10 Books To Read To Show Your Infinite Love For Black People
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February is Black History Month. In celebration of Black History Month, we’re here with some of the books that have changed the game on our reading. From domestic fiction to fantasy and everything in between, the books we’ve selected touched our souls (and we’ve been thinking about them ever since).
Black books but make it Fiction
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
We begin with a story reminiscent of a young Toni Morrison. The Vanishing Half follows the Vignes twins. These sisters are identical in every way. After growing up together in a small, southern black community the sisters decide to run away at age sixteen. As Desiree and Stella become adults, their lives converged into different paths. Everything from their families, and their communities, to their racial identities.
While one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white. Keeping the secret from those closest to her. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined.
What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters’ storylines intersect?
Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
Next is Queenie. Queenie is a disarmingly honest, unapologetically black, and undeniably witty debut novel speaking to those who have gone looking for love and found something very different in its place.
Queenie Jenkins is a twenty-five-year-old Jamaican British woman living in London, straddling two cultures and slotting neatly into neither. She works at a national newspaper, where she’s constantly forced to compare herself to her white middle-class peers. What’s more is that after a messy breakup with her long-term white boyfriend, Queenie seeks comfort in all the wrong places.
As Queenie careens from one questionable decision to another, she finds herself wondering, “What are you doing? Why are you doing it? Who do you want to be?”—all of the questions today’s woman must face in a world trying to answer them for her.
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hell for all the slaves, but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood—where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Matters do not go as planned—Cora kills a young white boy who tries to capture her. Though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted.
Black History but make it a Thriller
All Her Little Secrets by Wanda M. Morris
This thriller is fast-paced, crafted with a twisty mystery about a black lawyer who gets caught in a dangerous conspiracy after the sudden death of her boss . . .
Everyone has something to hide…
Ellice Littlejohn seemingly has it all: an Ivy League law degree, a well-paying job as a corporate attorney in midtown Atlanta, great friends, and a “for fun” relationship with a rich, charming executive, who just happens to be her white boss. But everything changes one cold January morning when Ellice arrives in the executive suite and finds him dead with a gunshot to his head.
And then she walks away as if nothing has happened. Why? Ellice has been keeping a cache of dark secrets, including a small-town past and a kid brother who’s spent time on the other side of the law. She can’t be thrust into the spotlight—again.
But instead of grieving this tragedy, people are gossiping, the police are getting suspicious, and Ellice, the company’s lone black attorney, is promoted to replace her boss. While the opportunity is a dream come true, Ellice just can’t shake the feeling that something is off.
When she uncovers shady dealings inside the company, Ellice is trapped in an impossible ethical and moral dilemma. Suddenly, Ellice’s past and present lives collide as she launches into a pulse-pounding race to protect the brother she tried to save years ago and stop a conspiracy far more sinister than she could have ever imagined…
When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole
Said to be an intense psychological thriller that doesn’t let go until the final page.
Sydney Green is Brooklyn born and raised, but her beloved neighborhood seems to change every time she blinks. Condos are sprouting like weeds, FOR SALE signs are popping up overnight, and the neighbors she’s known all her life are disappearing. To hold onto her community’s past and present, Sydney channels her frustration into a walking tour and finds an unlikely and unwanted assistant in one of the new arrivals to the block—her neighbor Theo.
But Sydney and Theo’s deep dive into history quickly becomes a dizzying descent into paranoia and fear. Their neighbors may not have moved to the suburbs after all, and the push to revitalize the community may be more deadly than advertised.
When does coincidence become a conspiracy? Where do people go when gentrification pushes them out? Can Sydney and Theo trust each other—or themselves—long enough to find out before they too disappear?
Black History but make it Romance
Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan
This list wouldn’t be complete without the BookTok success of Before I Let Go.
Yasmen and Josiah’s love was supposed to last forever. But when life delivered blow after devastating blow, Yasmen and Josiah Wade found that love alone couldn’t solve or save everything.
It couldn’t save their marriage.
Yasmen wasn’t prepared for how her life fell apart, but she is finally starting to find joy again. She and Josiah have found a new rhythm, co-parenting their two kids and running a thriving business together. Yet like magnets, they’re always drawn back to each other, and now they’re beginning to wonder if they’re truly ready to let go of everything they once had.
Soon, one stolen kiss leads to another…and then more. Hot! Illicit! It’s all good—until old wounds reopen. Is it too late for them to find forever? Or could they even be better, the second time around?
Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds
A hilarious and heartfelt novel about the choices we make, the people we choose, and the moments that make a life worth reliving.
When Jack and Kate meet at a party, bonding until sunrise over their mutual love of Froot Loops and their favorite flicks, Jack knows he’s falling—hard. Soon she’s meeting his best friends, Jillian and Franny, and Kate wins them over as easily as she did Jack.
But then Kate dies. And their story should end there.
Yet Kate’s death sends Jack back to the beginning, the moment they first meet, and Kate’s there again. Healthy, happy, and charming as ever. Jack isn’t sure if he’s losing his mind.
Still, if he has a chance to prevent Kate’s death, he’ll take it. Even if that means believing in time travel. However, Jack will learn that his actions are not without consequences. And when one choice turns deadly for someone else close to him, he has to figure out what he’s willing to do to save the people he loves.
Black History books but make it Memoirs
Finding Me by Viola Davis
“It’s clear from the first page that Davis is going to serve a more intimate, unpolished account than is typical of the average (often ghost-written) celebrity memoir; Finding Me reads like Davis is sitting you down for a one-on-one conversation about her life, warts and all.”—USA Today
Finding Me is a deep reflection, a promise, and a love letter of sorts to self. Viola says “My hope is that my story will inspire you to light up your own life with creative expression and rediscover who you were before the world put a label on you.”
Ms. Davis’ book is one that you have to get on audio. Ms. Davis has officially hit EGOT status with her award for audiobook narration. We love black people from infinity to infinity. Congratulations to her.
Becoming by Michelle Obama
In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address.
With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.
Black books but make it Fantasy
A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown
A list of Black History books must include fantasy. There are amazing black authors that deserve recognition.
First in a fantasy duology inspired by West African folklore in which the crown princess and a desperate refugee find themselves on a collision course to murder each other despite their growing attraction. This duology doesn’t get enough hype.
Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury
This tale is rich and dark. Following a teen witch who is given a horrifying task: sacrificing her first love to save her family’s magic. The problem is, she’s never been in love—she’ll have to find the perfect guy before she can kill him.
Daughters of Nri by Reni N. Amayo
War so gruesome results in the old gods’ departure from earth. The only remnants of their existence lie in two girls. Twins, separated at birth. Goddesses who grow up believing that they are human. Daughters Of Nri explores their epic journey of self-discovery as they embark on a path back to one another.
In conclusion, black history books are a great way to learn about the rich history and culture of black people. There are many different titles available, so there is something for everyone. If you have read any black history books, leave a comment and let us know what you thought.
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