When I moved to Vancouver in 2018, one of my ploys to make friends was to start a book club. Of the original group that got together, three of us have continued to meet for the last four years, every month without fail. Sometimes means meeting in a café for hot chocolate, and for a long time, that meant meeting on Zoom. Every time, it meant reading books that prioritized diversity in some way. Our goal has been to read books that are NOT by a cis, straight, white guy – the further we can get from this, the better! We also prioritized books written with a link to Vancouver or Canada.

I love this list of books that we’ve read so far – we’ve covered fun reads that were already in my queue as well as heavy books I never would have picked up on my own (but which I’m grateful to have read). If you’re looking for some interesting books to read in 2023, I highly recommend finding something from these lists!

Books Read from October 2018 – Present

Non-Fiction

The Ungrateful Refugee by Dina Nayeri (memoir, Iran)

Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir by Akwaeke Emezi (memoir, Nigeria, trans, RCR review)

They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School by Bev Sellars (memoir, Indigenous, Canada)

The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois (essays, Black, United States)

The Right to be Cold: One Woman’s Story of Protecting Her Culture, the Arctic and the Whole Planet by Sheila Watt-Cloutier (memoir, Indigenous, Canada)

Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez (sociology, Brazil)

The Witches are Coming by Lindy West (essays, United States)

Red Lip Theology by Candice Marie Benbow (memoir, Black, United States)

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei (graphic novel memoir, Japanese American, gay)

Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography by Andrea Warner (biography, Indigenous, Canada)

Sci-Fi and Fantasy

Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson (magical realism, Canada)

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher (YA fantasy)

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers (sci-fi, non-binary, RCR review)

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers (sci-fi, non-binary, RCR review)

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey (Western, sapphic)

General Fiction (Serious)

A Map for the Missing by Belinda Huijuan Tang (historical fiction, China)

Les Belles-Soeurs by Michel Tremblay (play, gay author)

The Clothesline Swing by Danny Ramadan (contemporary fiction, Syria, Canada, gay, RCR review)

The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr. (historical fiction, United States, gay, RCR review)

Women Talking by Miriam Toews (contemporary fiction)

The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy (historical fiction, Canada, gay)

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata (contemporary fiction, Japan)

The Boat People by Sharon Bala (historical fiction, Sri Lanka, Canada)

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (historical fiction, United States)

One Half from the East by Nadia Hashimi (contemporary fiction, Afghanistan)

General Fiction (Fun)

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert (romance, bisexual, RCR review)

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe (YA)

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto (humorous mystery)

Anna K: A Love Story by Jenny Lee (YA retelling)

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (romance)

The Subtweet by Vivek Shraya (contemporary fiction, trans, RCR review)

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams (contemporary fiction)

I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver (YA, trans, RCR review)

Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin (contemporary fiction, retelling)

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (thriller)

---

Have you read any of these books? What did you think?