Black History Month: Adult Reads

Updated February 1, 2024
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Black Buck
Askaripour, Mateo
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller  A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick! Longlisted for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize "Askaripour closes the deal on the first page of this mesmerizing novel, executing a...
Black fortunes : the story of the first six African Americans who escaped slavery and became millionaires
Wills, Shomari
Paper Book
One of Ebony Magazine's True Read picks of 2018 "By telling the little-known stories of six pioneering African American entrepreneurs, Black Fortunes makes a worthy contribution to black history, to business history, and to American history."--Margot Lee Shetterly, Author of the New York...
Born a crime : stories from a South African childhood
Noah, Trevor
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * More than one million copies sold! A "brilliant" (Lupita Nyong'o, Time), "poignant" (Entertainment Weekly), "soul-nourishing" (USA Today) memoir about coming of age during the twilight of apartheid  
Maya Angelou : the complete poetry
Angelou, Maya
Paper Book
From her reflections on African American life and hardship in Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie to her revolutionary celebrations of womanhood in Phenomenal Woman and Still I Rise, and her elegant tributes to dignitaries Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela (...
Deacon King Kong
McBride, James
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller about community, race and religion from the National Book Award winner, James McBride ? CHOSEN BY BARACK OBAMA AS A FAVOURITE READ OF 2020 ? NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK ? TOP TEN BOOKS...
The Fire Next Time / Nobody Knows My Name / No Name in the Street / the Devil Finds Work
Baldwin, James/ Glaude, Eddie S., Jr. (INT).
Paper Book
A major hardcover compendium of nonfiction by one of America's most brilliant essayists, timed to the celebration of his centenary Novelist, essayist, and public intellectual James Baldwin is widely regarded as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. This Everyman's...
Hitting a straight lick with a crooked stick : stories from the Harlem Renaissance
Hurston, Zora Neale
Paper Book
From "one of the greatest writers of our time" (Toni Morrison)--the author of Barracoon and Their Eyes Were Watching God--a collection of remarkable stories, including eight "lost" Harlem Renaissance tales now available to a wide audience for the first time. New York Times'...
How we heal : uncover your power and set yourself free
Elle, Alexandra
Paper Book
An instant New York Times bestseller Beloved wellness author and teacher Alexandra Elle shares this practical and empowering guide to self-healing.   In How We Heal,...
In Every Mirror She's Black
?kn?md?e
Paper Book
A Good Morning America Buzz Pick! As seen in Vulture, Essence, Good Morning America, The Independent, Goodreads, PureWow, and many more! "A sexy, surprising, searing debut about love, loss, desire, and the many dimensions of Black womanhood."--Deesha Philyaw, 2020 National Book...
Kindred
Butler, Octavia E.
Paper Book
Selected by The Atlantic as one of THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVELS.  ("You have to read them.") From the New York Times bestselling author of Parable of the Sower and MacArthur "Genius" Grant, Nebula, and Hugo award winner The visionary time-travel classic...
The Nickel boys : a novel
Whitehead, Colson
Paper Book
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * This follow-up to The Underground Railroad brilliantly dramatizes another strand of American history through the story of two boys unjustly sentenced to a hellish reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida. * "One of the most gifted novelists...
Song of Solomon
Morrison, Toni
Paper Book
In this celebrated novel, Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison created a new way of rendering the contradictory nuances of Black life in America. Its earthy poetic language and striking use of folklore and myth established Morrison as a major voice in contemporary fiction. ...
The talk : conversations about race, love & truth
Hudson, Wade
Paper Book
Thirty diverse, award-winning authors and illustrators invite you intotheir homes to witnesstheconversationsthey have withtheir children about race in America today in this powerful call-to-action that invites all families to be anti-racists and advocates for change. "Project s love...
Transcendent kingdom
Gyasi, Yaa
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER * A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna BOOK CLUB PICK! * Finalist for the WOMEN'S PRIZE Yaa Gyasi's stunning follow-up to her acclaimed national best seller Homegoing is a powerful, raw, intimate, deeply layered novel about a Ghanaian family in Alabama...

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