Diversify your reading in more than one way during Winter Reading! Here we highlight recent titles by Black authors, an optional reading challenge category offering all flavors of story. Enjoy a mere sprinkling of books below as a teaser, or delve deeper with a full list of titles by Black authors here. Happy browsing, reading, and watching snow fall!
Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
Emerging from a life-threatening illness, a fiercely organized but unfulfilled computer geek recruits a mysterious artist to help her establish meaning in her life, before finding herself engaged in reckless but thrilling activities.
Romance; Banter-filled
Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
Hired to find a mysterious boy who disappeared three years before, Tracker joins a search party that is quickly targeted by deadly creatures.
Afrofuturism; World-building
Three-Fifths by John Vercher
A biracial black man who passes for white becomes unwittingly involved in the aftermath of a hate crime committed by his best friend which unleashes racial tension and violence in 1990s Pittsburgh.
Crime Fiction; Fast-paced
It’s Not All Downhill from Here by Terry McMillan
Confident that her best days are still ahead, a successful businesswoman relies on close friends and her resourcefulness when an unexpected loss turns her world upside down.
Relationship Fiction; Funny
The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste
Tending the wounded when her nation is invaded by Mussolini, an orphaned servant in 1935 Ethiopia helps disguise a gentle peasant as their exiled emperor to rally her fellow women in the fight against fascism.
Historical Fiction; Action-packed
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
A Virginia slave narrowly escapes a drowning death through the intervention of a mysterious force that compels his escape and personal underground war against slavery.
Magical Realism; Character-driven
Luster by Raven Leilani
A young black artist falls into an affair with a man in an open marriage before gradually befriending his wife and adopted daughter against a backdrop of dynamic racial politics.
Coming-of-Age; Darkly Humorous
Dive into Winter Reading! January 1st – February 28th
