About

Purpose of Diversify Your Reading
The purpose of this blog is to help readers find good books by authors from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in bookstores, libraries, and the media in English-speaking countries. The hope is that this blog will serve as a clearinghouse of reviews by many different bloggers. Each post on the main blog page will feature a list of reviews, and bloggers will submit links to their own reviews in the comments. These links will later be added to the post itself. See How to Use This Blog for details on the process.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I care about the ethnic or cultural background of the authors of the books I read?
There are probably more answers to this question that anyone would care to read, but one of the biggest reasons is that reading books by people from a variety of backgrounds enriches our understanding of people who are different from us. Unfortunately, some people are underrepresented in our bookstores, library, and media. We want to help readers find books by people from those groups that aren’t so easy to find.

But I like reading books by straight, white, middle-class people. Why should I substitute a mediocre book by a person of color for a great book by a white author that I love? I don’t want to choose books based on the color of an author’s skin.
We like books by white authors too! Do continue reading them! We not suggesting that readers should choose books solely on the basis of an author’s skin color or sexuality or nationality. We do not want readers to settle for mediocre books just because of the color of the author’s skin. We want readers to find the best that’s out there. However, we know that many readers enjoy reading books by authors from many different backgrounds but that they may struggle to find the really good stuff. We want to help readers choose wisely and to be more aware of the great stuff that’s out there. That’s where this site—and perhaps you—come in!

Why focus on authors? Why not focus on topics? After all, straight people have written great books about gay people, and white people have written great books about people of color.
Yes, they have, and we applaud the efforts of authors to tell a wide variety of stories. We’re focusing on authors because we believe that reading about people with non-majority backgrounds is not the same as reading the words of people from those backgrounds.

I’ve written a review of a book by a non-white author, but I can’t figure out where to share it. I know the author isn’t white, but that’s it. What do I do?
A good first step is to use the search engine here to see if the author is already featured here. If so, just add your links to that post. If not, we recommend consulting the author’s website or Wikipedia for information on the author’s race or country of origin. If you haven’t been able to find any information, it might be because the author is not actually a person of color or prefers not to be identified by her ethnic background. In such cases, it is perhaps best to err on the side of leaving her off the list. If an author fits more than one category, feel free to add a link in the comments section of both posts that are appropriate.

I read a book by a ________ author, but it’s not about _______ issues. Does it belong here?
Yes! We want to include reviews of books by diverse authors on diverse topics. Writers, like all people, are more than their ethnicity or sexual orientation or physical challenge, and so they write on a variety of topics. We want to see reviews on books about lots of different topics.

Why isn’t there a group for _____?
There are a couple of possible reasons. One is that some groups are well-represented in the book world. Their books are easy to find. The other possibility is that we didn’t think of it yet! So if you have an idea for a category, please suggest it. At the moment, we are starting with a few broad groupings, because we would rather offer a few posts with several book choices than tons of author groups with nothing in them. If any individual posts get unwieldy, we will divide them into subgroups.

How can I help?
If you’re a blogger, the first thing you can do is to share links to your reviews. This site will only be as good as the content it contains, so we need your links! Second, please spread the word by posting about this site on your blog.Third, keep us informed about challenges and events related to reading diversely by leaving a comment on our events and challenges page. Finally, consider becoming a site editor. Editors will be responsible for adding links in the comments fields to the main posts.

A Note About Terminology
Terminology related to race, ethnicity, culture, and sexuality is fraught with tension. Different groups have strong preferences for specific terms and strong objections to others. We have attempted to use terms that are widely accepted, and we ask readers to recognize that we mean no offense. If you have concerns about the words we use to define specific groups or discuss specific concepts, please share your concerns by e-mailing us at diversereading at gmail dot com.

The Diversify Your Reading Committee
Site Administrator: Teresa
Site Editors: Eva, Gavin, Jenny, Nilki, Nymeth, Rebecca, Rayna