Following the recent political developments, marginalized individuals in the United States face being pushed even farther into their already thin margins.  While protests, donations and other forms of activism have been flooding the nation, some are finding ways to support marginalized communities while still keeping their page count up.

Thus I introduce the #ReadTheMargin reading challenge.

Created by Tumblr user Ladybookmad a.k.a. author Amanda Lovelace, the book challenge iterates a challenge to read only marginalized authors for the month of December (Starting the 1st but feel free to start now and join in!): LGBTQ+ authors, POC authors, authors from other countries, women authors, indigenous authors, disabled authors, mentally ill authors and other marginalized groups.  The book challenge has accrued a substantial growing population of participants in the month leading up to December 1st.

The hashtag has moved from Tumblr and onto Twitter, Facebook and other forms of social media.

As I made known in my reflection of my year-long book challenge, I have been attempting to read about one book a week.  December is around four weeks long, which equates to about four books for the month for me.  Easily doable.

And I shouldn’t be the only one here at ACC getting in on this book challenge –you should be too!  I challenge and encourage every Pinnacle reader to read at least ONE book this month written (or illustrated, if you’re into graphic novels or comics, which totally count and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise) by a marginalized author.  

Struggling to find a book within the margins?  Do not fret; Below, I have made personal recommendations along with numerous tagged recommendations from others within the hashtag.  

 Feel free to head to your social media page and post about the books you’ll be reading for the challenge.  Don’t forget to tag #ReadTheMargin!

My personal recommendations:

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

This wonderfully crafted tale follows the genealogical history and transcontinental journey of the Stephanides family culminating all through the protagonist’s eyes.  Middlesex’ reach is broad: it touches upon immigration, sexuality, genetics, biology, history, and the discovery and acceptance of your true self.  Both heartbreaking and heart-mending, Middlesex is at the top of my list of recommendations for this book challenge.

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

If deep, layered science fiction is more your speed, I highly recommend The Three-Body Problem by up and coming Chinese science fiction author Cixin Liu.  The first of three books within the Three-Body Trilogy, The Three-Body Problem tells the incredibly imaginative story set against the backdrop of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, when a military project sends signals into space in order to contact aliens.  Aliens eventually make contact and through several decades establish communications with Earth via a strange video game “steeped in philosophy and history.”  The third book has yet to be translated and published in English, but the first two are available now and will certainly have you pondering some of life’s bigger and more technical questions.  Absolutely worth every moment spent with the story.

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche

For anyone who has yet to read any of the works of Chimamanda Adiche, I highly recommend starting with Americanah.  Poignant, beautiful, and warmly haunting, this book explores immigration, the color of one’s skin, the depth and strength of a first love, and will leave the reader stunned.  The book itself is as strong as the women and men the book is written about.  It is one of my absolute favorite books of all time and Adiche once again shows her power through her prose.  If you read only one book from this list, let it be this one.

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur

To be quite honest, I haven’t been able to shake the effect this book had on me once I had read it.  Rupi Kaur is a master of connecting the human experience with the human soul, which is often difficult to do.  This book is a collection of poems that span four major phases in Rupi’s life, as outlined in the book itself.  Every poem, every line, will shake you, punch you in the gut, ream you through with your own heart, and then pick you back up again and reassure you that the journey you just went on was worth every emotional step.  I do not usually pick up collections of poetry but I am utterly glad that I picked this one up.

Exit Wounds by Rutu Modan

To round out my recommendation list, I thought I’d include a different style of book — a graphic novel.  Set in contemporary Israel, the novel tracks the journey of a father’s son searching for his father who is thought to have been killed in a terrorist explosion.  The son is somehow tracked down by his father’s lover and from there the story twists and turns and doubles-back.  Like every book on this list, Exit Wounds is powerful, wrenching; it will hit you in spots you didn’t know you had and leave you pondering questions you’ve yet to ever ask.  And like every book on this list, this graphic novel is a masterpiece — in composition, design, and story.  I highly recommend this novel, particularly if you appreciate well thought-out comic arrangement and powerfully written storylines.

Please feel free to comment your marginalized author recommendations as well!