In an effort to streamline my own wishlist and TBR – I will provide a few lists. The first I complied as a result of a writer, Ashley Ford asking her followers what they have read recently (and will pick up soon) that was written by black women. I also search BookRiot and Google for inspiration for even more picks. This list is by no means complete, but rather a starting point.

A few things to note:

Some choices may be problematic, especially with regards to ableism and gender. If you see a pick you know has harmful rep for you/others, please let me know and I will take it down and replace it with something more representative. Lastly,  some books may not be published yet, so if you can, please pre-order if the book interests you.

Running List of Books by Black Women

Memoirs/Biographies

• Hunger – Roxanne Gay
• Negroland – Margo Jefferson
• This is Just my Face – Gabourey Sidibe
• Self Inflicted Wounds – Aisha Tyler
• A Suprised Queenhood in the New Black Sun – Angela Jackson
• Transwonderland – Noo Saro-Wiwa
• Ordinary Light – Tracey K Smith
• Cooking in Heels by Ceyenne Doroshow

Non-Fiction

• The Warmth of Other Suns- Isabel Wilkerson
• The New Jim Crow – Michelle Alexander
• Hidden Figures – Margot Lee Shetterly
• Emergent Strategy – Adrienne Maree Brown
• Never Caught – Erica Armstrong Dunbar
• Lower Ed – Tressie McMillan Cotton
• Pushout – Monique W Morris
• First Class – Alison Stewart

Fiction

• Behold the Dreamers – Imbolo Mbue
• The Turner House – Angela Flournoy
• Sing, Unburied, Sing – Jesmyn Ward
• What We Lose – Zinzi Clemmons
• No One is Coming to Save Us – Stephanie Powell Watts
• Stay with Me – Ayobami Adebayo
• American Marriage – Tayari Jones
• Brunch at Ruby’s (Ruby Series) – DL White
• Sula – Toni Morrison
• Americanah – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• New People – Danzy Senna
• Swing Time – Zadie Smith
• Moonbath by Yanick Lahens

Fantasy

• Book of Addis: Cradled Embers – Brooke Obie
• Broken Earth Trilogy – N.K. Jemisin

 

Science Fiction/Speculative Fiction

• Binti (Series) – Nnedi Okoafor
• Parable of the Sower – Octivia Bulter
• Everfair – Nisi Shawl
• The Salt Roads – Nalo Hopkinson
• Brew by Dane Figueroa Edidi

Romance

• Three Little Words (#4 in #DirtySexyGeeks Series) – Melissa Blue
• Breathless – Beverly Jenkins
• An Extraordinary Union – Alyssa Cole
• Reckoning (Gathering of the Storms Series) – TJ Michaels
• Bounce – KM Jackson
• Rich Brit – Tasha Hendrix
• Moonlight (Moonkind Series) – Ines Johnson
• Sanctuary (Beards and Bondage Series) – Rebekah Weatherspoon
• Love on my mind – Tracey Livesay

NA/YA/MA

• Rise of the Jumbies – Tracey Baptise
• American Street – Ibi Zoboi
• Calling My Name – Liara Tamani
• Betty Before X – Ilyasah Shabazz and Renee Watson
• Piecing Me Together – Renee Watson
• When I Am Through With You – Stephanie Kuehn
• I’m So Fine – Khadijah Queen
• The Hate You Give – Angie Thomas
• Dear Martin – Nic Stone
• The Sun is Also a Star- Nicola Yoon
• Little and Lion – Brandy Colbert
• One Shadow on the Wall – Leah Mark
• The Belles – Dhonielle Clayton
• Disparate Souls – Kelly Cain
• Children of Blood and Bone (Children of OrIsha Series) – Tomi Adeyemi

Short Stories

• What it means when a man falls from the sky – Lesley Nneka Arimah
• What is Not Yours is Not Yours – Helen Oyeyemi
• Come Let Us Sing Anyway – Leone Ross

Essays

• The Explainers and the Explorers – Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah
• This Will be My Undoing – Morgan Jerkins
• We Are Never Meeting in Real Life – Samantha Irby
• Freedom is a constant Struggle – Angela Davis
• Sister Outsider – Audre Lorde

Poetry

• One Last Word – Nikki Grimes
• Electric Arches – Eve Ewing
• Cannibal – Safiya Sinclair
• Voodoo Hypothesis – Canisia Lubrin
• Bestiary – Donika Kelly
• Simulacra – Airea D. Matthews
• Equilibrium – Tiana Clark
• Versos – Dionne Brand
• There are More Beautiful Things than Beyonce – Morgan Apple
• Life on Mars – Tracy K Smith
• The Chaos of Longing – K.Y. Robinson
• Voyage of the Stable – Venus Robin Coste
• The January Children – Safia Elhillo
• Ordinary Beast – Nicole Sealey

Horror

• Good House – Tananarive Due

Crime/Thriller

• Black Water Rising – Attica Locke
• Hollywood Homicide – Kellye Garrett
• City of Saviors – Rachel Howzell Hall

Self Help/Spiritual/Growth

• Shalom Sistas – Osheta Moore
• One: Unity in a Divided World – Deidra Riggs
• She’s Still There – Chrystal Hurst
• Fervent – Priscilla Shirer