Favorite Books by Black Authors

As a person with white privilege, I support my Black brothers and sisters' right to live freely and free of life-threatening prejudice from police and others. Plenty of people are posting links to activism and places to donate who know much more about that than I do (though I am listening and learning), but I do know about books, and I've been making a point to read more books by Black writers and writers of color in the last several years. All that's done is opened me up to even more awesome books! Here are some of my favorites by Black authors and I'd love to hear yours in the comments:


Favorite Books by Black Authors

1. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
2. Dawn by Octavia Butler
3. Kindred by Octavia Butler
4. The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord
5. The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
6. The Cooking Gene by Michael Twitty
7. How Long 'til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin
8. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
9. The Color of Love by Marra B. Gad
10. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Update:

I wanted to add more to my original post, since some of these authors, like N.K. Jemisin and Octavia Butler, are very well known, and others not so much.

First, I particularly want to highlight Michael Twitty, who I know as my former Hebrew school teacher, but who has blown up in the culinary world as a food historian, which is so freaking cool, and he brings the same thoroughness and passion to his writing as he did to teaching Hebrew school. Each essay is so well researched and, while I learned so much, he overall gave me a completely new perspective of the impact of slavery on African Americans--namely, how it robbed them of their family and cultural history and sense of identity, which African Americans still struggle with today. Plus, he clearly illustrates how African influences shaped the cultural foods of the American South, and he just makes me keep wanting to learn more. 

Second, I want to highlight The Color of Love by Marra B. Gad, also an African American Jew. I read her book in one day and it hit me hard. She rises above petty racism and cruelty in such an inspiring way, and writes it beautifully too. 

Plus, I realized I had a couple more books I wanted to add:

11. My People, My People, My G-d by Donald Marbury (dash mine)

I worked with Professor Marbury, and not only is he an incredibly kind, genuine person, but his poetry is incredible. I've attended a couple of his readings, and as he says, he has been gifted with his voice, but also his poetry is a raw, aching spiritual journey of a devout Black man in America, and his work deserves to be cherished in the canon of American poetry. You can buy it here

12. The Art of Showing Up by Rachel W. Miller

I'm literally in the middle of reading this right now, but I've been following Miller's writing and blog for years, and she's practical, insightful, and no-nonsense. This isn't only about showing up for others, but also about showing up for yourself emotionally and building relationships in the context of friendship, which we do not as a society write, talk about, or value nearly enough. You can buy it here