4 types of diversity we need more of in books

I recently read The Pixie Chronicles' post 8 types of diversity books need more of and was so inspired by it. It's an excellent list and highlights the good and the bad of bookish diversity - and shows some pretty obvious holes in bookish inclusion. With that post in mind, I'd like to expand by adding my own thoughts on additional diversity we need in the bookish community - and offer a couple books in each category that do this well.

Mental illness besides anxiety and depression 

I have loved the good publicity mental health issues have been getting in recent years, but there's still a lot of work to be done. I've enjoyed reading book after book about depression and anxiety, but I think the bookish community (especially YA bookish people) could benefit a lot from seeing more mental illness and how it can affect people - and how people deal with it. 

Books that handle it well

    

Wheelchairs

This is one diverse category that I've only seen once or twice in books and I'd love to see more. I didn't realize how difficult being a wheelchair could be until I became friends with a few people in wheelchairs and realized how difficult just going to see a friend can be if their home isn't accessible enough. I want to see more of this in media in general - and especially in books.

Books that handle it well

 

Religion

I partly got thinking about this because The Pixie Chronicles mentioned this one, so I am including this to put an emphasis on this. In recent years, religion has become something that people don't really talk about - and especially in books, people often don't view religion as being an important piece of diversity. I personally really think that religion is part of diversity -people all over the world believe in different things and it colors their culture and traditions. I love reading about character for whom religion is important while they also deal with their other conflicts.

Books that handle it well

    

Polynesian characters

I've been so impressed with all the racial diversity that I've been seeing recently in media (especially books), but we very rarely see polynesian characters in books or movies. While Pacific Islanders are a somewhat smaller group of people, it's still important that they get included in literature, as they have a rich culture that's often overlooked.

Books that handle it well

    

Want to help promote disabled diversity and help real-life people in addition to reading books with diversity? Creative Souls is a company that gives disabled people a chance to use artwork to stay employed. The company provides disabled individuals with the supplies to decorate shoes and then sells the shoes while giving the artist a profit. They're also currently working towards buying a printer so that they can print artists' designs on shoes instead of having to paint them by hand (and so they can sell multiple copies of the same shoes in different sizes). This will help artists make much more money off the same piece of artwork (aka making fair wages for their work). If you know someone who could benefit from this job (or who would love a hand-painted pair of shoes), spread the word!

Have you read any of these books? What kinds of diversity would you like to see more of in books? What books would you add to these lists? How do you help real-life diverse people?

On how to read more diversely

American society today (and some societies around the world) are pushing for more diverse literature, movies, and other media. What does that mean for us readers? To begin with, it means there will be more types of characters, love stories, plot lines, cultures, and interests featured in books we read. In many opinions, it also means that readers are obligated to read more diverse books - more demand=more supply. 
For me personally, I don’t feel the need to go to great lengths to read more diversely just yet. Many of the books I’ve found on Netgalley and won through Goodreads Giveaways are far more diverse and interesting than anything I would find on my own. Also, a large majority of the blogs I read recommend several diverse books, so I haven’t had to work much to find more diverse characters and authors to read. To me, that’s interesting - it’s easy for me to find these sort of books because they’re constantly being pushed upon me. I have very little work to do in order to find them.
If you’re struggling to find more diverse (or even broad) reading, then I have a few resources for you:

• Book blogs - There are countless book blogs out there that recommend diverse books, that advocate diversity, and that give diversity scores to books they review. Blogs are a fantastic way to get good book recommendations anyway, but I have a few blogs that are worth investigating more.
• Book Riot - Book Riot thrives on sharing books written by diverse authors or about diverse characters. Look at their many book lists for ideas about your next diverse read.
• The Book Satchel - This book blog covers a lot of Indian authors and Indian books, in addition to many books by and about women of color. While the blog doesn’t focus exclusively on these types of books, Resh (the blogger) tends to like those sort of books best, it seems - she writes about them a lot. Also, she takes beautiful book pictures and has great taste in books, so her blog is worth it just for that.
• Rich in Color - This blog is wholly dedicated to writing about and reviewing diverse books. In addition to frequent reviews, they also post lists periodically relating to various subsets of book diversity or in celebration of certain types of diversity.
• Read Diverse Books - This blog also offers many diverse book recommendations and listicles. There are also many link-ups and challenges to encourage other book bloggers to read more diversely.
• We Need Diverse Books - This website (which isn’t quite a blog) is dedicated to making diverse books more accessible and well-known. On one page, they have an infograph of several different diverse books you can read - all depending on your interests.
• Reading challenges - While some book challenges simply get you to read genres you’re unfamiliar with, many reading challenges encourage more diverse reading and some challenges offer ideas of books that will fulfill each criteria. You can also further challenge yourself by taking a normal reading challenge and adding further criteria for yourself - i.e. Each book within the challenge must be written by a person of color to count.
• Popsugar’s 2017 Reading Challenge - While this challenge has very few overt calls for diverse authors or characters, this would be an easy challenge to tweak to your specifications.
• Book Riot’s Read Harder 2017 Challenge - Book Riot does this challenge each year and it typically focuses on diversity in books. This year, many of the challenge suggestions come from authors you may be familiar with (and who may have written books that fulfill some of the criteria).
• Unconventional Librarian - This Diversity Reading Challenge only requires you to read 12 books throughout the year, so it's simple. Also, this blog listed TONS of books for Black History Month, so if you're looking for diverse books, this is a great place to start.
• 4th House on the Left - This Diversity Bingo Challenge has been making it’s way around the internet and is a good way to read books about diverse characters while not letting reading take over your life. They also include a list of books that could fit various categories on the Bingo board. They haven't posted a 2018 Diversity Challenge yet, but keep your eyes open.
• Pucks and Paperbacks - This blog followed the Bingo challenge last year, but took it up a notch. Each month, they picked a different topic and focused on books from that topic. On this page, they listed books that you could read during each month to fulfill the Bingo challenge and to fit within their monthly challenges. They haven't yet posted a 2018 Diversity Challenge that I could find, but their 2017 list is a great place to start.
• Ask someone - Is there someone you know who has wonderful taste in books? Who reads like there won’t be a tomorrow? Who is always up-to-date on the newest books? Who works in a library? Anyone who falls within one of these categories will for sure have a book or two in mind if you’re looking to read more diverse books. And often, once you find an author or two who write really diverse characters, it’s easy to branch out from there.

How do you find new diverse books? What resources do you use to get book recommendations?

On how to include more diversity in your writing

Diversity is a hot topic right now and there are growing criticisms for authors who choose not to include diversity in their books. If you’re an aspiring writer who wants to write about diverse people in diverse situations, it’s important to do it right - and here are some of my thoughts on how best to do that:

• Do your research - I cannot stress this enough. You need to know enough about a culture to include it in your writing in a decent way. Too little research and you might be left with some hurtful stereotypes - or with an unrealistic character. What resources can help you with learning about cultures?
• Books - Books featuring characters from cultures you’re interested in or about places your characters would be from can be immensely helpful.
• Travel - Many authors travel around to get ideas about the people and places they’re going to be writing about. If this isn’t something you can afford to do (and trust me - you aren’t alone in that), prepare as if you are going to travel there. Watch travel videos about going to the country or city your characters are from and read travel guides for these areas. Even if you can’t go and learn from immersion, these resources can give you a decent feeling for a culture or people.
• Language - If you’re basing characters on a specific culture, getting an idea of that culture’s language can be immensely useful. Reading books about the language or watching videos teaching important phrases can give you an insight into how minds in specific cultures work, what’s important to people in this culture, and what is considered polite/rude in this culture.
• Meet lots of people - Sure - you might not know a lot of people with a strong knowledge about every culture you wish to include in your book. However, knowing lots of interesting and diverse people can help you learn to write characters who are very different from each other and distinct and important. Expanding your social group to include people who are different from you can also help you to write more in-depth characters.
• Ask for advice/guidance - If you aren’t sure you’re properly representing a particular culture or making your characters individual enough, have someone else read over your story with a specific prompt in mind - Are these characters distinct and different or do they all blend together? Is this a sensitive and effective way to include a diverse character in this story? Having friends read over a story that you’re working on with these things in mind can help you to be more conscience of these things as you continue to write and can also give the people in your life a chance to get very involved in your work. It can also prompt some interesting discussions and perhaps a new way to connect with the people who are important to you.
• Be willing to admit that you don’t know everything - In my mind, this is a very important thing for every writer to acknowledge. While writing, it’s important to keep an open mind to new things you learn and the tips that people offer you. While writing about diverse people, this is especially important - if you’re writing about characters who are very different from you, you can’t afford to shut out the advice of people who have more experience than you. This being said, don’t be afraid to take that advice with a grain of salt - what one person thinks is very important to include may not have a place in your book.

What tips would you add to this list? How would you go about writing a character different from you?