The Diverse Baseline: 2026 Reading Challenge

The Diverse Baseline is a reading challenge focused on uplifting racialized authors and stories all year long.

“The term ‘racialized’ is a sociological concept closely related to racism. People seen as belonging to racialized minorities are people who could be perceived as being socially different from, for example, the racial or ethnic majority. The word ‘racialized’ stresses the fact that race is neither biological nor objective but is a concept which is societal in origin. Categorizations other than ‘racialized’ include ‘people of colour’ or BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour).”

With racialized, we mean folks who are racialized under a U.S. lens, as we are creating this challenge from a U.S. lens, with alarmingly white lists like Goodreads and NYT in mind. We are focusing on authors who descend from the global majority: Black, Indigenous, Brown, Latinx, Pacific Islander, Arab, West Asian, North African, Southeast Asian, South Asian, East Asian, African, biracial, and multiracial people, and groups who cannot access white privilege in the U.S.

The term “global majority” refers to the ethnic groups that make up the majority of the world’s population, which is approximately 80%. The term “global majority” was coined by educator and activist Rosemary Campbell-Stephens. It’s intended to disrupt white supremacy culture and ideology.

***More details about each prompt, including book recommendations, can be found on the official Storygraph challenge, as well as this document.

The above document also includes links to Canva graphics that you can copy into your own Canva accounts as well :)

If you join the Discord server, we ask that you refrain from sharing or screenshotting the Discord conversations. Feel free to share general lessons or reflections, but we ask that you not repeat what others disclose in the Discord. If there is anything in the server that you want to address, reach out to the organizers or moderators, as we would encourage good-faith dialogue to seek understanding.

Learn more about our team here!

This is an optional challenge. If it does not feel motivating and is instead causing more harm to you than helping, remember that:

We feel similarly about running this challenge; we want to keep it fun and of course, as a tool for growth for those open to it.

This challenge is meant to encourage readers to reflect upon their reading habits, and to move forward intentionally to be mindful about the “baseline” of what we should be reading if we are going to call ourselves “well read”. It is not meant to be a comprehensive checklist; it’s a starting point for inward reflection that informs future reading & purchasing.

We are simply asking, “Whose voices am I leaving out? Have I made a concerted effort to diversify across genres, identities, and more?” This challenge will look and feel different for everyone, and that is a beautiful display of diversity of thought and lived experience.

To be abundantly clear, there is no prize for completing the challenge 100% and there is no punishment for not. This is OPTIONAL and should be FUN! If not, we encourage you to seek other challenges (there are plenty from such amazing creators) that fit what you are seeking for your goals.

There are no value judgments placed upon folks who join or do not join a challenge. Our challenge is meant to encourage you, to inspire reflection, and to have fun. We do not believe in binary thinking, and that we all contain multitudes in being able to both have fun and reflect upon reading habits. Some folks don’t need a challenge to do that, while others may be newer in their reading journeys, and do! Both are valid. No matter what, we are rooting for you in your reading journey ahead!

See below for other Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

We have recommendation lists on libro.fm and bookshop.org. If you would like highly recommended books from us, check out our links and support local/indie bookstores in the process (if it’s an accessible option for you).

Brittany is a reader from the San Francisco Bay Area. She hosts the SF Bay Area chapter of Cassie’s Walking Club on Strava. She can be found on substack, instagram, storygraph, bluesky, and has resources here.

Margherita is a reader and indie author from Italy. Xe can be found on instagram, tiktok and substack. Xyr author website (pen name) with xyr books and editorial services can be found here.

Mylynn is a reader from Guam/Arizona. She can be found in the kitchen after midnight like the gremlin she is and also on instagram, storygraph, and more here.