2016 Diverse Books Reading Challenge | I'M DOING IT!

Finally a challenge that I can easily commit to. I consider diverse reads to be in a genre of their own because of how unique and different they are from regular YA novels. I haven't read many diverse books and there goes my reason for joining this wonderful challenge hosted by Mishma and Shelly! Everything states below can be found on their original post, here! 

The Rules

  • Read books that are diverse
  • The Main Character must be part of a diverse group*
Defined by We Need Diverse Books:  We recognize all diverse experiences, including (but not limited to) LGBTQIApeople of colorgender diversitypeople 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.
·         The book can be set in a diverse setting, but not necessarily.
( But, note that books set in a different country, but features a white MC won't be considered as diverse here. Eg : Ink by Amanda Sun, Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins )
·         #Ownvoices stories (stories about marginalized groups written by a member of that marginalized group) are widely encouraged as well! Promoting diverse books by diverse authors is important.
·         If the book is a fantasy it can be based on/inspired by a diverse mythology or folklore       
   ( E.g. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh)
·         If the book is sci fi or dystopia, it has to be based on a dystopian country that’s not USA.  
  ( E.g. Cinder by Marissa Meyer)
·         Intersectionality is encouraged.
 ( Eg :- A book featuring a person of colour with a disability )
·         The novels don’t have to be YA, but as we are YA bloggers, those are probably the novels we are more likely to read

Logistics

 This challenge will run from the 1st of January 2016 to the 31st of December 2016.
·         You can join in anytime you want.
·         This challenge is meant to be a personal goal challenge to help find more diverse novels and to read more diversely.
·         There are no levels/points! You can read as much or as little as you’d like, this is a personal goal and is mainly individualized
·         To join the challenge, add your sign up post to the link up at the bottom of the post. You can include your TBR for the challenge if you want, but it’s not a requirement. Your sign up post can be a separate post or a part of a giant list of all your 2016 reading challenges. Anything is fine.
·         If you don’t have a blog, you may use a twitter handle or instagram profile and share this post with the hashtag #DiverseReads2016 that you’re participating! But add that link to the sign up link below.
·         If you want to share why you joined the challenge or why you want to read more diverse books, you can tweet us using #Iwanttoreaddivesitybecause… and we can discuss there. This is optional, just adding your blog to the bottom of this post is enough for this requirement!
·         There are themes for every couple of months, with different features and posts for each month:  
o   January to March : Ethnic Diversity                                       
o   April to June :  LGBTQIA +Diversity
o   July to September : Religious Diversity                 
o   October to December : Mental and physical health and disabilities.
        
·    But this doesn’t mean that you have to only read books with the particular theme of the season.Your selection of books can be your choice. This is more of a fun way to help you  categorize your reads, if you’d like.
·    We’ll have a link up on our blogs by the end of each season, where you can add your reviews of diverse books. We also welcome you to post non review posts on diversity and diverse books such as discussion posts, a list of recommendations etc., and you can add such posts on the link up as well.
·    We have a list of diverse novels here on this google docs. It’s on Read Only mode so if you have recommendations, please tweet us!
·    Spread the word! Share this challenge on twitter, instagram, pinterest or any social media you want. Grab the banner and add it to your sidebar!

Books I Want To Get To During the Challenge

  • Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
  • All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
  • It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini
  • Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella
  • Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
  • Soundless by Richelle Mead
  • Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
  • A Step Toward Falling by Cammie McGovern 

Books I've Read During the Challenge

  • The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore
  • The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
  • Jerkbait by Mia Siegert 
  • Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella 
  • Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
  • The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
I'm super excited for this challenge. As always, you can find the progress bar for my status as the year goes by. I hope you all find the time to join in and let's get to reading some #YAdiversity!

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12 comments

  1. This looks like a great challenge! I have decided to not participate in any year long challenges this coming year except for goodreads due to time and stress/etc. I wish you the best of luck! I really did like Finding Audrey and Six of Crows. Carry On was a little slow for me at first, but I enjoyed it.

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    1. I'm so glad you said that because Finding Audrey is on my top-list for books that I want to read, since it's contemporary and I barely get any of that genre. Thanks Kay <3

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  2. JOIN THE 2016 CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGE YO SUPPORT MEEEEEEEE

    Hahahahaha I am kidding ;) But I really loved All The Bright Places and I think you should read it first. It was heartbreaking, and it has so much to do with mental illness. Finding Audrey also intrigued me as well, and I quite enjoyed it. However, the portrayal of mental illness wasn't at all too accurate, sadly. I hope you have a great 2016 full of diverse books and *cough*cough* contemporary challenge *cough*

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    1. NOO LEMME CHECK IT OUT. OMG Contemporary is literally the genre I've read the least this year and I want to change that!! I'm drafting a post for it right now :D This year is going to be filled with brand new challenges and me just trying to change my picky reading habits. hey I WANT TO LEARN HOW TO READ CONTEMPORARY TOO! Thanks Jillian <3

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  3. All the Bright Places is one of my all-time favorites! I didn't fully love Carry On but some people were ga-ga over it!
    Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings Enter my 2nd Annual Blogoversary Giveaway

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    1. Oh you just boosted it higher on to my TBR! I hope when the New Year comes around, All the Bright Places is one of the books I pick up first!

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  4. I'm so joining this challenge! I love how laid back it is because lord knows I don't need any added pressure, but I also love how it'll give me a chance to read more diverse books. (Which I've been seriously slacking on.) I'm about to head over and join as well as take a look at some recs they've included in the google docs! I have a few books on your list that I want to read as well! Grasshopper Jungle, Carry On, Six of Crows, Soundless, let's see if we accomplish our goals!

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    1. Aww I'm so glad you're joining. People need to be aware of diversity!! And Six of Crows is definitely one I'll be getting to next year.

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  5. I'm not doing any challenges but if i were, it would be this. to be honest, i don't seek out diverse books, which is pretty bad. i feel like i should be doing more. however, i always get happy when the mc is diverse. the book i want to read is "none of the above" because that one deals with a topic i would love to learn more about.

    - Nova @ Out of Time

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    1. I've seen the cover for that one. I'd have to do more reading into it before I picked it up but it's definitely going on that list. Thanks Nova <3

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  6. Thanks a lot for joining Diverse Books 2016! Your excitement for the challenge makes me so happy!!! :D
    Your TBR looks so good! Six of Crows is my favourite, and I hope you love it as well!
    Hope you enjoy the challenge and find some new favourites!
    Happy Reading!

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    1. Yep I'm reading it this month for my book club's book pick of the month. NO, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR CREATING THIS WONDERFUL CHALLENGE <3

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