The reading list is created by the flaired users, and is thus reflective of the panel we have here, which is in turn reflective of the popularity of various content on the subreddit, which in turn is reflective of the mostly western readership of this sub, and reddit in general. We make no secret of our desire to see more participation from experts in non-western topics, but it is hard to get experts in topics which get too infrequently asked about to actually stick around. We try to rectify that with what limited tools we have available, such as running Weekly Themes geared towards the less-popular topics - this week being, for example, Oceania - but it is a continual uphill fight. For better or for worse, we can't force people to be more interested in, say, sub-saharan Africa (although mega shoutout to the flairs we do have there, who are uniformly excellent, even if a small cadre), and we can't force people to ask questions about there instead of another one about Hitler's favorite breakfast cereal, but the flipside is that that is the nature of doing public history in this way.

To /u/Georgy_K_Zhukov's excellent points, I would add that working on the reading list is a form of uncompensated labor above and beyond the labor of answering questions, which is of course also uncompensated. I understand where you're coming from - there should be more non-western history in the book list - but it's important that you understand that you are asking other people to learn enough about these subjects outside of the Western canon to be able to select appropriate works, for free.

Unflaired users do not have the ability to directly edit the book list, but if you or anyone else wants to submit suggestions through modmail, we are willing to take them on board.