January 1, 2015 – December 31, 2015
Earlier this year, the much needed, very awesome campaign for #WeNeedDiverseBooks took off in April and since then, it has been inspiring change in readers, bloggers and authors alike, who are demanding more diversity. And in the past month, through the money raised through Indiegogo, it's only further proven the fact just how passionate people are about this; I am, too.
Inspired by the campaign, one thing led to another and soon I had an idea - to host a diverse reading challenge in 2015. I was beyond excited, but I also knew I'd need some help to run it. So I reached out to one of my favourite blogs and co-blogger team, Estelle and Magan from Rather Be Reading. It turns out, they also liked the idea!
And so, Dive into Diversity was born and the rest is history.
(Also, special thanks to Rachel from Hello, Chelly for creating the button and banner!)
The challenge:
We want to keep this stress-free and fun, so all we challenge you to do is read and review diverse books in 2015. However many is up to you. But remember: the more you read, review, discuss, the better!
Books that count:
As for what counts as diverse, we like this definition taken from the We Need Diverse Books tumblr: "We recognize all diverse experiences, including (but not limited to) LGBTQIA, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities."
How can I discover books to read throughout the challenge?
Check out this Diversity in YA/MG list or my diverse shelves:
Diversity --- QUILTBAG --- Racial, POC, CulturalAs for what I recommend? 3 of my favourite diverse books of 2014:
The Last Leaves Falling by Sarah Benwell - Japanese teenage; ALS disease; male MC. Sounds pretty diverse, right? Such a beautiful, thoughtful, heartbreaking book. This releases next year and boy, get ready to hear me talk about this one a lot. (Enter to win a preorder of this below!)Jasper Jones by Criag Silvey - This book has YA/Adult crossover (I found my copy in the A section of the library) and the secondary character, who the book is actually named after, is Aboriginal. A wonderfully woven mystery with depth and character. Super cool fact: the author is from Western Australia (where I live) and is set in places I know of.
To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han - When I finished this book, I hugged it. It was just so enjoyable and sweet. It was also interesting to read about holding on to traditions and your culture, when it isn't always easy to. (my review)
Why join the challenge?
Why not? Not only is it going to be a fun, but it's going to support diverse books. Other cool things you can expect throughout the year: diverse posts, giveaways, maybe some challenges, lots of interaction.
I've signed up. Now what?
1. Come January, start reading diverse books!
2. Once you've written your diverse book review, add it to the monthly linky, which will post in the first week of every month.
3. Don't forget to use #DiveDiversity to chat, share book recs, let others know what you're currently reading and more.
4. Have fun!Important challenge details:
- Dive into Diversity runs from January 1st, 2015 to 31st of December 2015.
Who's ready to Dive into Diversity?
- You can sign-up anytime throughout the year.
- Any book format is allowed - hardback, paperback, ebook, ect.
This reading challenge is hosted by Reading Wishes and Rather Be Reading Blog. For more information and to sign-up, please see this post.
