If you’ve been around the blog for a while, then you know I tend to sneak in some random gifs, from Lee Min Ho to Disney and back. To me these out of place funny little animations add a hint of a smile and a slice of life. 

I live in and go to school in a very diverse city. There are kids from all over the world. You name it, we probably have it. This means that I’ve grown very accustomed to seeing different cultures and different appearances. They are my normal. 

This might actually be one of the reasons as to why I’m so fascinated by the aspect of traveling. I see these people, they have completely different backgrounds than me but they are still just like me in many ways. It makes me crave to see how they were raised. I want to visit their countries of origin. But as usual, the age of poverty strikes and I’m left to read about them instead. So I search for books set in China/Russia/France…. Do I find them? Yes, but rarely.

This is a growing trend I’ve noticed with YA. There is a wide variety of books set in North America and by that I mean America. There aren’t as many set in Canada at all. I would love to read about a paranormal romance set in Toronto, or a summer read set in Nova Scotia. Still there are a few. There are also some books set in Paris, Tokyo, Russia, London and Germany if you like historical fiction. But how about the rest of the world?

Even authors who aren’t from the US, somehow tend to write about the US. The US is obviously a fantastic country with so many scenic and interesting places for authors to set their books. But as the world becomes more open for me to explore, I start to wish that the books I read would also. 

Going back to my diverse surroundings, diversity isn’t that common in YA. There definitely is the occasional person of colour or asian ethnicity but most of the time these things are mentioned in passing. For example, I had no idea that Tobias/Four from Divergent wasn't white. Apparently he has an “olive skin tone” which doesn’t say much and was probably why I didn’t register it.

Then there are characters like Rose Hathaway (Vampire Academy) who knows her origins and flaunts it. She is proud of her mother's Scottish and father's Turkish descent. Good for her. I want more Rose Hathaway's.

I also know that Park from Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell is Korean, which makes me very happy. This may be partly influenced by the fact that I’m in the midst of a Korean obsession... Anywho... I found it interesting that Ms. Rowell was asked by fans why Park was Korean. It goes back to the lack of characters like Park, so when they appear people are shocked. Here is Rainbow Rowell’s reply.

Diversity is great. It promotes acceptance and love and is an important factor in achieving world peace, since the root of conflict is prejudice and miseducation. Books are powerful tools; they introduce us to opinions, places and people. Maybe you’ve never heard of a certain person, place or thing. I know I’m not the most educated person out there, but we can learn.  

Lets put aside learning for a bit, it’s the holidays after all. Happy Holidays! 

We made that phrase to accommodate for all the different celebrations occurring at this time of year. Why? Because the Earth is filled with people who have some different but equally amazing cultures. So if not for world peace and k-pop lovers then why not in the spirit of the holidays, bring some diversity to YA?

-MARI

The Weekly Progress is a type of wrap up post that happens every Sunday on The Sirenic Codex looking on the week that was.

It's been a while since I've done a TWP so I'm super excited as I usually love reading about P.E.'s week. This past week was definitely a packed one for most people and I hope everyone had a wonderful week. Happy holidays and merry christmas to all those who celebrated.

Currently Reading:

These Broken Stars - Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner

I have an obsession with this book. It shows up in everyone of my recent posts! I finally got it on my kobo and am slowly making my way through... (very slowly) but that's not the book's fault. I can't wait to have some time to really read it.

On The Blog:

We kicked off the week with my post on judging books by their cover and why you should do it!

On tuesday, the final Cover Wars of 2013 went up. This time it's Under Different Stars vs. Love Letters to the Dead. Make sure to head over and vote, if you haven't already.

Then, we had another round up type post, this time it's P.E.'s Best Books of 2013. She's had a pretty great reading year and you can see all her favourites there.

Next, we had P.E's review of Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo, which is a rising favourite of hers. I haven't read it yet but I'm looking forward to the series.

I then wrote about some of my most anticipated 2014 sequels from my tbr list. What sequels are you looking forward to?

The week was wrapped up by P.E.'s review of This Song Will Save Your Life. I've heard great things about the book and P.E.'s excitement towards it has made me very curious as well.

Current Obsessions:

My favourite part of the post mwahaha! This is where I get to veer completely off track and start talking about things that I might be the only one who's interested in. Nevertheless, blab I will!

So this happened while I was scrolling down my youtube feed, which is filled with some awesome world entertainment. Anything from bollywood, hollywood, china/taiwan to Korea. This particular one is Korean!

It started like this!

And then this.. 

Mari is falling in love

Mind Blown!

In case you're interested, that's Bi/Rain a very popular k-pop singer who was discharged from his mandatory military service this year and I finally got to see him perform (on my computer screen) and I'm a fan. Watch the video?

Anyways.......

Back to the books. I didn't do much shopping this boxing day, which made me quite sad, but I did buy some books for a couple of friends. After having gone to store choosing, picked up the book and coming home, I realized (thanks to goodreads) that my friend had already read the book! Tears. So I'll be exchanging that.

Song of the Week

I'm not as musical as P.E. or as eloquent in my description of music videos. This one isn't even english and I don't understand what they are saying... but it's pretty and it's great for the season! Also, I just love how it sounds so it's what I've been listening to all week :)

Have a great week everyone!

-MARI