The Bookish Diversity Link List 2023

  

Your resource for all things bookish diversity is back! 

Welcome to the 7th(!) Bookish Diversity Link List, 2023.

As I said last year, I still think there's need for a resource which points to cool and good quality diverse bookish things - even if I sometimes struggle to add as much to it as I'd like.

My corner of the bookish interwebs may be flourishing diversely, but the bookish interwebs as a whole has a lot of churn in terms of participants (i.e. people leaving, people coming in,) - and some of the issues around diversity and representation remain as pressing as ever.

So, here I am, once again, doing my small bit to keep things moving forward. I hope you find it useful.

Friday Fics Fix - We've Established I'm Trash By This Point

 

'“You think you can? You’re talking about a goddamn plane, you’re going to have to do better than ‘think’ you can, Bucky!”

“I’m pretty sure I can figure out a landing. Or at least a controlled crash. It’ll be okay.”'

 

We've established I'm trash by this point, so that'll save me a lot of explaining and justifying myself 😅.

So, with that in mind - this is an MCU (Marvel movies and TV shows,) The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TFATWS) fic. 

Yes, again.

Not explaining, not justifying. 😈😅

Nerd Church - Being Exhausted Is Exhausting

I've been trying, lately, to let myself be tired when I'm tired.

Now, that probably seems simple to a lot of you - you lucky folks who get tired and just... accept it.

But me? Apparently when I'm tired, my natural reaction is to do more. 

Which... uh... makes no sense. 

I'm going to assume it's at least partly down to the tiger vs. not tiger thing I've talked about before. 😅 

I.e. my weird little hooman bean brain thinks we're under attack and/or vulnerable in some way when I'm tired, and pushes me to be alert to the dangers/fight the tiger/whatever.

Friday Fics Fix - This Fic Understands Mental Health Problems

Warning: this post discusses eating disorders, general mental health problems, and realted symptoms and themes

'Normally, when Mac had a problem, all it took was some spare parts and a Swiss Army knife...'

I thought, before reading this, that I wouldn't ever end up recommending it.

Honestly? I figured from the syopsis and tags on AO3 for this fic, that it would probably be trauma porn - which I've been known to indulge in when the need arises, but wouldn't y'know, recommend to anyone. 

Not least because trauma porn is often really poorly written, exploitative, and gratuitous.

I was wrong. This fic is freaking amazing.

And the fic author saying this was the first fic they started... wow!

Month In Review(s) - August 2022

(Warning: this post briefly discusses mental health problems)

August was... OK, I guess.

And for me, this year, OK is freaking fantastic!

So, it was still too hot, but it was cooler than July which -

 - yes, please, thankyou, more of the lack of heat melting my brain, if at all possible, thanks!

I do not function in the heat. At all.

Frighteningly, we now have an official drought in much of Wales. 

If you don't know Wales and our verdant, fertile, valleys all that well, you might wonder why that's frightening.

Basically - you know the stereotypes that the rest of the world has about it always raining in London? Yeah? Well, I would consider London to be quite a dry place.

And we have drought.

(And now London possibly wants our water - but if I start getting into the long and exploitative history of water politics between Wales and England, we will be here all day.)

Climate change is real, and it is here.

Nerd Church - Writing A Full Blogpost In 32 Minutes

 

Turns out, I can write a whole-a** blogpost in 32 minutes.

...I know - I was surprised too!

OK, so I was kinda brain-foggy this week, and ended up writing both this week's Comics Wrap-Up (CWU) and Friday Fics Fix (F3) posts the day before they were due to go live on the blog.

One day, I will be a blogger that can schedule content well ahead of time, but that day is a long way off 😅

Friday Fics Fix - Bucky-Barnes-Based and Weird

Warning: this post discusses mental health problems and symptoms, specifically those related to Depression

'Trouble starts before they even get out of the city. Bucky’s car is a disaster. It’s not as bad as his apartment, but still messy enough to be very embarrassing and not helping in convincing Sam his assumptions about him are wrong.'

Yes, it's Bucky-Barnes-based. Yes, it's a weird one.

I was honestly looking for something different this week, but sometimes, amongst all the fanfiction I consume on a weekly basis, it just ends up coming back - again - to Bucky Barnes.

...and I'm OK with that. 

I am trash. And you know this. 😅

Comics Wrap-Up - Good-Natured, While Also Being Hilarious

It's Thursday, it's still too hot, let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness right here on Dora Reads!

Month in Review(s) - July 2022

July wasn't as awful as June.

Which is a heckava low bar, but one that's worth having!

My energy levels still weren't at their tippity-toppest after having Covid, and then the heatwave came.

Dear Lord, the heatwave came.

I am one grumpy bear in the heat - like, I get so pi**ed off, at pretty much everyone and everything - and we had record-breaking temperatures here in the UK. Again.

It was relentless, and climate change is both real and horrendous. London was on fire. I don't mean that metaphorically.

Nerd Church - Some Reminders To Myself (And Maybe You, Too)

 

It's been a rough week, mental-health-wise.

So I figured I needed to remind myself of a few things - and hopefully some of them will be helpful reminders to you, too.

Disclaimer time: I am not any kind of mental health, medical, or psychological professional. I'm a chick with a blog.

Comics Wrap-Up - Weirdly Similar Taste In Jewellery

 

It's Thursday, climate change is real and here, let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!

Month In Review(s) - June 2022

 

(Warning: this post discusses Covid 19, grief, mental health problems, and panic attacks)

June was horrible.

I'm not going to sugar-coat it - June sucked.

For those who don't know, at the very end of May I caught Covid after going to a My Chemical Romance concert (they do rock, though #JustSaying) - and it took me most of June to feel even half-way to human again.

I had ten full days of feeling like absolute hell - and the time since has been spent recovering.

Do NOT listen to people who call this mild.

The only way I'd refer to it as 'mild' is if you mean 'I didn't end up in hospital' - which, thank God that I'm triple-vaxxed because honestly, I'm not sure I would've stayed out of hospital otherwise.

If by 'mild' you mean 'like a cold,' or 'feeling a bit off,' or 'not feeling good but being semi-able to function,' then NO.

No, it is NOT mild.

Wear your masks. 

Wash your hands. 

Keep up social distancing where possible.

Month in Review(s) - May 2022

(Warning: this post discusses Covid, migraines, and mental health problems)

 

I know it's late-ish June. I got Covid.

...And I didn't want to just not do a post for May, because it was bugging me 😅

May 2022... *hysterical laughter*

OK, May 2022 was a bit of a rollercoaster for me.

Like, there was some really good stuff, some really bad stuff, and some stuff I point-blank don't know how to categorise.

Comics Wrap-Up - Going Off-Book

 

It's Thursday, it's May, this is Dora Reads, so let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!

Nerd Church - The Assimilation of Self-Care

Warning: this post discusses mental health problems and stigma

Disclaimer time!: I am not any kind of medical, mental health, or psychological professional; I'm a chick with a blog.

The system sees something and seeks to assimilate it.

Capitalism is a Borg Queen.

(I may've been watching too much Star Trek: Picard, but the statement still stands. 😅)

'Stunning 8K-resolution meditation app
In honor of the revolution, it's half-off at the Gap'

- Bo Burnham, That Funny Feeling 

Self-Care does NOT mean candles or baths or face masks.

Don't get me wrong: There's nothing WRONG with using candles or baths or face masks as a type of self-care - nothing AT ALL. 

Don't let anyone tell you any different. 

Comics Wrap-Up - Jennifer Walters Rocks!

 

It's Thursday, this is Dora Reads, so let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!

Comics Wrap-Up - ...We Need Another Series To Deal With This, Marvel

 

It's Thursday, this is Dora Reads, so let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness! 😊

Month in Review(s) - April 2022

 

April was rough, mental health-wise.

I'm OK - just having to adapt and take care.

...It's kind of worse when there's no real reason or trigger because there's nothing you can blame, y'know?

...and it really doesn't help that the pollen this year is exceptionally, brutally, high, so my hayfever is extra-present this year.

Kind of hard to focus on your mental health when the pollen is making you feel like a zombie, lol.

(Oh, and hayfever is linked to climate change. #TrueStory.)

Comics Wrap-Up - In Awe of Her Blue Nail Polish

 

It's Thursday, we reached May, this week's post is huge, let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!

Comics Wrap-Up - Very Much A Mood

 

It's Thursday, this is Dora Reads, let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!