Think back to the first book that changed your life. That character whose story so aligned with your own that the book began to feel more like a mirror than a piece of reading material. Or the literary character whose story opened your eyes to a new culture, language, or family dynamic that was so different from your own.
The act of reading itself changes the way our brain is wired. As researched by Emory University, reading increases focus and memory, while also decreasing stress. And alongside the ways reading can physically change the wiring of our brain, it also plays a major role in our emotional wiring as well.
When we read, our brains place us in the shoes of the characters on the pages in front of us. This allows us to feel seen through the characters who resemble our own experiences, as well as allows us to connect, empathize, and respect the experiences of those whose lives are different from our own. And that’s why it’s not only important to read, but to diversify what you are reading.
By ‘diversify,’ we mean reading books that have characters or are by authors of marginalized communities. For those whose stories have always dominated the cultural mainstream of books, television, and movies, diverse narratives allow these readers to examine their own biases and learn more about the systematic oppression experienced by others.
For every type of book or genre you already love, there are other voices already there waiting for you to find their books and love them too. So let’s talk about the steps we can all take to be more thoughtful readers, and through this process, make a point to hold conversations and share the recommendations we’re coming across with our own bookish communities—both IRL and online.
How to Diversify Your Reading
SHAKE UP YOUR SHELVES
1. Take inventory of your reading.
The best place to start is looking at your own bookshelf. Who writes the majority of the books you pick up? Who are the main characters in a majority of what you read? Who do you receive the majority of your book recommendations from and what types of books are they primarily sharing? What types of genres have you primarily been reading this year?
In this moment, be honest with yourself and commit to growing as a reader. From the inventory you collect, you can then set a game plan or quantifiable goal (Ex. “I want to read more sci-fi books by BIPOC authors by the end of the year) for how you want to move forward.
2. Make the most of your time on social media.
When it comes to discovering new books and authors, the internet is a treasure trove of information. To start, take the time to search for diverse authors and books within the genres you already love. You can keep track of the books you want to pick up in a designated list that travels with you to the library and bookstores.
It’s also helpful to expand the pool of people you’re following on Bookstagram, BookTok, and BookTube—especially if that’s where you’re receiving the majority of your recommendations. Utilize tags and virtual read-at-hons that champion new ways to engage with your favorite genres, such as the Black Lit Challenge. The more variety of book recommendations and resources you have in your back pocket, the more assorted (and fun!) your reading is going to become.
Over time you’ll learn whose style and recommendations align most with your own tastes, but make a point of checking on your TBR list and bookshelves every now and again to keep yourself accountable to your reading goals.
3. Join (or start!) a book club whose focus is on diverse books.
Sometimes to achieve a goal or a habit change, it’s helpful to have an accountability buddy. Search in your area, or check out what is available virtually, to learn more about book clubs dedicated to reading diverse voices. Joining this club will not only widen the range of books and authors you’re reading, but also provide you and your fellow book club members the space to discuss what the book showed you about your own experiences.
4. Utilize the power of preordering and requesting.
One of the biggest powers we have as readers is through our purchasing and requesting powers. By financially supporting diverse books, or requesting them from our local library, we’re signaling to publishers, independent booksellers, and librarians the desire for more stories like this and that we want them to be printed. By showing support for those books already on the market, we’re opening the door for more authors to walk through.
And to send you off, here are a few lists to inspire your future reading goals:
- 62 LGBTQ+ Books to Read All Year Long
- 43 Books By Black Authors with Laughs, Love & Other Worlds
- 29 Queer Fantasy/Sci-fi Books That Should Be On Your Radar
- 21 YA Books Spotlighting Interracial Love
- 16 YA Books With Trans and Nonbinary Characters
- 18 Must-Read LGBTQ+ Books by BIPOC Authors
- 22 YA Books About Asian Americans in the Past and Present