It’s Black History Month and this month gives us an opportunity to acknowledge the ever-growing contributions black people make to culture. Even though it’s important to celebrate and respect black people and their voices all year round, Black History Month will always be a significant time for them. That’s why we have compiled a list of books to read for black history month, that will blow your socks off.
Literature is one of the biggest arenas for black people to show their grit, imagination, and talent, and because of so many black authors, we get to understand the struggles and stories of black people around us.
Being an avid reader, I always try to read as many books as I can by black authors, not only during Black History Month but also for the rest of the year.
Black literature can tell us a lot about their culture, lives, emotions, and struggles, and by reading their books, we get to know more about their stories. So go ahead, and get these good books to read by black authors.
Here are some of the most iconic, path-breaking, and brilliant books to read for Black History Month.
Related: 10 Book Recommendations To Expand Your Worldview
40 Brilliant Books To Read For Black History Month
1. The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1982)
Goodreads Rating: 4.2
The story is about Celie, a young African-American girl who is raped and impregnated by her own father and then sold and married off to another brutish man. Separated from her children and her darling sister, Nettie, she tries to survive and stay strong in an ugly, abusive marriage. A few years later she meets Shug Avery, a famous singer who helps her find her true self and inner magic and drives her to make something of herself.
This book was, is, and always be iconic and path-breaking, and this is that one book I never get tired of re-reading again and again. The way Alice Walker has unapologetically and beautifully portrayed the lives of Southern black women in this book is for sure going to give you goosebumps and bring tears to your eyes.
This is one of the best books to read for Black History Month, so give this one a read, and thank me later!
Favorite Quote: “Why any woman give a shit what people think is a mystery to me.”
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2. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016)
Goodreads Rating: 4.5
It’s about Esi and Effia, two half-sisters born in Ghana, during the 18th century. One sister marries a slaver, and the other one is sold into slavery, and the story beautifully captures how their lives diverge due to these circumstances. The story follows their lives and that of their descendants through eight generations from the plantations of Mississippi to the Gold Coast, and from the Jazz days of Harlem to schools in Ghana.
This is one of those books by black authors where you won’t just understand how racism works, but it’s also going to tear your heart into pieces. Gyasi beautifully portrays racism and how it looks in modern-day society. If you are a fan of historical fiction (like me!), this is going to blow you away. Epic, sensational, and absolutely brilliant, this book is going to make you think.
Favorite Quote: “You want to know what weakness is? Weakness is treating someone as though they belong to you. Strength is knowing that everyone belongs to themselves.”
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3. Kindred by Octavia Butler (1979)
Goodreads Rating: 4.3
Set in 1976, it’s about a black woman named Dana who lives in Los Angeles but suddenly time travels to a plantation in Maryland during the Civil War era. The more she time travels, the longer she ends up staying, and this causes a lot of problems in her present life, and even threatens her life in the future.
Kindred is considered to be one of the top books by black authors for a reason. It is nothing short of a literary masterpiece and is clearly Octavia Butler’s best and most popular work to date. This book was published at a time when female protagonists, let alone black female protagonists in the sci-fi genre were unheard of. Revolutionary is an understatement, right?
Favorite Quotes: “I never realized how easily people could be trained to accept slavery.”
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Related: 14 Must-Read Books As Recommended By Emma Watson
4. My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (2018)
Goodreads Rating: 3.7
Set in Nigeria, it’s about a woman named Korede whose life is always affected due to the fact that she has to always clean up after her sister, Ayoola. Why? Because Ayoola has a habit of killing her boyfriends! Things take a turn for the worse when Ayoola starts dating Korede’s colleague, with whom Korede has been in love for the longest time.
This is truly one of the must-read novels by black authors out there, and you don’t know what you’re missing out on if you haven’t read it yet. Smart, funny, gripping, and addictive, this satirical thriller is unputdownable.
Favorite Quote: “It takes a whole lot longer to dispose of a body than to dispose of a soul, especially if you don’t want to leave any evidence of foul play.”
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5. Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams (2019)
Goodreads Rating: 3.9
Queenie Jenkins has a very complicated and quite unhappy life. Why? She is stuck at a job that she dislikes, her Jamaican-British family never makes an effort to understand her, and she’s just not able to move on from a recent messy breakup. On top of that, she constantly gets involved with problematic men, who ruin her self-worth even more.
Her struggles are not only relatable for a lot of us, but some of the situations are also so funny, it’s going to make you spit your tea out. Trust me, I have been there! One of the best things about this book is that it’s going to make you laugh out loud at one moment and shatter your heart into a million pieces the next.
Favorite Quote: “Is this what growing into an adult woman is—having to predict and accordingly arrange for the avoidance of sexual harassment?”
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6. The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X by Les Payne and Tamara Payne (2020)
Goodreads Rating: 4.3
Safe to say, this book is one of the best books by black authors out there and is also one of the best books to read for Black History Month. This autobiography about Malcolm X describes his whole life, starting from his childhood in Nebraska to his violent assassination in Harlem in 1965. The book focuses on the pivotal role he played in the struggle for Black Freedom.
This book can be disturbing to read sometimes, and might even make you feel like not finishing it because of how detailed and raw it is. But do yourself a favor, and finish it, because this is one of those great books to read by black authors, which will give you a lot of perspective about black people and their struggles.
Favorite Quote: “Now, I know you don’t want to be called ‘black,’ he said…You want to be called Negro. But what does Negro mean except ‘black’ in Spanish? So what you are saying is: ‘It’s OK to call me ‘black’ in Spanish, but don’t call me black in English.”
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Related: 25 Incredible Novels You Must Read At Least Once In Your Life
7. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo (2019)
Goodreads Rating: 4.4
This novel chronicles the lives of twelve black British women and the people they have loved and let go of across social classes and generations. Their feelings, emotions, pain, and thoughts are beautifully captured and penned down by Evaristo, and you wouldn’t want this book to end.
Girl, Woman, Other won the Man Booker prize in 2019, and it was so well-deserved. Even though this falls under the contemporary fiction genre, anybody and everybody can give this vibrant, unique, and distinctive book a read.
Favorite Quote: “Very small children don’t care about skin color, Rachel until they’re brainwashed by their parents.”
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8. Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward (2017)
Goodreads Rating: 4.0
Jesmyn Ward’s novel paints a picture of a sad and broken family in Mississippi where the husband is going through a jail sentence and the wife who is a young mother is hooked on drugs. When the husband is about to be released, Leonie, the mother goes on a road trip with her children to meet him who is also their father.
A very different kind of novel, this is undoubtedly one of the best books for black history month. It talks about broken families, and twenty-first-century America, and weaves through it all a certain degree of mythicism, beauty, and heartbreaking truths about life.
Favorite Quote: “Some days later, I understood what he was trying to say, that getting grown means learning how to work that current: learning when to hold fast, when to drop anchor, when to let it sweep you up.”
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9. Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson (2021)
Goodreads Rating: 4.4
Yellow Wife revolves around Pheby Brown, an enslaved woman who resides in one of the most distressing and torturous slave jails in Virginia. Even though she was promised that she would be set free once she turned 18, unfortunately, she wasn’t. All because she was a black enslaved woman.
This is one of the best fiction books by black authors and chronicles her fight for freedom and beautifully captures her gentle, yet strong spirit. It also speaks a bit about Robert Lumpkin, who was one of the most brutal and horrible slave traders in the South. This book is a revelation, and people who haven’t read this yet are seriously missing out!
Favorite Quote: “Who could whip a woman until she lost her child? Only a monster.”
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Related: 200+ Best African Proverbs And Wise Sayings
10. Beloved by Toni Morrison (1987)
Goodreads Rating: 3.9
Beloved won the Pulitzer Prize in 1987, and chronicles the life of Sethe, a former slave who comes into contact with the supernatural in 1873, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Before getting her freedom, she had tried to kill her children in order to save them from a life of enslavement. Her daughter and sons survived, but sadly her infant daughter, Beloved did not. Her family starts getting haunted by a spirit known as Beloved, and that is how the story continues.
If you want to read some top books by black authors during Black History Month, then you absolutely have to include this book in your list! Toni Morrison is a legend for a reason and is one of the most renowned black authors of all time. Beloved is heartbreaking and elegantly captures the pain and trauma of post-slavery life and adds a bit of magical surrealism to it, while Sethe deals with the trauma, pain, and bondage of her previously enslaved life.
Favorite Quote: “He licked his lips. ‘Well, if you want my opinion-‘
‘I don’t, ‘ She said. ‘I have my own.”
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Special Mentions
The list doesn’t end here! There are so many amazing books by black authors out there, that I had to include a few more in this post, including even childrens books for black history month.
Best Children’s Books By Black Authors
- Imani’s Moon by Janay Brown-Wood, Illustrated by Hazel Mitchell
- Hair Love by Mathew A. Cherry, Illustrated by Vashti Harrison
- The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
- Lullaby (For A Black Mother) by Langston Hughes, Illustrated by Sean Qualls
- Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe
Related: 27 Best Books For Kids Of All Ages
Best Fantasy Books By Black Authors
- Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
- The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull
- Twelve Days: A Novel by Steven Barnes
- The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark
- The Record Keeper by Agnes Gomillion
Best Self Help Books By Black Authors
- What I Know For Sure by Oprah Winfrey
- She’s Still There: Rescuing The Girl In You by Chrystal Evans Hurst
- The Art Of Being by Danielle Allen
- Successful Women Think Differently by Valorie Burton
- Love In My Language by Alexandra Elle
Best Mystery Books By Black Authors
- American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson
- They All Fall Down by Rachel Howzell Hall
- The Blind Alley by Grace F. Edwards
- Windy City Dying by Eleanor Taylor Bland
- Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Cosby
Best Self Love Books By Black Authors
- One Day My Soul Just Opened Up by Iyanla Vanzant
- Life Visioning by Michael Bernard Beckwith
- Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes
- Becoming by Michelle Obama
- Greatness Is Upon You by Eric Thomas
Related: Top 10 Self Help Books to Read Today
Best Horror Books By Black Authors
- Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler
- The Good House by Tananarive Due
- We Cast A Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin
- Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
- White Is For Witching by Helen Oyeyemi
And that’s it, folks! Add these to your TBR list, give them a read, and thank me later. These must-read novels by black authors are truly going to blow your mind. Also, don’t forget to let us know your thoughts below in the comments. Happy reading!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why is Black History Month important?
Black History Month gives us an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of Black people, reminds us to acknowledge the systemic racism that is still prevalent today, and provides a spotlight on all the organizations and people working hard to create change in society.
Who founded Black History Month?
Historian Carter G. Woodson founded Black History Month in 1926.
What is the purpose of black history month?
Black History Month gives us an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate Black culture and history, spotlight their achievements, accomplishments, and good work, and most importantly, treat them as equals.
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