I found out about the 23 FOR 23 reading challenge in August. The idea is to seek out books by BIPOC authors featuring BIPOC characters, and for readers to thus find such books who might otherwise see mostly white authors and white characters in their recommendations. It is, in fact, quite easy to re-train your algorithm: start buying books of X type, and the AI will happily recommend more of those to you. And the best way to support diverse authorship is to buy books by diverse authors!
Hosting authors include: Andie J Christopher, Denise Williams, Farrah Rochon, Jayci Lee, Kennedy Ryan, Kimberly Lemming, Liana De La Rosa, Mia Hopkins, Mia Sosa, Mona Shroff, Priscilla Oliveras, Sara Desai, Sabrina Sol, Taj McCoy, Tif Marcelo, Tracey Livesay, Xio Axelrod, QB Tyler, Rebekah Weatherspoon
Visit http://23for23.net/ for more information.
Interested in joining the challenge? This late in the year it’s going to be easiest for people who already track their reading (like me, with my journal). But if you’ve been thinking of broadening your reading, here are the titles on my list (to date. I’m going to keep on with this through the end of the year and will update my list accordingly).
YE LIST:
1-11-23: Right Where I Left You by Julian Winters. YA M/M, teenage angster with hopeful ending.
1-19-23: Unprotected by Billy Porter. Memoir.
2-28-23: My Boy Will Die of Sorrow by Efren C. Olivares. Memoir, social history.
3-22-23: Never Far From Home by Bruce Jackson. Memoir.
3-23-23: We’re Going to Need More Wine by Gabrielle Union. Memoir.
3-25-23: Defining Moments in Black History: Reading Between the Lies by Dick Gregory. Polemic, social commentary.
4-11-23: The Girl With Stars in Her Eyes by Xio Axelrod. F/M contemporary romance set in the music business.
5-23-23: The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb. Mystery.
6-8-23: Kiss & Tell by Adib Khorram. YA M/M slice of life feat. stressed-out, overworked boy-bander.
6-18-23: Deja Vu by Lawrence Hill. M/M short story.
6-22-23: All the Right Notes by Dominic Lim. M/M contemporary show-business romance, a top 20 of 2023 book for me.
7-3-23: West Side Love Story by Priscilla Oliveras. F/M contemporary romance, feat. rival mariachi bands.
7-12-23: two shorts: Take Me Home and Ipso Facto ILU by Hudson Lin. M/M contemporary romance.
7-12-23: Three Months to Forever by Hudson Lin. M/M contemporary romance feat. overseas work contract.
8-4-23: Here For It by R. Eric Brown. Essays, humor.
8-19-23: Hard Sell by Hudson Lin, a re-read. M/M contemporary romance feat. business consultants on opposite sides of a potential deal.
8-24-23: Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon. Essay, social commentary.
8-31-23 The View Was Exhausting by Mikaella Clements & Onjuli Datta. F/M contemporary Hollywood romance.
9-2-23: Gouda Friends by Cathy Yardley. F/M contemporary romance, 2nd chance.
9-18-23: Inside Darkness by Hudson Lin. M/M contemporary romance, feat. a journalist and a depressed humanitarian aid worker. Content alerts on this one.
9-18-23: Merry Inkmas by Talia Hibbert. F/M contemporary romance.
9-21-23: Seeking Stars by Leonor Soliz. F/M contemporary Hollywood romance.
9-26-23: You Never Forget Your First by Millie Perez. F/M contemporary romance.
10-7-23: Role Playing by Cathy Yardley. F/M contemporary romance, feat. middle-aged main characters.
10-23-23: Work For It by Talia Hibbert, a re-read. M/M contemporary romance, deals with mental illness and past trauma.
10-24-23: The Marquis Who Mustn’t by Courtney Milan. F/M historical romance.
10-26-23: Ex Appeal by Cathy Yardley. F/M contemporary romance, 2nd chance.
10-27-23: Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory. F/M contemporary romance feat. a young California senator and the attorney he falls for on the down-low.
10-28-23: challenge adjacent - Hideki Smith, Demon Queller by A.J. Hartley with Hisako Osako & Kuma Hartley. YA fantasy based on Japanese folklore, set in modern-day North Carolina.
11-1-23: Kiss Me, Catalina by Priscilla Oliveras. F/M contemporary romance feat. two musicians, one an established mariachi star and the other (FMC) rising.
11-5-23: Love, Comment, Subscribe by Cathy Yardley. F/M contemporary romance feat. longtime frenemies, both professional YouTubers, who decide to collaborate.
11-6-23: Level Up by Cathy Yardley. F/M contemporary romance feat. co-workers in a Washington State computer game design company.
11-20-23: Somewhere In the Gray Area by Jeffrey K. Davenport. M/M romantic suspense-thriller. High conflict, content alerts.
11-28-23: Stars In Your Eyes by Kacen Callender. M/M Hollywood romance in which romance takes sixth-row seat to approximately all the potential triggers.