35 Books by Black Women That Should Really Be on Your Bookshelf

If you got this far without reading Tayari Jones' An American Marriage, you played yourself. Jones tells the story of a newlywed couple, Celestial and Roy, who are unexpectedly separated when Roy is convicted of a crime his wife swears he didn't commit. Five years later Roy returns home, but he and Celestial struggle to rekindle their relationship—because Celestial has found comfort in Roy's friend and former best man. Juicy!

In a way, Americanah is a love story, but it's not the kind of love story you grew up seeing. Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they separate to leave military-ruled Nigeria. Ifemelu heads to America but must face what it means to be black in the U.S. As for Obinze, he's forced to live an undocumented life in London, unable to join Ifemelu due to post-9/11 restrictions. When they joined each other in Nigeria 15 years later, things changed, but how exactly? And can they recover what they've lost?

When forever First Lady Michelle Obama releases a book, you read it. You just do. And not only because of who she is but because of what you know she'll bring to the table. Her memoir Becoming offers an insightful revisiting of her time both in and out of the White House, all while addressing some of society's most troubling issues, including racism and sexism.

Not every author becomes an icon, but Toni Morrison is one of them. The Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning author of 11 novels and professor emeritus of literature at Princeton University crafts unparalleled prose that will cut deep into you and stay there for a very, very long time. Her first novel, The Bluest Eye, tells the story of Pecola Breedlove, a young black girl whose desire for blue eyes (a.k.a. whiteness) obstructs her ability to see her own beauty. Caution: Heartstrings will be pulled.

Calling all sci-fi fiends! If you haven't yet experienced Afrofuturism, start with Nnedi Okarafor and this book. Her writing, particularly in The Book of Phoenix, examines humanity's rocky and problematic course through captivating science-fiction. Think Divergent meets Hunger Games meets Black Panther—minus the official superhero titles. The Book of Phoenix first takes place in Tower 7, home of the superhuman woman Phoenix. But after a tragic event, the gifted girl realizes that dismantling the prison she's called home is just the start of her new reality.

In Caste, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson investigates the history of America's hidden (and, too often, not-so-hidden) social hierarchy and the way this system has driven us to our contemporary sociopolitical crises.

In Caucasia, Birdie Lee and her sister, Cole, are two biracial sisters coming of age during the chaos of mid-1970s Boston. While Birdie is born light-skinned, her sister is dark―a difference that spurs their highly political, often volatile parents to make a decision that tears their family apart. Beautifully written and incomparably incisive, Caucasia is a coming-of-age book that captures a specific time and place, and also questions American society's assumptions about race.

The Color Purple not only explores difficult issues about race and gender, but it also traces the story of a family through two generations. In the end, it's a celebration of life, family, and endurance, and is one of the most beautiful explorations of queer awakening ever.

Let your imagination run wild with this immersive novel written by Octavia Butler. Dawn tells the story of Lilith, a human who's been asleep for centuries, while Earth has supposedly died. She wakes to find herself living amongst an alien race known as the Oankali who are working to convince Lilith they've saved her. But there are more than two sides to this story.

The late, great bell hooks changed the game when she penned this inviting and straightforward manifesto on contemporary women's rights. The bible of intersectional feminism, this relatively short book is an absolute must-read for anyone looking to expand their political mind and better appreciate the need for intersectionality.

In addition to being the project that earned Davis her EGOT, Finding Me is an empowering memoir where Davis recalls how she rose from childhood trauma to become one of the definitive actors of the 21st century. Davis tells her life story through her own words and shows how she’s been a lifelong trailblazer, from her college years at Juilliard to her career navigating how Black women are treated in Hollywood.

Smith is known for her short stories, featured in publications from The New Yorker to The Paris Review. Reading her narratives about race and class in these fictional stories is a masterclass in creative writing. If only it were longer.

The Hate U Give is a heartbreaking and powerful narrative about the current Black experience in America as told through the eyes of a 16-year-old girl. Author Angie Thomas pairs modern-day political references with old-school critical race theory to explain how we got to our current climate and what it would take to rebuild. Read the book, then watch the movie.

The quarter-life crisis spares no one, and in this book, magazine writer Mickey Hayward is the latest to face that particular crossroads. After getting fired from her job and moving out of the apartment she shares with her girlfriend Lex, Mickey flees to her suburban hometown, where she must rediscover her self-identity outside of her coveted career.

Homegoing unravels the history, colonialism, and slavery in Ghana and America over 250 years. Told between two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, the novel explores their paths. One path sees years of warfare in Ghana and the other is present for slavery in America, but both stories capture a nation's underlying strength.

Roxane Gay is an incredibly sharp writer whose style and diction will make you quiver. In her memoir, Hunger, the Haitian-American queer author brings a gut-wrenching honesty and perspective to how our society handles body positivity and sexual assault via a range of personal stories and experiences.

Maya Angelou's universally loved memoir is so smooth and well-told that it reads like fiction. It can be challenging to tell a story from a child's point of view, but Angelou captures innocence and the collapse of it perfectly.

Fans of Jordan Peele-esque horror will love this thrilling, surreal read (though they may find it impossible to sleep after). When an opportunity arises for Lena Johnson to join a clandestine research study, she can’t deny the perks: a huge stipend, free housing, and free health insurance for her family including her sick mother. As she goes through the Lakewood Project, Lena realizes that the study is more disturbing than she ever could have imagined.

In this propulsive novel, Ola Olajide is British-Nigerian journalist who's about to marry her fiancé Michael, after the pair became Instagram-famous as the epitome of "couple goals." However, just a month before the wedding, the fairytale comes crashing down when Michael's name is included on an anonymous list calling men in U.K. media out as abusers. Ola, who has a reputation for breaking #MeToo stories, has to make a difficult decision: does she believe the victims or her soon-to-be husband?

The New Jim Crow is essential reading. Michelle Alexander breaks down the problems with mass incarceration and the American prison system in compelling, easy-to-understand language. This book changed how thousands of Americans view our justice system and inspired a national movement to reform policing.

At the start of this coming-of-age romance, Angela Appiah is going through it. On the heels of a breakup and a serious med-school disappointment, she’s beginning to chafe against the “Perfect Daughter” standards that her parents expect of her. Enter Ricky Gutierrez, an impossible-sexy artist who immediately clicks with her, even though he also seems to show several red flags. Trust me, rom-com fans will find it impossible to put On Rotation down.

This play is a go-to for young actors looking for rich, meaningful monologues, and once you read it you'll see why. A Raisin in the Sun is an unforgettable exploration of socioeconomic progress, intergenerational trauma, and dreams, circulating the explosive social atmosphere of the 1950s.

The coming-of-age tale of all coming-of-age tales, this story intertwines the stories of 16-year-old Melody and her mother over lessons of desire, gentrification, education, class, parenthood, and more. Woodson gives a heart-stringing reminder of all the choices you make in your youth, and how they continue to follow you as you get older.

If multi-talented writer, director, and activist Janet Mock isn't one of your role models already, get ready for her to become one. After working as a staff editor at PEOPLE, she publicly came out as trans in a 2011 Marie Claire personal essay, which she followed up with this honest, gorgeously written memoir.

Anyone who grew up with or lives within the orbit of the Black church knows that the “church lady” contains multitudes. Philyaw’s gorgeous story collection (and a 2020 National Book Award finalist) follows several generations of church-going women who go after their passions despite the institution’s double standards.

If you love character-driven family dramas, you've found the holy grail. Ward's characters, a dysfunctional family set in a fictional rural Mississippi, feel so real you'll ask yourself how the book could be fiction. Every character—from the mother haunted by her dead brother and struggling with addiction to her children dealing with ghosts from their past—reels you in and captivates you long past the final page.

As Andre 3000 once declared, “The South got something to say.” In this genre-bending, National Book Award-winning novel, Perry (a proud Alabamian) mixes national, cultural, and personal history while traveling to over a dozen Southern cities to unravel the region’s legacy.

Such a Fun Age might make you cringe, but that's the point. When white blogger Alix Chamberlain calls her Black babysitter, Emira, asking her to take toddler Briar to the market for a late-night distraction, an event occurs kicking off a series of events that will change their lives forever. This novel from Reid tackles white privilege head-on, featuring fresh dialogue and characters you may meet in everyday life.

The Sun is Also a Star is a non-negotiable must-read. One, because we all secretly love YA fiction. And two, because Nicola Yoon does YA better than most. Her best-selling novel follows the story of Natasha and Daniel, a young couple who meet and fall in love 48 hours before Natasha's family is scheduled to be deported to Jamaica.

No writer has captured love or young womanhood quite as poignantly as Zora Neale Hurston in Their Eyes Were Watching God. If this was required reading for you in high school, we urge you to revisit it as an adult: With each reading, this novel reveals something new.

Much like Caucasia, Brit Bennett's The Vanishing Half tells the story of two sisters―one who embraces her Black identity, and the other who chooses to pass as white. Bennett not only delves into the psyches of these sisters, but she also explores how each woman's decision impacts future generations.

Have you watched the 1995 movie and listened to the soundtrack a dozen times, but have yet to read the book? It’s never too late to dive into the novel that introduced us to Savannah, Bernadine, Gloria, and Robin.

Into collections of essays that might make you cry from laughter? Yeah, us too. Irby reaches new heights of masterful writing in her second book. Essays range from why she should be the new Bachelorette to dealing with awkward sexual encounters.

We Should All Be Feminists is more than just an essay. It's a call to action, a rallying cry, and a personal narrative. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is asking readers to reclaim and redefine the term feminist to create a more inclusive and intersectional community willing to fight for the equality of all women. Read this and then tell us you don't want to stick it to the patriarchy. We'll wait.

Want a romantic comedy you can read instead of watch? Pick up a copy of The Wedding Date. Author Jasmine Guillory tells the sweet (and funny) story of Alexa Monroe and Drew Nichols, two people trapped in an elevator who spontaneously agree to be each other's wedding dates. This book is bursting with charm and hot sex scenes like it's a page-turner of an erotic novel, and the main character, Alexa, isn't your typical doe-eyed girl searching for the right man, either. She's a curvy Black woman and Chief of Staff to the mayor. No pigeon-holed archetypes allowed!