Books by an Author from a Visible Minority: Staff Picks for the 2019 Reading Challenge
Are you taking our 2019 Reading Challenge? So are library staff all across the city. We're hoping readers will explore a diversity of books with this challenge – so this month, we decided to ask staff about their favourite books for the category, "A book by an author from a visible minority".
Here are some of our staff's favourite books in this category. If you have already read a book by an author in a visible minority, any of these titles can be used for the Reading Challenge category "A book recommended to you by library staff". We've also included other categories these books could be used for.
Elsa's recommendation: Ru by Kim Thúy
Why did Elsa pick it?
"I am recommending it because I can still recall the different pieces of memory shared in the novel. The feelings of moving to a new country were vividly shared."
What other categories could you use it for?
- A book by a Canadian award-winning author
- A book in translation
- A book about being a newcomer, refugee or immigrant
Alice's recommendations: Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro; On the Come Up by Angie Thomas; Pride by Ibi Zoboi.
Why did Alice pick them?
"Anger Is A Gift, by Mark Oshiro, is about learning to use your voice and protesting injustice. Moss learns to fight against a system that is harming him while it claims to protect him, inflicting painful losses on a young man who is both fragile from past trauma and made strong with community and love."
What other categories could you use it for?
- A book by an LGBTQ+ author
- A book about mental health
- A book from The List: Great Reads for Youth
"Pride, by Ibi Zoboi: I've been talking about this one to everyone who will listen. It's a remix of Pride and Prejudice, set in Brooklyn, and very much centered around class and gentrification of neighbourhoods."
What other categories could you use it for?
- A book from The List: Great Reads for Youth
"I am also loving Angie Thomas' new one from this year, On The Come Up, which makes it clear that her debut, The Hate U Give, was not a one-off. Bri is a different girl, with different problems and strengths, but her story is also multilayered and compelling, as her life gets more and more complicated."
What other categories could you use it for?
- A book from The List: Great Reads for Youth
Kathy's recommendation: Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin.
Why did Kathy pick it?
"It's a romantic comedy, based on Pride and Prejudice, set in a Muslim community in Scarborough. Sweet, funny, and relatable, I would recommend it to anyone who loves romance! And I always love a story set in Toronto."
What other categories could you use it for?
- Possibly A Book by a Canadian Award-winning author (it's just been nominated for a Leacock Award!)
- A book set in Toronto
- A book from The List: Great Reads for Youth
Eunice's recommendation: When Breath Becomes Air by Dr. Paul Kalanithi.
Why did Eunice pick it?
"The author confronts his mortality and asks important questions on what make life meaningful. Memorable quote: "Seven words from Samuel Beckett began to repeat in my head: 'I can't go on. I'll go on.'" An unforgettable read on the challenge of looking death in the eye and the doctor-patient relationship, which Kalanithi explores profoundly."
What other categories could you use it for?
- A book about mental health
Myrna's recommendation: Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez.
Why did Myrna pick it?
"My secret goal for the Reading Challenge is to get everyone to read Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez (it fits so many categories -- "set in Toronto," "an LGBTQ+ author", "a Canadian award-winning author", "an eh List author", and the list goes on). It had me weeping in sadness and in joy. I sometimes struggle with books featuring multiple narrators, but I thought every voice in this book was really well done."
What other categories could you use it for?
- A book by a Canadian award-winning author
- An eh List author
- A book set in Toronto
- A book by an LGBTQ+ author
- A book about mental health
- A book about being a newcomer, refugee or immigrant
Sarah's recommendation: Monstress by Marjorie Liu, illustrated by Sana Takeda.
Why did Sarah pick it?
"I love this series because it's dark, violent fantasy, with kick-ass female characters and rich world-building. Not to mention the most awesome talking cats in recent memory."
What other categories could you use it for?
- A graphic novel
- A non-prose book
Sheilah's recommendation: Binti by Nnedi Okorafor.
Why did Sheilah pick it?
"The first in a series, this is excellent science fiction that is rooted firmly in African soil. Lovers of the Black Panther movie will recognize the world Binti lives in. Okorafor is Nigerian-American & a professor at the University of Buffalo."
What other categories could you use it for?
- A book by an author with a disability
Kara's recommendations: Exo by Fonda Lee, and Book Uncle and Me by Uma Krishnaswami.
Why did Kara pick them?
"I read Exo in 2017 for a Canadian booklist. Normally I do not enjoy reading science fiction, but this title just blew me away with how good it was! Earth has become a colony of an invading alien race, the Zhree. Donovan Reyes, whose father is a high profile government official working with the Zhree, is an Exo (a human with alien technology fused to his body acting as a protective armour). Donovan thinks he knows who the good and bad guys are in this world, but things are never as clear as that. There were parts of this book that genuinely disturbed me (for example, the description of how the Exo suit is fused to Donovan as a child), but overall this book is a wonder of world building and character development and the twist ending just leaves you grasping for book two."
What other categories could you use it for?
- A book by a Canadian award-winning author
All formats
"I read Book Uncle and Me in 2016 for a Canadian booklist. Book Uncle's lending library is the highlight of Yasmin's walk home every day. The whole neighbourhood adores Book Uncle and the books he lends out. Until the day comes when Book Uncle is told he must close his free library. Yasmin is not going to just sit back and take this, so she rallies the neighbourhood to save the library. I loved this book for its look at how kids can create change in their communities."
For children ages 8+
What other categories could you use it for?
- A book by a Canadian award-winning author
Other recommendations from Reading Challenge Facebook group participants:
- I'm Afraid of Men by Vivek Shraya
- Brother by David Chariandy
- Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
- Pachinko by Min-Jin Lee
- The Colour of Earth by Kim Dong Hwa
- One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul
- Beijing Comrades by Bei Tong
- Adele by Leila Slimani
- Becoming by Michelle Obama
- Rouge by Adrian de Leon
- Cries in the Drizzle by Yu Hua
- Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
- Every Thing Belongs To Us by Yoojin Grace Wuertz
- A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi
- Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras
- The Farm by Joanne Ramos
- Forgiveness by Mark Sakamoto
- Insurrecto by Gina Apostol
- Loyal League Series by Alyssa Cole
- Two Lives by Vikram Seth
- An Unkindness of Ghosts by River Solomon
- Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
- Soucouyant by David Chariandy
- Severance by Ling Ma
- An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim
- Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
- The Sellout by Paul Beatty
- The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
- Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
- Laughing All the Way to the Mosque by Zarqa Nawaz
- The Woo-Woo by Lindsay Wong
- A Mercy by Toni Morrison
- Balzac and the Little Chinese Princess by Dai Sijie
- Shoplifter by Michael Cho
What are your picks and recommendations? You can share in the comments below.
This post was updated on April 26, 2019, to remove a misattributed quote from the section on Montress by Marjorie Liu.
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