Calendar Girl is a monthly meme now hosted by Katie@nevernotreading and Adrienne @darquedreamer
The Calendar Girls is a monthly blog event that was created by Melanie at MNBernard Books, and Flavia at Flavia the Bibliophile. It was inspired by the 1961 classic song by Neil Sedaka and created to ignite fun bookish discussions among readers and bloggers.
Each month we get a new theme and choose our favorite book for the theme. The participants get to vote for their favorite.
I’m thrilled with this month’s category for Calendar Girls – it’s the one I voted for! Diversity in YA books has made some significant strides over the past few years, but don’t be fooled – we still have a long way to go. I’ve read some wonderfully diverse books, but I’m limiting my choices to those I’ve completed this year.
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee: Although released a couple years ago, I just got around to reading it a few months ago – and it’s my loss for waiting so long. Such charming characters, and Monty, flaws and all, will always hold a special place in my heart. As he would totally expect. With racial diversity and LGBTQ characters, this is at the top of my favorite reads this year.
Pax Novis by Erica Cameron: With asexual and nonbinary, among other LGBTQ characters, Pax Novis boasts outstanding representation. The author even took it a step further by creating a third gender pronoun. I stumbled over the terminology (ze, zem, zir) a bit at first, but barely noticed it after a couple chapters.
But the winner was the first book that came to mind and in my top five reads of this year. Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. With a crew that includes a character with a disability, an autistic character, racially diverse (including aliens, lol!), and LGBTQ characters, Aurora Rising offers a wide expanse of representation. I fell hard for these relatable and fully-developed characters, and their banter had me laughing out loud several times.
If you haven’t read any of these books and are looking for more diverse reading material, I strongly recommend all of them. Add them to your TBR!
Books and Such 
I read Aurora rising, and i agree, it was great. I plan to read – soon, i hope – gentleman’s guide , but like you, keep putting it off for later. Never read the others or even heard about them.
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I think you’ll enjoy A Gentleman’s Guide. I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator was perfect for Monty’s voice. Pax Novis just came out last month, so it’s pretty new – a great sci-fi mystery.
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I’m eager to delve back into the land of reading. I miss being whisked away!
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Another reason for my to look this one up when my urge to read returns. Nice choice! ❤
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Hope it returns fast, Adrienne!
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Me too! I have too many unread books on my shelves! Lol
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You are very adventurous with your reading, Teri. All intriguing sounding books. I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving.
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Although I hang out in the horror/sci-fi/fantasy genres mostly, I do try to read diversely, Robbie. There are some amazing stories out there, and it’s been a little easier to find them over the past couple of years. And Thanksgiving was wonderful – even got some reading done!
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Wonderful, Teri.
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I feel like Sci-Fi really lends itself to diversity, though I specifically didn’t pick one because aliens felt like cheating (lol). It’s really nice to hear that so many YA books are including neuro-diversity, I hadn’t heard that about this one before. Great choice!
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Aurora Rising was one of my best reads this year, and the chapters from the autistic character’s POV were spot on and amusing. They were among my favorites. If you enjoy sci-fi, you should give is a try, Katie!
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I just didn’t love Illuminae as much as everyone else did, which is why I gave this one a pass.
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I didn’t read Iluminae, and Kristoff’s Nevernight series didn’t work for me, but I loved this one and his Lifelike series.
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I thought of Gentleman’s Guide too! Tho I can’t believe I forgot about Aurora Rising! Especially since I just read it at the end of November haha. The characters were definitely my favorite part of the book ❤ Great Choice!
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Thanks! I loved both of those books, and I’m so excited to read Aurora Burning. The cover is beautiful.
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Uggghhh I loved Gentleman’s Guide! It was my fave book of the year it came out 😀 And I need to read the other 2 books you listed now 😀
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Did you read the new Gentleman’s novella? It came out the week of Thanksgiving – so sweet and comical!
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Not yet but I placed a hold on it at my library! So fingers crossed I get to read it sooooooon
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