British)
Africa - 5
Middle East - 8
Asia - 3
Oceania - 1
Update 2018 - I have tried to be more aware of who and what I read for the 2018 challenge. I still find it difficult to find books that is not written by an English speaking author - and I don't even live in an English speaking country. Below I have added my data from 2018 and not much have changed. I am very close to 50/50 on the authors' gender, but nationality is pretty much unchanged - the majority is either from UK or US. Genre-wise I have read a ton of Sci-fi and fantasy and "plain" literay fiction. I hope to dive into even more sci-fi next year and find new authors from countries where English is not the native language.(2017)
My stats are not the best. The contents of the books I read are fairly versatile which is more important than the authors themselves - at least to me.
The authors' nationality was a bit tricky to decide on. Several had emigrated and have dual nationality or spent the majority of their life in their new countries.
Does that make them British or Australian, Vietnamese or American? I have no idea how they feel, so I added them to both countries.
2017: / 2018:
Male 28 / 21
Female 21 / 25
Collaboration - / 3
P.O.C. 6 / 4
Non-binary - / 1
------------------------------------------------
Genre: 2017/2018
YA 2 / -
Memoir/Biography 2 / -
Non-fiction 2 / 3
Mental Health/Disability 3 / 1
Historical Fiction 7 / 2
Historical Non-fiction 1 / -
Classics 2 / -
Literary Fiction 8 / 12
Sci-fi 3 / 10
Fantasy 6 / 10
Romance 3 / 1
Graphic Novels/comics 1 / 2
Crime/thriller 7 / 5
Short story 2 / -
Horror 2 / -
Steampunk N/A / 2
Children's N/A / 2
-------------------------------------------------
Author's nationality: 2017/2018
US 24 / 24
Canada 4 / -
UK 9 / 6
Sweden 3 / 7
Finland 2 / -
Danmark 1 / 4
Ireland 1 / -
Vietnam 1 / -
Malaysia 1 / -
Australia 1 / -
Japan 1 / 2
France N/A / 2
Singapore N/A / 1
Hungary N/A / 1
Iceland N/A / 1
China N/A / 1
India N/A / 1
Stupid newbie question. Are you looking at your list and counting them individually? Or are you sorting them somehow? How do you know where the author is from, for instance? I already know I have a long way to go in this area but I'd still be interested to see.
For some I went with content, like for the locations or LGBTQ+. In other cases,I looked at the authors. I didn't have a strict method and I put a lot of things in multiple areas -- book by a Vietnamese Canadian author that was set in both countries counted for both. A book about female American soldiers serving overseas just went in the US because I felt the content of the book didn't really cover where the soldiers were stationed - but another similar book might have been double counted, had I felt it fit.
And yeah, I had to look at each book individually, since I don't really track these things as I go. I do usually look up info about the author after I read their book, so often I was familiar with them and could just put a little tick as I was counting without having to look and a few I clicked to the Goodreads author page in order to find answers. I suppose I could shelve things on Goodreads more thoroughly than I do and it would help track this sort of thing but I'd have to go back and do all the books that came before and that's a monumental task.
Male - 19Female - 26
White - 40
POC - 5
American - 25
British - 15
Peruvian - 1
French - 2
Japanese - 1
LQBTQ+ - 7 (I included any book that had even so much as a reference to homosexuality and it's still only 7)
This is so abysmal. It was bad last year too. I keep telling myself I'm going to be more conscientious about my reading material, and then I go and read white American author after white American author.
So far this yearMale - 22
Female - 25
pretty evenly divided
Genres:
Mystery/Adventure - 11
Romance - 5
Sci-fi/Fantasy - 20
Biography/Memoir - 3
Classics - 2
Young Adult - 2
Non-fiction - 3
Historical Fiction - 2
1 Indian American
1 African American
1 Hmong American.
1 Russian
3 British
For those wanting to broaden horizons: I get asked these questions a lot as a bookseller so here goes with some things that might stretch your ideas that I've either read or heard many good things about:Roller Girl - Victoria Jamieson (graphic novel for kids, a quick read but well worth it even for adults - focus on main character and her female hero both of whom are POC would recommend for all young girls and those in need of inspiration!)
The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas (Black American author with theme of race and racial crime, YA)
Release - Patrick Ness (YA, LGBTQ+ a really good novel on coming out and the social pressures involved)
Everything Everything - Nicola Yoon (YA, Jamaican author, Romance soon to be a film)
The Sympathizer - Viet Thanh Nguyen (Vietnamese-American author, Historical/War fiction)
The Secret Diary of Hendrick Groen - a ficitonalised memoir by a dutchman
A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Backman (soon to be a film, written by a Swede)
The Vegetarian - Han Kang (female, South Korean writer won Man Booker prize 2016)
A Brief History of Seven Killings - Marlon James (Jamaican Author winner of Man Booker Prize 2015)
Jo Nesbo - fantastic Norwegian crime author
Ragnar Jonasson - awesome Icelandic crime author with a trilogy of dark crime books
Night - Elie Wiesel (Historical Memoir on Auschwitz Romanian Jewish American author)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou (Black American author series of autobiographies)
The Colour Purple - Alice Walker (Black American author of amazing modern classic)
I am Malala - Malala Yousafzai (female Pakistani author of acclaimed autobiography of her protest for female rights)
enjoy and add what you can if you think of more!
48 total books read to date:Male author - 11
Female author - 34
Both - 3
POC - 2
Mental health/disability - 1
LGBTQ+ - 4
Adult - 17
YA - 30
Middle Grade - 1
Science Fiction - 6
Fantasy - 10
Historical Fiction - 5
Horror - 1
Nonfiction - 6
Romance - 6
Mystery - 6
Contemporary - 7
Urban Fantasy - 1
Julie wrote: "Stupid newbie question. Are you looking at your list and counting them individually? Or are you sorting them somehow? How do you know where the author is from, for instance? I already know I have a..."If you are a spreadsheet type of person, there is a guy who generated a google doc that I use to get all my statistics. His youtube channel is "Let's Read" and there is a video called "Let's Read - 2017 Reading Stats Spreadsheet" and the link to it is in there. (I'm in no way affiliated with this person - its just what I've been using all year).
Male author - 8Female author - 7
POC - 2
Mystery - 1
Classics - 1
Fantasy - 3
Science Fiction - 1
Chick Lit - 2
YA - 1
Historical - 1
New Adult - 1
Non Fiction - 3
Horror - 1
US - 5
Germany - 1
France - 1
Italy - 1
England - 1
Amsterdam - 1
I am trying to diversify my reading. Two years ago I took a list challenge for black authors and my score was zero! I stand now at seven on that particular challenge (mostly classics) but I had read a lot more poc authors since. Trying also to read more lgbt lit, too.I am trying to read more women, but many if my favorite genres are dominated by man, so I said screw it, I will look at more female authors but will read what I like.
I always read many genres, and trying to read more nonfiction.
This year: 91 books
28 female (looks bad but I read a lot of graphic novels by men)
12 poc
32 graphic novels (relatively new genre for me, most were The Walking Dead)
19 nonfiction
23 classics
7 books by authors outside of UK and USA
I feel like my reading is fairly diverse, but could probably be more diverse in some areas. Doing this challenge, however, did not very much alter my normal reading habits. Here's my counts for this reading challenge (advanced books included): Male Authors: 29
Female Authors: 21
POC (including indigenous): 8
Classic: 8
Poetry: 1
Memoir/Biography: 7
Sci-Fi/Fantasy: 12
Romance: 1
YA: 9
Graphic Novel: 5
Nonfiction: 11
Author Countries of Birth:
US - 30
UK - 10
France - 1
Pakistan - 1
Poland - 1
Germany - 1
Australia - 1
Canada - 3
South Africa - 1
Norway - 1
Vietnam - 1
I read a really interesting memoir this year about a German-Nigerian woman who found out her grandfather was a Nazi commandant who ran Krakow-Plaszow. It was called My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to broaden horizons (or to anyone really).
I just finished both the regular and advanced challenges, so I think this is a good time to look at my mix of books. I've read 69 books so far this year. I'm fine with where I am. I participated in the challenge for the purpose of finding new authors, genres, etc., and I accomplished that. I feel like I have a pretty good mix.Female - 36
Male - 33
POC - 6
Country of author:
Brazil 1
New Zealand 1
Pakistan 2
Sweden 1
UK 7
USA 54
Germany 1
Canada 1
Dominican Republic 1
Ethnicity of author:
American 51
Brazilian 1
British 7
German 1
New Zealander 1
Pakistani 2
Sweden 1
Scottish 1
Canadian 1
Dominican 1
African-American 2
Topic/Genre:
Biography 1
Career 2
Christian Fiction 1
Disabilities 1
Letters 1
Literature/Fiction 25
Murder Mystery 9
Mystery 8
Mythology 2
Nonfiction 8
Political Thriller/Espionage 3
Steampunk/Mannerpunk 2
Time Travel 1
Western 1
Wilderness/Travel 1
Science Fiction/Fantasy 1
Childrens 1
Thriller 1
Location setting of book:
Brazil 1
Europe 1
France 2
Israel 2
Jordan 1
JordanaSyria/USA 2
Norway 1
Pakistan 2
Scandinavia 1
Sweden 1
UK 7
USA 42
Alternate World 3
Scotland 1
Unknown 1
Dominican Republic 1
Adult - 61
YA - 8
I just want to add that I really appreciate this thread - it prompted me to examine my white/POC author percentage this year, and it was abysmal (over 85% white!). I knew vaguely that I wasn't doing well this year, but I had no idea it was that bad.
Most of my "diverse" reading is in children's picture books, and some chapter books. Life is way too short to go out of my way reading adult books that do not interest me in the least. I pretty much stick to my favorite authors and genres. I also do not necessarily check the ethnicity of the author when I pick up a book that looks interesting to me. I absolutely refuse to read LGB etc. books.
I definitely try to read diversely, and a lot of the time I like to think I'm doing well, but in reality my reading is heavily biased towards white women authors... 😳
Beverly wrote: "Most of my "diverse" reading is in children's picture books, and some chapter books. Life is way too short to go out of my way reading adult books that do not interest me in the least. I pretty mu..."
This is probably not the thread for you then. 🤷♀️
Oh gosh I'm scared to calculate these numbers because even though it's something I aim for I know I get sidetracked a lot. I've read 39 books so far this year. Counting for multiple categories if I can:Male: 23 (unique - 19)
Female: 15 (unique - 13)
Queer: 1
Country:
US - 25
UK - 9
Canada - 4
China - 2
Singapore - 1
Ethnicity (author):
Caucasian - 35
African American - 1
Chinese - 2
Asian-American - 1
Featuring LGBTQ+ Characters: 10
Genre:
Literary Fiction: 2
Historical Fiction: 6
Romance: 2
YA: 2
Fantasy: 9
Sci-fi: 18
Non-fiction: 1
Mystery/Thriller: 2
Horror: 7
Translated works: 2
I'm hoping to have a more diversified list when I'm done. I feel like I'm missing a few parts. For example: author's countries of origin aren't all that diverse and neither are the authors themselves, but their characters are. (I've read some featuring Jewish and Buddhist characters, characters from Brazil, the middle east, etc., books set in Mexico, Greece, etc.) However, I've read so much science fiction/fantasy it gets difficult to recall after awhile.
I would love to read more diversely as far as cultures and disabilities and mental health go. I'm less interested in tracking the other stuff--for instance, I tend to read a lot of female authors, just because they dominate the genres I like, but it doesn't make much difference to me either way. Total books read so far: 102
Deafness-2
Physical Disability-1 (Edit 5/21/18: This is actually 2, because I think the Rumpelstiltskin retelling I read also counts here.)
Mental Health/Neurodiversity-2 (+2 from a series with a major character who seems likely to fit in this category, but is never specifically labeled that way)
Author ethnicity/nationality:
(mostly for the sake of time not trying to track Canadian/American/British authors)
Chinese-2
Japanese-1 (1 author, 12 graphic novels)
Armenian American-1
Italian American-2
Swedish-1
Australian-1
(I also read one by someone who lives in Argentina, and I think is married to an Argentinian, but was originally American... That is as far as I can tell.)
Book setting/subject (again, just skipping over Canadian/American/British for simplicity):
China-1
Japan-13 (+ a sci-fi trilogy trilogy with a main character of obvious Japanese ancestry)
Native Americans-1
Sweden-1
Italy-1
Ancient Babylon-1
France-1
So, yeah, I could definitely improve there, especially on the disability front. (And I actually thought I was doing better on that this year! Yikes!)
On the settings, it factors in that I read a lot of sci-fi and fantasy, but still some obvious gaps...
I started keeping track of race/ethnicity and gender of authors last year, as well as genres. I read a pretty wide range of genres without any effort, but it is interesting to me that I have to remind myself to seek out books by authors that aren't white and/or Anglo. I hope that after a few years of making more conscious choices, it will become more automatic!
I love working out these stats and I'm not doing too bad but could do better. I've always read quite widely in terms of genre so I don't really need to focus on diversifying that too much. Unfortunately I love my classics and there aren't that many POC authors of classics so that does make me a bit lacking there but I'm definitely trying to improve this. In terms of setting I have cheated a little by including anywhere visited in the book even if it's not the main setting. I feel this is a place where I've done well this year as I love to explore other places through reading (although I really need to read something from Oceania to complete my continent bingo!)Male author - 7
Female author - 16
POC - 5
Mental health/disability - 5
LGBTQ+ - 6
Dystopia - 1
Crime - 4
Historical Fiction - 2
Fantasy - 3
Literary Fiction - 3
Contemporary - 2
Classics - 3
Short stories - 1
Romance - 1
Chick Lit - 1
Picture Book - 1
Sci-Fi - 1
Book setting;
USA - 9
Mexico - 1
Colombia - 1
Hong Kong - 1
UK - 6
Bulgaria - 1
Croatia - 1
France - 2
Greece - 1
Hungary - 1
Italy - 5
Romania - 2
Slovenia -1
The Netherlands - 2
Turkey -2
Serbia -1
Kenya - 1
Finland - 2
Ireland -1
Egypt - 1
Spain - 1
Nigeria - 1
Afghanistan - 1
India - 1
Pakistan - 1
Portugal -1
Europe - 16
North America - 9
Asia - 3
Africa - 3
South America - 1
Because of this thread I started a bunch more shelves to track some of these things. So far my mental health shelf is the only one that's even decently stocked, but if anyone is interested you can find my other shelves from there: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
This in itself would make a great reading challenge for 2019. I hope some of these categories make it into the challenge!
I just read whatever. I couldn't tell you how many books I read that are by women, men, poc, etc...I'm there for the story. *shrugs*
My breakdown for this year to date isn't too bad, although it is obviously very heavily tilted toward white authors from the USA.Male author - 26
Female author - 29
White - 45
Black - 7
Asian - 1
Hispanic - 2
Mental health/disability - 6
LGBTQ+ - 7
Translated - 5
Fiction - 37
Non-Fiction – 18
Adult – 40
Middle grade/YA - 13
Children - 2
Genre:
Classics – 7
Contemporary Fiction – 12
Historical Fiction – 2
Memoir/Biography – 9
Mystery/Thriller – 7
Sci-fi - 3
Fantasy – 5
Dystopia - 2
Current/Historical Events - 4
Poetry - 1
Romance - 2
Graphic Novels/comics - 0
Horror – 0
Short Story/Essays - 4
Author’s Country:
North America – 37 (35 USA, 1 Canada, 1 Mexico)
Central/South America - 0
Europe – 14 (7 Britain, 3 Sweden, 1 Portugal, 1 Czech Republic, 1 Germany, 1 France)
Africa – 4 (1 Zimbabwe, 3 Nigeria)
Middle East - 0
Asia - 0
Oceania – 0
Book Location:
North America – 35 (34 USA, 1 Mexico)
Central/South America - 0
Europe – 14 (9 Britain, 1 Czech Republic, 3 Sweden, 1 Germany)
Africa – 2 (1 Nigeria, 1 Sahara Desert)
Middle East - 0
Asia - 0
Oceania – 1
Created world – 3
I read a lot of female authors, but I should concentrate on reading more authors of colour. Though I've read two books about Indigenous people, I haven't read any authored by them and that's not great (my cousin is very passionate about the idea of "nothing about us without us"). I have only read a few books withLGBTQ+ characters, which isn't great.
In terms of genre, I'd say I'm doing well. 36 non-fiction and 45 fiction, 4 books of poetry and 13 comics/graphic novels. I'm surprised at the low literary fiction and mystery numbers. I'm disappointed in the low number of classics.
In terms of reading more globally - my reading has been very US-centric and then very concentrated in English-speaking countries. Fewer translated works than I'd like to see.
Male author - 33
Female author - 60
POC - 19
Indigenous topics - 2
Mental health/disability - 5
LGBTQ+ - 4
Classics - 3
Poetry - 4
Literary Fivtion - 7
Memoir - 17
Current events/history - 4
Sci-fi- 9
Fantasy - 10
Romance - 1
Middle grade/YA - 7
Graphic Novels/comics - 13
Mystery/thriller - 3
Short story - 5
Non-fiction - 15
Canada - 6
US - 48
UK - 15
Australia - 1
Israel - 1
Syria/Egypt - 1
Congo - 1
South America - 1
Europe - 5
Asia - 6