Black Voices & Culture: Books for Adults

Take a look at some recent notable books by African American authors that reflect upon and celebrate Black culture and history.

Updated February 9, 2023
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All that she carried : the journey of Ashley's sack, a black family keepsake
Miles, Tiya
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A renowned historian traces the life of a single object handed down through three generations of Black women to craft a "deeply layered and insightful" (The Washington Post) testament to people who are left out...
Black food : stories, art & recipes from across the African diaspora
Terry, Bryant
A beautiful, rich, and groundbreaking book exploring Black foodways within America and around the world, curated by food activist and author of Vegetable Kingdom Bryant Terry. WINNER OF THE ART OF EATING PRIZE . JAMES BEARD AWARD NOMINEE . ONE OF THE TEN BEST COOKBOOKS...
The Compton cowboys : the new generation of cowboys in America's urban heartland
Thompson-Herna ndez, Walter
"Thompson-Hernández's portrayal of Compton's black cowboys broadens our perception of Compton's young black residents, and connects the Compton Cowboys to the historical legacy of African Americans in the west. An eye-opening, moving book."-- Margot Lee Shetterly, New York Times bestselling...
Deacon King Kong
McBride, James
Winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction   Winner of the Gotham Book Prize One of Barack Obama's "Favorite Books of the Year" Oprah's Book Club Pick Named one of the Top Ten Books of the Year by the New York Times,...
Dr. No
Everett, Percival.
WINNER OF THE 2023 PEN/JEAN STEIN BOOK AWARD A sly, madcap novel about supervillains and nothing, really, from an American novelist whose star keeps rising The protagonist of Percival Everett's puckish new novel is a brilliant professor of mathematics who goes by...
Hell of a book : or the altogether factual, Wholly Bona Fide story of a big dreams, hard luck, American-Made Mad Kid
Mott, Jason
***2021 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER*** ***THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER*** Winner of the 2021 Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction, Joyce Carol Oates Literary Prize Finalist, 2022 Chautauqua Prize Finalist, Willie Morris Award for Southern Writing Shortlist, 2021 Aspen...
His name is George Floyd : one man's life and the struggle for racial justice
Samuels, Robert
WINNER OF THE 2023 PULITZER PRIZE IN NONFICTION WINNER OF THE DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD AND LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE; FINALIST FOR THE J. ANTHONY LUKAS PRIZE; A BCALA 2023 HONOR NONFICTION AWARD WINNER. A landmark...
It's not all downhill from here : a novel
McMillan, Terry
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * After a sudden change of plans, a remarkable woman and her loyal group of friends try to figure out what she's going to do with the rest of her life--from Terry McMillan, the bestselling author of How Stella Got Her Groove Back and...
The Love Songs of W. E. B. du Bois: A Novel
Jeffers, Honorée Fanonne
An instant New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today Bestseller * AN OPRAH BOOK CLUB SELECTION * ONE OF THE ATLANTIC'S "GREAT AMERICAN NOVELS" * BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2021 * WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR FICTION A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: New York...
Memorial Drive : a daughter's memoir
Trethewey, Natasha D.
An Instant New York Times Bestseller  A New York Times Notable Book  One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2020 Named One of the Best Books of the Year by: The Washington Post, NPR, Shelf Awareness, Esquire, Electric Literature, Slate, The Los...
Memphis : a novel
Stringfellow, Tara M.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY * A spellbinding debut novel tracing three generations of a Southern Black family and one daughter's discovery that she has the power to change her family's legacy. "A rhapsodic hymn to...
On Juneteenth
Gordon-Reed, Annette
Weaving together American history, dramatic family chronicle, and searing episodes of memoir, Annette Gordon-Reed's On Juneteenth provides a historian's view of the country's long road to Juneteenth, recounting both its origins in Texas and the enormous hardships that African-Americans have...
On the rooftop
Sexton, Margaret Wilkerson
A Reese's Book Club Pick "An utterly original and brilliant story." -Reese Witherspoon A stunning novel about a mother whose dream of musical stardom for her three daughters collides with the daughters' ambitions for their own lives--set against the backdrop of gentrifying 1950s San...
Scenes from my life : a memoir
Williams, Michael Kenneth
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * WINNER OF THE NAACP IMAGE AWARD * A "gripping, revelatory" (NPR) memoir of hard-won success, struggles with addiction, and a lifelong mission to give back--from the late iconic actor beloved for his roles in The Wire, Boardwalk Empire, and...
Seven days in June : a novel
Williams, Tia
A REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICK!  AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Named A Best Book by USA Today * Harper's Bazaar * Oprah Daily * PopSugar * Shondaland * The Los Angeles Times * NPR * Kirkus *...
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be : essays
Perkins, Nichole
"Hear the dark liquor of her laughter rippling behind her sentences" in this magnetic memoir as it explores a journalist's obsession with pop culture and the difficulty of navigating relationships as a Black woman through fanfiction, feminism, and Southern mores (Saeed Jones). 
The sweetness of water
Harris, Nathan
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER / AN OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK ONE OF PRESIDENT OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2021  Winner of the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence Winner of the Willie Morris Award for...
Take my hand
Perkins-Valdez, Dolen
Winner of the 2023 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work - Fiction "Deeply empathetic yet unflinching in its gaze...an unforgettable exploration of responsibility and redemption."--Celeste Ng Inspired by true events that rocked the nation, a...
This is the fire : what I say to my friends about racism
Lemon, Don
In this "vital book for these times" (Kirkus Reviews), Don Lemon brings his vast audience and experience as a reporter and a Black man to today's most urgent question: How can we end racism in America in our lifetimes?  The host of CNN Tonight with Don Lemon is more popular...
Transcendent kingdom
Gyasi, Yaa
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...
The Trayvon generation
Alexander, Elizabeth
From a Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times bestselling author and poet comes a galvanizing meditation on the power of art and culture to illuminate America's unresolved problem with race. *Named a Most Anticipated Title of 2022 by TIME <...
Under the skin : the hidden toll of racism on American lives and on the health of our nation
Villarosa, Linda
PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST * "A stunning exposé of why Black people in our society 'live sicker and die quicker'--an eye-opening game changer."--Oprah Daily From an award-winning writer at the New York Times Magazine and a contributor to the 1619 Project comes a...
The vanishing half
Bennett, Brit
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2020 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES * THE WASHINGTON POST * NPR * PEOPLE * TIME MAGAZINE* VANITY FAIR * GLAMOUR  ...
With her fist raised : Dorothy Pitman Hughes and the transformative power of black community activism
Lovett, Laura L.
Historian Laura Lovett weaves together a biography of an activist who was intersectional to the core revealing a remarkable legacy that few have known until now and will appeal to readers interested in urban studies, activism, and Black women's history. Dorothy Pitman Hughes was a...

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