Weekend Reads | Links I Love for Week 36 | 9.8.18
Weekend Reads- Links I Love for Week 36
This week, India decriminalized homosexuality in its country. This is a huge, historic ruling and a step in the right direction for reducing stigma and harassment against members of the LGBTQ community. India is one of the most populated countries in the world. #loveislove
The podcast that got you into podcasts is coming back with a 3rd season this month! It's going back to its true crime roots and investigating the criminal justice system via an inside look at Cleveland's courts.
I came across this article and it absolutely infuriated me. I didn't especially want to bring further attention to Lionel Shriver's misguided musings about diversity in the publishing industry, but I couldn't not talk about it. Penguin Random House UK identified a goal that by 2025, its authors and staff will reflect the diversity of UK society. Shriver, a white woman, seemed to suggest that this meant the quality of the books published by this publisher will go down and that their business will suffer because although publishers "...may eschew standards... readers will still have some." Indeed, we readers do have standards. That's why I stopped reading Shriver's work awhile ago. The two books of hers that I have read, We Need to Talk About Kevin and Big Brother are two of my lowest rated books on Goodreads, and life's too short to read authors you don't like.
Further, comments like these further solidify the need for influencers, schools, readers, podcasters, bloggers, and bookstagrammers to talk about diverse books. We need to support initiatives like #weneeddiversebooks and #ownvoices by reading, purchasing, and talking about books written by authors from marginalized groups. I make a commitment to posting photos on my Instagram of books written by diverse authors, but I could definitely be doing more.
Speaking of #ownvoices, I recently read There There and absolutely loved it. Tommy Orange, who is Native American author, created a wonderfully rich story about modern day Native Americans in Oakland, California. Here he is talking about his fear of tokenism in publishing.
Finally, if you need something to make you laugh, check out this viral Facebook post about a cancelled wedding. I don't know if it's true, and I don't care. (Deep down believe that it's true. We all know a Susan). Bonus points-if you want to laugh your ass off, listen to it read by comedian and actress Danielle Schneider. (fast forward to 30 minutes in). Classic.
Have a great weekend!
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