African American/Black Fiction

New and recommended fiction by African American/Black authors

Updated September 19, 2025
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While justice sleeps : a novel
Abrams, Stacey
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER * A gripping, complexly plotted thriller set within the halls of the U.S. Supreme Court, where a young law clerk finds herself embroiled in a shocking mystery crafted by one of the most preeminent judges in America--from celebrated national...
Jackal : a novel
Adams, Erin E.
Paper Book
RECOMMENDED BY GILLIAN FLYNN ON THE TODAY SHOW * A young Black girl goes missing in the woods outside her white rust belt town. But she's not the first--and she may not be the last. . . . "I read this thriller that is Get Out meets The Vanishing Half<...
A spell of good things
Adebayo, Ayobami
Paper Book
BOOKER PRIZE NOMINEE * A NEW YORKER AND NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * GMA BUZZ PICK * A dazzling story of modern Nigeria and two families caught in the riptides of wealth, power, romantic obsession, and political corruption from the celebrated author of Stay with Me,...
Chain-gang all-stars
Adjei-Brenyah, Nana Kwame
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR * FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION * A READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * Two top women gladiators fight for their freedom within a depraved private prison system not so far-removed from...
Dead dead girls
Afia, Nekesa
Ebook
"In this terrific series opener, Afia evokes the women's lives in all their wayward and beautiful glory, especially the abruptness with which their dreams, hopes and fears cease to exist."--The New York Times The start of an exciting new historical mystery series set...
0101815928953
ASI
Paper Book
The Water Dancer meets The Prophets in this spare, gripping, and beautifully rendered novel exploring love and friendship among a group of enslaved Black strivers in the mid-19th century. They call themselves the Stolen. Their owners call them captives. They...
This great hemisphere : a novel
Askaripour, Mateo
Paper Book
"A thrilling page-turner."-Brit Bennett, #1 New York Times bestselling author "Wildly imaginative."-The Washington Post "Askaripour soars."-The Boston Globe A rallying cry for anyone who has ever felt invisible....
Honey & spice
Babalola, Bolu
Paper Book
From the Sunday Times bestselling author, Bolu Babalola, comes the romantic comedy we've all be waiting for.'A triumph of a novel.' Beth O'Leary'Smart, sexy and energetic. I'm excited for everyone to read this book.' Emma Gannon'Bolu understands desire better than anyone else and in...
A ghost in shining armor
Beharrie, Therese
Paper Book
In this spellbinding romantic comedy from acclaimed author Therese Beharrie, a woman with a supernatural talent is haunted by one persistent spirit--and a seductive, impossible love . . . BookBub Best Romances of the Second Half of 2022 BookPage Most Anticipated...
Yinka, where is your huzband?
Blackburn, Lizzie Damilola
Paper Book
Yinka wants to find love. Her mum wants to find it for her. She also has too many aunties who frequently pray for her delivery from singledom, a preference for chicken and chips over traditional Nigerian food, and a bum she's sure is far too small as a result. Oh, and the fact...
Black candle women : a novel
Brown, Diane Marie
Paper Book
A Read with Jenna Book Club Pick as Seen on the Today Show "If you like Practical Magic... you will love Black Candle Women." --Jenna Bush Hager Named a Best Book of the Month by: Shondaland, MS. Magazine, TODAY.com, Reader's Digest,...
Society of lies : a novel
Brown, Lauren
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK * "A dark and haunting debut that explores secret societies, the bonds of sisterhood, and the intricacies of privilege at an elite college . . . I couldn't put this twisty tale down."--Julia Bartz, author of The Writing Retreat ...
Stars in your eyes
Callender, Kacen
Paper Book
The National Book Award-winning author of Felix Ever After delivers a beautifully tender story of two grumpy/sunshine, fake-dating actors navigating their love story both on and offscreen--perfect for fans of Casey McQuiston and Alexis Hall. ...
The ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye
Cameron, Briony
Paper Book
'Packed full of action, excitement, peril and romance on the high seas, this is the sapphic pirate book of my dreams' SARAH UNDERWOOD, author of Lies We Sing to the Sea'Thrilling, heart-pounding adventure meets thoughtful feminist history . . . a rare and special tale' VAISHNAVI...
Swift River
Chambers, Essie
Paper Book
A READ WITH JENNA TODAY SHOW BOOK CLUB PICK | A National Bestseller | Winner of the Ernest J. Gaines Award | Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize | One of The Washington Post's Best Books of 2024 | An NPR Best Book of 2024 | An Elle Best Book of 2024 | A...
The unbroken
Clark, C. L.
Paper Book
On the far outreaches of a crumbling desert empire, two women--a princess and a soldier--will haggle over the price of a nation in this richly imagined, breath-taking sapphic epic fantasy filled with rebellion, espionage, and assassinations.   ...
The dead cat tail assassins
Clark, P. Dje?li?
Paper Book
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are not cats. Nor do they have tails. But they are most assuredly dead. Nebula and Alex Award winner P. Djèlí Clark introduces a brand-new world and a fantastical city full of gods and assassins. ...
Tremor : a novel
Cole, Teju
Paper Book
An "extraordinary, ambitious" (The Times UK) novel that masterfully explores what constitutes a meaningful life in a violent world--from the award-winning author of Open City New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice * "Cole's mind is so agile that it's easy to...
Midnight rooms : a novel
Coles, Donyae
Paper Book
"An immersive horror fairy tale marrying Crimson Peak to Pan's Labyrinth upon strange foundations. You're never really safe here, with Midnight Rooms wondrously defying expectation and refusing obedience. Donyae Coles leads us into a house of sinister magic, full of corners for...
All the sinners bleed
Cosby, S. A.
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * USA Today Bestseller * Washington Post's The Twelve Best Thrillers of the Year * TIME's 100 Must Read Books of the Year * Goodreads Choice Award Nominee * USA Today's Best Reviewed Books of the Year * BookPage's Best...
Great expectations : a novel
Cunningham, Vinson
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A historic presidential campaign changes the trajectory of a young Black man's life in this "coming of age story that captures the soul of America" (The Washington Post), the debut novel from The New Yorker staff writer and Pulitzer Prize finalist Vinson...
Milwaukee Blues
Dalembert, Louis-Philippe.
Paper Book
The deaths of unarmed Black male citizens at the hands of police from Eric Garner's in New York City in 2014 to George Floyd's in Minneapolis in May 2020 provide the impetus behind Louis-Philippe Dalembert's latest novel, a re-imagining of events leading up to and after these tragedies.
And so I roar : a novel
Daré, Abi
Paper Book
A stunning, inspiring new novel from Abi Daré, New York Times bestselling author of The Girl with the Louding Voice When Tia accidentally overhears a whispered conversation between her mother--terminally ill and lying in a hospital bed in Port Harcourt, Nigeria--and...
Beyond the door of no return
Diop, David
Paper Book
A Finalist for the 2023 National Book Award for Translated Literature | Longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award One of The Atlantic's 10 Best Books of 2023 A Financial Times Best Book of 2023 | Named a best book of the year by...
The reformatory : a novel
Due, Tananarive
Paper Book
*Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner * New York Times Notable Book * Locus Award Finalist * Winner of the Bram Stoker Award and the Shirley Jackson Award * "You're in for a treat...one of those books you can't put down...Due hit it out of the park." --Stephen King ...
Faebound
El-Arifi, Saara
Paper Book
THE INSTANT #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'Exquisite fantasy, with a complex, mysterious, and sumptuous world of elves, fae, and gloriously compelling romance - so enthralling, it has wrapped its magic around my heart and set it alight' HANNAH KANER, bestselling author of...
You made a fool of death with your beauty
Emezi, Akwaeke
Paper Book
The INSTANT Sunday Times Bestseller: 'Emezi is a dream of a writer. My heart soared and shook and panted.' Bolu Babalola
If I survive you
Escoffery, Jonathan
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 BOOKER PRIZE 'Dazzling' GUARDIAN 'Blistering' THE TIMES 'A delight' DIANA EVANS 'Fiction written at the highest level' ANN PATCHETT 'Hilarious, revelatory' MARLON JAMES An electrifying, hilarious and deeply moving...
James : a novel
Everett, Percival
Paper Book
A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and ferociously funny, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view. From the "literary icon" (Oprah Daily), Pulitzer Prize Finalist, and one of the most decorated writers of our...
The neighbor favor
Forest, Kristina
Paper Book
Shy, bookish, and admittedly awkward, Lily Greene has always felt inadequate compared to the rest of her accomplished family, who strive for Black excellence. She dreams of becoming a children's book editor, but she's been frustratingly stuck in the nonfiction division for years without a promotion...
Like a sister
Garrett, Kellye
Paper Book
In this "crackling domestic suspense" filled with "wry humor and deft pacing" (Alyssa Cole), no one bats an eye when a Black reality TV star is found dead--except her estranged half-sister, whose refusal to believe the official story leads her on a dangerous search for the truth.
The women could fly : a novel
Giddings, Megan
Paper Book
Reminiscent of the works of Margaret Atwood, Shirley Jackson, and Octavia Butler, a biting social commentary from the acclaimed author of Lakewood that speaks to our times--a piercing dystopian novel about the unbreakable bond between a young woman and her mysterious mother, set in a world in...
The conductors
Glover, Nicole
Paper Book
"A seamless blending of magic, mystery, and history . . . Glover's worldbuilding, characters, and attention to historical detail create a delightfully genre-bending debut!" -- Tananarive Due, American Book Award winner, author of Ghost Summer: Stories From a bold new voice in speculative...
By the book
Guillory, Jasmine
Paper Book
From New York Times best-selling author Jasmine Guillory comes the much-anticipated second book in the Meant to Be collection inspired by the classic fairy tale stories we all know and love, perfect for adult readers who crave contemporary, escapist rom-coms. ...
The hypocrite
Hamya, Jo
Paper Book
A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN TIME, THE DAILY MAIL, THE INDEPENDENT, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING AND THE ATLANTIC 'Like Edward St Aubyn and Anne Enright, Hamya is so good on generational conflict, the friction of family, and the damage done by charming but...
Miss Aldridge regrets
Hare, Louise
Paper Book
'Charming characters, a cross-Atlantic setting, jazz, cocktails, sex and a brilliant murder mystery. You couldn't ask for more! I loved it' Harriet Tyce 'This is a cracker. A thoroughly absorbing and thought-provoking historical crime novel that oozes glamour' Cathy...
An academy for liars
Henderson, Alexis
Paper Book
A student will find that the hardest lessons sometimes come from outside the classroom in this stunning dark academia novel from the acclaimed author of The Year of the Witching and House of Hunger. Lennon Carter's life is falling apart.   
D'Vaughn and Kris plan a wedding
Higgins, Chencia C.
Paper Book
A New York Times best romance pick A Today Show best romance pick from New York Times bestselling author Jasmine Guillory D'Vaughn and Kris have six weeks to plan their dream wedding. Their whole relationship is fake. ...
Blackheart man : a novel
Hopkinson, Nalo
Paper Book
The magical island of Chynchin is facing conquerors from abroad and something sinister from within in this entrancing fantasy from the Grand Master Award-winning author Nalo Hopkinson. Veycosi, in training as a griot (an historian and musician), hopes to sail off to examine the...
I'm so (not) over you
Jackson, Kosoko
Ebook
"Shine[s] with a beautiful, blooming sense of wonder."--New York Times Book Review A 2023 LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD WINNER! One of... Entertainment Weekly's 10 Best LGBTQ+ Romance Novels of the Last Five Years Essence's New Books We Can't Wait To Read In...
The ballad of perilous graves
Jennings, Alex
Paper Book
"Funny, wild, witty, and profound."―Victor LaValle "A wild and wonderful debut, teeming with music, family and art."--New York Times "Magical, lyrical, gritty, otherworldly...hype like Bayou Classic in the 90s."<...
The house of Eve : a novel
Johnson, Sadeqa
Paper Book
"Amazing...I was completely surprised by the ending of this beautifully told and written book." --Reese Witherspoon "A triumph of historical fiction" (The Washington Post), an instant New York Times bestseller, and a Reese's Book Club pick, set in 1950s...
Lone women : a novel
LaValle, Victor
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * Blue skies, empty land--and enough wide-open space to hide a horrifying secret. A woman with a past, a mysterious trunk, a town on the edge of nowhere, and an "absorbing, powerful" (BuzzFeed) new vision of the American West, from the award-winning author of...
Bluebird, bluebird : a novel
Locke, Attica
Paper Book
A "heartbreakingly resonant" thriller about the explosive intersection of love, race, and justice from a writer and producer of the Emmy-winning Fox TV show Empire (USA Today). "In Bluebird, Bluebird Attica Locke had both mastered the thriller and exceeded it...
The unsettled
Mathis, Ayana
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK * A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR *  From the best-selling author of The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, a searing multi-generational novel--set in the 1980s in racially and politically turbulent Philadelphia and in the tiny town of Bonaparte, Alabama--about...
Smoke Kings : a novel
Mayfield, Jahmal
Paper Book
Nate Evers, a young black political activist, struggles with rage as his people are still being killed in the streets 62 years after Emmett Till. When his little cousin is murdered, Nate shuns the graffiti murals, candlelight vigils, and Twitter hashtags that are commonplace after these senseless...
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
McBride, James
Paper Book
In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the...
Someone like us
Mengestu, Dinaw
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK * The son of Ethiopian immigrants seeks to understand a hidden family history and uncovers a past colored by unexpected loss, addiction, and the enduring emotional pull toward home. After abandoning his once-promising career as a...
The memory librarian : and other stories of dirty computer
Mona?e, Janelle
Paper Book
New York Times bestseller! In The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer, singer-songwriter, actor, fashion icon, futurist, and worldwide superstar Janelle Monáe brings to the written page the Afrofuturistic world of one of her critically acclaimed albums,...
What you leave behind : a novel
Morris, Wanda M.
Paper Book
Award-winning author Wanda Morris returns with a powerful, haunting thriller following a lawyer who after the mysterious disappearance of a local landowner and the death of his sister just months before, uncovers a conspiracy that dates back to Reconstruction and persists in half the United...
Goliath
Onyebuchi, Tochi
Paper Book
A New York Times Editors' Choice Pick! A Best Book of the Year for Time | NPR | The Guardian | Gizmodo| Portalist | New York Public Library A Most Anticipated Pick for USA Today | Bustle | Buzzfeed | Goodreads | Nerdist | io9 | WBUR |...
Parasol against the axe
Oyeyemi, Helen
Paper Book
ONE OF BIBLIOLIFESTYLE'S "BEST LITERARY FICTION OF 2024" "A shape-shifting novel about the power of stories...Helen Oyeyemi is a literary pied piper -- her voice is the kind that readers gamely follow into the most bewildering and unnerving of situations." - The New York Times...
The monsters we defy
Penelope, L.
Paper Book
"[P]itch perfect, with wit, romance, and a lovable found family." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review) "This smart and entertaining, magical heist novel hits all the right notes!" ―T.L. Huchu NPR...
One-shot Harry
Phillips, Gary
Paper Book
Los Angeles, 1963: African American Korean War veteran Harry Ingram earns a living as a news photographer and occasional process server: chasing police radio calls and dodging baseball bats. When Ingram hears a call over the police scanner to the scene of a deadly automobile accident, he recognises...
Come and get it : a novel
Reid, Kiley
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER National Bestseller A Good Morning America Book Club Pick An Indie Next Pick A LibraryReads Pick Acclaimed author Kiley Reid's fresh and provocative story about desire, consumption, and bad behavior.
The practice, the horizon, and the chain
Samatar, Sofia
Paper Book
Nebula Award Finalist for Best Novella Named a Best Sci-Fi Book of 2024 by Esquire, The New York Times, SLATE, The Washington Post, and ELLE "I am in love with Sofia Samatar's lyricism and the haunting beauty of her imagination. Her stories...
This cursed house
Sandeen, Del
Paper Book
One of Esquire's Best Horror Books of 2024 One of Crime Reads' Best Gothic Novels of 2024 In this Southern gothic horror debut, a young Black woman abandons her life in 1960s Chicago for a position with a mysterious family in New Orleans, only to discover the dark truth:...
Masquerade
Sangoyomi, O. O.
Paper Book
PEOPLE MAGAZINE BEST NEW BOOKNAACP IMAGE AWARD FINALISTCAROL SHIELDS PRIZE FINALIST GOODREADS CHOICE NOMINEE AUDIBLE BOOK OF THE YEARINDIE NEXT PICK Selected for best-of lists from Book Riot, Kirkus Reviews, Ms....
Colored Television
Senna, Danzy
Paper Book
A NATIONAL BESTSELLER A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK A WASHINGTON POST TOP 10 BOOK OF THE YEAR A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2024 "A laugh-out-loud cultural comedy... This is the New Great American Novel, and Danzy...
River sing me home
Shearer, Eleanor
Paper Book
A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK * This beautiful, page-turning and redemptive story of a mother's gripping journey across the Caribbean to find her stolen children and piece her family back together is a "celebration of motherhood and female resilience" (The Observer). ...
Symphony of secrets
Slocumb, Brendan
Paper Book
A gripping page-turner from the celebrated author of book club favorite The Violin Conspiracy: Music professor Bern Hendricks discovers a shocking secret about the most famous American composer of all time--his music may have been stolen from a Black Jazz Age prodigy named Josephine Reed....
The fraud
Smith, Zadie
Paper Book
The New York Times bestseller * One of the New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year * One of NPR's Best Books of the Year * Named a Best Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly and BookPage * One of Oprah Daily's Best Novels of 2023 "[A] brilliant...
Africa risen : a new era of speculative fiction
Thomas, Sheree R.
Paper Book
Winner of the 2023 World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology Winner of the 2023 Locus Award for Best Anthology A 2023 NAACP Image Award Nominee A 2023 British Fantasy Award Nominee A NPR Best of the Year pick A...
The Nigerwife : a novel
Walters, Vanessa
Paper Book
GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK "The perfect beach read...catapults you into a world that most of us have never seen before--and will have you glued to every page." --HuffPost "White Lotus meets Big Little Lies" (...
Let us descend : a novel
Ward, Jesmyn
Paper Book
OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK * Instant New York Times Bestseller * Named one of the best books of 2023 by The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, The Boston Globe, Time, The New Yorker, and more. "Nothing short of epic,...
Harlem shuffle
Whitehead, Colson
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, this gloriously entertaining novel is "fast-paced, keen-eyed and very funny ... about race, power and the history of Harlem all disguised as a thrill...
Ours
Williams, Phillip B.
Paper Book
Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker, People, Los Angeles Times, NPR, and more "An inventive ode to self-determination and also a surrealistic vision of Black life as forged within the crucible of American history . . . [written in] lush, ornamental...
A love song for Ricki Wilde : a novel
Williams, Tia
Paper Book
In this sexy modern-day fairytale from the New York Times bestselling author of Seven Days in June, a free-spirited florist and an enigmatic musician share a soul mate connection told through the history, art, and the magic of Harlem. A ...

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