We wanted to celebrate World Book Day on gSm and have made a three-day event out of it!

What Is World Book Day? 

World Book Day is a worldwide event happening annually on April 23rd. The day is to spread the joy of reading books! The day is especially targeted towards those from disadvantaged backgrounds to get into the world of reading for pleasure and the joy that could bring them. Often famous authors write short stories that are published free for World Book Day, there are huge sales in bookstores and there is a general camaraderie to bring long-time readers and new readers together.

What is happening on gSm the upcoming days?

You can find the Tuesday (21:30 CEST) Reading Sprint by IG member Plum here. 
You can find the Thursday (18:00 CEST) Reading Sprint by IG member Plum here. 
You can find the competitions in the Spring Retreat forum section on the announced dates/times. 

Publishing is a hard and turbulent business, and it is especially hard for authors and books that are written by BIPOC, LGBTQ+, disabled and neurodivergent authors. That is why we strongly encourage you to read diversely. Books that are trending are most often not by authors from a minority. Diverse stories are often harder to find and get less of a spotlight in marketing. There are of course exceptions for this, but the market is very difficult for someone who belongs to a minority group. You have toa ctively look for diverse books, that is how you can make a difference! Books are a unique gate that is available to you where you can learn and experience other people, cultures, histories and identities other than yours. You just need to grab a hold and open that gate. 

If you needed the reminder: Remember all readings count, it is not a competition: audiobooks, graphic novels, manga, comics, full length novels, poetry. Everything counts and we hope you have fun with what you read. 

During the event, we focus on fantasy, mystery/crime and romance books as they are among the most popular genres. We have made a (hopefully) interesting, diverse book recommendation list for you! 

• Jade City by Fonda Lee (Asian inspired fantasy, godfather meets kung fu)
  The Wicked Bargain by Gabe Cole Novoa (pirates, nonbinary, queer, latinx)
• The Final Strife by Saraa El-Arifi (sapphic, blood hierarchy, revolution)
• Wayward Children by Seanan McGuire (lots of different rep, short books)
• Babel by R.F. Kuang (dark academia, colonialism, historical)
• Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas (trans mc, latinx, ghosts)

• Brown Sisters Trilogy by Talia Hibbert (three sisters one book each, different rep, romance tropes)
• Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake (sapphic, grumpy-sunshine)
• You Made a Fool Out of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi (queer, grief, not what you expect!)
• The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang (autism rep, trilogy, different romance tropes) 
• Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner (MILF, sapphic)
• A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall (trans mc, historical, adorable) 

• Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson (anxiety rep, dark academia, mystery for the ages)
  You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron (sapphic, camp setting, fast paced)
• Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (dark academia, queer, pretty little liars meets gossip girl)
• The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones (native american, build up suspense)
• Out by Natsuo Kirino (japanese … don’t want to say more!, translated) 
• The Silence of Bones by June Hur (korean historical setting)

TLDR:

• Happy World Book made to connect with new and old readers! 

• Remember to try to read diversely

• Authors from minorities are often disadvantaged in the publishing industry

• All reading counts and remember to have fun!

Chat about books and recommend each other new reads in the forum!

Love,

The Focus Group & Plum from the Inclusivity Group