Black History Month: Adult Reads

Updated February 1, 2024
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The autobiography of Malcolm X
X, Malcolm 1925-1965
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * ONE OF TIME'S TEN MOST IMPORTANT NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY The "extraordinary" (The New York Times) autobiography of the legendary civil rights leader once called the most dangerous man in America--essential...
Before you suffocate your own fool self
Evans, Danielle.
Paper Book
Introducing a new star of her generation, an electric debut story collection about young African-American and mixed-race teens, women, and men struggling to find a place in their families and communities. When Danielle Evans's short story "Virgins" was published in The Paris...
Black buck
Askaripour, Mateo
Paper Book
"Askaripour closes the deal on the first page of this mesmerizing novel, executing a high-wire act full of verve and dark, comic energy."--Colson Whitehead, author of The Nickel Boys "A hilarious, gleaming satire as radiant as its author. Askaripour has announced himself as a major...
The Black church : this is our story, this is our song
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr.
Paper Book
The instant New York Times bestseller and companion book to the PBS series. "Absolutely brilliant . . . A necessary and moving work." --Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., author of Begin Again "Engaging. . . . In Gates's telling, the Black church shines bright...
Black fortunes : the story of the first six African Americans who escaped slavery and became millionaires
Wills, Shomari
Paper Book
"By telling the little-known stories of six pioneering African American entrepreneurs, Black Fortunes makes a worthy contribution to black history, to business history, and to American history."--Margot Lee Shetterly, New York Times Bestselling author of Hidden Figures Between the...
Born a crime stories from a South African childhood
Noah, Trevor 1984-
Audiobook
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The compelling, inspiring, and comically sublime story of one man's coming-of-age, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Michiko Kakutani, New...
The complete poetry
Angelou, Maya.
Paper Book
The beauty and spirit of Maya Angelou's words live on in this complete collection of poetry, including her inaugural poem "On the Pulse of Morning" Throughout her illustrious career in letters, Maya Angelou gifted, healed, and inspired the world with her words. Now...
Deacon King Kong
McBride, James
Paper Book
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 New York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
Hitting a straight lick with a crooked stick : stories from the Harlem Renaissance
Hurston, Zora Neale
Paper Book
From "one of the greatest writers of our time" (Toni Morrison)--the author of Barracoon and Their Eyes Were Watching God--a collection of remarkable stories, including eight "lost" Harlem Renaissance tales now available to a wide audience for the first time. New York Times' Books
Hokum : an anthology of African-American humor
Beatty, Paul.
Paper Book
Edited by the author of The Sellout, winner of the 2016 Man Booker Prize, Hokum is a liberating, eccentric, savagely comic anthology of the funniest writing by black Americans. This book is less a comprehensive collection than it is a mix-tape narrative dubbed by a...
How we heal : uncover your power and set yourself free
Elle, Alexandra
Paper Book
An instant New York Times bestseller Beloved wellness author and teacher Alexandra Elle shares this practical and empowering guide to self-healing.   In How We Heal,...
Jubilee : recipes from two centuries of African American cooking
Tipton-Martin, Toni
Paper Book
"A celebration of African American cuisine right now, in all of its abundance and variety."-Tejal Rao, The New York Times JAMES BEARD AWARD WINNER . IACP AWARD WINNER . IACP BOOK OF THE YEAR TONI TIPTON-MARTIN NAMED THE 2021 JULIA CHILD AWARD RECIPIENT AND...
Kindred
Butler, Octavia E.
Paper Book
Experience the novel that redefined American literature by the New York Times bestselling author of Parable of the Sower, MacArthur "Genius," and Nebula and Hugo award winner Selected by The Atlantic as one of the "most consequential novels of the past 100 years"...
The Nickel boys : a novel
Whitehead, Colson 1969-
Paper Book
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * This follow-up to The Underground Railroad brilliantly dramatizes another strand of American history through the story of two boys unjustly sentenced to a hellish reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida. * "One of the most gifted novelists in...
Notes from a young Black chef : a memoir
Onwuachi, Kwame
Paper Book
"Kwame Onwuachi's story shines a light on food and culture not just in American restaurants or African American communities but around the world." --Questlove   By the time he was twenty-seven years old, Kwame Onwuachi (winner of the 2019 James Beard Foundation Award for ...
Song of Solomon
Morrison, Toni.
Paper Book
"A wise and spacious novel," is how Reynold Price described Song of Solomon, Morrison's crowning literary achievement. Her third novel's generous expanse reaches across generations of family and miles of land to tell the story of the descendants of Macon Dead, a one time slave who carved a bountiful...
The talk : conversations about race, love & truth
Hudson, Wade
Paper Book
Thirty diverse, award-winning authors and illustrators invite you intotheir homes to witnesstheconversationsthey have withtheir children about race in America today in this powerful call-to-action that invites all families to be anti-racists and advocates for change. "Project s love...
Transcendent kingdom
Gyasi, Yaa
Paper Book
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...

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