love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love

First off: sorry I missed two blog posts, life got busy (not really, I've just been watching a lot of Criminal Minds) and this post is late, but I promise I will try to stick to my schedule from now on!

*note: there will be some small spoilers for the books I mention in this post

Now back to this week's post.

Diversity. It is something that defines the human race. Every single person is different with a different background and culture and personality. And it all meshes together to create all of us. Many times, people deny or reject diversity because it scares them in some way. But I am someone who very strongly believes that diversity is what brings us all together, and what makes us stronger. 

The inspiration, in part, comes from the documentary Believe. I didn't get to watch the whole thing yet, but tonight when I walked in from work and my mom was watching it, I caught the last few minutes of it. And even that small amount of time was incredibly impactful. Also, this post comes towards the end of Pride Month. All month I have seen so many amazing celebrations for this online and in person, and I hope my little post in this little corner of the internet celebrates it too. 

Religion, culture, society and so many other things sometimes try to push out the diversity of people's true selves. In the documentary, it examines how aspects of the Mormon culture can pressure members of the LGBTQ+ community so much, it leads to immense amounts of anxiety or self hatred or depression. 

I don't care what religion who are, what country you are from, what god you believe in, or anything else; to quote one of my favorites "And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love cannot be killed or swept aside."

This leads to me more to the topic I want to talk about today: diversity in books. 
Books is probably the most likely place you will find the most diverse characters, at least in my experience. It seems like people are more likely to publish stories about diverse characters than producers are likely to make tv shows or movies about such characters. I'm not sure why this is, or if it's even statistically accurate, but it is what I have noticed. 

Still there is great strides to be made in the diversity of characters in popular books. There needs to be more genders and races and sexual orientations so more people can see themselves in the characters they love in books. 

So for my post, I want to share with you some of my favorite diverse reads. Most of these I have read recently and they have opened my eyes to so many different experiences. Each of these books and the characters have taught me something, about love and life and acceptance. If you pick one of them up, I hope they give you that too. 

#1 Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

First, this book has become one of my favorite books of all time. It is beautifully written and a story that has imprinted onto my heart forever. It is not just a simple coming of age, but that aspect of the story that drives it forward makes it so much more rich and exciting. I listened to the audiobook for this one, read by the aforementioned Lin Manuel Miranda, and it made it even better. The buildup of Aristotle and Dante's relationship felt like such a delicate yet incredible thing and it was beyond beautiful. These characters were so real and I will never forget them.

#2 Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

This one, while also amazing, is very different from the previous. It was an exciting and unique fantasy, with a significant and impactful gay relationship at the center. Not only was this couple so swoon-worthy it kills me, but it was a well written strong relationship for people to see themselves in. Or for others to be exposed to someone different than themselves. 
ps: oh my god can you believe there is going to be a sequel

#3 Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda 

This one was a very emotional read. Yes, it was funny and still a love story, but Simon's experience with coming out was so intense. I think what made it so impactful was that something like this could be happening anywhere right now. Coming out to your family and friends, even if you're not exactly afraid of them rejecting you, is a terrifying thing. Simon being outed without his permission was like throwing him into the deep end of the water. But seeing him still come out (pun intended) of this all with a heart full of love was so inspiring. 

#4 Autoboyography by Christina Lauren

This book was phenomenal  Like I could not put in down. I grew up around a lot of Mormons, while not being religiious myself, so seeing how the pressures of the church affected these characters was so important to read. I could never truly understand the pressure a religion puts on you to be a certain way, but this book led me close to it. It showed me a different way of life, and it showed me how one can overpower these terrible pressures too. Also how cute were they together. 

#5 Magnus Chase series by Rick Riordan

Disclaimer, I have not read the third book in this series yet, but my point still stands. In this series, you see Alex who is genderfluid and you see Magnus simply accept that. He doesn't try and argue with them or tell them that it's wrong, he simply accepts it and supports it. This is not something you see in books or tv or movies very often, and it was so refreshing. And it taught me a lot. To be honest, I do not know any genderfluid people in real life, but this book showed me an aspect of truth to the world I had not seen yet. 



I hope you get the chance to pick up one of these books one day. More importantly, I hope you get to love your life in your own truth. 
with peace, love and pride. 

Word of the week: pride

xoxo 

Spiryt 

ps: check out my socials, I would love to connect with you more

Instagram: @theworld.in.words, @spiryt.swiftie, @spirytmc_meetsworld,  @broadway.defying.gravity

Youtube: Spiryt Mc

Goodreads: Spiryt Mc
Twitter @spirytmarie