Crystal Paul

Reading is usually thought of as a solitary activity. But in the age of social media, it's actually hard to find yourself reading alone. Whether you're tearing apart a book in your book club, jamming your face into your book on the train to…

Remember a couple of years back when the call for a Year of Reading Women made the rounds to push back against the extremely male stock on the bookstore shelves? Well, it’s time to push back more and continue to make room on the shelves for a more…

The world we live in today is more and more mixed up.... in more ways than one. The world is smaller than ever with more and more people making connections across cultural lines and continents. While multiracial people have been around for a long…

Although she’s most famous for her award-winning YA novel in verse Brown Girl Dreaming, author Jacqueline Woodson has long been dedicated to the mission to make the world of young adult and children’s books more inclusive. She’s written books about…

In case you didn’t know it, we’re right in the middle of National Arab American Heritage Month! That’s right the whole month of April in the U.S. is dedicated to the celebration of Arab American history, culture, and contemporary voice. And what…

The reasons for the glaring lack of inclusiveness in the book world are multifaceted. It could be that many readers erroneously believe they "can't relate" to books by and about underrepresented communities. There are also few people of color in…

Despite popular belief, poetry isn’t exclusively the realm of stodgy white guys in tweed jackets waxing nostalgic about blades of grass and such. As one of the most visceral and versatile forms of literature, poetry is a natural medium for writers…

I can only remember having two non-white teachers during my time in school. From my early years at underfunded public schools comprised mostly of black and Latino students to my later years at private schools with largely white populations, my…

Whether you love cooking or loathe every minute you have to spend in a kitchen, listening to a good food-themed audiobook can go a long way towards adding a little zest to your dinner routine. With your hands busy stirring, chopping, seasoning, and…

Graphic novels haven't always had the best reputation when it comes to what is considered “good literature." Comics and graphic novels are generally considered great for entertainment value or for kids, but, until recently, not really suitable for…

When it comes to getting married, make sure to include plenty of wedding readings that your family will love. Why? Well, weddings are a time for all the mushy, gushy, lovey-dovey stuff. But they’re also a time when you, perhaps unwisely, invite all…

Spotify isn’t just for music-lovers; it can be a book lover’s play land too. Aside from Spotify’s audiobooks and readings of your favorite novels, poems, short stories, and even lectures by some of your favorite writers and intellectuals, the…

So, Women's History Month is pretty awesome. Amazing women have been blazing trails, starting revolutions, changing the world, and just generally bossin’ life since the beginning of human history. Unfortunately, the stories of a great deal of these…

It ain’t easy being a woman today, and it sure isn’t easy being a woman of color, especially when a great deal of what some calls feminism tends to neglect women of color and other marginalized communities. But, happily, feminism, like everything,…

Look, sometimes you just need a drink. Sometimes all your favorite real-life drinking buddies are all busy or lame or whatever, and that’s when you need both a drink and a good, debaucherous book to fill the space where your usual drinking buddies…

You might be asking yourself why on earth it matters that diverse books feature people of color on their covers. Well, unfortunately, it matters quite a bit. All too often, book covers for books about people of color are boldly white-washed, or the…

Getting older is this totally strange thing, no matter what age you’re graduating to or from. There’s all the sudden responsibility and bills that come with moving into your 20s and 30s. Then, there’s the “you need to think about kids before you…

Science fiction and fantasy have long been genres dominated by white men, both as authors and as the genres’ typical heroes. In recent decades, the number of female authors and heroes has increased dramatically, yet diversity remains an issue to be…

Everyone should be feminist, and everyone’s feminism should be intersectional. Don’t know what intersectional feminism is? To put it as simply as possible, it is the idea that feminism must be completely inclusive, that it cannot be separated from…