This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Toronto chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.
Nobody can tell you what you should read with 100% certainty. Everybody is different, after all. Despite this, it is important to read diversely—I think that one cannot call themselves well read unless they have read far and wide, which means moving beyond the eurocentric sphere.
What does it mean to read diversely?
Reading diversely means different things to different people, but it should constitute branching out from your norm. In general, I find that a lot of media (BookTok, for example) talks about books that are by white authors and are primarily set in the UK or the US. I have been tracking my reading for many years now, and predominantly my reads are set in both of those places.
Hence, a goal for me this year with my reading is to read at least 20 books set outside of the US and UK. For me, this is a goal that makes sense and is diverse. I made my goal broad so that I could more easily meet it, and then maybe next year I’ll pick specific places in the world I want to read more books set in.
How do I start diverse reading?
You might be different to me, mostly reading books set in Canada or in India. If so, why not try and read more books set in another continent, like South America, or another country, like Nepal?
There is another challenge I’ve seen online, where people pick a book from every country in the world to read from. Or people go from A-Z and pick book titles that match up with a letter, leading them to discover many more books from other places.
There are other forms of reading diversely, of course. Why not try an audiobook, or read a play?
Enjoyed Heated Rivalry? Read more books with LGBTQ+ characters! Only really read romance or thriller books? Try out a new genre! There are so many ways to make reading diversely less of a huge intimidating step, where you might not know where to begin. Branch out slowly by setting a goal like I want to read another book with a trans character, and then go from there. Soon enough you’ll be reading diversely without even thinking about it!
Take a look at some diverse books I’ve read before to see if there’s anything that takes your fancy.