Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion, where they discuss certain topics, share their opinions, and spread the love by visiting each others’ posts.
Happy Friday, friends!
This week’s prompt: Diversity in books (suggested by Rukki @ Eternity Books)
What do you think is the meaning of diverse?
I have really been struggling with writing this post. My mental hard drive is pretty much full right now. I did talk a little about diversity in one of the past Let’s Talk Bookish posts on Predicting Trends. I will say that my idea of diversity has grown alot over the years and I think part of it has to do with how much our society is working to improve representation and inclusion into so many aspects of our lives. Pop culture, education, commerce and retail, art…you get the idea. I just recently came across the term neurodiversity, which is basically about learning and thinking differences and have been seeing alot more articles and research relating to it.
Who do you think is qualified to write a diverse book?
This really depends on a few things. If the main character and storyline heavily involve the things that make the book diverse, then I think the author should be either part of that group or closely related to it to maintain authenticity. Picking an example from one of my recent reads, Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina, the Latinx culture and New York culture plays such a big part in the overall story. I don’t think it would have been the same coming from an author who wasn’t Latinx or from New York City. But, if the diverse aspect in a book isn’t a large part of the story, then I think the author can still do a good job with enough research and consultation with people who are part of that diverse group. For example, in A Curse So Dark And Lonely the main character has cerebral palsy and the author doesn’t. The author credits the people she consulted at the end of her book and I thought it had enough credibility.
How do you find diverse books to read?
I don’t really go searching for them specifically very often. The one place that I look every now in then is We Need Diverse Books. They have an AMAAAAZING list of where to find diverse books that includes, African, African American, American Indian, book boxes, book awards, disabilities, Islam, Jewish, LGBTQIA, Latinx, South Asian, and general multicultural/diversity resources.
What are some diverse topics/POVs that you specifically look for when you’re finding books and why?
While I try to read from different topics and POVs, to learn new perspectives, I generally tend to look for Latinx stories/characters since that is what I most relate to.