Comments on: Ari’s Guest Blog No. 2: Reading Outside Your Comfort Zone

By: MissAttitude

MissAttitude — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:00:05 +0000

Rasco-I read and loved your article Book Covers and All That is Between Them. I’m glad that you evaulated your and your organization’s reading habits and seen that there is a need for some improvement. I’ve realized the same and like you, I’m making a more conscious effort.
Delaria-Thank you for the recommendations. I love the title Revoultion is Not a Dinner Party!
Sarah-Best of luck in getting the British-Caribbean voice of your narrator right. I’m sure you will! I really like the design of your website
Tricia-I’m so glad that I helped you find websites that feature books and lists of books about poc, and glader still that you already were looking for books with poc!

By: Cheryl’s Mewsings » Blog Archive » International Blog Against Racism Week

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:28:11 +0000

[...] secondly a guest blogger over at Justine’s asks us to read outside of our comfort zone – something I have always been in favor [...]

By: Rasco from RIF

Rasco from RIF — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:11:34 +0000

Thank you, Ari, I so appreciate what you have said in this post. We all need to stop and take a deep breath now and then and review our reading habits, I do agree!

By: Delaria

Delaria — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 06:04:48 +0000

Shveta linked me to this post, and I’m glad she did. A lot of what you’ve said here applies to precisely why I like to read fantasy: for experiences that I have not, cannot have but with characters I can sympathize with and learn about. It’s also why, whenever I find an author of more diverse fantasy, I jump on the books if I like them at all. I don’t know if you’re looking for those recommendations in the fantasy genre, but a book with a male character who feels like a teenager is The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. It has two books that follow it, where he’s a little older. Old Mediterranean-type setting. For a fiction book about an Asian girl who grows from child to teen over the course of the story, you might like Revolution is not a Dinner Party by Ling Change Compestine.

Very good, interesting post. Thank you for writing it.

By: Sarah Rees Brennan

Sarah Rees Brennan — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:57:47 +0000

I love the guest blogs! One of the scary things to me about privilege is how little I notice: I remember not knowing the people in Ursula LeGuin’s books weren’t Caucasian for years. When I found out, I was pleased, but also saddened by my own blindness! It’s so easy not to notice, when you’re not the one targeted: whereas I am always at books with my feminist analysis tools of doom.

Making a conscious effort to notice and expand your horizons enough to keep caring and keep taking notes = helped along by posts like these, so many thanks! And now back to my study of British-Caribbean culture so I can get the girl narrating my third book right.

(Oh, and Perfect Chemistry has a great mix of Caucasian and Latina characters, all rounded and interesting characters. I think you will like it. )

By: tricia sullivan

tricia sullivan — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:50:55 +0000

Ari, thanks for your post. I love it that you are guest-blogging here.

The links and challenges that you’re putting up, and the ones that came up in Justine’s previous posts, are opening up a whole world for someone like me–I’m white and don’t even live in the US anymore, so I feel cut off sometimes from the reality of race issues in America. I’d already gotten in the habit of seeking out PoC books and reading them, but I wasn’t aware of the online community around YA books by writers of colour. It’s exciting to see the discourse going on at places like Color Online.

And the fact that we all can benefit from getting out of our comfort zone as readers is a good point in any context.

By: MissAttitude

MissAttitude — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:05:56 +0000

Thanks Sheveta for linking to this post! I’m so glad people liked it and agreed and are trying to expand their horizons.
Rumi it’s so awesome that you try and read more diverse books. If you’re on a budget, I really recommend Amazon. I use them all the time, they have the cheapest books that I’ve found so far. And they often have older, sometimes impossible-to-find-otherwise titles.
Jennifer I haven’t yet had a chance to read Octaivia Butler’s books, but I’ve heard rave reviews about them. They are at the top of my tbr pile. I’m so glad that you make a conscious effort to read books about people different than you!
Kaethe I would agree, although I haven’t read that many books by white authors from long ago, so I’m not sure how they handled diversity per se.
Everyone keep it up

By: Jennifer L

Jennifer L — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 02:21:22 +0000

Well, reading outside my comfort zone is something that I’ve been working on. Up until six months ago or so, I’d never read anything by any authors of color that I was aware of. I didn’t avoid them deliberately, but the market majority is for books by white authors. I didn’t realize what I was missing, to be honest.

Then a friend lent me a few books by Octavia Butler, and I loved them. Then RaceFail hit LJ around that time and I realized I’d been letting the market dictate my choices. Now I go out of my way to seek out authors from many walks of life, and my reading (and life) is richer for it.

(BTW, your post is excellent, so I have to thank my friend Shveta for pointing it out to me.)

By: Rumi

Rumi — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:51:30 +0000

Heya. I was referred here by my dear friend Shveta. I’ve been sort of following your blogs through her journal. I always enjoy your insight and views on a issue that not many people are aware of. Which is sad.

I’m a Caucasian woman and I tend to read anything I can get my hands on. I’m limited by what is available to me and price. Unfortunately, I live in a small part of the US that is limited in diversity by sheer size. Our culture may be thriving and growing, but literature is a bit behind on that.

By: Kaethe

Kaethe — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:17:15 +0000

I make an effort these days to read as many different types of books, containing as many different types of characters as possible. Is it just me or are the authors writing for younger readers much better at creating believable diversity? Westerfeld, Larbalestier, Levithan, Pratchett, Rex, Reeve. The books I’m either reading to or for my kids seem to include a broader cast without making a single characteristic a substitute for character. They’re like the anti John Updike.

Thanks for the links. I’m always looking to broaden my reading list.

By: Julia Rios

Julia Rios — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:40:40 +0000

Thanks, Ari! This is a really great post! I am checking out the links now.

By: Shveta

Shveta — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:16:39 +0000

What an absolutely excellent post. You summed it up so well. We’re all people, and while the experiences we have may differ, we all go through what it means to be human.

I’m going to link to this.