Let's Play Diversity Bingo!

It's Diversity Bingo time! I've heard about this recently, and it's such a cool idea! This chart is comprised of challenges for books featuring diverse characters. The goal is to complete the bingo board in the year of 2017. I just finished #DiverseAThon 2017 yesterday, so I think it's about time to continue my goal of reading about more perspectives! I know lots of booktubers and bloggers are trying this challenge, so I thought I'd join the group!

To download this image, I'd recommend searching it on Google. My plan is to cross it off through the year, and post about my experience here. So far this year, due to DiverseAThon, I've already read stories featuring diverse characters. So, let's see...which squares can I cross off?

Book By Author of Color: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 

I just finished this book! It details the story of a woman from Nigeria as she moves to the US for education, and details her struggles, her relationships, and how she sees the world. I strongly recommend this book. It enabled me to see the world completely differently than I ever have. It also helped me to discover even more about white privilege/ how privileged I am. This book was mentioned in many DiverseAThon TBR videos, and strongly recommended, and thankfully I was able to read it during DiverseAThon. The author is also Nigerian herself, writing about a Nigerian woman, so it's an Own voices book.


MC on the Ace Spectrum (Own voices): Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

 Wow! This book was definitely worth the hype. I've heard many booktubers and book bloggers talk about this book, because it has an asexual main character. It is pretty difficult to find books that talk about asexuality or have an asexual character, so it was very refreshing. This book's tone is very similar to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, but I loved it so much more. It is about a home for children aged 12-19 who return from different worlds (kind of reminds me of Narnia). It's kind of dark, but not so much that it's creepy or scary (I don't particularly read those books anyways). It also features a trans character, and people of color. Futhermore, the author identifies as asexual, so it's also an Own voices novel.

Own Voices: The Star Touched Queen by Roshani Chockshi

This novel is based on Indian mythology and folklore. It follows the story of Maya, whose father is the Raja of a kingdom. She has a horoscope (kind of like a prophecy) which says that she is going to have a marriage that will lead to death and destruction. She ends of the Queen of Akaran, a mysterious kingdom, and is unsure if she can trust her husband, the King. This book had an interesting story, but the pacing and worldbuilding was not quite what I believe it could have been. The cover, though, is a work of art! The author is Indian, so once again, Own voices!



So...that wraps up my progress so far on Diversity Bingo. I'm really happy with what I've read so far, and my hope is to continue to challenging myself by discovering new books and authors of diverse backgrounds, and reading more Own voices books. If you want to join me, let me know!

Also, check out my BookTube channel where I talk about my DiverseAThon experience!