Join in on a sober journey through Black History Month with these recommended titles from African-American writers.
There is no better time than now, to sit back on a cold day, with your best latte and read a book by African-American writers. In addition to being sober for over 50 days, starting just shy of Christmas of last year. my doting pastime has been eating more (not a good thing) and trying to find a good book to read.
Not being able to hang out with associates and spending money at restaurants and bars, seemed like a downer. However, I chose to go sober, stay healthy, and do something rewarding for the new year.
Furthermore, it was a great opportunity to check out some good reading for Black History Month. Besides Penguin Random House had me covered with some of the great selections of titles, so check them out and get to reading.
10 Books by Contemporary Black Authors
Read some of the best fiction by contemporary Black authors, including stories by Bryan Washington, Diana Evans, and more.
Family Meal
by Bryan Washington
An irresistible, intimate novel about two young men, once best friends, whose lives collide again after a loss. Spanning Los Angeles, Houston, and Osaka, Family Meal is a story about how the people who know us the longest can hurt us the most, but how they also set the standard for love. With his signature generosity and eye for food, sex, love, and the moments that make us the most human, Bryan Washington returns with a brilliant new novel.
Promise
by Rachel Eliza Griffiths
Two Black sisters growing up in small-town New England fight to protect their home, their bodies, and their dreams as the Civil Rights Movement sweeps the nation in Promise, a “magical, magnificent novel” (Marlon James) from “a startlingly fresh voice” (Jacqueline Woodson).
Lone Women
by Victor LaValle
Blue skies, empty land — and enough wide-open space to hide a horrifying secret. Crafted by a modern master of magical suspense, Lone Women blends shimmering prose, an unforgettable cast of adventurers who find horror and sisterhood in a brutal landscape, and a portrait of early-twentieth-century America like you’ve never seen. And at its heart is the gripping story of a woman desperate to bury her past — or redeem it.
Nightcrawling
by Leila Mottley
A dazzling novel about a young Black woman who walks the streets of Oakland and stumbles headlong into the failure of its justice system. This debut of a blazingly original voice “bursts at the seams of every page and swallows you whole” (Tommy Orange, author of There There).
Come and Get It
by Kiley Reid
It’s 2017 at the University of Arkansas. Millie Cousins, a senior resident assistant, wants to graduate, get a job, and buy a house. So when Agatha Paul, a visiting professor and writer, offers Millie an easy yet unusual opportunity, she jumps at the chance. A fresh and intimate portrait of desire, consumption, and reckless abandon, Come and Get It is a tension-filled story about money, indiscretion, and bad behavior — and the highly anticipated new novel by acclaimed and award-winning author Kiley Reid.
Black Cake
by Charmaine Wilkerson
In this moving debut novel, two estranged siblings must set aside their differences to deal with their mother’s death and her hidden past — a journey of discovery that takes them from the Caribbean to London to California and ends with her famous black cake.
A House for Alice
by Diana Evans
A sweeping and beautifully rendered exploration of home and yearning, following the fracturing of a family upon the demise of its patriarch. Intimately drawn and set against a fraught political backdrop, yet equally full of hope, humor, and humanity, A House for Alice traces the scars of grief and betrayal across generations and uncovers the secrets we keep from those closest to us.
The Vanishing Half
by Brit Bennett
From TheNew York Times-bestselling author of The Mothers, a stunning new novel about twin sisters, inseparable as children, who ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds, one Black and one white.
When We Were Birds
by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo
A mythic love story set in Trinidad, Ayanna Lloyd Banwo’s radiant debut is a masterwork of lush imagination and exuberant storytelling — a spellbinding and hopeful novel about inheritance, loss, and love’s seismic power to heal.
Cherish Farrah
by Bethany C. Morrow
Farrah, a young, calculating Black girl manipulates her way into the lives of her Black best friend’s white, wealthy, adoptive family but soon suspects she may not be the only one with ulterior motives. Told in Farrah’s chilling, unforgettable voice and weaving in searing commentary on race and class, this slow-burn social horror will keep you on the edge of your seat until the last page.
In conclusion, I will leave you with a special link to click on to find out how to order these fine titles and see all 33 books available on the list.
#AfricanAmericanLiterature #Sobriety #BlackHistoryMonth #PenguinRandomHouse
