Those of you who know me in the real world know that I absolutely hate social media. I'm not against the internet (obviously) and I love the way that technology can keep people connected, but there's a certain fakeness to social media that turns me off. The one exception to this rule is Goodreads. One of my favorite parts of the New Year is setting a new Goodreads Reading Challenge. There's something so satisfying about keeping track of the books I read and sharing my bookish self with others. I usually can only commit to a number-based challenge, but I do love to peruse the category-based challenges that flood the internet every December and January. This year I've decided to adapt my favorite category challenges to fit my reading abilities and style.
The two "mainstream" reading challenges that I think are the most dedicated to diversity are the POPSUGAR Challenge, which I've been a fan of since high school, and the Book Riot Challenge, a recent discovery. These two challenges include (sometimes overlapping) categories that encourage readers to focus on diverse authors and diverse characters.
Some of the categories I'm most excited about include POPSUGAR's:
a book by a Pacific Islander author
a book with a protagonist who uses a mobility aid
a romance novel by a BIPOC author
And Book Riot's:
a book by a POC that's about joy not trauma
a book with an asexual and/or aromantic character (POPSUGAR has a similar category)
a queer retelling of a classic of the canon, fairytale, folklore, or myth
I look forward to keeping you all updated on my reading progress (I've started this year with The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DÃaz, which fits into POPSUGAR's "a book that features two languages" category). Feel free to friend me on Goodreads if you want to keep an even closer eye on my reading habits!