10 Best Diverse Books Focusing on Cultural Diversity!
Roll up, folks, because we're about to take you on a wild ride around the globe, and the only ticket you need is a comfy spot to chill and a good book in your hands. Here, we've gathered our top 10 favorite novels and comics that celebrate cultural diversity. These books are your passport to exploring distant lands, immersing in unique customs, and experiencing the beauty of multiple societies right from your couch or cozy reading nook.
Now, let us be clear, these aren't just picture postcards from far-off places. These are deep, meaningful explorations of cultures, presented through the evocative power of words and images. They reveal universal truths through diverse lenses. Casting the spotlight on varied cultural experiences, these books open our eyes to different ways of life, a rainbow of traditions, beliefs, and mindsets.
Whether you're a seasoned world traveler or a homebody who loves learning about other cultures, this list has got you covered. Each book is a journey in itself, letting you mingle with people halfway across the globe, making you laugh, cry, and feel with them. So, let's dive in, shall we? Their stories are waiting to be told. Your journey starts here. So, expect the unexpected and buckle up!
『Interpreter of Maladies』
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER - WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE - PEN/HEMINGWAY AWARD WINNER. With a new foreword by Domenico Starnone, this stunning debut collection flawlessly charts the emotional journeys of characters seeking love beyond the barriers of nations and generations. With accomplished precision and gentle eloquence, Jhumpa Lahiri traces the crosscurrents set in motion when immigrants, expatriates, and their children arrive, quite literally, at a cultural divide. A blackout forces a young Indian American couple to make confessions that unravel their tattered domestic peace. An Indian American girl recognizes her cultural identity during a Halloween celebration while the Pakastani civil war rages on television in the background. A latchkey kid with a single working mother finds affinity with a woman from Calcutta. In the title story, an interpreter guides an American family through the India of their ancestors and hears an astonishing confession. Imbued with the sensual details of Indian culture, these stories speak with passion and wisdom to everyone who has ever felt like a foreigner. Like the interpreter of the title story, Lahiri translates between the strict traditions of her ancestors and a baffling new world.
Author | Jhumpa Lahiri/Perfection Learning Corporation |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Turtleback |
Release Date | Jan 01, 1999 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Kite Runner』
Soon to be a major Broadway stage production. Coming July 2022! The #1 New York Times bestselling novel beloved by millions of readers the world over. “A vivid and engaging story that reminds us how long his people [of Afghanistan] have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence—forces that continue to threaten them even today." –New York Times Book Review The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, caught in the tragic sweep of history, The Kite Runner transports readers to Afghanistan at a tense and crucial moment of change and destruction. A powerful story of friendship, it is also about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies. Since its publication in 2003 Kite Runner has become a beloved, one-of-a-kind classic of contemporary literature, touching millions of readers, and launching the career of one of America's most treasured writers.
Author | Khaled Hosseini |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Penguin |
Release Date | Mar 05, 2013 |
Source | Google Books |
『Queenie』
ONE OF TIME’S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR ONE OF NPR’S BEST BOOKS OF 2019 NAMED ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2019 BY WOMAN’S DAY, NEWSDAY, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, BUSTLE, AND BOOK RIOT! “[B]rilliant, timely, funny, heartbreaking.” —Jojo Moyes, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Me Before You Bridget Jones’s Diary meets Americanah in this disarmingly honest, boldly political, and truly inclusive novel that will speak to anyone who has gone looking for love and found something very different in its place. Queenie Jenkins is a twenty-five-year-old Jamaican British woman living in London, straddling two cultures and slotting neatly into neither. She works at a national newspaper, where she’s constantly forced to compare herself to her white middle class peers. After a messy break up from her long-term white boyfriend, Queenie seeks comfort in all the wrong places…including several hazardous men who do a good job of occupying brain space and a bad job of affirming self-worth. As Queenie careens from one questionable decision to another, she finds herself wondering, “What are you doing? Why are you doing it? Who do you want to be?”—all of the questions today’s woman must face in a world trying to answer them for her. With “fresh and honest” (Jojo Moyes) prose, Queenie is a remarkably relatable exploration of what it means to be a modern woman searching for meaning in today’s world.
Author | Candice Carty-Williams |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Gallery/Scout Press |
Release Date | Nov 05, 2019 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Poisonwood Bible』
Author | Barbara Kingsolver |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | |
Release Date | Jan 01, 2008 |
Source | Google Books |
『House of Sand and Fog: A Novel』
The National Book Award finalist, Oprah’s Book Club pick, #1 New York Times bestseller, and basis for the Oscar-nominated motion picture. A recent immigrant from the Middle East—a former colonel in the Iranian Air Force—yearns to restore his family’s dignity in California. A recovering alcoholic and addict down on her luck struggles to hold onto the one thing she has left?her home. And her lover, a married cop, is driven to extremes to win her love. Andre Dubus III’s unforgettable characters—people with ordinary flaws, looking for a small piece of ground to stand on—careen toward inevitable conflict. Their tragedy paints a shockingly true picture of the country we live in today.
Author | Andre Dubus III |
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Price | $9.99 |
Publisher | W. W. Norton & Company |
Release Date | Mar 31, 2011 |
Source | Google Books |
『Memoirs of a Geisha』
A literary sensation and runaway bestseller, this brilliant debut novel tells with seamless authenticity and exquisite lyricism the true confessions of one of Japan's most celebrated geisha. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read Speaking to us with the wisdom of age and in a voice at once haunting and startlingly immediate, Nitta Sayuri tells the story of her life as a geisha. It begins in a poor fishing village in 1929, when, as a nine-year-old girl with unusual blue-gray eyes, she is taken from her home and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. We witness her transformation as she learns the rigorous arts of the geisha: dance and music; wearing kimono, elaborate makeup, and hair; pouring sake to reveal just a touch of inner wrist; competing with a jealous rival for men's solicitude and the money that goes with it. In Memoirs of a Geisha, we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as illusion. It is a unique and triumphant work of fiction—at once romantic, erotic, suspenseful—and completely unforgettable.
Author | Arthur Golden |
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Price | $12.99 |
Publisher | Vintage |
Release Date | Nov 09, 1999 |
Source | Google Books |
『Americanah』
WINNER 2013 – National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction FINALIST 2014 – Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction FINALIST 2014 – Andrew Carnegie Medal for Fiction LONGLISTED 2015 – International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award A searing new novel, at once sweeping and intimate, by the award-winning author of Half of a Yellow Sun: a story of love and race centered around a man and woman from Nigeria who seemed destined to be together--until the choices they are forced to make tear them apart. Ifemelu--beautiful, self-assured--left Nigeria 15 years ago, and now studies in Princeton as a Graduate Fellow. She seems to have fulfilled every immigrant's dream: Ivy League education; success as a writer of a wildly popular political blog; money for the things she needs. But what came before is more like a nightmare: wrenching departure from family; humiliating jobs under a false name. She feels for the first time the weight of something she didn't think about back home: race. Obinze--handsome and kind-hearted--was Ifemelu's teenage love; he'd hoped to join her in America, but post 9/11 America wouldn't let him in. Obinze's journey leads him to back alleys of illegal employment in London; to a fake marriage for the sake of a work card, and finally, to a set of handcuffs as he is exposed and deported. Years later, when they reunite in Nigeria, neither is the same person who left home. Obinze is the kind of successful "Big Man" he'd scorned in his youth, and Ifemelu has become an "Americanah"--a different version of her former self, one with a new accent and attitude. As they revisit their shared passion--for their homeland and for each other--they must face the largest challenges of their lives. Spanning three continents, entering the lives of a richly drawn cast of characters across numerous divides, Americanah is a riveting story of love and expectation set in today's globalized world.
Author | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Knopf Canada |
Release Date | May 14, 2013 |
Source | Google Books |
『Living on Hope Street』
'Living on Hope Street is a big-hearted, compassionate work. Divaroren is a ferociously good storyteller and every character breathes life, every character convinces. This book is an absolute joy to read.' CHRISTOS TSIOLKAS" We all love someone. We all fear something. Sometimes they live right next door - or even closer. Kane will do everything he can to save his mother and his little brother Sam from the violence of his father, even if it means becoming a monster himself. Mrs Aslan will protect the boys no matter what - even though her own family is in pieces. Ada wants a family she can count on, while she faces new questions about herself. Mr Bailey is afraid of the refugees next door, but his worst fear will take another form. And Gugulethu is just trying to make a life away from terror. On this street, everyone comes from different places, but to find peace they will have to discover what unites them. A deeply moving, unflinching portrait of modern Australian suburban life.
Author | Demet Divaroren |
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Price | $9.25 |
Publisher | Allen & Unwin |
Release Date | May 24, 2017 |
Source | Google Books |
『Gracism』
We can't ignore color, class, or culture. Instead, we must engage race with a different posture. Responding to ongoing problems of prejudice and injustice, the original seven sayings of the gracist now become eight in this revised and expanded edition that revives the biblical model for showing special grace to those on the margins.
Author | David A. Anderson |
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Price | $18.99 |
Publisher | InterVarsity Press |
Release Date | May 09, 2023 |
Source | Google Books |
『Two New Years』
A Sydney Taylor Gold Medalist A National Jewish Book Award Winner This warm and welcoming New Year celebration invites readers to learn about Rosh Hashanah and Lunar New Year traditions and to reflect on the rich blends of cultures and traditions in their own lives. For this multicultural family, inspired by the author's own, two New Years mean twice as much to celebrate! In the fall, Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, offers an opportunity to bake challah, dip apples in honey, and lift voices in song. In the spring, Lunar New Year brings a chance to eat dumplings, watch dragon dances, and release glowing lanterns that light up the sky. With bright, joyful prose and luminous illustrations, Richard Ho and Lynn Scurfield invite readers of all backgrounds to experience the beauty of two New Year traditions, paying homage to the practices that make each unique while illuminating the values of abundance, family, and hope that they share. Full of opportunities to reflect on the rich blends of cultures and traditions in our lives, this moving picture book is a beautiful reminder that, at heart, our celebrations might not be so different after all. TWO BEAUTIFUL NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS: This book is brimming with opportunities for readers to learn about cultures different from their own—from Jewish readers learning about Lunar New Year, to Chinese readers learning about Rosh Hashanah, to readers from other cultures being invited to experience both! A WELCOMING READ: This content-rich picture book encourages readers of all backgrounds to reflect more deeply on the blending of traditions in their own families and communities. A GORGEOUS GIFT: Vibrant illustrations and a lyrical narrative with strong backmatter will make this a treasured gift. Perfect for: Parents, grandparents, and caregivers Teachers, educators, and librarians Lunar New Year and Rosh Hashanah gift giving Readers seeking celebrations of different cultures and faiths Anyone who appreciates beautifully illustrated, multicultural picture books
Author | Richard Ho |
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Price | $1.99 |
Publisher | Chronicle Books |
Release Date | Aug 08, 2023 |
Source | Google Books |
There you have it, folks! Ten incredibly diverse books that not only tell compelling stories, but also reveal a spectrum of cultures and societies, from the familiar to the foreign and beyond. Each one of these works brings a unique lens through which to view the world, adding depth and variety to our understanding of what it means to be human. So next time you're looking for something to read, why not challenge yourself? Step out of your comfort zone. Explore a new culture, a new perspective, a new experience through these books. Whether you're a seasoned bookworm or just looking to broaden your horizons, these gems are sure to transform the way you see the world. Definitely, a must-have on your bookshelf! But don't just take my word for it. Dive into these vibrant narratives and see for yourself. Happy reading!
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