Fun, Diversity, and Me 2024 Reading Challenge (12 Books): 

 

Diversity in literature is important because not only it reflects the reality of the world we live in, but also helps readers to see and understand one another in a more meaningful way. It's up to you to promote diversity and representation in the stories you tell. Furthermore, if you’re a reader on a platform and your books and authors are generally from the same racial, ethnic, social, cultural, and sexual identity group, then you fail to read and represent diverse stories and individuals.  

 

Diversity is not a bad word. Telling me that you don’t respect diversity and inclusion though allows me to see you as a very uninformed individual that is unable to understand the value of difference, perspective, and experiences other than your own.  It shows that you purposely choose not to connect to a book or author because you don’t want to and that is selfish and quite inconsiderate—showing privilege and exclusion from others as if your experience or stories are superior.  Your lack of diversity tells readers more about you than you think. Don’t let your inaction be an excuse not to read diversely. 

 

However, you if you’re one of those people that want to become a different type of reader and know the value of diversity and inclusion, then this challenge is just for you. I want you to have fun reading diversely so I’ve created 4 different types of prompts with three different opportunities to choose books in that category so you’ll be reading a total of 12 books for the #FunDiversityAndMeChallenge. The goal here is to not simply have fun with the prompts, but to also read books that are specifically diverse from your own subject positions in race, sexual orientation, disability, culture, gender, etc. While you don’t have to cross all of those marginal elements each time, it would be great to find authors or subject material different than your own. Make the challenge your own and have a good time learning about other cultures and yourself in the process.  

 

Prompts for the challenge: 

 

🔸𝟯 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗪𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗻 

🔸𝟯 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟯 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗢𝘄𝗻 

🔸𝟯 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗬𝗼𝘂 

🔸𝟯 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲 

 

I’m really excited about how we can make reading fun and diverse.  There’s no reason to say “I cannot connect to that book because it is not relatable to my life” when minorities have read stories of European and white experience for decades. Here is an opportunity to be a better, informed reader. When you know better, then do better.  If not, then don’t be shocked when others call you out about it. 

 

But please consider having fun and diverse reading experiences with me in 2024. Use the #FunDiversityAndMeChallenge hashtag so I can keep up with you throughout the year. 

 

XOXO, 

 

Candice (@blackbiracialandbookish)