There are countless resources out there when it comes to diversity in books for children and youth. The successful We Need Diverse Books campaign, for one.

But when my friend and fellow librarian Christina Appleberry and I tried to find books for adults that featured diverse characters, we had a much more difficult time doing so. By all means, there are numerous staff lists on library websites that embrace diversity, but that took a lot of digging and sifting. Plus, many of those lists grouped the books into categories such as Asian Books or African American Books. What if we wanted to find a cozy mystery that featured a lead character that also just happened to be a person of colour or identified as gay?

This is when we had our lightbulb moment to create a website that would act as a Readers’ Advisory resource for those seeking various types of books featuring diverse characters or written by diverse authors. Thus, This Book is RAD was born! (RAD stands for Readers’ Advisory Diversity.) We are still in the beginning stages of this, with a handful of book titles up on the site and continuing to update it as much as we can whenever possible, but we have yet to break the Internet. With that being said, if anyone out there has any recommendations for diverse books, please do feel free to get in touch with us and send in a write-up for us to post!

Diversity is such a big topic, so we try to read widely and add categories as they come up. Our main focus is people of colour, but we have also gone on to include sexuality, gender, body image, disabilities, mental health, women, etc. We do try to keep it to adult selections as well, though you’ll notice there are definitely several young adult titles that we have featured. We also try to have a variety of genres, from non-fiction to graphic novels, poetry, science fiction, spy, etc.

Here are a few selections from our blog:

Homegoing
By Yaa Gyasi

Epic is the best word for me to describe this debut novel from Yaa Gyasi. It reminded me a lot of And the Mountains Echoed, in the way that each chapter revolves around a different character and how it jumps in time, but it all fits together into one larger story. A novel in stories, I believe is what I had been told this is called. Each story stands alone perfectly, but is woven seamlessly together to create an expansive tapestry.

Homegoing encompasses the lives of two sisters born in Ghana in the 18th century who get separated and wind up with very different lives – one is sold into slavery, the other becomes the wife of a British slave trader. And from there, we watch as the two family trees unravel into Africa and America, respectively. There is so much going on in this novel, that it’s just breathtaking. Parts will destroy you, while others will lift you right back up again. At only 26 years old, Gyasi has produced an instant classic here. Now how RAD is that?

Homegoing was released this past June 2016, so it’s a very new and current novel, as well!

-Alan Woo

And The Mountains Echoed
by Khaled Hosseini

This third novel from Khaled Hosseini is a return to form for the author the bestselling book The Kite Runner. I loved that book. It was a doorway into a world I had no concept of. His second outing, A Thousand Splendid Suns, focused mainly on the lives of Muslim women and domestic abuse. I wasn’t sure if I was a fan of it as much as The Kite Runner, but I liked it enough to want to read his most recent piece, And The Mountains Echoed.

This book is a sweeping tapestry of stories from Afghanistan, with a pit-stop in Paris, and jumps through time as we visit upon a multitude of characters whose lives intertwine and are torn apart. The first chapter featured a story within a story (i.e. one of the characters is telling a fable), which threw me off and didn’t really make me want to continue reading, but the fable fits well with the story line and once I got over that hump, I just could not put this book down. Beautiful, poetic, and downright moving, And The Mountains Echoed is a wonderful read that I would highly suggest.

-Alan Woo

Dietland
by Sarai Walker

I really enjoyed Sarai Walker’s debut novel Dietland, which is toted as being “part coming-of-age and part revenge-fantasy.” It follows the story of Plum, a heavy set woman who is dealing with body image, weight, dieting, and self-confidence. One day she notices a young lady following her, and this leads her into an adventure of self-discovery. The journey itself is filled with intrigue, as we meet mysterious characters and an international movement to empower women.

This book makes the RAD list because it features a character who is overweight, and also a side character who is half-Black and possibly a lesbian. Many of the characters in the book are female, with only a handful of men popping up here and there if only to put their chauvinism on display. This was also an enjoyable read that had me flipping through the pages as quick as I could to reach its heart-swelling climax.

-Alan Woo

Symptoms of Being Human
by Jeff Garvin

Oh wow. This book is fantastic. It taught me the term “gender fluid” which was something totally new to me. If you don’t know what gender fluid is, this book will definitely enlighten you. It brings you into the world of Riley, who sometimes feels like a boy and sometimes feels like a girl.

Now try going to a new high school with that. Add in a love interest, political drama, bullying, and so much more, and you have a recipe for a tightly-written, engulfing coming-of-age-and-then-some story, while introducing a whole new world and experience to readers at the same time. Other characters who bump this book up the RAD (Readers Advisory Diversity) ladder include Solo, the African-American jock with a heart of gold and a slight body image issue; Bec, the girl who wins Riley’s heart; and the multitude of trans characters who show up throughout the book in numerous different ways.

This book ran me through a gauntlet of emotions. I was crying my eyes out one moment, then completely enraged the next, but throughout the story, I found myself consistently rooting for our main character, Riley. Jeff Garvin’s book is a YA treasure that needs to be uncovered by more people. So go do it already and read this book!

-Alan Woo

Whatever It Takes
by Gwynne Foster

This is not the kind of book I would normally read, but I was walking through the paperbacks section of the library and I saw a book with a black woman on the cover. It’s not a common sight among the cozies and westerns and romances, so I figured I’d give it a try. Whatever It Takes, written by Gwynne Foster, is about a woman who is dealing with her parents’ divorce, a jealous and spiteful twin sister who seems hell bent on sabotaging her life, and the new man in her life. At times I thought that I might be reading Christian fiction (the father is a deacon) or romance, but I don’t think this book is either. It’s really just about family and relationships. It’s kind of like a Lifetime movie… but a book. Not bad, but not great. It didn’t change my life, but it was nice to read a book with black characters that wasn’t about slavery, civil rights, poverty, violence, or racism. We need more of that.

-Christina Appleberry

Fresh Off The Boat: A Memoir
by Eddie Huang

In the words of the author, Eddie Huang, this book is ill! (That’s a good thing!) Huang’s memoir, Fresh Off The Boat, is the basis of the hit ABC sitcom of the same name. If you’ve seen it, you’ll know it’s a pretty funny show. If you haven’t, what are you waiting for? The book however, is not quite the same. The show is much more Disney while the actual memoir is pretty raw and gritty at times.

Don’t get me wrong. The book is still full of humour as Huang navigates what it’s like growing up as an Asian-American in 1990s Orlando, with wit, intelligence, and heart. He bares all as he describes all the fist fights, the drug pedaling, and the racism. You don’t see much of that in the TV sitcom. What you also don’t get from the TV show is the reason why his grandma is in a wheelchair. On the show, she shows up in every other scene to deliver a sassy line of dialogue. In the book, it turns out she’s in a wheelchair because her feet were bound when she was a child!

His obsession with hip hop is also rampant in the book, as is his love for sneakers, basketball, and food. Now the proprietor of NYC’s BaoHaus restaurant, this book clearly shows his trajectory from being a small time troublemaker to a law school graduate to restaurateur, and everything in between. Along for the ride are his two younger brothers, his bad-ass of a father (also dumbed down for television), and his outrageous mother. Huang tackles the issues of race from his perspective, using his points of reference: hip hop, rap, basketball, and food.

This was an inspirational read. I can’t wait to go to NYC and visit his restaurant and maybe even meet the man himself.

-Alan Woo

Indian Horse
by Richard Wagamese

This novel by First Nations/Aboriginal Canadian author Richard Wagamese follows the life of Saul, aka. Indian Horse, as he is born and raised in the Canadian wilderness, only to be ripped out of his family’s arms and thrown into the horrors and evils of a residential school. It’s terrifying to know that these places actually existed here in Canada, a country that today seems so advanced in human rights yet has a dark and cruel past.

Saul’s only savior is of all things, hockey. How much more Canadiana can this be? His success on the ice helps carve out a new life for him, away from the residential school. But no matter what hockey team he plays on or what Canadian town he ends up in, there is little escape from the atrocities of racism that plight the world around him. Saul continues to run, skate, and drink, but eventually his past threatens to break through the ice to leave him drowning.

The first part of this book was intriguing, describing traditions, living in the woods, and re-tellings of Aboriginal stories. The residential school portion was infuriating and heartbreaking. The hockey parts of the book are the most fleshed out, and you can tell Wagamese is either himself a huge hockey fan, or has done his research! I’m not fussed over hockey, but in the context of this novel, I can appreciate it as a vehicle for the main character to escape and make a better life for himself.

Indian Horse is a selection I came across through the Amnesty International Book Club.

–Alan Woo

Visit This Book Is RAD for more diverse selections!

We’ve all done it. We’ve picked up that book and hurriedly checked it out and stuffed it furiously into our book bags before anyone can see. It’s that book that we probably wouldn’t advertise we were currently reading over on Goodreads. But still, under the deep cover of night, we’ve flipped frantically through the pages unable to resist wanting more. Such is the plight of the guilty read. And yes, as some of the people I polled for this article attested, why should we feel guilty for reading? We shouldn’t! However, there may still be a few titles here and there that we wouldn’t readily admit to reading. What are some of yours? Feeling embarrassed? In that case, let me be the first to confess one of my more guilty reads…

Brunette Ambition
by Lea Michele

I was never  a huge Glee fan… (okay, fine I watched every single episode). I am definitely not a huge Lea Michele fan by any means, however. Yet, I found myself picking up her “autobiography” and checking it out. The main reason for this is because she is besties with Broadway star Jonathan Groff (Spring Awakening, Hamilton), and I had heard somewhere that she discusses their friendship in her book, as well as his bout with skin cancer. Unfortunately, any mention of her and Groff’s friendship was pretty minuscule and almost nothing about his battle against cancer. Instead, the book is entirely fluff. It dedicates an entire chapter to photos of Michele doing her favourite yoga poses in her backyard and what she likes to eat for breakfast. Um…. So not quite an autobiography either. Brunette Ambition comes across as more of a lifestyle magazine disguised as a hardcover. This isn’t really a guilty pleasure, but I definitely felt lots of guilt for even wasting my time reading it!

I sent out a poll to SLAIS students and grads to see what some of their “guilty reads” consisted of and here are some of the titles I got back. All contributor names will be kept confidential in order to respect their privacy.

Act Like It
by Lucy Parker

“A smart, witty, and refreshing romance about two West End actors who agree to pretend to date for the publicity despite their dislike of one another. I’ve stopped calling things guilty pleasure reads, because I don’t think it’s worth spending time feeling guilty about reading or finding pleasure in it,” said one of my fellow classmates, who sent this in.

Here’s a more detailed synopsis of the book:

“Richard Troy used to be the hottest actor in London, but the only thing firing up lately is his temper. We all love to love a bad boy, but Richard’s antics have made him Enemy Number One, breaking the hearts of fans across the city.

Have the tides turned? Has English rose Lainie Graham made him into a new man?

Sources say the mismatched pair has been spotted at multiple events, arm in arm and hip to hip. From fits of jealousy to longing looks and heated whispers, onlookers are stunned by this blooming romance.

Could the rumors be right? Could this unlikely romance be the real thing? Or are these gifted stage actors playing us all?”

– taken from the Vancouver Public Library website

The Night Circus
by Erin Morgenstern

“I don’t know if I ever have guilty reads – I love reading soo much – but [this is] the one book I can’t wait to read again!”exclaimed a Lower Mainland librarian, who sent in The Night Circus as his pick. (I too have read this book and found it to be a wonderful and enjoyable read!)

“Le Cirque des Rêves appears without warning and only opens at night. Behind the scenes a fierce competition is underway between two magicians: Celia and Marco. They have been training for this competition since childhood, yet, despite themselves, they fall headfirst into love. But they don’t know that this is a competition in which only one can be left standing.”

– taken from the Burnaby Public Library website

The Veronica Mars spin-off books
by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham

“I loveee the recent Veronica Mars TV show spin-off books, but I don’t feel guilty about it at all! (Okay, just a little.)” That’s what one SLAIS grad posted on Facebook about her guilty pleasure reads. This sparked a supportive comment from another person, who wrote in, “No guilt needed – I’m reading Mr. Kiss & Tell right now!” If you’re not familiar with the television show, Veronica Mars is about an amateur teen sleuth who helps out her private eye father with his investigative work. After the series ended, a movie came out and the books pick up from where the feature film left off.

“Veronica Mars is back in action, and with the help of old friends she’s ready to take on Neptune’s darkest cases with her trademark sass and smarts. But she’s struggling to keep Mars Investigations afloat on the scant cash earned by catching cheating spouses until she can score her first big case. When a girl disappears from a spring break party, it’s no simple missing person’s case; the house the girl vanished from belongs to a man with serious criminal ties. Soon Veronica is plunged into a dangerous underworld of drugs and organized crime – and a shocking connection to her own past.”

– The Thousand Dollar Tan Line, taken from the North Vancouver District Public Library website

The DUFF (Designated, Ugly, Fat Friend)
by Kody Keplinger

“I read The DUFF, a YA romance novel, that I picked up because I saw the movie,” confessed another friend.

“Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper starts sleeping with Wesley Rush, a notorious womanizer who disgusts her, in order to distract her from her personal problems, and to her surprise, the two of them find they have a lot in common and are able to help each other find more productive ways to deal with their difficulties.”

– taken from the Surrey Libraries website

The Caster Chronicles series
by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Finally, our last guilty pleasure reader wrote,”Honestly, I am a sucker for the Caster Chronicles series even if it is cheesy YA paranormal romance.”

Curious about these books? Here’s more of what they’re about:

“Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.”

– taken from the West Vancouver Memorial Library website

So what are some of your guilty pleasure reads? Or not so guilty? Let us know what you’re hiding in your book bag, and why you are or are not enjoying it! We want to hear from you!

Alan Woo is a new librarian who has just completed his MLIS degree. He has worked for North Vancouver District Public Library, the UBC Education Library, and Environment and Climate Change Canada. 

Loan Stars, a tool which allows library staff across Canada to vote on which upcoming book releases we are most excited about, has been off and running for several months now. Participating library staff review titles for the upcoming month (e.g. right now we are voting for titles coming out in September). For those who are thinking about joining up, here are some of the tips and tricks I have discovered about navigating this new and exciting Canadian reader’s advisory tool:

1. Presenting a pretty face/attractive profile. When you create your profile in NetGalley, take your time to be thorough and pointed, and make sure you mention Loan Stars. The first few title requests I made were rejected because I had not indicated in my profile that I was a part of this new initiative. I was just a strange new girl with no blog or other platform with which to reach readers, so there wasn’t much reason for publishers to give me any precious Advance Reading Copies. Once I added the tidbit about Loan Stars, it was much easier to get my hands on them.
2. Beware the paperbacks. When browsing the CataList monthly catalogues for Loan Stars, be aware that not all of them are new releases. For anything that draws my interest, I usually end up plugging the title into Amazon to make sure that it has actually never been published, and is not just being released in a different format or as a new edition. As well as the paperbacks, for the odd title here and there it seems there’s a mix-up about the publication month, so it always pays to double check the publication date in another source before you get all excited about requesting or voting for it.
3. The early bird gets the ARC. Often publishers will have limits about how many ARCs of a particular book they can give out, so if you wait until later in the month to request a popular title, you may be turned down just because they’ve reached their cap.
4. Don’t request titles willy-nilly! As I have found out the hard way, NetGalley keeps track of your response (or lack thereof) to the titles that you are approved to receive, and a lack of response on your part acts as a checkmark in the negative column. The lower your response rating, the less likely the publishers are to approve more titles in the future. So I’ve learned to be selective in what I request, and wait for an answer before moving on to try something else.
5. Use experience and research (it’s not laziness). As much as we all love to read, it can be a bit overwhelming to commit to reading several pre-releases for Loan Stars every month in addition to the giant stack I’m sure we all have beside our beds. When browsing the monthly catalogue, I have taken to noting which titles I’m thinking of voting for based on existing reviews and hype, or knowing the author or series. We can submit multiple votes in Loan Stars, and you don’t have to submit a review with every vote, so it’s worth putting up a hand for ones you just think should be on the list and people should be excited about.

So, there’s my input on how to be a successful Loan Star. If anyone has any other advice we’d love to hear it!

Hope this makes you intrigued about joining Loan Stars and being part of the fun.  Go to Loanstars.ca and follow the instructions to get started.  If you don’t want to participate by voting, sign up for the newsletter and you will receive the monthly list which may help you in selecting titles and/or promoting the Loan Star winners to your patrons. But hopefully you will sign up!   Lots more voting librarians are needed!

Carys Brown, Librarian, Capilano Branch, North Vancouver District Public Library

The latest Reader’s Advisory initiative at North Vancouver District Public Library takes its cue from bookstores and other retail outlets by putting staff reviews right on the shelves. We wanted to draw our readers’ attention to books they might otherwise overlook.  All staff members are encouraged to submit mini (no more than 50 words) reviews of their favorite titles.  All the reviews are filed in a spreadsheet, and for each review a card is made up. Each card has the title, author, reviewer’s name, the review and a picture of the book cover.   Then they are fitted into snazzy plastic holders called  “Shelf Talkers” and slipped under the book.  A message on the bottom of the talker offers the reader help in placing a hold if the book is not there.  These reviews can be found in all areas of the library.

Three months in to the project, which we call “Staff Picks”, we are finding the patron response very good, judging by the empty spaces on the shelves where the reviews are!  So far staff has submitted over 130 reviews, and now we need to get more of the holders so we can pepper our shelves with even more.

Soon more “shelf talkers” will join these reviews: read-a-like lists for popular authors will soon find their way on to the shelves as well, giving patrons more ideas on what to read next.

• Claire Westlake, Librarian, Capilano Branch, North Vancouver District Public Library