The Diverse Books Tag

So, here I am, relatively new to the blogosphere, when I run into an amazing tag on twitter, #DiverseBookBloggers. Curious, I go exploring and fall deep down this amazing rabbit hole of diverse books. It is a fantastic journey, that has only just begun, and I am making great new friends in the process. Like, Naz here, who started this Diverse Books Tag.

I have never been tagged before, so this is my first book tag ever. I’m obviously super excited! What makes it even better is that researching for this post has led to my discovering so many awesome books and authors I might not have discovered otherwise.

Some of you will have been tagged by me at the end of this post, to make your own lists, so here is the basic how-to for you guys:

• For each of the categories below, list a book that you have either read or want to read that fits the bill. If you do not know of any book, go looking–search engines (like Google), and bookish sites (like goodreads and Book Riot) are a great place to start. Or ask a librarian 🙂
• Having prepared your list, post it on your blog/talk about it on your YouTube channel.
• Tag at least five other people to post their own lists and keep this tag going 🙂

As Naz says:

” Everyone can do this tag, even people who don’t own or haven’t read any books that fit the descriptions below. So there’s no excuse! The purpose of the tag is to promote the kinds of books that may not get a lot of attention in the book blogging community.”

So go ahead and discover new books!

Now for my list. Ready? Here we go:

Find a book starring a lesbian character.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

I first heard about Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe when I was reading The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend (which has some LGBT characters of its own). It has been on the radar since.

Find a book with a Muslim protagonist.

I had just read and reviewed the association of small bombs, but I wanted to take the opportunity to go looking for something new, and I found this book which I now desperately want to read:

Anahita’s Woven Riddle

Find a book set in Latin America.

The Discreet Hero

I realized while looking for a book for this category, that I haven’t really explored Latin American literature. This is a reading gap I plan to remedy soon.

Find a book about a person with a disability.

The Quality of Silence

I read and reviewed  The Quality of Silence, earlier this year. My favourite character from the book, Ruby, is Deaf. I did not know that when I began the book, and that realization was an absolute ‘aha!’ moment for me.

Find a Science-Fiction or Fantasy book with a POC protagonist.

The Devourers

Bisexual Werewolves in Mughal India! Do I have your attention yet? 🙂

For me, The Devourers is THE book that I am recommending to every bookworm I know. It is beautiful and unconventional. The Devourers published by Del Rey, is forthcoming on July 12th 2016. I have scheduled a review of the book closer to the pub date, so watch this space if you are interested.

Find a book set in (or about) any country in Africa.

Wife of The Gods

This book set in Ghana, is the first of a mystery series and has been on my TBR list for a couple of weeks. Hope to be able to get to it soon!

Find a book written by an Aboriginal or American Indian author

Shadow Tag

This category is another reading gap that I’ve become conscious of after having done this tag. I have read books by or about Aboriginal or Native American authors, but haven’t done so with conscious intention. Plan to remedy that in the future 🙂

Find a book set in South Asia (Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, etc.)

Idris : Keeper of the Light

Anita Nair is one of my favourite writers, and I have read a couple of other books by her. I bought Idris : Keeper of the Light the last time I went to India a couple of months back, and it has been lying unread on my shelf. Time to read it!

Find a book with a biracial protagonist

Artifacts

Have you realized yet that I have a ‘thing’ for mysteries? 😉 In fact, this book satisfies another one of my favourite ‘things’ – books about female archaeologists who solve mysteries (I am head over heels in love with female archaeologists who solve mysteries).

Artifacts is the first book in a series starring Faye Longchamp, a biracial descendant of a newly-freed slave. Even though this is not a “literary” work, the understanding of race in America that I gleaned through the series has been eye-opening.

Find a book starring a transgender character or about transgender issues

I was tempted here to reccommend  Shikhandi and Other Stories They Don’t Tell You, but felt that since it is a Hinduism focused book, it may not be the best choice for a wider audience. So instead, I went searching and found:

The Listener

The Listener intrigues the psychology graduate in me. Going to read it asap!

Have you read any of the books I’ve listed above? Do any of these books interest you? Let me know in the comments 🙂

While I have always read diverse books, purely out of curiosity, this conversation around diverse books has inspired me to look for them with greater consciousness and intention. I hope it does the same for all of you.

I’m tagging the following bloggers to carry on this conversation:

Laksh @ Read, Review, Reccomend

Vicky @ Books & Strips

Sarita @ the voices buzzing in my head

Ryy @ Dembooksdoee

Aashisha @ Mind’s Bin

Deepika @ Life is Beautiful…Let us weave a beautiful story

Other than these wonderful bloggers above, if you are reading this, and haven’t been tagged by anyone else, but would love to participate, then consider yourself tagged from this moment on.

Looking forward to exploring more diverse worlds through the books you recommend!