Diversity Spotlight Thursday a weekly meme created and hosted by Aimal at Bookshelves and Paperbacks. Every week, the goal is to come up with one book in each of three different categories: a diverse book you have read and enjoyed, a diverse book on your TBR, and one that has not yet been released. 

I’m really excited to be participating in Diversity Spotlight Thursday. I seen Aimal posting about it on Instagram a few weeks ago and I thought it was such an amazing idea and so creative. A big thanks to Aimal for creating this meme and being a great advocate for diversity. Definitely go check out her blog and her Instagram.

Book I have read

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

 Asian main character 

To survive in a ruined world, she must embrace the darkness…

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a walled-in city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten. Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them—the vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself dies and becomes one of the monsters.

Forced to flee her city, Allie must pass for human as she joins a ragged group of pilgrims seeking a legend—a place that might have a cure for the disease that killed off most of civilization and created the rabids, the bloodthirsty creatures who threaten human and vampire alike. And soon Allie will have to decide what and who is worth dying for…again.

Enter Julie Kagawa’s dark and twisted world as an unforgettable journey begins.

The Immortal Rules is the best vampire book I’ve ever read. It’s dark, twisted, and incredibly well written. The characters are diverse and fantastic. With a well thought out plot and outstanding world building, Julie creates an amazing reading experience. The Immortal Rules is everything I could want in a book and more.

Book on my TBR

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

Indian-American characters

A laugh-out-loud, heartfelt YA romantic comedy, told in alternating perspectives, about two Indian-American teens whose parents have arranged for them to be married.

Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she’s more than ready for a break from her family, from Mamma’s inexplicable obsession with her finding the “Ideal Indian Husband.” Ugh. Dimple knows they must respect her principles on some level, though. If they truly believed she needed a husband right now, they wouldn’t have paid for her to attend a summer program for aspiring web developers…right?

Rishi Patel is a hopeless romantic. So when his parents tell him that his future wife will be attending the same summer program as him—wherein he’ll have to woo her—he’s totally on board. Because as silly as it sounds to most people in his life, Rishi wants to be arranged, believes in the power of tradition, stability, and being a part of something much bigger than himself.

The Shahs and Patels didn’t mean to start turning the wheels on this “suggested arrangement” so early in their children’s lives, but when they noticed them both gravitate toward the same summer program, they figured, Why not?

Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out. But when opposites clash, love works hard to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.

Expected publication: May 30th 2017

I’ve heard nothing but great things about When Dimple Met Rishi and I’m a sucker for cute contemporaries. I’ve also heard that there is a lot of family and friendship dynamics, which I love. I’m definitely going to be jumping into this book within the next couple of weeks.

Book releasing soon

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

African American main character 

Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, Angie Thomas’s searing debut about an ordinary girl in extraordinary circumstances addresses issues of racism and police violence with intelligence, heart, and unflinching honesty. Soon to be a major motion picture from Fox 2000/Temple Hill Productions.

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

Expected publication: February 28th 2017

Not only does The Hate U Give have great early reviews, the synopsis alone made me immediately put this book on my to-buy list. (I wrote this post last week and I didn’t know The Hate U Give released before this post would go up. But I still wanted to include it in my post.)