Wrap Up for Diverseathon

#Diverseathon 2017

I finished three of the books and started the fourth. 

When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore: This is a romantic tale that explored questions of gender and love. The story is mostly realistic, but had elements of magic that made the story sparkle and glow for me.

Swing Time by Zadie Smith was intense. I really didn't know what I was getting into here. I hadn't read anything by Zadie Smith before. The writing was beautiful and had me hanging onto every word. I also had so much to think about. Fred Astaire in black face. Ack. How is it that we don't remember that sort of thing from childhood? It also made me question tourism and how tourists affect the places they visit and how those places affect tourists. These are only a few of the things I was wondering about and the book will stay with me for a long time. It also made me want to spend more time with my mom.

for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf by Ntozake Shang is meant for performance rather than being read because she's a spoken word poet, but the stage directions helped bring it to life in my mind. I could sort of see how the movements would give the words even more impact. It's something I will definitely want to see if possible. It was not written with me in mind so I likely missed some things, but even so, it was a powerful collection.

Enter Title Here by Rahul Kanaki is the one that I have just started and will keep reading in the coming week.

I appreciated the Diverseathon because it compelled me to read more than I would have otherwise and it got me to pick up some of the titles I had on my TBR that I hadn't gotten to yet. They were each very distinct voices and I am glad I finally dove into these books.

Celebrating Book Communities and #DiverseAThon

Ruth Ayres has a link-up on weekends where people link to posts that are celebrations about their week. I love this reminder to celebrate every week.

This week I'm celebrating book communities. I am part of several different book organizations: Nerdybookclub, a new in person children's lit book club, the blog Rich in Color, the It's Monday! What are you reading? group and sometimes the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge. There's a new one that is launching today and I'm excited to join. It's the #DiverseAThon. Naz from Read Diverse Books is hosting along with several other booktubers and I think even one bookstagrammer.

Here are the books I hope to read this week as part of the #DiverseAThon:

When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore: Roses grow out of Miel's wrists and Sam paints moons over and over again. Nothing makes sense about these two things, but that's why I want to read it. I want to know more.

Swing Time by Zadie Smith: Jacqueline Woodson recommended this one so I knew it had to be good. Then I heard an interview with Zadie Smith on NPR and that made me want to read it as soon as possible.

for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf by Ntozake Shang: I enjoy poetry, but I don't often think to pick it up. I don't remember when I put this on my Goodreads TBR, but it's one I'm eager to dive into.

Enter Title Here by Rahul Kanaki: This is a contemporary book that seems to have a bit of humor included. It just came on the hold shelf at the library so this is a good one to add to the mix.

It's not too late to join if you are interested. :)