It’s that time again! I’ve noticed that I seem to be participating in TTT (hosted by The Broke and Bookish) round every month, so from now on I shall try very hard to do this meme monthly. (Permission is granted to bug me about if it I forget.) This week’s topic is my top ten books that celebrate diversity of all kinds. I’d like to read more diverse books, but these are the favourites from the ones I’ve read.

1. Adaptation by Malinda Lo What I love about this book is that it has exciting extraterrestrial-goings-on without erasing the diversity of the characters. I mean, all of Malinda Lo’s books that I’ve read so far are great, but this one is my most recent!

2. I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson I flail over this book a lot. There’s a lot of purple prose, but it’s an amazing book about family, love and not fitting in. It also has the most beautiful design ever so NO EXCUSES! (Just kidding, of course it’s totally your choice. But I did enjoy it a lot.)

3. Tumbling by Susie Day Tumbling isn’t even a book. It’s an original short story published in the Love Hurts anthology – which in itself includes some great diversity such as in Humming Through My Fingers and Gentlewoman – but this one is my absolute favourite. It’s about two girls who meet through Tumblr (through Sherlock, at Speedy’s Café). There’s musings on popular culture and worrying about internet relationships and what happens when the freedom the internet allows is taken away. (“Tumblr is where I am the best me, ordinary, pain-free.”) I AM THE ONE-MAN FANDOM FOR THIS ALJIDFNA;DIkihfaedoi. It is SO BLOODY CUTE BUT ALSO SERIOUS AND if you don’t want to spend 8 quid on it then I wouldn’t blame you, but for sure flick to this story in the bookshop and give it a try.

4. The Miseducation of Cameron Post by emily m. danforth I’ve just read this one after hearing a lot of good things, and it was awesome. It’s about queer teenagers growing up in rural America (? I AM SORRY MY GEOGRAPHY) in the 90s and it was so great. I also wasn’t very educated about the issues it covers so it was really good to read about those whilst it still being a good book, you know?

5. Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott Another Cinderella retelling, yes. But this one is a Japanese-fantasy-fusion with a kind of fierce and not-so-nice Cinderella. Who is bitter and wants revenge. It isn’t perfect, but it’s a fun read and it does include diversity in many different respects.

6. Every Day by David Levithan (Admittedly, it’s been a while since I’ve read this so I’m not 100% sure how much I’d enjoy it now.) Every Day is narrated by a character who changed bodies every day. There are so many different stories from the bodies A inhabits, and it’s a really interesting dynamic to explore – the person inside doesn’t change, per se, but everyone else has to see a different body.

7. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell God, you guys are probably sick and tired of me banging on and on about this book! I’m not entirely sure if it belongs on this list, since a lot of the issues like the racism Park experiences aren’t resolved (and also there’s to be a whole debate about Park’s eyeliner and is he gay?) but, yes. I feel like I haven’t included much on here in terms of social diversity, and Eleanor & Park addresses issues like poverty, abuse and body image alongside racism.

8. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz This one’s another recent read; I actually, um, read it all in one go, so I’m still slightly gathering my thought. I did enjoy it, though – it was cute and it includes some great diversity.

9. Wonder by RJ Palacio Wonder’s been thrown around a lot in bookish circles so, yes, it’s probably nothing new. I don’t know if it’s an accurate representation but it’s message is so uplifting, and all the viewpoints make it feel so honest.

10. The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness Yep. Here it is again. SORRYYY. I just seem to have a serious soft spot for this. Again, it isn’t perfect, but it covers a lot of different issues without it taking over the whole thing.

What do you think of participating monthly? What would you put on your list? Got any good book recs? 🙂