just read a book review where the reader said they didn't like the desi representation because the parents were shown to be supportive of their teen daughter and the reader couldn't relate —i don't know but maybe we should stop equating representation with relatability.
I'm here for BIPOC writers infusing their stories with their culture or folktales and I'm *also* here for BIPOC writers choosing to tell a story that isn't fully or even partially inspired by —or immersed in— their culture. Authors of color should be free to make this choice.
Call me when you all are ready to add soft girls who are determined and super feminine to the list of strong female characters when putting together book lists.
—here are some backlist SFF titles by trans, non-binary, genderqueer, and/or gender nonconforming authors for
#transbooks365
💫 some of these are my absolute favorites and some i hope to read soon!
not me absolutely loving the first book in a series, obsessively talking about it everywhere, being hyped for the next book for an entire year, and then not actually reading the sequel for months despite seeing it everyday on my shelf.
more south asian books where parents are actually in love, exchange smiles, sing old songs to each other, dance awkwardly & embarrass their children by being a cute couple instead of the common but overused trope of desi parents tied in an unhappy, compromising relationship.
publicist: oh, you're an intl blogger? alright, let me send you an e-arc!
me (just happy i'm getting to read this book early): sure!
*opens the soft copy*
O
Nc e
upon a time
A gi rl was frus
Tr
ated.
why do i feel like a liar every time i forget all the books i've ever loved reading when someone asks for book recommendations. like, i swear i'm a reader (!!!) i'm just scared you'll not love any of my favourite books so my nervous, sensitive brain is simply switching off.
romance books with a bipoc main character make me so very happy but i also get a little disappointed when the love interest is white, especially at how often it's a bipoc girl + white guy —just give us more diverse bipoc romances in it's truest sense. recommendations welcomed!
📚 84 books by south asian authors to read this year! this list took months to put together but noting makes me more happy than seeing these books together; add them to your shelves. 🌼
—clicks + retweets are always appreciated 💛
—authors in next tweet.
don't know who needs to hear this but retellings aren't meant to be exactly the same as the original work it's based on or inspired by. expecting it to fit the story or resemble characters of the original clearly means constricting the creativity that retellings can bring.
Goodreads says it's a great book but you all, please don't forget that Meet Me in Bombay is a white romance set during the British Raj in colonial India — a period of oppression and a time that's traumatic for very many generations.
A new release by
@Nnedi
, a debut from
@ellie_m_eaton
, historical fiction, psychological thrillers, and medical pioneers! Take a look at 6 great books hitting shelves this week:
hi, i'm a very shy writer and i really hope to find some writer friends who i can ask the simplest questions about crafting/publishing without feeling like someone who's late to the game. 🥺💖
HAPPY RELEASE DAY to these Black authors! Add, buy, gift, borrow, read, and boost their books. ❤️
✨You Should See Me in a Crown by
@byleahjohnson
✨A Song Below Water by
@BCMorrow
✨A Song of Wraiths and Ruins by
@rosiesrambles
✨The Dragons, The Giant, The Women by
@Wayetu
for lesbian visibility week, here are some books with lesbian protagonists that i've either absolutely loved reading or are high up on my tbr 💗
#VisibleLesbianBooks
more south asian romance books where the characters are living with their parents, are sneaking out to meet each other, are bribing the siblings to keep their secrets safe, and are always anxious about being spotted by a family member when they're together.
The way BIPOC write stories with fairies or elves or goblins with way more nuance & complexity in terms of character arcs and world building shows that what is considered "overdone" by some in the fantasy genre is actually simply unexplored for the lack of more diverse stories.
would like to congratulate myself for outlining almost the entire sequel of my adult fantasy series while the draft of the first book remains unfinished
love interests in fantasy books using their magical power to simply impress the main character during a fun conversation and commence a subtle-or-not flirting session does way more to me than when they use those powers for the story's plot.
this fathers day, i wish for more south asian books to have supportive, understanding, and sensitive dads—making an attempt to dilute the stereotype of strict, demoralising, and intimidating desi fathers; despite the latter being real for many because the former is a reality too.
I hope we get much more horror in 2024. I want more queer horror, more horror from BIPOC writers, more horror mixed with whatever authors love, more cerebral horror, more horror that doesn't give a fuck about being easy to digest, and more place-specific horror. I want it all.
more south asian books where parents are actually in love, exchange smiles, sing old songs to each other, dance awkwardly & embarrass their children by being a cute couple instead of the common but overused trope of desi parents tied in an unhappy, compromising relationship.
i'm amazed how white authors who write fiction with evident influences of bipoc culture are even given the freedom to write about anything in terms of that culture —while bipoc themselves are expected to restrict their stories to a *very* specified identity within that culture.
reincarnation trope holds so much potential to destroy readers because the past incarnations can be soulmates dying in each others' arms but in the present life, they're enemies & forbidden to love—and meant to end each other while they slowly remember bits of the past lives
these young adult books by south asian authors will make this month may-morable; support them! 📚
🌈 hani and ishu's guide to fake dating by
@adiba_j
💙 counting down with you by
@tashiebhuiyan
🌼 misfit in love by
@SajidahWrites
🌿 the marvelous mirza girls by
@ShebaKarim
Publicist: Oh, you're an international blogger? Alright, let me send you an eARC!
Me (just happy that I'm getting to read this book early): Sure!
*opens the soft copy*
O
Nc e
upon a time
A gi rl was frus
Tr
ated.
BIPOC writing stories inspired by the myths or folktales they grew up with can choose to highlight what was unfair in these tales OR choose to simply portray the best bits. This idea that BIPOC *must* critique their culture or mythology through their works is not so good.
you know a book by an author of the diaspora and set in the homeland is written for the western gaze or has reiterated stereotypes —maybe unintentionally— when readers from the homeland don't like the book at all but the western audience hails it as a must-read for the "rep"
sometimes it breaks my heart that fantasy books set in the desert are often seen as a recounting of the worst times—a time one must want to get out of—because of the absolute raw backdrop instead of viewing it as a landscape like any other where life can exist, stories can exist.
Loved how Iron Widow by
@XiranJayZhao
brought together giant mechas, vengeance and a badass heroine to crush misogyny + destroy the illusions of a world (at war) set on sacrificing girls to a gender-biased pilot system. Also, poly power trio > love triangle. Oh, and that ending!
this idea that an author of color must be "humble" and should avoid recounting their journey simply because it's "easier" in comparison to many marginalised writers sounds like just another way to *want* BIPOC authors to 'suffer for success' —and the suffering shall be judged.
It's
#PrideMonth
! 🏳️🌈💗 Here are 12 YA queer books by authors of color to start Pride Month with —from contemporary romance like The Henna Wars to a feminist retelling like Cinderella is Dead or a sci-fi fantasy like The Sound of Stars. Read more here:
every year we think more and more readers are seeking and appreciating visibility or representation in books, sensitive and important themes in stories, especially by marginalized authors, and every year goodreads choice awards decides to prove us wrong.
#APIHeritageMonth
might be coming to an end but every day is a great day to add more books —especially to diversify your bookshelves— so here are 110 recent, new, and upcoming fiction books by Asian and Pacific Islander authors 💗 RTs always appreciated!
1) Readers need content warnings.
2) These are often used against marginalised authors.
3) Authors + publishers should generate TWs.
4) Readers should navigate warnings added by others, including reviewers, with a possibility of them being out of context or outright nonexistent.
Tbh, I don't expect anything from booktwt and I can't force responses, but for those who do wish to understand:
Quick RTs can also help; someone from the indian booktwt might find your retweet & get aid or forward aid.
Smallest donations also count, $10 = 740 INR
the covid situation in India is really bad. The government isn't doing shit, and there are over 350k cases everyday. There are vaccine, oxygen, and hospital resource shortages.I'm compiling a thread of resources and places to donate to- pls do what u can, and PLEASE rt and spread
📚 40 best new books of february 2022 to read! this year is already bringing some of the best, from historical to horror, and from middle grade fantasy to contemporary romance. ✨
—clicks + retweets are always appreciated 💛
—authors in next tweet.
I haven't read Steel Crow Saga. You might have. You might have also loved it. That doesn't make you wrong, trash, or ignorant.
BUT now that it's right here: Paul Krueger is a harasser; you should definitely stop supporting, recommending, or reading his works.
Simple as that.
—books i'm excited for that i think you should preorder today on
#IndieBookstoreDay
💜 a thread of affiliate links to
@Bookshop_Org
where you can support independent bookstores while also availing free shipping throughout this weekend ✨
On
#AutismAwarenessDay
, here are 21 new and upcoming books with autistic characters! From teen romances and queer stories to paranormal romances and science fantasy, you'll find some great fiction suggestions for your reading.
Read here:
wiplift was amazing so i'm here, again, looking for writing buddies who are also working on adult fantasy stories —if you're someone creating the epic, the dark, and the romantic, and want a fellow writer to chat with, i'm all here excited 💗
The *need* to be irascible and unnecessarily unpleasant on booktwt is worrisome. Like, who wakes up and thinks I'm going to let an author know I hated their book simply because social media allows me to access their attention without the weight of an actual interaction.
some writers spend more time on the plot, some writers on their characters, but real winners are those who—instead of actually drafting—obsessively research this one particular event, folklore, mythological tale, or historical incident that actually won't affect their story much.
more south asian fantasy that's not set during a historical timeline or an ancient era to show the richness of the culture, heritage, and region & are instead simply set in a world which depicts the same magnificence that's often tied to something of the past, something it 'was'.
books with multiple pov are fun to read but then you start loving one character's pov a lot and absolutely hate another character's pov and now you're excited to read some chapters while some chapters you wish to completely skip.
to be honest, authors from the diaspora writing stories set in the homeland for just some exotic points is always a little disappointing. not only do such stories not show the homeland with rightful nuance but the details are also often adjusted to suit the western eye—so tiring.
Read YELLOWFACE by
@kuangrf
in a single sitting and highly recommend it. It's meta, it's mighty, and it's merciless. This dark satire is a mirror of publishing, plagiarism, and pessimism polished with desperation & dreams—driven by social media and sad realism. Out in May 2023!
hey, everyone doing
#pitlight
! 💖 i'm a very shy writer who is looking for some writer friends i can throw around ideas with, exchange snippets with, do writing sprints with, and cry about imposter syndrome with. i'm now working on an adult fantasy based on hindu eschatology!
1. No, political YA books don't need to stop.
2. We need books with political themes.
3. It's important to not reduce the concerns & doubts that POCs have around a possibly harmful story by shifting the spotlight to wider takes like those based on the above two.
enemies to lovers is nice but "enemies to lovers to enemies" simply wins—the unexpected turn of feelings toward the last act, characters looking back at the romantic sequences & wishing they had never let their 'guard down', and the rage still not burning away all the love, ufff.
more south asian books where main characters choose to step away from their parents or relatives because the gender norms, inherited expectations, toxic gossip, and absolute lack of support from 'family' to do something for oneself has almost exhausted them.
On
#InternationalWomensDay
, here are 40 SFF books by women of color you must read this year! From sprawling epic fantasy to high-stakes sci-fi & from plain horror to mind-blowing speculative fiction, you'll find something great.
#WomenForTheWin
Read here:
🌿 some new year resolutions for book twitter 🍃
✨ genuine discourses shall not be called drama
✨ no more apologising for a hiatus or slump
✨ appreciate bloggers as much as booktubers
✨ boost important causes, and expand your concern + support to third-world countries too.
If Shadow and Bone + Six of Crows are the only two fantasy stories you've read and enjoyed, chances are:
a) you don't love the genre or
b) you only like white authors or
c) you've now taken it upon yourself to compare every fantasy by an author of color to either of these.
friendly reminder: stop overthinking about how your story will be perceived—you can only write it right now and work on making it your absolute best, nothing more or nothing less is in your control.
In today's search for upcoming releases that haven't been hyped much, I came across THE FIRST SISTER which is not only an epic space opera perfect for The Handmaids Tale & Red Rising fans but also has a non-binary hero & promises a lot of social commentary. Also, THIS COVER! 😍
how can anyone suggest people from once-colonised regions to "move on" when colonisers chose the term third world to label such countries—right after the independence of many—on the basis of economic development when *they* had destroyed the local economies of these very regions
we need more south asian diaspora stories that aren't by american, canadian or british authors. there are so many south asian tales from the rest of europe, middle-east, australia, east + south-east asia, and africa waiting to be told —let's seek those experiences, those writers.
for all the book bloggers or book reviewers out there: if sometimes you think one paragraph or some pointers can sum up your love or opinion for a book, count it as a review. don't let the stress of always writing lengthy reviews get to you and your reading progress.
No.
I don't want to read a white romance set in a place they occupied with force and during a time that's traumatic for very many generations.
Also, ask those who must have suffered during the British Raj about the "alluring opulence of colonial India".
Publishers promoting BIPOC & queer books:
✨it releases today!✨
Publishers promoting other books:
✨it releases a year from now!✨
✨pre-order now!✨
✨it releases in six months!✨
✨it releases in three months!✨
✨it releases today!✨
✨it released last year! read it!!!✨
i think authors should share ko-fi links or such on their websites because a lot of bookish content creators read their works early & fall in love with them but can't afford to support all by buying books around the release dates. maybe ko-fi or patreon can be good for that!