#DiverseReads2017

[shiraglassman]

Hi! I work with a student-run library dedicated to science fiction and fantasy. I saw your post recommending wlw books and I've added many to our to-buy list. I was wondering you'd be able to point me towards more sci-fi/fantasy books or resources that celebrate diversity; our collection certainly needs it! Specifically for older readers, though we also have a robust YA section.

Thanks for thinking of me, @my-smial! Here are some “grownup” SFF recs I think would benefit any library:

• the Daughter of Mystery series by Heather Rose Jones; it’s up to three books so far and more are coming. Set in the early 19th century in a made-up Central European principality, it’s a costume drama that’s equal parts political intrigue, magic, and multiple pairings of women falling in love with each other and/or making friends. By the third book they’re founding a women’s college, writing an opera, saving the country from evil magic multiple times…

• Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho. Regency London, but magical in a Potterish sort of way. A young Black man inherits the post of Head Wizard from his white adoptive father, and must figure out why magic seems to be draining out of England. The leading lady is biracial (Indian/white British) and the cast includes other magicians from all over Europe and Asia.

• Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed. Epic, sweeping fantasy about an older warrior-wizard and his super-zealous teenaged protegeé fighting demons in a Middle Eastern city. Cast includes a girl who can turn into a lion.

• Chameleon Moon by RoAnna Sylver is “hopeful dystopian” that takes place in a city forcibly quarantined when a wonder drug gives everyone superpowers. Leading lady is a biracial trans woman with power over sound and two female partners. Leading man now has the face of a lizard. Everyone is just trying to keep everyone else safe while there’s literally a fire burning underground at all times.

• Viral Airwaves by Claudie Arseneault, which features an all-male love triangle as part of an ensemble cast that also has ace m/f, is about a band of rebels using a clandestine radio show on a hot-air balloon to stand up to a totalitarian government that took over when a plague hit.

• The Fierce Family anthology features many stories all on the theme of “positive representation of queer families in SFF”, in varied settings that include dragons, spaceships, and post-apocalyptic Australia. Title comes from a story about defeating space pirates where both the pirates and their prey are bi, polyamorous families.

• Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers is a mostly-positive ensemble cast spaceship book that includes f/f and a really cool nonbinary alien called Dr. Chef (because he’s both. And I say he because his species’ version of nonbinary is that they’re females until they become males, and he’s near the end of his life cycle.)

• The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker is a stunning piece of fantasy set in NYC’s immigrant communities of 1900, both Ashkenazi Jewish and Syrian. It centers on relationships between characters, most importantly the two title beings who bond over how their supernaturalness cuts them off from the tightly-knit communities they’re from.

• The Dyke and the Dybbuk by Ellen Galford is out of print, but it’s relatively easy to find used copies if you’re open to that. It’s a tongue-in-cheek piece of Jewish paranormal about a British lesbian who winds up possessed by a (lesbian) demon because a distant female ancestor was cursed by her deserted girlfriend.

I know you said you’re good on YA, but consider adding The Rules of Ever After by Killian Brewer (gay princes m/m fantasy-humor with good female characters, too) and Not Your Sidekick by CB Lee (superhero f/f starring an Asian-American teen) if you don’t already have them. @interludepress has some good stuff.

[ultrabookgeek]

Don’t forget it is #24in48 AND #diverseathon this weekend!

Come join us if you can in reading as much as you can and picking books outside your experience :)

http://24in48.com

http://readdiversebooks.com/

Where in the world are you reading from this weekend? I'm in Brooklyn Baby!

Have you done the 24in48 readathon before? I have! I did it last fall and I hit 10 hours. Trying for 12+ this time.

What book are you most excited about reading this weekend? I'm most excited for the book I am reading right now - Whatever Happened to Interracial Love

Tell us something about yourself. I wish I didn't have to work on Monday so I could commit 10000% to 24 hours!

Remind us where to find you online this weekend. on Tumblr: https://ultrabookgeek.tumblr.com/ on Litsy: ultrabookgeek on Instagram: ultrabookgeek on LibraryThing: ulrabookgeek on Twitter: qimster

[ladygetslit]

my most recent read: _The Mothers_ by Brit Bennett 📚 [you can read my review on my blog] • • #bookstagram #bookbloggers #bookreviews #literaryfiction #readdiversebooks #diversereads2017

[niamhyjay]

#CurrentlyReading / #CurrentlyListening to #WhenDimpleMetRishi #WDMR #Reading #Reader #Audiobook #Audible #KindleReads #KindlePaperwhite #Kindle #Bookish #Biblio #bibliophile #bookstagram #InstaBooks #instareads #BookLion #BookWorm #BookDragon #booklover #Diversity #diversereads #diversereads2017 #PrettyCover #bookpic #bookporn #BookPhotography #books #YA #YALit

[betwixt-these-pages]

Chris Bellows is just trying to get through high school and survive being the only stepchild in the social-climbing Fontaine family, whose recently diminished fortune hasn’t dimmed their desire to mingle with Upper East Side society. Chris sometimes feels more like a maid than part of the family. But when Chris’s stepsister Kimberly begins dating golden boy J. J. Kennerly, heir to a political dynasty, everything changes. Because Chris and J. J. fall in love . . . with each other.

With the help of a new friend, Coco Chanel Jones, Chris learns to be comfortable in his own skin, let himself fall in love and be loved, and discovers that maybe he was wrong about his step-family all along. All it takes is one fairy godmother dressed as Diana Ross to change the course of his life.

My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen is a Cinderella retelling for the modern reader. The novel expertly balances issues like sexuality, family and financial troubles, and self-discovery with more lighthearted moments like how one rogue shoe can launch a secret, whirlwind romance and a chance meeting with a drag queen can spark magic and light in a once dark reality.

YA / Contemporary / Romance / Fairy Tale Retellings 336 Pages Sky Pony Press Expected Publication Date:  May 2nd, 2017 Preorder a copy here!

Quick Reasons: just a bit stereotypical; love the humor and personality of the voice; entertaining, endearing, wholly recreated characters; I was sucked in from start to finish; tons of delicious angst, drama, and fun; the snark is on point; LOVE how David Clawson made this retelling wholly his own

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insta-love

entertaining

devoured it

hot and steamy

Huge thanks to David Clawson, Sky Pony Press, and Edelweiss for sending me a free digital ARC of this read in exchange for an honest review! This in no way altered my read of or opinions on this book.

By now, I’m sure ALL my loyal penguins know full well that I am all about retellings. They are the bread to my readerly sandwich, after all! I am ALSO all about snarky characters, uniquely individualized reads, and reinvented story lines (especially if it’s a retelling being reinvented)! There’s nothing quite like stepping into a world you’re pretty sure you’ve seen from every angle…and being proven wrong.

    David Clawson did exactly this for me with this title. I’ll be honest with you guys–when I stumbled upon this title on Edelweiss and saw it was up for instant download, I didn’t think twice. I read the title, laughed out loud like a lunatic, and promptly hit “download.” I didn’t even stop to read the blurb, which means, when I picked this book up to read���. I had no idea it was a retelling. It took only a couple of pages for me to realize that’s exactly what I was reading…and only a couple more after that to realize it was going to be entirely different from the story I thought I already knew. David Clawson took this fairy tale, and molded it into his own witty, snarky, entertaining beast–and I ADORED every second of it!

This was a fast-paced, entertaining read with some well-written, complex, and wholly unique characters. Trust me, penguins–this is not the Cinderella cast you know, but that doesn’t mean you won’t love them to tuna fish pieces. Honestly, I feel like the relationships sewn and nurtured in this book are SO MUCH BETTER than those I’ve been reading in the recent months. They are realistic, they grow and change as the characters do, and they’re all, in some tiny way, flawed…but they’re also easy for readers to relate to. In the original Cinderella story, and the subsequent retellings I’ve had the pleasure of reading/watching… I was never quite sure WHY the stepmother and sisters hated Cinderella so much. There never seemed to be an actual reason. David Clawson approached this in a new and unique way, and managed to wrap it up in the process!

    I had a ton of fun with this book, and while it leans a bit heavily on certain stereotypes, I feel the personality and uniquely individualized characters really set this apart from other Cinderella retellings. The snark was heavy-handed, the morals (being true to yourself, feeling comfortable in your own skin) are handled with sensitivity, and I just ADORED me some Coco Chanel Jones–seriously, one of the best characters EVER! I recommend this to lovers of fairy tale retellings, diverse reads, and a strong focus on the sewing and building of familial relationships. If you’re seeking YOUR Prince Charming, maybe you should wear shoes that are much too big for you…you never know whose face you’ll kick one into!

My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen: A Snarky Reinvention of a Well-Loved Fairy Tale Chris Bellows is just trying to get through high school and survive being the only stepchild in the social-climbing Fontaine family, whose recently diminished fortune hasn’t dimmed their desire to mingle with Upper East Side society.

[planetpooks]

Loving the Diverse Reading Challenge! #diversereads2017

I’ve been a bit surprised to see how many of the recommended diverse SFF books I’ve already read, which becomes more obvious when I’m looking for something for this challenge. On the other hand it’s not all that surprising since one of the things I love about reading is the opportunity to ‘live’ another life, experience another world, and that includes the characters, not just the universe they…

[ultrabookgeek]

The Book of Harlan follows the life of a young man born in the early twentieth century in Georgia and his encounters with the historical events both in the US and abroad.

Lyrical and evocative, the novel reads more like interconnected short stories, introducing a wide range of amazing characters and their own beautiful stories.

The book is billed as a WWII novel, but in reality it covers a wide range of events that black Americans were part of and witness to in the most turbulent century the world has endured. The best thing you can take away from the novel is the sense of history doing much deeper and nuanced than is taught in America and a desire to know more. It will make you want to take a plunge into NYC real estate politics, the Korean War, and how POC were treated after serving in WWII.

[planetpooks]

#DiverseReads2017 Challenge:  January - Stories based on/ inspired by diverse folktales/culture/mythology

ust another one of those 18-year-old King kills his bride the morning after the wedding. Again. And again. And again. And then 16-year-old Scheherazade volunteers to be his bride… to kill him. You know. Just another one of those. ;-)

Loving this but why the heck an American narrator for an ancient Persian tale? Really destroys the aura.

http://furytriad.com/working-hard-working-hard-at-escape-reading/