Monthly Archives:: March 2017

Friday, March 31, 2017

Diverse Books Out March 2017

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Hello and welcome to the March round up of Diverse Releases! If you’ve been following this feature since its birth two months ago, you’ll know that Nick from Nick & Nereyda’s Infinite Booklist and I do round ups of all the diverse books out that month at the end of it. If we missed an important release, please let us know and if we include something that has problematic rep, please let us know as well! We want this round up to be as accurate as possible while also adding books to people’s TBRs that might have otherwise slipped under the radar!

1. Future Threat by Elizabeth Briggs

Release Date: March 1st

Goodreads | Buy

Latinx MC

 

2. You’re Welcome Universe by Whitney Gardner

Release Date: March 7th

Goodreads | Buy

Deaf, Indian MC who is a graffiti artist

 

3. The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

Release Date: March 7th

Goodreads | Buy

Filipino author + POC MC

 

4. A Month of Mondays by Joelle Anthony

Release Date: March 7th

Goodreads | Buy

3rd gen Japanese-American MC

 

5. Hello Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly

Release Date: March 14th

Goodreads | Buy

Filipino-American MC. #ownvoices. Diverse cast

 

6. Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan

Release Date: March 14th

Goodreads | Buy

Pakistani-American, Muslim MC. #ownvoices.

 

7. The Metropolitans by Carol Goodman

Release Date: March 14th

Goodreads | Buy

Diverse Cast: Japanese-American, First Nations, German-Jewish-American MCs

 

8. Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde

Release Date: March 14th

Goodreads | Buy

Bi, Chinese-Australian MC. Disability rep. Queer, disabled author.

 

9. The Heartbeat of Wing Jones by Katherine Webber

Release Date: March 14th

Goodreads | Buy

Multicultural heroine.

 

10. Forget Me Not by Ellie Terry

Release Date: March 14th

Goodreads | Buy

MC with Tourette’s Syndrome. #ownvoices.

 

11. Shadow Run by AdriAnne Strickland & Michael Miller

Release Date: March 21st

Goodreads | Buy

Diverse Cast. Queer Author.

 

12.Ahgottahandleonit by Donovan Mixon

Release Date: March 21st

Goodreads | Buy

Black MC. #Ownvoices.

 

13. One Good Thing about America by Ruth Freeman

Release Date: March 21st

Goodreads | Buy

MC is an immigrant from Congo.

 

14. Overturned by Lamar Giles

Release Date: March 28th

Goodreads | Buy

Black author (and I am pretty sure this is #ownvoices but cannot find a review to verify that.)

 

15. The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi

Release Date: March 28th

Goodreads | Buy

Bangledeshi-American, Muslim MC. #ownvoices.

 

16. A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi

Release Date: March 28th

Goodreads | Buy

Indian MC. #ownvoices (author is Filipino-Indian-American)

 

17. Honestly Ben by Ben Kongisberg

Release Date: March 28th

Goodreads | Buy

Gay MC. #ownvoices.

 

18. Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

Release Date: March 28th

Goodreads | Buy

Biracial, bisexual MC.

 

Books with problematic rep

– The Other F-Word by Natasha Friend. The review and the reviewer’s updates explain better than I ever could but I got similar vibes from the 25 pages I was able to get through before stopping to read something less hurtful. 

–The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Saenz. From reviews I’ve read, sexual assault was not handled well within the book, there were instances of toxic masculinity and some hurtful language.

Go forth and buy ALL THE BOOKS!! Also, check out my interview with Caleb Roehrig! Don’t forget to return at the end of next month for another roundup. #peaceout.

Timely and Important: Saint Death by Marcus Sedgwick

Posted by on 03/30/2017 • 1 Comment

Saint Death is one of those books you are going to want to hurl across the room, not because you hate it but because its too painful. Or you could do what Joey does and put scary books in the freezer for another day. The release of the book is so timely and I hope that it will reach the hands of many because it is such an important book. Right now, the conversation surrounding immigration is one of the most politically charged ones. People feel like immigrants are ruining their lives and that the answer is to throw up metaphorical and literal walls between countries. To this I respond with:

I am going slightly off topic and that’s fine because Saint Death is a book that is going to start…

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Not really memorable: Freya by Matthew Laurence

Posted by on 03/29/2017 • 1 Comment

I feel pretty let down by Freya? The question mark is there because I am not even entirely sure how I feel, just that Freya wasn’t what I wanted it to be when I was looking for a book with norse myth in it. I love books that are set in the modern world and feature heavy doses of mythology and yet, while Freya-the book-was absolutely adorable at times, Freya as a character was kind of annoying. She was obnoxious and while it sometimes made sense since she was a goddess, it could also get really annoying.

I like the contrast the author attempts with her being badass and feminine at the same time, but I also feel like he wasn’t entirely successful with crafting Freya’s character as a blend of those characteristics. She…

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The Infinite Variants of YA: The One Where Caleb Roehrig Chooses b/w an Alpaca and a Pony

Posted by on 03/28/2017 • 0 Comments

HELLO and welcome back to this fancy feature that Nick (Nick & Nereyda’s Infinite Booklist) and I are collaborating on! This month I have a really fun interview to share with the famously amazing Caleb Roehrig to share with you. He is hilarious and just as much fun to talk to as his book is to read! If you haven’t already read Last Seen Leaving, get on it because its a YA mystery you don’t want to miss. NOW. PLEASE PUT YOUR HANDS UP (or flail around, I don’t have a preference) for Caleb Roehrig!!!

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1. You’ve travelled A LOT. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you want to live and why?

Oh, man. I have definitely done a lot of travel, and I’ve…

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The Universe Thanks Whitney Gardner for Writing…: You’re Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner

Posted by on 03/27/2017 • 2 Comments

You’re Welcome, Universe is an incredibly special book and one I count myself lucky to have had the opportunity to read. It’s eye-opening, heartwarming, angsty and just a whole lot of fun. Julia is a main character YA has been waiting for and will be made all the more better by her presence.

Julia is a deaf, Indian graffiti artist. She is incredibly talented but also just tired of graffiti not being taken seriously as an art form. She is tired of all the people who give graffiti a bad name and she is tired of it being seen as vandalism instead of ART that has the ability to make a point and to make people think. She gets kicked out of her school when she covers a slur about her…

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Fresh Batch (March 26th-April 1st)

Fresh Batch (March 26th-April 1st)

Posted by on 03/25/2017 • 2 Comments

Fresh Batch, posted weekly, keeps you up to date on the hottest releases of the upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:

Strange the Dreamer Laini Taylor Series: Strange the Dreamer #1 Publication date: March 28th 2017by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Goodreads Purchase

A new epic fantasy by National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author Laini Taylor of the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy.

The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around— and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the…

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Arthurian Myth Meets World War II: The Metropolitans by Carol Goodman

Posted by on 03/24/2017 • 1 Comment

If you’ve been following along with discussions surrounding World War II books in the community, you will already know this but there aren’t many World War II books out there with Jewish main characters. Not only does The Metropolitans have a (German-American) Jewish main character, it also has Japanese-American, first nations & Irish-American main characters. The page space is split up b/w the four characters and while I cannot accurately speak for any of the rep since I am not from any of those groups, I did feel that it was done pretty well. (If you are from any of those groups and feel differently, I’d be eternally grateful if you choose to let me know so I may edit this review to reflect that!)

One of my favorite childhood books…

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One of the Most Important Books: Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan

Posted by on 03/23/2017 • 2 Comments

It’s in the title of this review post but I am going to repeat it anyway: Amina’s Voice is one of the most important books published this year and has clearly not gotten the hype it deserves. It’s a middle grade book and I know a lot of people shy away from reading those because reading tastes vary but please don’t overlook this book. Amina’s Voice is such a wonderful, heartfelt book and deserves and infinite amount of love from everybody.

I should take a moment to say I am neither Muslim-American or Pakistani-American but Amina’s Voice still resonated with and I found myself nodding along and feeling Amina’s struggle with her cultural identity on a spiritual level. I grew up feeling similar struggles and even though it wasn’t ~my story~, it felt really…

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