100 Essential Adult Fiction Books by Black Writers

Explore 100 essential novels and short story collections by African American and Black diaspora writers. Selected by AALBC based on literary awards, critical recognition, historical significance, and lasting cultural impact.

Adult Fiction Adult Nonfiction Children & YA Fiction Children & YA Nonfiction

James: A Novel

#1 Selection

James: A Novel

by Percival Everett Honored Title

The Underground Railroad: A Novel

#2 Selection

The Underground Railroad: A Novel

by Colson Whitehead Honored Title

The Nickel Boys: A Novel

#3 Selection

The Nickel Boys: A Novel

by Colson Whitehead Honored Title

Sing, Unburied, Sing

#4 Selection

Sing, Unburied, Sing

by Jesmyn Ward Honored Title

Beloved

#5 Selection

Beloved

by Toni Morrison Honored Title

A Lesson Before Dying

#6 Selection

A Lesson Before Dying

by Ernest J. Gaines Honored Title

The Color Purple

#7 Selection

The Color Purple

by Alice Walker Honored Title

The Water Dancer

#8 Selection

The Water Dancer

by Ta-Nehisi Coates Honored Title

Heads of the Colored People (paperback): Stories

#9 Selection

Heads of the Colored People (paperback): Stories

by Nafissa Thompson-Spires Honored Title

An American Marriage: A Novel

#10 Selection

An American Marriage: A Novel

by Tayari Jones Honored Title

The Turner House

#11 Selection

The Turner House

by Angela Flournoy Honored Title

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie

#12 Selection

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie

by Ayana Mathis Honored Title

Swift River

#13 Selection

Swift River

by Essie Chambers Honored Title

Take My Hand

#14 Selection

Take My Hand

by Dolen Perkins-Valdez Honored Title

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

#15 Selection

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers Honored Title

The Sweetness of Water

#16 Selection

The Sweetness of Water

by Nathan Harris Honored Title

A Kind of Freedom: A Novel

#17 Selection

A Kind of Freedom: A Novel

by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton Honored Title

Behold the Dreamers: A Novel

#18 Selection

Behold the Dreamers: A Novel

by Imbolo Mbue Honored Title

Homegoing: A Novel

#19 Selection

Homegoing: A Novel

by Yaa Gyasi Honored Title

The Fishermen: A Novel

#20 Selection

The Fishermen: A Novel

by Chigozie Obioma Honored Title

The Good Lord Bird

#21 Selection

The Good Lord Bird

by James McBride Honored Title

An Untamed State

#22 Selection

An Untamed State

by Roxane Gay Honored Title

Go Tell It on the Mountain

#23 Selection

Go Tell It on the Mountain

by James Baldwin Honored Title

Brother, I’m Dying

#24 Selection

Brother, I’m Dying

by Edwidge Danticat Honored Title

The Bluest Eye (paperback)

#25 Selection

The Bluest Eye (paperback)

by Toni Morrison Honored Title

Song of Solomon

#26 Selection

Song of Solomon

by Toni Morrison Honored Title

Kindred

#27 Selection

Kindred

by Octavia E. Butler Honored Title

Invisible Man

#28 Selection

Invisible Man

by Ralph Ellison Honored Title

Kin: A Novel

#29 Selection

Kin: A Novel

by Tayari Jones Honored Title

Neighbors and Other Stories

#30 Selection

Neighbors and Other Stories

by Diane Oliver Honored Title

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde

#31 Selection

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde

by Tia Williams Honored Title

The Reformatory

#32 Selection

The Reformatory

by Tananarive Due Honored Title

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

#33 Selection

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

by James McBride Honored Title

All the Sinners Bleed

#34 Selection

All the Sinners Bleed

by S. A. Cosby Honored Title

Chain Gang All Stars

#35 Selection

Chain Gang All Stars

by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Honored Title

The Sellout

#36 Selection

The Sellout

by Paul Beatty Honored Title

The Vanishing Half

#37 Selection

The Vanishing Half

by Brit Bennett Honored Title

Deacon King Kong

#38 Selection

Deacon King Kong

by James McBride Honored Title

Red at the Bone

#39 Selection

Red at the Bone

by Jacqueline Woodson Honored Title

Parable of the Sower

#40 Selection

Parable of the Sower

by Octavia E. Butler Honored Title

A Lucky Man: Stories

#41 Selection

A Lucky Man: Stories

by Jamel Brinkley Honored Title

Loving Day: A Novel

#42 Selection

Loving Day: A Novel

by Mat Johnson Honored Title

Another Brooklyn: A Novel

#43 Selection

Another Brooklyn: A Novel

by Jacqueline Woodson Honored Title

The Book of Harlan

#44 Selection

The Book of Harlan

by Bernice L. McFadden Honored Title

A Brief History Of Seven Killings: A Novel

#45 Selection

A Brief History Of Seven Killings: A Novel

by Marlon James Honored Title

Mama’s Boy

#46 Selection

Mama’s Boy

by ReShonda Tate Billingsley Honored Title

Stand Your Ground: A Novel

#47 Selection

Stand Your Ground: A Novel

by Victoria Christopher Murray Honored Title

God Help the Child: A Novel

#48 Selection

God Help the Child: A Novel

by Toni Morrison Honored Title

Ruby

#49 Selection

Ruby

by Cynthia Bond Honored Title

Anybody’s Daughter

#50 Selection

Anybody’s Daughter

by Pamela Samuels Young Honored Title

Americanah

#51 Selection

Americanah

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Honored Title

The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat

#52 Selection

The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat

by Edward Kelsey Moore Honored Title

The Reverend’ss Wife (Reverend Curtis Black #9)

#53 Selection

The Reverend’ss Wife (Reverend Curtis Black #9)

by Kimberla Lawson Roby Honored Title

Salvage the Bones

#54 Selection

Salvage the Bones

by Jesmyn Ward Honored Title

Erasure

#55 Selection

Erasure

by Percival Everett Honored Title

Cane

#56 Selection

Cane

by Jean Toomer Honored Title

The Heart of a Woman (paperback)

#57 Selection

The Heart of a Woman (paperback)

by Maya Angelou Honored Title

Orange Mint And Honey: A Novel

#58 Selection

Orange Mint And Honey: A Novel

by Carleen Brice Honored Title

Their Eyes Were Watching God

#59 Selection

Their Eyes Were Watching God

by Zora Neale Hurston Honored Title

The Coldest Winter Ever

#60 Selection

The Coldest Winter Ever

by Sister Souljah Honored Title

Sula

#61 Selection

Sula

by Toni Morrison Honored Title

Douglass’ Women: A Novel

#62 Selection

Douglass’ Women: A Novel

by Jewell Parker Rhodes Honored Title

The Street: A Novel

#63 Selection

The Street: A Novel

by Ann Petry Honored Title

Waiting To Exhale

#64 Selection

Waiting To Exhale

by Terry McMillan Honored Title

The Spook Who Sat by the Door

#65 Selection

The Spook Who Sat by the Door

by Sam Greenlee Honored Title

Fences (1950s Century Cycle)

#66 Selection

Fences (1950s Century Cycle)

by August Wilson Honored Title

The Women of Brewster Place

#67 Selection

The Women of Brewster Place

by Gloria Naylor Honored Title

Just Above My Head

#68 Selection

Just Above My Head

by James Baldwin Honored Title

Keeper of Lost Children

#69 Selection

Keeper of Lost Children

by Sadeqa Johnson Honored Title

Burn Down Master’s House

#70 Selection

Burn Down Master’s House

by Clay Cane Honored Title

Ring Shout

#71 Selection

Ring Shout

by P. Djèlí Clark Honored Title

The Wilderness

#72 Selection

The Wilderness

by Angela Flournoy Honored Title

Gray Dawn: An Easy Rawlins Mystery

#73 Selection

Gray Dawn: An Easy Rawlins Mystery

by Walter Mosley Honored Title

Dominion: A Novel

#74 Selection

Dominion: A Novel

by Addie E. Citchens Honored Title

King of Ashes

#75 Selection

King of Ashes

by S. A. Cosby Honored Title

Happy Land

#76 Selection

Happy Land

by Dolen Perkins-Valdez Honored Title

Dream Count

#77 Selection

Dream Count

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Honored Title

Harlem Rhapsody

#78 Selection

Harlem Rhapsody

by Victoria Christopher Murray Honored Title

Death of the Author

#79 Selection

Death of the Author

by Nnedi Okorafor Honored Title

Sky Full of Elephants

#80 Selection

Sky Full of Elephants

by Cebo Campbell Honored Title

Colored Television

#81 Selection

Colored Television

by Danzy Senna Honored Title

Grown Women

#82 Selection

Grown Women

by Sarai Johnson Honored Title

The Queen of Sugar Hill: A Novel of Hattie McDaniel

#83 Selection

The Queen of Sugar Hill: A Novel of Hattie McDaniel

by ReShonda Tate Billingsley Honored Title

Let Us Descend

#84 Selection

Let Us Descend

by Jesmyn Ward Honored Title

Temple Folk

#85 Selection

Temple Folk

by Aaliyah Bilal Honored Title

Rogue Justice: A Thriller

#86 Selection

Rogue Justice: A Thriller

by Stacey Abrams aka Selena Montgomery Honored Title

Symphony of Secrets

#87 Selection

Symphony of Secrets

by Brendan Slocumb Honored Title

Black Candle Women

#88 Selection

Black Candle Women

by Diane Marie Brown Honored Title

The House of Eve

#89 Selection

The House of Eve

by Sadeqa Johnson Honored Title

Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta

#90 Selection

Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta

by James Hannaham Honored Title

Stories from the Tenants Downstairs

#91 Selection

Stories from the Tenants Downstairs

by Sidik Fofana Honored Title

Harlem Shuffle

#92 Selection

Harlem Shuffle

by Colson Whitehead Honored Title

Nightcrawling

#93 Selection

Nightcrawling

by Leila Mottley Honored Title

When We Were Birds

#94 Selection

When We Were Birds

by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo Honored Title

Recitatif

#95 Selection

Recitatif

by Toni Morrison Honored Title

The Personal Librarian

#96 Selection

The Personal Librarian

by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray Honored Title

Praise Song for the Widow

#97 Selection

Praise Song for the Widow

by Paule Marshall Honored Title

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev

#98 Selection

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev

by Dawnie Walton Honored Title

Yellow Wife

#99 Selection

Yellow Wife

by Sadeqa Johnson Honored Title

The Awkward Black Man

#100 Selection

The Awkward Black Man

by Walter Mosley Honored Title

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