#diversiFIVEbooks
I’ve been an avid reader my whole life, and have really ramped up my reading in the last 2 years. When I decided to launch The Stacks, I also made a choice to join #Bookstagram, a lovely and supportive community on Instagram that is all about books. There is a focus on inclusion and diversity on #Bookstagram, and people are very open to engagement and conversations. I’m telling you, if you’ve never been, #Bookstagram is really cool.
Since I’ve joined #Bookstagram I’ve met some pretty wonderful people (mostly women), and been exposed to some wonderful books (mostly contemporary fiction) I never would have picked up without this community. However, the flip side of this, is that I have seen so many of the same books promoted over and over by many different accounts. I know some of this has to do with publishers marketing these books by giving away free copies in exchange for reviews (though the reviews are honest and not impacted by the means of getting the book).
I am all for books getting talked about and discussed, and I think any conversations about books is a net positive, especially as people move away from books and toward other forms of entertainment. However, this trend leads to unintentionally curated #Bookstagram feeds. That same book that keeps popping up does so at the expense of other books. What voices are we excluding from the conversation? What books, genres, and authors are put on the back burner, so that these ARCs can be reviewed? What conversations are we missing out on?
Even as we talk about diverse books, the same diverse books get most of the attention. Certain authors and types of books are featured, while others are left out. The same 5-10 books by women and people of color are everywhere. Where are all the rest? How can we help to bring books we feel passionately about back into the conversation?
With all that being said, I wanted to challenge the #Bookstagram community to share their own #diversiFIVEbooks. I ask that you follow the prompts, and tag your books and others in the #Bookstagram world to share theirs. Lets see what other amazing books are out there that might not be on our radar.
Here are the prompts
A book that you loved before you joined #Bookstagram
A book you love by an author from a different ethnicity than you
A book you’re excited to read by or about people of color
A book you love that you rarely see on #Bookstagram
A book in a genre you don’t normally read that you ended up loving (and the genre it comes from)
Here is my list
A book that you loved before you joined #Bookstagram
Where Men Win Glory by John Krakauer
A book you love by an author from a different ethnicity than you
Tell Me How It Ends by Valeria Luiselli
A book you’re excited to read by or about people of color
The Half Has Never Been Told by Edward E. Baptist
A book you love that you rarely see on #Bookstagram
Blood in the Water by Heather Ann Thompson
A book in a genre you don’t normally read that you ended up loving (and the genre it comes from)
The Sellout by Paul Beatty (fiction, satire)
I tried to keep the prompts vague so you can all enjoy the process of creating you lists. Looking forward to see what you come up with.
If you have other thoughts or insights into book diversity on #Bookstagram or anywhere, please leave your thoughts in the comments. I really would love to engage around this topic as I think it is important and useful.
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