Narrow Reading

An NPR article on diversity in publishing caught my eye first because of the title (The Worst Kind of Groundhog Day) and then because it mentions the New York Times summer reading list. What it’s really about, however, is that the list of hot reads for the summer includes none by non-white authors. The author of the article says that this lack of diversity was also true for the 2012, 2013, and 2014 lists.

But here’s what she said that really got my attention: “Narrow reading is a less passive activity than some will claim.” That made me wonder about the books we choose and are reading. So, I looked at our book selections from March 2014 through August 2015. Here’s what I found:

We read more female authors than male authors. I wonder why that is. When this book club started more than 25 years ago, we agreed that we would read only female authors (and the book had to be available in paperback). That rule was in force for about the first 3 years. So, I’m not sure what explains our current preference now.

We read more white authors than non-white authors. After reading the NPR article, I thought that might be true. I imagine that there are a variety of reasons, including critics that put together lists for us that exclude authors of color.

Now that I know this, it’s hard to un-know it. I’m going to dig a little deeper to see if I can include more diverse book recommendations in the future.

Articles Mentioned:
Gay, Roxanne (2015, May 28). The Worst Kind of Groundhog Day: Let's Talk (Again) About Diversity In Publishing
Byrd, Aaron (2015, May 21) Cool Books for Hot Summer Days