Black History Month Books for Adults

Updated January 23, 2026
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Black AF history : the un-whitewashed story of America
Harriot, Michael
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From acclaimed columnist and political commentator Michael Harriot, a searingly smart and bitingly hilarious retelling of American history that corrects the record and showcases the perspectives and experiences of Black Americans. America...
The Black box : writing the race
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr.
Paper Book
A New York Times Notable Book * Shortlisted for the Phi Beta Kappa Society's Christian Gauss Award for Outstanding Books in Literary Scholarship "Henry Louis Gates is a national treasure. Here, he returns with an intellectual and at times deeply personal meditation on the hard...
Black in blues : how a color tells the story of my people
Perry, Imani
Paper Book
A "vast, multifaceted and enchanting" (Minneapolis Star-Tribune) meditation on the color blue and its fascinating role in Black history and culture, from National Book Award winner Imani Perry, "the most important interpreter of Black life in our time" (Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.) ...
Black-owned : the revolutionary life of the Black bookstore
Adams, Char
Paper Book
Black-Owned celebrates the history of Black bookstores and their role as centerpieces of resistance and liberation. Drawn from the author's in-depth research and reporting, Black-Owned is a story of activism, espionage, violence, and perseverance. Char Adams details Black bookstores' battles with...
Combee : Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black freedom during the Civil War
Fields-Black, Edda L.
Paper Book
Winner, 2025 Pulitzer Prize for History Winner, 2025 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize Publishers Weekly Starred Review Library Journal Starred Review Booklist Top Ten History Books of 2024 The story of the Combahee River Raid, one of Harriet Tubman's...
Glory daze
Arceneaux, Danielle
Paper Book
"Glory Broussard's talents and foibles as a human and a crime-solver on full display in Arceneaux's sublime Glory Daze."--Sarah Weinman, The New York Times Book Review, "Best Mystery Novels of the Year" In the highly anticipated follow-up to the award-winning...
My Black country : a journey through country music's Black past, present and future
Randall, Alice
Paper Book
Alice Randall, award-winning professor, songwriter, and author presents "a celebration of all things country music" (Ken Burns) as she reflects on her search for the first family of Black country music. Country music had brought Alice Randall and her activist mother together and...
No right to an honest living : the struggles of Boston's Black workers in the Civil War era
Jones, Jacqueline
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE IN HISTORY A "sensitive, immersive, and exhaustive" portrait of Black workers and white hypocrisy in nineteenth-century Boston, from "a gifted practitioner of labor history and urban history" (Tiya Miles, National Book Award-winning author...
A pair of wings : a novel
Hopson, Carole
Paper Book
An airline captain crafts a riveting, adventurous novel inspired by the remarkable true life of pioneer aviatrix Bessie Coleman, a Black woman who learned to fly at the dawn of aviation and found freedom in the air A few years after the Wright brothers' first flight, Bessie...
People of Means
Johnson, Nancy
Paper Book
From the acclaimed author of The Kindest Lie, a propulsive novel about a mother and daughter each seeking justice and following their dreams during moments of social reckoning--1960s Nashville and 1992 Chicago; perfect for readers of Brit Bennett and Tayari Jones. ...
The potting shed murder
Sutton, Paula
Paper Book
From the creator of Hill House Vintage and "Queen of Cottagecore" (Vogue), a fresh, witty, fun, and delightfully quirky cozy crime novel set in a seemingly sleepy English village for fans of Richard Osman, Parini Shroff, Benjamin Stevenson, and Anthony Horowitz. "Miss Marple...
Son of the morning : a novel
Emezi, Akwaeke
Paper Book
DELUXE LIMITED EDITION features stenciled edges, color endpapers, and a unique jacket that reveals an alternate case cover illustration when removed. Available for a limited time while supplies last. From New York Times bestselling author Akwaeke Emezi comes a steamy paranormal...
The swans of Harlem : five Black ballerinas, fifty years of sisterhood, and their reclamation of a groundbreaking history
Valby, Karen
Paper Book
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW NOTABLE BOOK * Finalist for the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography * The forgotten story of a pioneering group of five Black ballerinas and their fifty-year sisterhood, a legacy erased from history--until now. "This is the kind...
A thousand ways to die : the true cost of violence on Black life in America
Lee, Trymaine
Paper Book
NOW A NATIONAL BESTSELLER! A deeply personal exploration of the generational impact of guns on the Black experience in America A few years ago, Trymaine Lee, though fit and only 38, nearly died of a heart attack. When his then five-year-old daughter, Nola,...
The wilderness : a novel
Flournoy, Angela
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER FINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE FOR FICTION LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION LONGLISTED FOR THE ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE Named one of the Washington Post's 10 Best Books of the Year ...

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