Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme created by Rukky @Eternity Books and hosted by Aria @Book Nook Bits, and it’s where we get to discuss certain topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts! Check out all the past topics if you want to join in the bookish discussion fun.

This week’s topic is actually a mid-year reading check-in but since I just posted my Mid-Year Check-In Tag earlier this week, I’ll be doing last week’s topic:

Do You Prioritize Diversity in Your Reading?

_{Suggested by (Jillian @ Jillian the Bookish Butterfly)}

Prompts: Diversity and diversity in reading are often huge topics of conversation. Do you actively seek out diverse books? What kind of representation do you look for? Do you feel that diverse books are often spotlighted, or that it takes more of an effort to find diverse books? What recommendations do you have?

Do you actively seek out diverse books? What kind of representation do you look for?

I do actively seek out diverse books. Even though I’m reading much more diversely now compared to 3-4 years ago, I do realise that sometimes the books I read, especially in the romance genre, still tend to be less diverse. In terms of representation, aside from seeking out stories by BIPOC authors, I don’t think I intentionally seek a specific kind of rep because I’m open to reading anything that piques my interest. I love learning about other people’s lived experiences, as well as about different communities and cultures.

That said, I always get extra excited when I see books with Asian/East Asian representation because that wasn’t something I got to see much of growing up as a reader, especially in mainstream “popular” titles. I find it refreshing to be able to see my own experiences reflected back and it allows me to feel even more connected to what I’m reading! I also love looking for different cultural rep, particularly in fantasy and the myths and lore that inspire those books.

Do you feel that diverse books are often spotlighted, or that it takes more of an effort to find diverse books?

One of the big shifts that I’m happy to see in my adult reading life is how diverse books are much more in the spotlight compared to years ago. Being able to open a hellsite like Twitter and see tons of recommendations from BIPOC authors and authors of diverse books immediately appear on my feed always gives me a thrill of delight. I know that’s dependent on the spaces a person frequents and who they interact with or follow, but it’s easy to curate your space once you find them.

However, I do think it still takes more effort to find diverse books outside of the popular titles and authors that are already in the spotlight. While I see a lot more queer fiction and BIPOC fiction in the mainstream lists, that might not always be the case for other types of representation, such as neurodiversity, mental illness or disability. I also find that certain representation, such as Asian/East Asian rep, in (adult) romance, are harder to find if you look past the more commonly named authors.

I’m not saying that more of these books don’t exist but that they do require more searching to find. I know there are so many diverse stories floating around the book-sphere and I hope that as reading diversely becomes commonplace, publishers will give us what we want and we’ll get more of the rep that we are looking for and deserve to easily access!

What recommendations do you have?

I have so many wonderful books to choose from and it’s going to be so hard curating this list but I’m happy to give even more recommendations if you want them! For this list, I’ve split the categories into YA & MG and Adult.

YA and Middle Grade:

Adult:

I’m sorry if I’m rambling and talking in circles in this post. My brain, she’s tired. Do you actively seek out diverse books? What rep do you look for? What recs do you have? I’d love to grow my TBR! 🤭

• Follow me on Goodreads!
• Follow me on Twitter!
• Follow me on Instagram!