About SARC 2020
South Asian Reading Challenge was born out of the co-creators’ love for diversity, particularly desi representation. South Asian culture is rich and multi-layered, and we wanted to celebrate the books that highlight this. It is a year-long reading challenge that simply encourages participants to read as many South Asian books as possible.
Any book written by a South Asian author or an author of South Asian descent can be counted towards this challenge. The countries that make up South Asia are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Books of all age ranges, formats and genres can be read towards the challenge.
To help you find books to read for the challenge, we have a South Asian-inspired theme and 2 book recommendations that fit the theme every month. We also post book reviews, recommendations and much more on our hosts’ blogs. We can be found on social media on Twitter and Instagram.
Join the Challenge
- Take up the challenge by signing up here.
- Announce your commitment by using #SARC2020 on social media or tagging us on Twitter and Instagram.
- Participate in Twitter chats, take part in Instagram photo challenges and other fun social media stuff.
- Share your TBR in a blog post and link back to the master post.
- Use our graphics to show your love for South Asian books.
Meet the Team
Faguni Sharma, co-creator
Nandini Bharadwaj, co-creator
Nandini is the passionate book blogger behind Novels and Nebulas. She has been reaching for books since her childhood and often reads speculative fiction to escape reality. Born and brought up in Bangalore, India, she loves to see Asian representation in English fiction and goes hard for South-Asian stories. She also runs the Stars and Sorcery book club, which focuses on reading sci-fi and fantasy written by authors of colour every month. Her dream is to inspire everyone around her to experience the life-changing magic of literature.
Ahana Rao, co-host
Ahana is an avid reader and a passionate blogger. She used to be quiet, but then she started talking about books and now she can’t stop. If you ever see someone animatedly waving their hands in the air and talking about dragons, fated lovers and magic, that’s probably Ahana. You may not want to walk up to her, because she’ll talk your ear off about her favourite read.
Aradhna Kaur, co-host
Ara is a Southeast Asian writer who someday hopes to have published a novel, and who is currently losing herself in the worlds created by others. She loves books and food and television and blogging and her energetic three-year-old-daughter. She also gets distracted and sidetracked easily.
Charvi Koul, co-host
Charvi is a teen Indian book blogger and an avid reader. She loves to bury herself in YA and fantasy books when she’s not buried under assignments. She spends her time trying to juggle her other hobbies like art and writing but mostly ends up lost in the Twitter hole. A promoter of diverse books, she runs Read the Rainbow, a spotlight for queer books and is also a host at SARC.
Juli Patel, co-host
Jules is an Indian booktuber who isn’t great at keeping a consistent schedule, but they are doing their best. They have been reading for as long as they can remember, some of their earliest memories include reading among the shelves at their elementary school library. They hype up diverse books because they didn’t get to see many growing up and they believe that everyone deserves to see themselves and their culture in a book.
Krisha Madhani, co-host
Krisha is an Indian blogger and lover of flowers and dance. She is a reader since a young age and doesn’t know life without books. She is passionate about diverse books and especially South Asian books and loves to hype up and fangirl about fictional worlds and characters.
Rumaanah, co-host
Samia Abbasi, co-host
Samia is a San Francisco Bay Area-based writer who’s passionate about intentional storytelling and South Asian + Muslim representation. She has a B.A. in Creative Writing from Mills College, and she’s currently a content editor & developer for Kulfi, a South Asian-focused beauty brand. As a SARC co-host, she enjoys reading and uplifting books by South Asian writers across the diaspora. She loves Earl Grey tea, anime, and creating typography art for friends. On my blog, you’ll find musings about books, postgrad life, and her Dreams In-Progress interview series.
Simant Verma, co-host
Sim is a 30-something reader and a new mom, trying to adjust in the new role of a mother while juggling through her work, reading and blogging life. She loves making lists (only to not complete any) and calls herself the queen of the unread TBR pile. She is a travel lover and Netflix binger and a recently claimed Ravenclaw. She loves to read in various genres but her priorities are diverse reads and she can’t get enough of desi rep.
