My (Current) Favorite Books by Black Authors
In looking over my reading lists from the past few years I noticed that the majority of my favorite books recently have been by Black authors. It has not been a conscious decision in the past, but now I am certainly more aware when I choose what book I will dive into. Here are my most recent favorite reads by Black authors. I hope you enjoy!
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
This is the novel that made Colson Whitehead my favorite living author. His Underground Railroad is not a metaphor but an actual system of tracks and trains that a young woman named Cora journeys on from Georgia to the North.
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Last summer I pre-order my copy of this book, picked it up at the bookstore at 9am and was finished before I went to bed the following night. The harrowing story of two boys sentenced to a hellish reform school in Jim Crow era Florida is not to be missed.
She Would be King by Wayetu More
A captivating retelling of the founding of Liberia that seamlessly weaves together historical and magical realism. Wayetu Moore also just released this memoir which I am loving!
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
A look at the lives of modern day Black British women and families featuring 12 central characters whose lives interconnect in unexpected ways. Although they lead vastly different lives they share aspects of their identity from age to race to sexuality to class.
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
A young enslaved boy is gifted with a mysterious power that saves his life as a child and eventually helps him become a key fighter in the underground war between the slavers and the enslaved.
The Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
A tightly written family saga that starts on the evening of Melody's coming of age party in 2001 and moves forward and backwards in time to show how her family arrived at this moment.
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
Eleven year old George Washington Black starts life enslaved on a sugar plantation in Barbados. When he is chosen to be the manservant to his master's brother, an abolitionist, an epic adventure begins. Two people, separated by an impossible divide, begin to see each other as human.
