#1
Months on List: 13
In a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by climate change and social chaos, a 15-year-old girl with a debilitating sensitivity to others' emotions must overcome societal denial, protect her community, and navigate her disabling condition to forge a new faith and shape human destiny.
Parable Of The Sower
by Octavia E. Butler • Grand Central Publishing (April 30, 2019) • 13 Months on List
#2
Months on List: 13
In Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison's groundbreaking debut, an 11-year-old Black girl, Pecola Breedlove, seeking acceptance in a society that idolizes blond, blue-eyed children, embarks on a heart-wrenching journey of self-discovery, exposing society's obsession with beauty, conformity, and the devastating effects of racial and gender inequality.
The Bluest Eye
by Toni Morrison • Vintage (May 8, 2007) • 13 Months on List
#3
Months on List: 1
Sent to a brutal Jim Crow–era reformatory, a boy who sees ghosts uncovers the dark truths behind the disappearances of other inmates while his sister fights to bring him home before he becomes another lost soul.
Reformatory
by Tananarive Due • S&s/saga Press (January 7, 2025) • 1 Months on List
#4
Months on List: 13
In Jim Crow–era Florida, a principled teen’s imprisonment in a brutal reform school tests his faith in justice and forges a complex bond with a cynical fellow inmate, in a haunting tale rooted in real history.
The Nickel Boys
by Colson Whitehead • Anchor Books (June 30, 2020) • 13 Months on List
#5
Months on List: 13
In this haunting New York Times bestseller, former slave Sethe battles the relentless torment of her past and the ghost of her deceased child, in a chilling exploration of the lasting impacts of slavery.
Beloved
by Toni Morrison • Vintage (June 8, 2004) • 13 Months on List
#6
Months on List: 8
In early-twentieth-century rural Georgia, two separated sisters maintain their bond through letters, navigating pain, companionship, growth, resilience, and bravery as they break the silence on domestic and sexual abuse, embarking on a transformative journey towards redemption and love in this Pulitzer Prize-winning American classic, The Color Purple.
The Color Purple
by Alice Walker • Penguin (December 10, 2019) • 8 Months on List
#7
Months on List: 13
In the early 20th century, Belle da Costa Greene, the black personal librarian to J.P. Morgan, must hide her true identity and navigate New York's high society to curate a world-class art collection, in this tale of resilience and secrecy.
The Personal Librarian: A Gma Book Club Pick
by Marie Benedict And Victoria Christopher Murray • Berkley Books (June 7, 2022) • 13 Months on List
#8
Months on List: 13
A modern Black woman is inexplicably pulled back in time to the Antebellum South, where she must repeatedly save the life of a plantation owner's son while enduring the harsh realities of slavery and prejudice, her stays growing longer and increasingly perilous, threatening her existence in the present.
Kindred
by Octavia E. Butler • Beacon Press (February 1, 2004) • 13 Months on List
#9
Months on List: 13
In Zora Neale Hurston's 1937 classic, Their Eyes Were Watching God, fiercely independent Janie Crawford navigates love, poverty, and self-discovery through three marriages, painting an enduring and compelling portrait of 20th-century African American womanhood.
Their Eyes Were Watching God
by Zora Neale Hurston • Amistad Press (May 30, 2006) • 13 Months on List
#10
Months on List: 13
<em>Homegoing</em> traces the divergent paths of two half-sisters born in 18th century Ghana – one living a life of privilege married to an Englishman, the other captured and sold into slavery – and their descendants across eight generations, revealing the lasting impact of slavery from Gold Coast to Jazz Age Harlem.
Homegoing
by Yaa Gyasi • Vintage (May 2, 2017) • 13 Months on List
#11
Months on List: 7
In the midst of the antebellum South, a young slave named Cora embarks on a perilous journey to freedom via a literal Underground Railroad, as she experiences the terrors of her era and reflects on the shared history of a nation built on the backbone of slavery.
The Underground Railroad
by Colson Whitehead • Anchor Books (January 30, 2018) • 7 Months on List
#12
Months on List: 8
Set in the early 20th-century South, this timeless novel follows a Black woman’s journey through love, loss, and self-realization as she seeks her own voice and freedom in a society that tries to silence both.
Their Eyes Were Watching God
by Zora Neale Hurston • Amistad Press (January 1, 2006) • 8 Months on List
#13
Months on List: 6
In the midst of the Civil Rights Movement, a proud, hardened black man, Troy Maxson, grapples with societal changes and strained family relationships in an America whose harsh racial realities he's fought his whole life to survive, in this Pulitzer Prize-winning drama now adapted into an Academy Award-winning film.
Fences (1950s Century Cycle)
by August Wilson • Plume Books (June 1, 1986) • 6 Months on List
#14
Months on List: 7
<em>Invisible Man</em> is a groundbreaking American novel that follows the journey of an unnamed black man from his Southern roots, through educational pursuits, to his experiences in Harlem's Brotherhood, ultimately leading him to envision himself as society's invisible figure, using a blend of wit, passion, and powerful literary influences.
Invisible Man
by Ralph Ellison • Vintage (March 14, 1995) • 7 Months on List
#15
Months on List: 8
A novel about the partnership between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune.
The First Ladies (paperback)
by Marie Benedict And Victoria Christopher Murray • Penguin Publishing Group (June 4, 2024) • 8 Months on List
#16
Months on List: 6
In the midst of a military coup in Nigeria, privileged siblings Kambili and Jaja experience a life beyond their tyrannically religious father's authority, leading to a tumultuous journey of personal discovery, familial tension, and the pursuit of freedom.
Purple Hibiscus: A Novel
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie • Algonquin Books (April 17, 2012) • 6 Months on List
#17
Months on List: 1
In this compelling coming-of-age tale by a Nobel Prize-winning author, Milkman Dead embarks on a transformative journey from urban decay to his family roots, encountering a captivating ensemble of dreamers and deceivers, in a quest for flight and self-discovery within a vividly depicted Black universe.
Song Of Solomon
by Toni Morrison • Vintage (June 8, 2004) • 1 Months on List
#18
Months on List: 3
In the small town of Medallion, Ohio, two girls, Nel Wright and Sula Peace, nurture a steadfast friendship that withstands bullies and harbors a shared secret, but as they mature, an unforgivable betrayal threatens to tear them apart in this tragic, yet humorously portrayed, exploration of the complexities of friendship.
Sula
by Toni Morrison • Vintage (June 8, 2004) • 3 Months on List
#19
Months on List: 10
<em>Seven Days in June</em> is a passionate tale of two acclaimed writers who, after a past torrid love affair and years of secret communication, reconnect over a week in a sultry Brooklyn summer, navigating personal traumas, societal expectations, and the complexities of love and creativity.
Seven Days In June
by Tia Williams • Grand Central Publishing (June 7, 2022) • 10 Months on List
#20
Months on List: 9
In a dystopian America dominated by a private prison industry, two female gladiator prisoners fight in deadly matches for their freedom, against the backdrop of systemic racism, unchecked capitalism, and mass incarceration.
Chain Gang All Stars: A Read With Jenna Pick
by Nana Kwame Adjei-brenyah • Vintage (January 23, 2024) • 9 Months on List
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Sales Data Source: Circana BookScan. Represents U.S. print sales from thousands of retailers.
Methodology: Books are categorized and filtered for Black Authors by the African American Literature Book Club. This list is a sneak peek into the Black Book Accelerator initiative.
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