I’ve signed up for back-to-back summer readathons for the last two weekends this month. The first is the 24 in 48 Readathon from 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, July 21, until 11:59 a.m. Sunday, July 22 (reading for 24 out of any of the 48 hours, Eastern Standard Time); the second, a reverse Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon, from 8 p.m. Friday night, July 27, until Saturday night, July 28, at 8 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time).
In the past, both readathons have encouraged reading diversely, but the 24 in 48 Readathon organizers this year are putting a special emphasis on it (see their post here). To that end, for the two readathons, I plan on focusing on diverse authors, not only authors of colors (although I will admit my list is lopsided toward them) as the organizers mention, but also also authors and books that represent “LGBTQIA+, disabilities, neurodiversity, geographic diversity, and more.”
I already have a few books selected for the readathon, but will add more to the potential reading list. Here is the list so far:
- We Were Eight Years In Power: An American Tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me: A Memoir by Sherman Alexie
- Bluebird, Bluebird: A Novel by Attica Locke
- You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me: A Memoir by Sherman Alexie
- Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
- Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli.
I own the first six and have been meaning to get to all of them for a while and I borrowed Children of Blood and Bone from our library after seeing a lot of book bloggers mentioning it. I am hoping to borrow the last one from our library too. I think we just got it, but it hasn’t been processed yet. Once it is, I’ll scoop it up.
Are you planning on participating in either or both readathons? Even if not, do you have any recommendations of diverse authors or books that I might want to add to my potential reading list for the upcoming readathons?
Still an unfinished person... 
I’m already signed up for Dewey’s. My biggest question now is whether to treat myself to a hotel room for the night or participate from home.
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Treat yo self! 🙂
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I am not sure I will be able to participate in either event. I have The Hate U Give. When no one wanted to read one book on our book club list I offered up a runner-up from mine so now it’s on the official list. That also means I get to lead that discussion even though technically I already have two discussions to lead.
I need to finish my required reading like for book club and my small group and then I can finish up some other books on my shelf. On my shelf, let’s face it. They are in my bag and I am lugging them around all over. I need to read them. I just got declined for the new Murakami. They do this to me every time! Makes me very mad because I am supposed to be an ambassador for Murakami. Same publisher. So weird.
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I had no idea the 24 in 48 was this month as well. I am signed up for Dewey’s but I may sign up for 24 in 48 as well. Though I don’t know if I’ll have the time to read for a full 24 hours, and I don’t want to change the books I’m reading to add more diversity that I have. I want to finish the books I’ve started! Is it necessary to be diverse?
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No. That’s just something they’re asking. Not a requirement.
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Push The Hate U Give to the top of your list. It’s so powerful.
I hope to join in the two readathons. I signed up. I have plenty (PLENTY!) of books I can pull out. I hope it works out.
I love to read from diverse cultures. I am especially drawn to books from Hispanic cultures. I wish I could find more of these, especially books for children. I wish more stories would be written like this.
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I’ll put The Hate U Give priority.
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