Group Collaboration | #WeNeedMore: Books We Want To Read

Group Collaboration | #WeNeedMore: Books We Want To Read

• Saturday, 28 November 2015

Some stories are overdone but others have never seen the light of day. This month partly inspired by the #WeNeedMore hashtag and in honour of NaNoWriMo 2016, we had our bloggers think about the books that seem to be missing from the literary sphere. Here's some of the books we feel we need more of...

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It would be really interesting to see more 'utopian' stories out there, as predominantly it is dystopian futures where underground revolutions rise up against totalitarian governments. I would love to read more stories that were generally more peaceful and the story following kind of a rom com vibe, but also set in the future. The novelist could envisage what time saving technologies, living arrangements, clothes and landscape the future might hold for us. It would be a chance to be creative and inventive in a positive way. 

- Cat 

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Characters with disabilities need to be shown as 'getting on with it' rather than inspirational.

- @bookish_norah

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I'd love to see more graphic novels that deal with real, contemporary issues, such as Katie Green's Lighter Than my Shadow, which is about her struggle with mental illness. Graphic novels are an incredibly powerful medium and it would be great to see this format utilised more.

More generally, I found it very difficult to think of topics that are rarely or are not discussed somewhere. Perhaps though, this is due to a lack of diverse voices. If we don't hear them, how are we to know what their stories are? Food for thought from The Guardian

- Ali 

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YA is so often very romance heavy, so I'd love to see more contemporary YA books focused on friendships and family relationships - especially supportive family environments.

We also talk a lot about wanting more diverse literature but I'd love to see more fantasy, dystopian and sci-fi novels set in East Asia and the Pacific Islands - basically I want a Hunger Games but with Filipino characters please!

- Ria

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Some fantastic stories from this month's contributors! 

If you have any literary recommendations to satisfy our blogger's needs leave them in the comments!

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Next month it's our final group post of 2015 (can you believe it?!) and of course we want to know what your top 5 favourite reads this year! 

If you'd like to get involved just email bloggersbookshelf@gmail.com or drop us a tweet @blog_bookshelf!