African American/Black Fiction

New and recommended fiction by African American/Black authors

Updated September 19, 2025
Rochester Public Library RPL Staff
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African American/Black Fiction

New and recommended fiction by African American/Black authors

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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...
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...
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...
Temple folk
Bilal, Aaliyah
Paper Book
Finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction A "splendid and grand collection" (Edward P. Jones, Pulitzer Prize­-winning author of The Known World) of literary short stories portraying the lived experiences of Black Muslims grappling with faith, family, and freedom in...
Dead in Long Beach, California
Blackburn, Venita
Paper Book
A Finalist for the 2025 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction. Longlisted for the 2025 PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel and the 2025 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award. A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 2024. One of NPR's 2024 Books We Love. Longlisted for the...
House of cotton
Brashears, Monica
Paper Book
FINALIST for the 2024 NYPL Young Lions Fiction Award * NPR BEST BOOK OF 2023 * An enchanting Black Southern gothic debut, perfect for readers of Mexican Gothic... "Fresh, haunting...In her roller-coaster ride of a gothic debut novel, Monica Brashears upends expectations at...
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
Ebook
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 : a novel
Cameron, Briony
Paper Book
This "thrilling, swashbuckling story" (People) based on true events illuminates a woman of color's rise to power as one of the few female pirate captains to sail the Caribbean, and a forbidden love story that will shape the course of history. In the tumultuous town of...
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 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...
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...
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 : a novel
El-Arifi, Saara
Audiobook
Two elven sisters become imprisoned in the intoxicating world of the fae, where danger and love lie in wait. Faebound is the first book in an enchanting new trilogy from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Final Strife. "A romantic fantasy of epic...
You made a fool of death with your beauty : a novel
Emezi, Akwaeke
Paper Book
A Good Morning America Buzz Pick, a Best Romance of 2022 by The New York Times and The Washington Post, and a Most Anticipated Book of 2022 by Oprah Daily, Vulture, Harper's Bazaar, Thrillist,...
If I survive you
Escoffery, Jonathan
Paper Book
FINALIST FOR THE 2023 BOOKER PRIZE. LONGLISTED FOR THE 2022 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION. Finalist for the 2023 Pen/Faulkner Award, the DUBLIN Literary Award, the Southern Book Award, and the Gordon Burns Award. Nominated for the 2022 National Book...
James : a novel
Everett, Percival
Paper Book
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER * #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER * A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and darkly humorous, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view * In development as a feature film to be...
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...
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
Ebook
ONE OF THE ATLANTIC'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR * DAKOTA JOHNSON'S TEATIME PICTURES SEPTEMBER BOOK CLUB PICK ● From a fiercely talented writer poised to be a new generation's Rachel Cusk or Deborah Levy, a novel set between the London stage and Sicily, about a daughter who turns...
Long after we are gone : a novel
Harris, Terah Shelton
Paper Book
"A big, beautiful, devastating, and ultimately hopeful novel." --Erica Bauermeister, New York Times bestselling author of No Two Persons An explosive and emotional story of four siblings--each fighting their own personal battle--who return home in the wake of their father's death in order...
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...
All we were promised : a novel
Lattimore, Ashton
Paper Book
A housemaid with a dangerous family secret conspires with a wealthy young abolitionist to help an enslaved girl escape, in volatile pre-Civil War Philadelphia--"a gripping novel about standing up to impossible odds" (People, Best New Books) The rebel . . . the...
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
Locke, Attica
Paper Book
A thrilling novel about the explosive intersection of love, race, and justice from a writer and producer of the Emmy-winning Fox TV show Empire. "In Bluebird, Bluebird Attica Locke had both mastered the thriller and exceeded it." --Ann Patchett ...
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,...
Between friends & lovers : a novel
Obuobi, Shirlene
Paper Book
"Between Friends & Lovers was an absolute joy to read, with messy, realistic, and deeply lovable characters... Obuobi's perfect balance of humor and wisdom made this one a true standout." -- Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author An influencer, an actor, and a writer navigate...
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...
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.
Before I let go
Ryan, Kennedy
Paper Book
"Real, raw, magnificent--Before I Let Go is the beautiful angst I love to read." --Colleen Hoover, #1 New York Times bestselling author A scorching emotional second chance romance from a New York Times bestselling author. ...
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 BOOK> BRITISH FANTASY AWARD WINNER > NAACP IMAGE AWARD FINALIST> CAROL SHIELDS PRIZE FINALIST > GOODREADS CHOICE NOMINEE > AUDIBLE BOOK OF THE YEAR> INDIE NEXT PICK Selected for best...
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 FINALIST FOR THE 2026 JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE "A laugh-out-loud cultural...
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...
God bless you, Otis Spunkmeyer
Thomas, Joseph Earl
Paper Book
From the acclaimed author of the memoir Sink, a novel about Black life in Philadelphia and the struggle to build intimate connections through the eyes of a struggling ex-Army grad student. "Intoxicating, propulsive ... utterly mesmerizing." --Kaveh Akbar,...
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...
Devil is fine
Vercher, John
Paper Book
LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/FAULKNER AWARD FOR FICTION - LONGLISTED FOR THE MARK TWAIN AMERICAN VOICE IN LITERATURE AWARD - FINALIST FOR THE VIRGINIA LITERARY AWARDS - LONGLISTED FOR THE ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE - INDIE NEXT PICK - NAMED A BEST NOVEL OF THE YEAR BY ELECTRIC LIT - ONE OF TIME...
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...
Slaveroad
Wideman, John Edgar
Paper Book
"Master of language" (The New York Times) John Edgar Wideman uses his unique generational position to explore what he calls the "slaveroad," offering "a fresh perspective of slavery's impact and a confirmation of Wideman's exalted status in American letters" (New York...
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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