I’ve heard the phrase “we need diverse books” batted around for a couple of years, now. And I’ve always agreed, always shared tweets and statuses that said as much, with great enthusiasm. But, well, that was kind of it. I thought it was the place of publishers to see what people wanted and to respond, but now I know that there needs to be more. I, personally, feel compelled to do something – to take action instead of saying words. But where do I begin? I asked myself. And the answer is that you can only really start from where you’re already at. For me, that place was YouTube.
I watch a lot of ‘BookTubers’ – that is, people who make videos specifically about books for YouTube – and so I began by looking through recommendation videos, trying to find out who the people I follow, follow. That introduced me to a few new faces, but it still didn’t feel enough. I did a search for diverse booktubers, and came up with some more. Subscribed to those, and watched their videos; had a look at what they were reading and recommending, and now I have more diverse list of voices that I’m listening to, as well as a list of books by black, LGBTQ+, and disabled authors to check out.
I’ll share with you the begins of that list now*, bearing in mind that it’ll likely be added to, and that lists mean nothing if I don’t actually go out and listen to the voices and read the books. You can keep up with what I read, right here on this very blog, but without further ado:
YouTubers/BookTubers to Follow
- Malorie Blackman – Awesome black author (my personal favorite)
- Jen Campbell – Bisexual booktuber and author who also has a deformity
- Rose and Rosie Dix – Comedy duo of a married lesbian/bisexual couple
- Owl Eyes Reviews – Black lady booktuber
- Priscilla | The Readables – Asian lady booktuber
- Rincey Reads – Asian lady booktuber
- AJ Reads – Black lady booktuber
- Silke | A Literary Kingdom – Black lady booktuber (who sadly hasn’t updated in a long while)
- MarinaShutUp – Mixed race, bisexual lady who talks about a lot of hard-hitting, important issues
- Nancy Reads – Asian lady booktuber (who sadly hasn’t updated in a long while)
- AhsantetheArtist – Black lady artist
- Lateef Thynative – Gay black vlogger guy
- The Book Archer – Black lady booktuber
- Bookish Realm – Black lady booktuber
- BooksAndBigHair – Black lady booktuber
- Rowan Ellis – Queer lady vlogger who talks about a lot of hard-hitting, important issues
- kittenissocoollike – Cat
Books Added to my TBR List
- Monster by Walter Dean Myers
- B-Boy Blues by James Earl Hardy
- The Misadventures of an Awkward Black Girl
- Simon vs. the Homosapien Agenda
I also really want to re-read the Noughts and Crosses series by Malorie Blackman
*I’m incredibly sorry if I got any of this information wrong. If you spot an error in my listing then by all means let me know and I will fix it.
