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Tumblereads 5: What is a “diverse” book anyway?
10 Plays12 minutes ago
Today we talked about diversity in books. What does it mean when someone calls a book "diverse"? (Turns out, different things to different people.)
Shownotes (aka a list of the books we talked about) at smutreport.com/podcast
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Transcript
Introduction to Smart Report and Hosts
00:00:03
Speaker
hello and welcome to I don't know what's happening right now. Things are popping out at me. Welcome to the Smart Report Podcast.
Podcast Theme and Weekly Topics
00:00:13
Speaker
This is Tomple Reads, where we talk about whatever we feel like talking about this week.
00:00:18
Speaker
um So I will go ahead and set our timer. This is Erin, and I am emceeing this week. I'm Ingrid. And I'm Holly. Do we do introductions for these? I don't even know. I just wait for the pause and say my name.
00:00:35
Speaker
I feel like...
Erin's Morning Routine and Online Browsing
00:00:36
Speaker
you know people should know whose voice is whose obviously they should just know because they listen to us all the time all the time i have
00:00:48
Speaker
time i yeah why wouldn't you um okay so i i'm emceeing this week and i was like what should we talk about um So as I was scrolling this morning... Always a bad idea. Yeah, always a bad idea. well Dangerous way to start the day, really.
00:01:10
Speaker
My kids get up so early now that I have like three additional hours in the morning because our new school schedule is just like so early. ah So I have lots of time to enjoy my
What Defines Diversity in Books?
00:01:23
Speaker
coffee.
00:01:23
Speaker
But I was on... threads this morning. Oh, no. Yeah.
00:01:31
Speaker
And I ran into this thread, which in and of itself is like, you know, whatever. um But it is part of a bigger conversation. And I feel like we three have touched on it a couple times in the past. And even in some of our other posts or in various places online, I just wanted to like, bring it up and see where it went.
00:01:52
Speaker
um Especially in view of like, How different people perceive things. um Okay, being very big right now. Well, just, eat well, maybe it'll make sense.
00:02:02
Speaker
So the the thread says, i won't say what this book is, but the characters are all white and straight apart from one very minor side character that is gay. And I'm trying to figure out how 38% of readers think that makes it diverse.
00:02:15
Speaker
And then there's an image snip of question diverse cast of characters. And 38% say yes. complicated. from... thirty eight percent say no and four percent is nonapplicable um and this is from not to call anything out, but this is from Storygraph. Storygraph has a lot of user input data that you can apply while you're ah adding books to your collection.
00:02:42
Speaker
um And then there were some interesting side conversations in there because people were like, I mean, that's the question. How do 38% ah readers think that all-white cast of like all straight characters is diverse. And some people are like, maybe they're like different personalities.
00:03:01
Speaker
And then somebody's like, maybe there are disabilities. um you know like Their diversity doesn't just apply to race. And is... that is valid um but i i don't necessarily want to like litigate this but i think it's interesting or i want to kind of take apart user aggregated data where because it's the same in goodreads like i've gone into lists in goodreads where it's like i want to look at i don't know whatever i'm looking at you know i want to look at ace romance and then i'll get a list and i'd be like i read this book and that is not
00:03:38
Speaker
That's not right. You know? or But, you know, some user somewhere at some point was like, well, this is this is true. um So i i i when I was talking about...
00:03:50
Speaker
Just the way that different ways that people perceive things like what do you think is the value of this question? Like it was clearly intended to tell people maybe who are looking for diverse reads if they can reliably find that here. But like in application, is that happening? And like.
00:04:09
Speaker
a couple people It's kind of like, is the measuring stick accurate?
Cultural Perspectives on Diversity in Literature
00:04:13
Speaker
Right. somebody yeah Some people were like, this is a bad question because people could interpret it differently. So um like how would you guys interpret it And like what what do you think?
00:04:25
Speaker
I know how I would interpret but I mean, it's crazy because i feel like in today's day and age, and you know, I will admit that I feel like for a a long time, um i feel like I had a very naive view of the way that our society deals with diversity.
00:04:46
Speaker
um And I was like, we do such a good job. And clearly that was not even a little true. Yeah. Because i will admit that when you said that, I immediately got that kind of flip-floppy uncomfortable feeling in my stomach.
00:05:02
Speaker
um Because I was like, oh, great. another way that it's like Another way that people can tell if you're like what your core values are. Do you know what i mean? Because if you think a book is diverse because it has one tertiary Black character in it, you know what i mean? that diverse?
00:05:18
Speaker
Because... that's not is that diverse because Really? Well, that's an interesting point because one of the readers or one of the responders in this case also said, well, if I'm reading a book where the entire cast is Asian, do I mark it as diverse? Because from a white viewpoint audience, it could be, but everybody is Asian. So that's not diverse. Right. Are K-dramas diverse?
00:05:44
Speaker
Right. Well, and then the other other thing to take into consideration is, um and I, this comes front of mind because I'm reading a series right now, which is unhinged, but also um I, I have to say that um the, I felt like the diversity in this book was handled like beautifully because there are literally a lot of different people in this book, but it,
00:06:07
Speaker
it is it creeps into your awareness in a way where it just feels like normal life you know like you go when you walk into any public place there's going to be people who all look different because we live in the united states and and especially in my area is diverse right and but it's not like you sit there and you're like well there's 15 white people three asian people There's ah six black people here. You know, you don't do that.
00:06:32
Speaker
You don't sit there and catalog catalog everybody. So in books, I noticed that I get a little irritated when I feel like the diversity is being cataloged. I want I want the characters to be to be treated, even tertiary ones.
00:06:45
Speaker
Right. Where it's like treat them like a like a whole character. Treat them like this is one factor of their being. And the so so it is really interesting to have this conversation because I feel like, um yeah, like how do you measure how do you measure it how do you measure
Representation of Queer Identities and Disabilities
00:07:01
Speaker
it? Is it that it's present?
00:07:02
Speaker
Like, you know, like Aaron said, or, is you know, or because, yeah, because there are a lot of books where they take place in, ah community like i'm trying to thinking of uh that love lies and cherry pies book that i read and it was that wiquilo yeah predominantly canadian asian community um but yeah i and i just didn't i didn't occur to me to think about it that way but that's a really good point right yeah i mean oh sorry holly yeah well and just thinking like i feel like a lot of people use like diverse as code words for code word for written or about people of color right right and kind of tagging off what you're saying about like jackie lao's books like yeah like are they diverse if all of her characters are part of a small close-knit right chinese canadian community like well and
00:07:54
Speaker
Yeah, and I think, and then I'm processing out loud here because that's what we're doing. My gut instinct is that no, diversity means that there is, there are different there are different people being represented, right?
00:08:06
Speaker
um That's what it means to me. So I would consider, like, I'm thinking Beverly Jenkins right now, who does awesome stuff with the historical, with historical communities that are predominantly Black. And, um but I wouldn't say that her books are necessarily diverse.
00:08:19
Speaker
I think it's exploring a niche of American culture, you know? Mm-hmm. That's not represented in most mainstream regions of American history. Exactly. essay and good off And I love this.
00:08:32
Speaker
I think it's great. i i have really enjoyed, and Jackie Lau, Beverly Jenkins, those are two we've mentioned. And both of those books were fantastic. I loved the way that that was presented. I thought it was fantastic, but I just wouldn't call it diverse because it's taking place in a specific community on purpose. That's part of the plot.
00:08:49
Speaker
Right. Right. So that's one way. What about looking at ah something like queer identities or disabilities? i think disabilities often end up being like very invisible in lot of romance, like racial diversity is people are doing a much better job. And I appreciate this, honestly, of just like when doing a description of a character, every single character's color is explicit.
00:09:13
Speaker
Yeah. In some way. um Right. Because it doesn't lean automatically to white. It doesn't. Right. It doesn't like call out only the people of color. um Right. Like you talk about like person A's blonde curls and person B's ah box braids.
00:09:30
Speaker
See, and like, yeah this is what I love about this series that I'm reading is that it's not... this is what but This is what I think is when it's done clumsily, it's like you meet the character and it's like, Fabian walked in and he was black.
00:09:44
Speaker
You know what I mean? And you're like... what the fuck you know in this series that i'm reading now like it might take six chapters for there to be the right moment for the description to happen where it's like oh they go shopping for clothes and so and so is like come over here this purple um dress will look amazing against your gold your your golden your you know brown skin or whatever something you know it's just like but it comes out like in a natural organic and non-spotlighty way like it's like like They all have every right to be, you know, like to exist as they are and to be seen for all these different.
00:10:19
Speaker
they're They're serving ah so many purposes in the story that that's not the first thing that needs to be said. You know what i mean? So, OK, question, because I OK, I'm trying to think about all my best examples are usually secondary or tertiary characters who come in.
00:10:36
Speaker
So one author team that I think does this really well is and I haven't I've read a couple other books in different places by Alona Andrews, but the one I'm thinking of for sure is the Hidden Legacy books.
00:10:52
Speaker
Um, where the main characters in both trilogy arcs are both white, but, and I can't remember if she was like, I mean, you know, the narrator might've been like, oh, you know, I have these two heritages or whatever, like, you know, and that kind of gives you a vision of what this person might look like.
00:11:15
Speaker
ah But I'm not sure that, you know, the love interest was like explicitly like, oh, yeah, it was he was he had white skin and brown hair. And, you know, he was walking toward me with like a big frown on his face. Kind of a thing. Like you're introducing the character. You're seeing what she sees. It's first person. So she's seeing what she sees.
00:11:32
Speaker
But in all of the secondary characters, it's usually like what you would see as you are introduced to the character. Right. So it's like, right. This doctor came and talked to me while I was on the stretcher and she was a, you know, very tall Latina woman um with a no nonsense attitude or whatever. Like, I think those little descriptions are really helpful, but I do see them a lot for secondary characters.
00:11:54
Speaker
Yeah. I think sometimes when I'll see stuff for the primary characters, especially when it's first person, it'll be like, I was looking in the mirror and i i knew what I looked like. i had ah pale white skin and cherry red lips and masses of brown curls falling down my back. And I was like, who talks like that? Nobody talks like that.
00:12:15
Speaker
So I hear what you're saying. goly
00:12:19
Speaker
but like, but so I feel like there is a, there is a way to very explicitly just be like nonchalant, not the only factor, but like, this is what you see. And so we're just going to say it.
00:12:30
Speaker
um Or also just including the like, yeah, there's this person has this going on. Yeah.
Challenges in Representing Diversity and Neurodiversity
00:12:37
Speaker
And that is a clear indicator, but. But what about other, I feel like I had a thread and I lost it. This is what I'm sorry. read No, it wasn't. I think I just got so fixated on describing something, but I think with, so that's race based though, I guess is where I was kind of starting with it. Right. But like, what about having queer identity stuff, diversity or disability diversity, which is like, like I said, disability stuff is frequently just completely overlooked.
00:13:03
Speaker
I mean, i will say that I feel like we, I feel like the book's, that i've been So the books that I've been reading, to be fair, you know I'm on this romanticity binge. I think that's just a little bit different because in the romanticity books, there's like people with purple skin.
00:13:17
Speaker
So it doesn't really make... they're not You're not going to say, oh, this this person is Latina or this person, you know, like... Right, there's context. Right, it doesn't that's not how it... It doesn't... Yeah, there's it's a fair or fair or whatever. An elven person doesn't have the same code. Yeah, exactly. yeah Now, that being said, read...
00:13:35
Speaker
i i read I can't remember what series. I think it might have been the Harper L. Woods coven series, but I um might be wrong about that. So don't count on it. But I think I got like three books into it where was like, I'm pretty sure the main character, the heroine, I don't think she's white. But, you know, I it it didn't wasn't top of mind awareness.
00:13:51
Speaker
Like it just came up at some point. Somebody was describing her or something. And and I was like. Oh, so her skin is definitely not white. um But it, you know, it didn't, it wasn't, you know, it's first person alternating POV. So for some reason it just didn't register.
00:14:04
Speaker
um But I will say, I think we're, for I think we are, to answer your question, Erin, think we're further along in examining um visible differences a bit better than we are the invisible ones, you know, um because I think those are harder to avoid. They're more, they're right there.
00:14:24
Speaker
um But visible ones are exactly. So it's the same in literature where it's like, okay, how do you so you want to have a cast of characters that is diverse? Well, if you want to do it meticulous, if you want to do it so that it it's soft and it reads well, and it feels like unobtrusive then you're you know like what how is that gonna come out and there was one book that I read called dang it it was a historical I think which is why I remember it being interesting um was it a historic I think it was a story anyway there was it was a scene where and it was a secondary character but the hero was from a more conservative either either it was historical I think it was oh it was it was historical um it was historical it was I remember coming to me
00:15:10
Speaker
This never happens. um It was the Adra Richards one, the chase by a- Oh, exit pursued by a baron. That's the one. Okay. Oh, blissful day. This is my Friday. um Anyway, but- and granted, I think that Adra Richards does do this pretty well.
00:15:24
Speaker
But she- she- he is- obviously this is historical, and her business manager, like the run guy who runs the heroines theater or whatever- He is gay. um And it's obvious, you know, like we know the reader just knows because there's like innuendos and little moments and you're like, definitely that guy's gay.
00:15:43
Speaker
But um there's the part where he tells the hero about it because he's like, you don't have to worry about me. I've never had a relationship with her. because I never will like women. Yeah.
00:15:54
Speaker
And, um, and it's an important part of the plot because like, it's, you know, like he's connecting with the people from her prior life or whatever. So it comes out that way. But the way that it was done was really thoughtful where he was like, the hero thinks about it. And he's like, I don't really, you know, cause he's like, is the manager is like, is that going to be a problem that I'm gay?
00:16:11
Speaker
And he's like, I don't really see how that's really any of my business. Um, Like that's totally not something, but, he and then he, but he makes the point to like, they, they talk and then he's like, but you need, you should know that you're, you're completely safe with me.
00:16:24
Speaker
Like you don't have to worry about, about this. And so I was like, well, that was really tactfully done. Like the way that that's handled in historical. um But yeah, I think that that's part of that. That's the hard part is um we aren't super great in real life about invisible differences.
00:16:42
Speaker
So it is hard to do them on the page too you know yeah well and i feel like yeah aaron you were talking earlier about um in ilona andrew's books like describing people as the point of view character sees them and if somebody has an invisible disability then and If somebody has an invisible disability, then ah how can the point of view character mention that without it...
00:17:14
Speaker
and and Right? and must it be cut Unless it's important to the plot. Right? And then at what point does including disability of tertiary characters, like, just to be like, oh, I'm going to make up this plot point so that I can show that I am aware of people with disabilities.
00:17:35
Speaker
Like, versus this flows, this is the best choice for the story. Right? I guess it it depends on, like, what your goals are as a storyteller. but in what cases is this effective versus just, I just want to show that this to show it.
00:17:51
Speaker
Yeah. I think you've hit the nail on the head. Yeah. That's it's, it's, Like, right? Because I'm thinking about like, like Chloe Lees. um I feel like a lot of characters in her books have disabilities, right? And she was, I feel like one of the first authors I read who really whose books really focused on that.
00:18:10
Speaker
And not every one, but that's something that she's very intentional about. But I feel like they're not generally invisible. It's like... Well, they aren't. some are, but like, you know, she also writes about people, like, doesn't one of them have cochlear implants, maybe? Or she wrote about somebody who's deaf, and like, somebody whose leg was amputated. I don't know. I don't remember. i think I only read one or two of her books, and just and remembering based on blurbs and cover art, but...
00:18:39
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, she also focuses on stuff that's like one of the one of in the I haven't read a ton of them either, but I read most of the Bergman series and, you know, one has IBS.
00:18:51
Speaker
So that's not necessarily obvious, but it's it's definitely impactful when you have to, like, excuse yourself. Or you're like, I can't eat that actually. um But a a lot, I mean, there are several characters in that series who are autistic, um which then brings us to another, i guess, question of invisible disability and neurodiversity is a popular thing to look at right now.
00:19:19
Speaker
And um so there's a lot of neurodivergent coding, right? in some books and so I always find that interesting to kind of be like hmm I wonder if this is intentional like the last um Ari Baran I don't know if I'm saying their name correctly but that's how I always think it in my head hockey book uh I was like well this character is clearly autistic coded apparently a whole bunch of other reviewers said that and the author was like huh
00:19:49
Speaker
That's, that's not just.
00:19:53
Speaker
Yeah. So but like, but it's not explicit. Right. So like two years ago, this is related i to this ah It was an online panel of authors talking about writing neurodivergence in their books.
00:20:08
Speaker
And meant to write it up and then never did. and But, for her right. But um Courtney Milan was one of the people presenting and she's talking about it and how like, and it was through her writing and you know, that she writes all of these characters who were like, like have all these lists. And she was like, later she was like, wait a minute.
00:20:28
Speaker
Like this, this is not, this is not normal behavior. What normal? normal Right. Okay. Sorry. I interrupted you. Continue. But yeah, I mean, it's, that's true. But, but to like kind of cycle off that when I've mentioned before, I like to go into the MM subreddit. People will often ask for recommendations and I, that's fun to read sometimes.
00:20:54
Speaker
um But when people are saying, you know, I want, I want to see characters with ADHD or autism or whatever, ah The mods will always come in and say it either has to be explicit in the text or you have to defend your assertion about the coding because we do not want to like perpetuate.
00:21:17
Speaker
Yeah, misconstruction. Stereotypes or like beliefs about things that are not like explicitly based in the text. um So then, you know, like, where do you come in with, okay, there are, because I've read several books about neurodivergent characters where it's like, okay.
00:21:34
Speaker
I don't know. I don't want to negate it because I don't want to be like, well, you don't know what you're talking about. ah and then that person just has like a different neurodivergence experience than I have. There's a lot of varieties that flavor. Yeah, because there was somebody who maybe it was actually Chloe Lise and the reviewer was like, this is not how generalized anxiety disorder works. This author clearly doesn't know what they're talking. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was a different author.
00:21:56
Speaker
But the author was like, ah well, I do have experience with generalized anxiety disorder just because it doesn't look like yours. Doesn't mean it's like the only way to do it. um Yeah, I don't want to actually I don't want to say that was definitely Chloe. At least it was several years ago that I saw it like online.
00:22:10
Speaker
um So who knows what it was, but it was definitely like a reviewer an author being like, you were coming at this from very different places and they can both be valid. So I don't want to be like, no, you're wrong.
00:22:20
Speaker
But a lot of like the ADHD representation, sometimes I'm like, well, that is very reliant on common perceptions of hyperactivity. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Um, or, ah same with autism. Like a lot of stuff is rooted in sort of old views of what autism looks like. And, um, and I'm sure that that goes for other stuff like bipolar disorder and PTSD and all kinds of things that are complicated to represent because brains are so different.
00:22:54
Speaker
So, and bodies are so different. Like I, yeah you know, like we, um, Oh my god, that dragon book with the with the violet girl. fourth wing.
00:23:05
Speaker
Oh yeah. I'm on a freaking roll today. my gosh. I don't know how I forgot that. you knew what I was talking about. But remember the author, like people were like, her representation of like whatever brittle bone syndrome or whatever she has. Oh yeah.
00:23:24
Speaker
It's like a not is not realistic. And the author is like, I have this disorder. Yeah. And this is what my life is like. Minus the dragons. Yeah.
00:23:35
Speaker
And the magic. But, you know, but yeah, just to your point, it's like even stuff that is more like less abstract, yeah like less abstract than like, how does your brain work? It's like, how does your body work is a little more like concrete and embodied and people can see it sometimes.
00:23:55
Speaker
It's still people are like, yeah that's not right. That's how experience it. Well, and i read a book recently where the main character, the hero, is an amputee.
00:24:07
Speaker
think double amputee. Veteran. What was that one called? You remember that one? Oh, It was recent. Yeah, I do i remember your review. Something about home...
00:24:18
Speaker
wrote His Road Home, think. His Road Home, yes. Oh my gosh, guys. You're doing so good. Maybe you should just stop sleeping. That has to be. like i I was telling that haven't slept all week and I was like, well, good luck, guys. i'm gonna be really um My brain's going to be firing today. And then clearly famous last words because I don't think I've ever been this sharp with titles.
00:24:37
Speaker
Anyway, but um I remember thinking there was a moment and i i'm I'm saying this because I feel like... um It is important for us to admit when we' we're like, oh, you just had a you just had a reaction that was that was not, you know, like well-rounded and you need to reconsider this.
00:24:55
Speaker
But I had a moment in there where I was like, how come he's not more traumatized about losing his legs? Like I was we were i was reading it and I was like, is that not real? That does that can't be realistic. Like surely he should be he should be like really devastated and he should be this like, this can't, this isn't realistic. And then I'm not kidding you. I had that thought. And then I think like four paragraphs later, he and the heroine heroine were talking about why he reacted the way that he did.
00:25:23
Speaker
and I was like... See, Ingrid, you had a knee-jerk reaction about how you thought an experience should be for a group of people, a whole group, not just one, but a whole group of people, and you have zero experience in this.
00:25:36
Speaker
You know what i mean? Like, i get where did I get the brass balls to sit there and be like, oh I know how a military veteran with a, you know, double ambience, I know how they would really feel.
00:25:48
Speaker
Like, really, Ingrid? Really? i like, struggle with paper cuts. No, Ingrid, you're not the person. And so i ru was i was really... It was a good experience for me when I was reading the book because the – and it was not in your face.
00:26:02
Speaker
It was literally at this moment in the book. It could not have happened at a better time. And he basically explains, you know, like this is this is how I grew up. This is my personality. this These are my motivations. And so he was like, I don't know why I'm handling this really well, but I feel like it's because to me it's just another hiccup.
00:26:18
Speaker
Like, i you know, I expect hiccups. I expect challenges. And so when they happen, I'm just not as – thrown off by them. I've always been this way, but it was more subtly done. And I remember being like, well, that makes complete sense, you know, and like how, how like presumptuous I was just think that I knew, you know, um which is, I think that was a good thing as a reviewer. And as a reader, it was really like, that was, i really appreciated that moment from that author because ah it helped me put my head back on straight and be like, next time don't Don't do that.
How to Evaluate Diversity in Books
00:26:49
Speaker
You know, that is ah something that I do appreciate about fiction. OK, so to wrap up, because we're at time, ah what do you think would be a better way to ask this question to get to data that people feel is usable?
00:27:01
Speaker
Because if we're going back to this like question of diversity where clearly there are different interpretations, what would work better? So this is knee jerk. Again, I'm thinking out loud, but I think the question as it's phrased now is is whether or not there's a presence of diversity and not whether the diversity that is present is handled thoughtfully.
00:27:25
Speaker
And i wonder if we're asking the wrong question because yeah i think they're two different questions. naughty not Well, there's handled thoughtfully, which is one thing, or diversity that is actually and important within the text.
00:27:41
Speaker
Yes. um may i I mean, that's like, that's not the right way to phrase it. But do you guys understand what I mean? Like, where I mean, but I guess different people are looking for different things, right? Right. Like some people mean diversity. And it just means that they want to read a book about black people, a black romance, they just want to read a book by a black author about um black people falling in love, which is and although I guess they would just ask for black romance, not for diversity.
00:28:09
Speaker
Right. And some people want to read something by and like Jackie Lau, right, where it's about a non-white community and that's what they're looking for. But some people are looking for what you were describing earlier, Ingrid, where it's just ah it's just like a slice of humanity.
00:28:28
Speaker
And it just means that not everybody is the same. Right. And I think when people are asking about diversity, that part of the problem is that people mean diversity. really different things.
00:28:42
Speaker
And also given that ah diversity is demonic for some reason. Yeah. Slices of the American population. It's also a question of like, what do like when they, when people rail against diversity, people who do rail against diversity are railing against it. It's also like, well, what do they mean? And if we're looking for that to seek it out or avoid it, it's, it's like people mean really different things by this word. Yeah.
00:29:11
Speaker
I'm thinking with my reviewer hat on right now and ah and And one thing I'm thinking is like, okay, well, how would you communicate these nuances in a way that was actually helpful for readers, right? and And in my head, and this is not a parallel, I'm not saying this is apples and oranges, I'm just looking at it more as like a method of communication, but I'm thinking about the way that we track...
00:29:34
Speaker
sex in the books right because again there are people who think that having sex in a romance is absolutely horrendous and you know corrupting whatever you know there's some strong feelings about it right and some people who are like if they aren't broaning by 30 percent then I I'm closing the book. Exactly. And so what we've done in the, we don't just say whether or not there's sex.
00:29:55
Speaker
We say lots of sex, closed door sex, you know, like, is it more of an erotic novel? We, in behind the scenes, we track that in a very specific way. And I feel like from a a reviewer standpoint, maybe that's something that would make more sense is, is it a slice of life, life diversity, right? Like you said, is it um main character diversity, stuff like that?
00:30:20
Speaker
um Maybe it needs to be, maybe we need to be more, so more, broad and specific about the way that we're talking about it so that people can find it more easily well the other thing that we do and ah we track it more internally than we put on the blog externally but we also slice our stuff down by we have a you know character of color i mean it's main characters but character of colors tag you know and internally we break that down further and then uh disability tag and a lgbtqia plus tag we have all of these things as separate tags on our stuff um and then we break it down even further in our database so you know maybe we should because data's fun ah more data is better
00:31:09
Speaker
Yes, data a nerd.
Conclusion and Book Recommendations
00:31:11
Speaker
Okay, but... It's time to wrap up. we should so is there anything anybody else wants to throw out? Like, hey, ah read a book this week but go read a book this week. this week.
00:31:22
Speaker
Yeah, finish at least a couple, I think. I finished my nonfiction book and I was like, ugh. So then I immediately read five very easy ones. If you want to read an absolutely unhinged series, that will it's not for reading in public.
00:31:38
Speaker
let's just say that um i i got one for you and and okay but what is it oh okay well okay well it's kf breen it's her um fairy tales series all right i'll look it up it's uh just to set this state i won't go i won't go into it because i know we're done but it's like beauty and the beast right but um the beast's castle has been like taken over by like demons and they make the castle inhabitants um it takes them over with like sex magic so there's like if there's a lot of like opening a door and there's an orgy but it's really funny like it's really funny and it's it's i don't know how she does it where it like actually makes sense for the plot and stuff but like unhinged unhinged unhinged i'm
00:32:27
Speaker
I have basically had like a permanent blush on my face for a week because I was like, oh, no. Yeah. All right. Well, I'll have something to take into next week then, I guess, while I'm still in my like recovering from this nonfiction book slump.
00:32:42
Speaker
It's ridiculous, Erin. You'd love I do love ridiculous. All right. ah Well, that's Tumble Reads for us. You can find what minimal show notes Holly decides to include at smartreport.com slash podcast.
00:33:01
Speaker
but We had titles this time. so it'll It'll probably be just like a list of books. Of all the books we talked about. Probably. yeah That's fine. And then we'll catch ah catch us on ah whatever socials at Smut Report if we're there.
00:33:16
Speaker
And until then, keep it smutty, folks. Keep it smutty, folks. Smut Report!