Joining the Diversity Reading Challenge 2020

I know it’s late in the year to be joining another reading challenge. And I swore I would keep challenges to a minimum this year. But this challenge really fits my renewed commitment to read more diversely, particularly books by Black authors (in light of the Black Lives Matter movement), as well as books by other authors of color and authors who are LGBTQ, disabled or neurodiverse, or of faiths other than Christian. I also want to read books containing more diverse main characters. Since I am trying to read these books anyway, why not keep track of them?

The Diversity Reading Challenge is hosted by the Celebrity Readers blog.

Qualifying books:

The author or the main character – or one of the leads, who preferably has a POV – has to belong to a diverse group. According to the definition of We Need Diverse Books:

We recognize all diverse experiences, including (but not limited to) LGBTQIA, Native, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities*, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities.

*We subscribe to a broad definition of disability, which includes but is not limited to physical, sensory, cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities, chronic conditions, and mental illnesses (this may also include addiction). Furthermore, we subscribe to a social model of disability, which presents disability as created by barriers in the social environment, due to lack of equal access, stereotyping, and other forms of marginalization.

Guidelines:

While [the hosts] are pretty lax about how you wish to set up this challenge for yourself, [they] do have a few guidelines to follow.

• The challenge will run from January 1st, 2020 to December 31st, 2020.  Books must be read during this time frame to count.  Sign up is open from now until December 1st, 2020, so you may join even just for the last month of the year.
• Any format and length of book counts – print, ebook, audio, ARC, etc.
• Crossovers from other challenges are totally acceptable!
• Reviews are not required, but highly encouraged.

Signing up, mini-challenges, etc.

There’s more information on signing up, mini-challenges, and so forth on the Celebrity Readers blog.

What I plan to read

I hope to read at least 2 books per month (July-December) for the challenge. I am far too much of a mood reader to set out a specific list. But here are some of the books I have bought or received as ARCs over the last 18 months or so. I’ll also make use of the library’s available ebooks, and probably buy more books as the year goes on. There are a few books I read earlier in the year that I will count toward the challenge, as well.

• The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum
• The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí  Clark
• The City of Brass and The Kingdom of Copper by S. A. Chakraborty
• Wicked As You Wish by Rin Chupeco
• An Extraordinary Union (currently reading!), A Hope Divided, and Can’t Escape Love by Alyssa Cole
• River of Teeth, Taste of Marrow, and Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey
• Murder with Fried Chicken and Waffles by A. L. Herbert
• The Lawyer’s Luck by Piper Huguley
• Destiny’s Embrace, Destiny’s Surrender, Destiny’s Captive, Indigo, and Belle by Beverly Jenkins (I love her books!)
• This Book is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell
• Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann
• Thorn by Intisar Khanani
• The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
• Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer
• Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim
• Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore
• A Blade So Black by L. L. McKinney
• By Winged Chair by Kendra Merritt
• Song in a Weary Throat by Pauli Murray (memoir)
• Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
• Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older
• Witchmark by C. L. Polk
• Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
• Every Last Breath and Nothing To Fear by Juno Rushdan
• Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad (nonfiction)
• Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

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