thebookishowl.com

I’m a bit too late to join this event but I think it deserves all the attention and praise it can get. Aarti of Booklust blog had posted about the initial announcement over on her blog in late August and these were the pertinent points highlighted in regards to the inception of this tour:

“I’ve spoken on this blog (and in other forums) about the lack of diversity in fantasy fiction, particularly fantasy fiction of the epic nature. If epic fantasy has diversity, it is often present in a fashion that mirrors the stereotypes of Medieval Europe, with Viking-like invaders from the North and Infidels from the East and uneasy peaces and petty wars with those that look most like the heroes of the stories. This is unfair for many reasons that I hope I don’t need to enumerate here. And of course, there are absolutely amazing authors whose books are populated by characters of every size, shape, color, and species.”

“But it’s still difficult and frustrating to be a fantasy reader who comes up against the same tropes in every book. Because while fantasy novels can be, well, fantastic, they can also be very repetitive and tell the same story with different character names. And I can’t help but think that at least part of the reason is because of the lack of diversity in fantasy book authorship. Because it is hard to break into the fantasy genre as a new author, generally. And even more difficult if your book is about a person of color. And most difficult of all if you yourself are a person of color writing stories about characters of color.”

“And so a small group of bloggers got together to create an event to fight this. And, as bloggers do, we decided to organize a blog tour. For one week in September (the week of the 23rd), we want ALL OF YOU fantasy/sci fi/magical realism readers (with blogs and without) to read a fantasy/sci fi/magical realism novel written by a person of color. And to write a review of that book! You know as well as I do that books succeed based on word of mouth and mentions and conversation, and this is where bloggers can help the MOST. Just read one book. And share your thoughts on that one book.”

There’s a lot more to it and the details in regards to what constitutes a piece written by an author of color as well as a “recommended reading list – People of Color in Fantasy literature” and much more can be found in that post (scroll all the way down). I thought this to be an initiative that’s worth highlighting and it has already begun with the schedule being posted over on Aarti’s blog:

1] Jill @ Fizzy Thoughts – Half-World by Hiromi Goto

2] Liviania @ In Bed with Books – People of Paper, by Salvador Plascencia

3] Somer @ The Further Adventures of Somer – Tantalize, by Cynthia Smith

4] M @ We Sat Down – Noughts & Crosses, by Malorie Blackman

5] Terah on GoodReads – Shadow Walker, by LA Banks

6] Bunnita @ Worth Reading It? – Wild Child, by Octavia Butler

7] Mikel @ Untitled United – The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate, by Ted Chiang AND Lucretia and the Krooms, by Victor LaVelle

8] Rachelia @ Bookish Comforts – Huntress, by Malinda Lo

9] Rachel @ Resistance is futile – The Blind Owl, by Sadegh Hedayat

1] Aarti @ BookLust – The Savage Fortress, by Sarwat Chadda

2] Heather @ Raging Bibliomania – Green Grass, Running Water, by Thomas King

3] Anachronist @ Books as portable pieces of thoughts – Fledgling, by Octavia Butler

4] Care @ Care’s Online Book Club – Kindred, by Octavia Butler

5] Tanya @ girlxoxo – Who Fears Death, by Nnedi Orakorfar

6] Chinoiseries @ Always Cooking Up Something – Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro

7] Laurie @ Bay State Reader’s Advisory – The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, by N.K. Jemisin

8] Alysia @ My Little Pocketbooks – Kindred, by Octavia Butler

9] Melwyk @ The Indextrious Reader – The New Moon’s Arms, by Nalo Hopkinson

10] Llinos @Biscuits In, Writing Out – Zahrah the Windseeker, by Nnedi Okorafor

11] Elizabeth @ Meanderings – Pemba’s Song: A Ghost Story, by Tonya Hegamin and Marilyn Nelson

12] Heidenkind @ Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Books – The Arrival, by Shaun Tan 

13] Amy @ Amy Reads – Wild Seed, by Octavia Butler

14] Buried in Print – _So Long Been Dreaming, ed. Nalo Hopkinson

15] Tanita @ Finding Wonderland – Thorn, by Intisar Khanani

16] Electra @ starlady – Adaptation, by Malinda Lo

1] Marg @ The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader – The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf,by Ambelin Kwaymullina

2] Chris @ Bookarama – Brown Girl in the Ring, by Nalo Hopkinson

3] Sharon @ Library Hungry – Angelfall, by Susan Ee

4] Heather @ Capricious Reader – Parable of the Sower, by Octavia E. Butler

5] Sakura @ chasing bawa – Babel-17, by Samuel R. Delany

6] Athira @ Reading on a Rainy Day – Haroun and the Sea of Stories, by Salman Rushdie

7] SonomaLass @ Another Day In Paradise – The Steampowered Globe, ed. Rosemary Lim

8] Christy @ Another Step to Take -The Icarus Girl, by Helen Oyeyemi

9] Rachel @ Resistance is Futile – Kafka on the Shore, by Haruki Murakami

10] Renee @ Fangs for the Fantasy – The Burning Bush by Kenya Wright

11] Mia @ Nisaba Be Praised – The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delaney

12] Eva @ A Striped Armchair – Throne of the Crescent Moon, by Saladin Ahmed

1] Monique @ The Little Reading Nook, Zahrah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu

2] Charlotte @ Charlotte’s Library – Justice and Her Brothers, by Virginia Hamilton

3] Lu @ Regular Rumination – The Shadowed Sun, by NK Jemisin

4] Amy @ Amy Reads – The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, by N. K. Jemisin

5] Iris @ Iris on Books – Haroun and the Sea of Stories, by Salman Rushdie

6] Heather @ Between the Covers – Parable of the Sower, by Octavia Butler

7] Buried in Print @ Buried in Print – Darkest Light – by Hiromi Goto

8] Line by Line – TBD

9] Aarti @ BookLust – Bayou, by Jeremy Love

10] Gavin @ Page 247 – Mr. Fox, by Helen Oyeyemi

11] Paul @ Fangs for the Fantasy – Wild seed, by Octavia Butler

12] Tracey – TBD 

13] Mary Anne Mohanraj @ An Ongoing, Erratic Diary – Half World, by Hiromi Goto

14] Trish @ Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity – TBD

15] Rachel @ Resistance is Futile – Zone One, by Colson Whitehead

16] Jen @ The Mixstation – Wild Seed by Octavia Butler
17] Jenny @ Jenny’s Books – Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

1] Jessica @ Nisaba Be Praised

2] Meghan @ Medieval Bookworm – Fledging by Octavia Butler

3] Jeanne @ Necromancy Never Pays, Babel – 17, by Samuel R. Delaney

4] Fence @ Susan Hated Literature – TBD

5] Kelsey – Kindred, by Octavia Butler

6] Shan @ Curled Up With a Good Book and a Cup of Tea – TBD

7] Sabrina @ Following the Lede – TBD

8] Sandstone @ Reflections Without a Mirror – The Fall of the Towers, by Samuel Delaney

9] Terri @ BrownGirl BookSpeak – Fire Baptized, by Kenya Wright

10] Jae @ Book Nympho – TBD

11] Joanna @ Create Your World – White is for Witching, by Helen Oyeyemi

12] Kit @ orphans and animals – Huntress, by Malinda Lo

13] Vicki @ I’d Rather be Reading at the Beach – A Wish Before Dying, by Zetta Elliot

14] Rachel @ Resistance is Futile – The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, by N.K. Jemisin

15] Sharon @ Library Hungry – My Soul to Keep, by Tananarive Due

1] Shivanee @ Novel Niche – Redemption in Indigo, by Karen Lord

2] Andi @ Estella’s Revenge/The Estella Society – TBD

3] Memory @ Stella Matutina – The Killing Moon, by N.K. Jeminsin

4] Vasilly @ 1330v – TBD

5] Lisa @ Starmetal Oak Reviews – Akata Witch, by Nnedi Okorafor

6] Susanna @ SusieBookworm – Field of Honor, by D.L. Birchfield

7] Amber @ A Morose Bookshelf – Who Fears Death, by Nnedi Okorafor

8] Laura @ Ruby Bastille – TBD

9] Stacy @ The Novel Life – TBD

10] Kim @ Sophisticated Dorkiness – TBD

11] Cathy @ Cathy Ostlere’s Blog – The Night Wanderer, by Drew Haydon Taylor

12] Elizabeth @ As Usual, I Need More Bookshelves – When Fox Was a Thousand, by Larissa Lao

13] Lambert @ L. Lambert Lawson – Zahrah the Windseeker, by Nnedi Okorafor

14] Akila @ The Englishist – The House of Dies Drear, by Virginia Hamilton

15] Alpa @ 1 More Page Please – TBD

16] Micah @ Hypocritical Hyperbole – TBD

17] Amy @ Amy Reads – Akata Witch, by Nnedi Okorafor

18] Rachel @ Resistance is Futile – Who Fears Death, by Nnedi Okorafor

19] Sudha @ BookLust – Throne of the Crescent Moon, by Saladin Ahmed

1] Sheila @ Book Journey – 47, by Walter Mosley

2] Jodie @ Book Gazing – Redemption in Indigo, by Karen Lord

3] Rachel @ Resistance is futile – Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith, by Gina B. Nahai

4] Sharikquh @ Kesabaran – TBD

5] Alex @ Randomly Reading – Huntress, by Malinda Lo

6] Laura @ Bunny Tales: A ShabbyRabbit Book Blog – TBD

7] Starr @ The Literati Press – Wild Seed, by Octavia Butler

8] Bellezza @ Dolce Bellezza – Woman in the Dunes, by Kobo Abe

9] Shelley – TBD

10] Dennis @ Dennis R. Upkins: The Official Website – TBD

11] Alpa @ 1 More Page Please – TBD

This list will be updated daily and so please check back on to the original scheduling page to see the most up-to-date nature of the blog tour. I would like to thank Aarti and all other bloggers for organizing this event and for all the time and hard work they put in for successfully running it. Lastly since I wasn’t able to participate in this event, I’ll still be trying to review a book that fits under the canopy of this blog tour. As luck would have it, I recently read a great debut that I believe, fits the billing perfectly so look out for the review of GOVINDA by Krishna Udayasankar on the 3rd of October.

NOTE: Both pictures courtesy of Booklust blog and A More Diverse Universe Blog Tour.