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 * NAACP IMAGE AWARD NOMINEE * AMAZON'S TOP 20 HISTORY BOOKS OF 2023 * B&N BEST OF EDUCATIONAL HISTORY * THE ROOT'S BEST BOOKS OF 2023 * CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2023 From acclaimed columnist and political commentator Michael Harriot,...
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 writers of the founding era, 1760-1800
Basker, James G.
Paper Book
A radical new vision of the nation's founding era and a major act of historical recovery Featuring more than 120 writers, this groundbreaking anthology reveals the astonishing richness and diversity of Black experience in the turbulent decades of the American Revolution
Black-owned : the revolutionary life of the Black bookstore
Adams, Char
Paper Book
**A November LibraryReads Pick** Longtime NBC News reporter Char Adams writes a deeply compelling and rigorously reported history of Black political movements told through the lens of Black-owned bookstores, which have been centers for organizing from abolition to the Civil Rights...
Combee : Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black freedom during the Civil War
Fields-Black, Edda L.
Paper Book
The story of the Combahee River Raid, one of Harriet Tubman's most extraordinary accomplishments, based on original documents and written by a descendant of one of the participants. Most Americans know of Harriet Tubman's legendary life: escaping enslavement in 1849, she led more than 60 others out...
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...
Invisible generals : rediscovering family legacy, and a quest to honor America's first Black generals
Melville, Doug
Paper Book
The amazing true story of America's first Black generals, Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. and Jr., a father and son who helped integrate the American military and created the Tuskegee Airmen. Perfect for fans of Devotion and Hidden Figures. Red Tails, George Lucas's...
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...
The wilderness : a novel
Flournoy, Angela
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER FINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE FOR FICTION FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITIC CIRCLES AWARD FOR FICTION LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION LONGLISTED FOR THE ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE ...

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