I’m adding a new reading goal to 2024 already – read more diversely.

It’s a goal I considered before the start of the year but didn’t make a great plan for.

To be honest in the past I’ve felt nosy trying to investigate if an author was considered a diverse author. I’ve also felt like I had to read genres that I wasn’t interested in in order to read diversely. Or that books by diverse authors were hard to find in my library system.

With traditional publishing still racked with systemic racism, maybe it is somewhat difficult to find diverse authors if that’s all you’re reading. This is just one more reason to give the world of self published or independent authors a try.

Since my reading tastes changed a lot last year leaning into romance and discovering indie authors through Kindle Unlimited, I recently realized there is absolutely NO excuse for me not to be reading diversely.

A Wake Up Call

I’m thankful I recently got a wake up call when watching Heather at Hea Booktubes.

I’ve enjoyed her perspective since seeing that she reads mostly ebooks from KU or her library and is very open about not buying many books. It was refreshing in a constant sea of 50+ book hauls and all the hype around book boxes and endless special editions.

Heather regularly shares BIPOC content creators too. Many of whom have never popped up as suggestions on my feed to check out. I don’t know that I would have found them otherwise.

Lately in her solo commentary videos like When Your Fav is Problematic, she acts as a great “middle” voice. If a conflict arises, she encourages people to recognize and acknowledge their mistakes without reacting instantly or defensively as though they’re being labeled a terrible person. That pause is where growth and understanding can happen.

Earlier this month I stumbled on her Diverse Romance Recommendations video from a little over a year ago and it served as my wake up call.

Knowing that Heather reads mostly from KU or her library, I couldn’t believe I had never heard of any of these authors. It also made it crystal clear to me that there is no excuse for me not to read diversely – these are the same sources where I get books and romance is my go-to genre!

From there I went down a rabbit hole into her past videos, new to me creators, and just searching diverse romance authors (and watching new creators not the same ones I always see). I came out with a list of 100+ authors to try just from that! It feels like a whole new world of reading has opened up.

At the same time I was looking for diverse recs and bookish content, I looked at my 2023 stats. Sure enough, they came in at reading 10% diversely. I was already convinced I needed a change but this further cemented the fact that if you aren’t intentionally seeking out diverse content, recommendations, and authors, you likely aren’t reading diversely.

Diversity is an Umbrella Term

According to Ferris State University:

“Diversity is the range of human differences, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, social class, physical ability or attributes, religious or ethical values system, national origin, and political beliefs.”

At it’s simplest, reading diversely or consuming book related content from diverse creators for me means authors or creators who are different than me and offer a different experience or perspective than my own.

There are countless ways of reading diversely. Here are areas I want to read more: BIPOC authors, LGBTQIA+ authors, and books that contain neurodiverse, mental health, chronic illness, and disability representation especially as own voices.

I’m not sure 2024 will be the year to tackle these, but other areas I’m interested in are reading more romance authors from other countries. Are there translated romances out there? There must be.

I’m also curious to read more male romance authors. Both male romance readers and male romance authors have been discriminated against in the romance community with messages like “by women, only for women”. Romance is for everyone!

Cultivating More Diversity in the Bookish Content I’m Consuming

The first step to making sure you see different books and new authors is following and watching diverse content creators.

This will be an ongoing process of trying new creators and finding those who mesh with my reading tastes. As my reading life changes, I’ll also reexamine and search out new sources.

My two main forms of book related content are booktube and podcasts.

I plan to watch a few videos or listen to a few podcast episodes before subscribing to new creators. Here I want to see new to me books and authors rather than the same ones recommended over and over again. It’s ok to curate these sources as I try new books and discover creators with similar reading tastes.

I also want to remember it’s ok to keep my pool of recommendation sources small so long as it’s diverse. I think it’s good to have a mix – I don’t take book recs from every creator I follow. Sometimes I just appreciate them as a person, the way they express themselves, or as a source of current bookish news.

For me, keeping an ongoing list of diverse author and book recommendations is always key! That’s how I remember and search for new authors to check out when I grabbing books from KU or searching for books on my library apps.

I feel like this whole process is an example of my overall goal for my reading year – going deeper into my reading life. I love how I’m putting systems in place to make this a sustainable goal.

It’s similar to a lifestyle change with the content I take in, making my diverse authors list ongoing, and changing the way I pick up books and try new authors.

Reading diversely isn’t something I need to do on top of my existing reading life. It’s something to incorporate into my current bookish tastes.

My Goals to Read More Diversely

First off is tracking, tracking, tracking in my reading notebook. We can’t move what we don’t measure. Or however that saying goes.

I wanted to slow my reading life down in 2024 so I didn’t set a total numbers goal. Percentages might be a better way for me to go with my diverse reading goal.

I’ll be satisfied if the percentage reflects 25% diverse. Is that perfect? Absolutely not but it’s better than my 10% last year. It’s a start and I’ll keep improving as I go.

I can also always reevaluate mid year. If I’m easily hitting this goal, I may want to stretch my reading life further.

To get to that percentage, I need to add diverse authors to my seasonal TBRs. Those direct a lot of my reading. Preferably diverse authors will make up at least 25% of whatever the total amount of books on the tbr is.

I also need to make sure I’m checking out diverse authors on Kindle Unlimited. Within my quarterly KU feature, I aim to check out at least 6-8 diverse authors of the 20 books allotted.

So much of my reading is on audio these days. I need to make sure I’m adding diverse authors to my list who have audiobooks available from my library apps.

Finally, The Romance Readathon did help me read diversely last year. A good amount of my limited diverse reads came from August. So readathons that encourage reading marginalized authors are still good in my book as they help me prioritize diverse reads.

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Do you have goals or systems in place to read more diversely? What are some of your favorite bookish resources for learning about or finding diverse authors to try?