Diversity Spotlight #7

Diversity Spotlight Thursday is a weekly meme created by Aimal @ Bookshelves & Paperbacks. I alternate it with Book Traveling Thursdays. For this event, you need to provide 3 diverse books: 1 you’ve read & enjoyed, 1 from your TBR, and 1 upcoming release. I really enjoy doing this & reading others’ responses! (Note: All titles link back to the Goodreads page if you want to add it!)

A Book I’ve Read and Enjoyed

All the Rivers by Dorit Rabinyan

I recently reviewed this novel (find that here) and spotlighted it on Top 10 Tuesday, but I can’t help but spotlight it again. It was a beautifully realistic love story between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man, and all the complications that come with that. I’ll never forget this book.

A Book on My TBR

Marriage of a Thousand Lies by S. J. Sindu

Summary from Goodreads:

Lucky and her husband, Krishna, are gay. They present an illusion of marital bliss to their conservative Sri Lankan–American families, while each dates on the side. It’s not ideal, but for Lucky, it seems to be working. She goes out dancing, she
drinks a bit, she makes ends meet by doing digital art on commission. But when Lucky’s grandmother has a nasty fall, Lucky returns to her childhood home and unexpectedly reconnects with her former best friend and first lover, Nisha, who is preparing for her own arranged wedding with a man she’s never met.

As the connection between the two women is rekindled, Lucky tries to save Nisha from entering a marriage based on a lie. But does Nisha really want to be saved? And after a decade’s worth of lying, can Lucky break free of her own circumstances and build a new life? Is she willing to walk away from all that she values about her parents and community to live in a new truth? As Lucky—an outsider no matter what choices she makes—is pushed to the breaking point, Marriage of a Thousand Lies offers a vivid exploration of a life lived at a complex intersection of race, sexuality, and nationality. The result is a profoundly American debut novel shot through with humor and loss, a story of love, family, and the truths that define us all.

This book has so many issues driving it, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about it. I can’t wait to read it!!

An Upcoming Release

Sappho’s Bar and Grill by Bonnie J. Morris

Expected Release Date: July 11, 2017

Summary from Goodreads:

Lonely women’s history professor Hannah Stern walks into her local lesbian bar one winter night, seeking love advice from her old friend and bartender, Isabel. “Women’s history will be my date this year!” Hannah raises her glass in sarcastic tribute, resigned to life as a scholar, but her remark sets in motion a wild, sexy-smart romp through time. Much to her astonishment, Hannah soon finds herself meeting up with the actual figures and foremothers she assigns her college students to learn about. She’s caught in a time-travel vortex: one that seemingly emanates from Sappho’s Bar and Grill.

What are these figures of the past trying to tell Hannah? What wisdom do they share? Given the opportunity to ask her feminist role models questions about their lives and viewpoints, what will Hannah say? More importantly, will she find romance with women who loved women in the past? Or will she take a chance on her old friend Isabel, whose drinks and potions seem to hold the secret of time travel itself?

I love when I can find diverse books in my fantasy & sci-fi because I feel like they’re so rare. I just discovered this one today & I cannot wait to give it a whirl!

What are you spotlighting this week and/or what diverse books do you recommend?