Welcome Back Booklovers!
Here at WOC Read I try to always post Black book recommendations for you. You can never own too many Black books. Especially if they're on your Kindle and you can carry them everywhere. And I want to give you options from different genres. Not all books are released. Some can be pre-ordered. Remember pre-orders show an author is in demand.
By Sea &Sky
With no magic, no brawn, and no pirate crew, Zala seeks to steal back the one treasure that matters to her most: her husband.
To succeed she needs a ship-and not just any ship, but the latest, secret invention by the Vaaji Empire. An airship.
Zala will have to use her wits to overcome scoundrels and nobles alike on her journey through the clouds.
But if she's smart enough, she may just have what it takes to save her husband-and go down in history as the first sky pirate.
Delve into a pirate fantasy inspired by the West Indies, The Swahili Coast, and Arabia, where Zala will encounter ruthless raiders, arrogant aristocrats, and imperial secrets.
A Killing Fire
As a child forced to witness her father’s crimes, homicide Detective Raven Burns dedicates every waking moment to proving that she is not her father’s child. But when she shoots a suspect who has what turns out to be an unloaded weapon, Raven finds that she must confront both the demons of her past and the stains on her soul in order to stop a killer.
Nine Bar Blues
The stories collected in Nine Bar Blues weave emotion, spirit, and music, captivating readers with newfound alchemy and the murmurs of dark gods. Rooted in rhythm, threaded with magic, these tales encompass worlds that begin in river bottoms, pass through spectral gates, and end in distant uncharted worlds. These stories describe the pain that often accompanies the confines of sanctuary and the joy that is inextricably bound to the troubles of hard living. Nine Bar Blues sings a multiverse of fully realized worlds that readers will remember for ages to come and cherish from page to heart thumping, foot-stomping page.
Conquest
Jashi Anyua has been arranged to be married to the leader of her nation, the Great Faresh. To help her escape the unwanted engagement, her future husband's enemies offer her an out - if she agrees to spy on her intended, they'll give her a new identity and a life somewhere the Faresh will never find her. Yet as Jashi gets to know the Faresh, she wonders if she put her loyalties in the right place; especially when she realizes that he shares the abilities she's had to keep secret her whole life. What's more, he might be the only one who can train her to use them.
Do You Dream of Terra-Two?
A century ago, an astronomer discovered an Earth-like planet orbiting a nearby star. She predicted that one day humans would travel there to build a utopia. Today, ten astronauts are leaving everything behind to find it. Four are veterans of the twentieth century’s space-race.
And six are teenagers who’ve trained for this mission most of their lives.
It will take the team twenty-three years to reach Terra-Two. Twenty-three years locked in close quarters. Twenty-three years with no one to rely on but each other. Twenty-three years with no rescue possible, should something go wrong.
And something always goes wrong.
Mixed Match
Sophia Kent used to be a badass knife-wielding chef. Nowadays, she's lucky if she can remember to put on a bra. Between the move to Portland and unpacking boxes, she's glad there's only one name on the title. Unfortunately, at the door there's a gorgeous messenger with a document claiming she's not the rightful owner.
Dead-set on getting his grandmother's house back, real estate investor Everett Monroe is determined to see the thief go down, even if he has to deliver the summons himself. Only, the beautiful mess at the door is charming, sexy--and nothing like the man whose family's been feuding with Everett's for generations.
He doesn't know whether she's a pawn or a player, and she doesn't know he's not just a messenger, so after a few "chance" meetings, when she enlists his help to find a location for her restaurant, he agrees. After all, in thirty days there's going to be a hearing granting him ownership and she'll be long gone. Except, somewhere between sunset mountain hikes, brilliantly lit musical bridges, and picturesque Japanese Gardens, a dangerous attraction weaves its way between the secrets and lies. Forced to confront the truth, Everett must ask himself what good a home is without the one you love to share it with.
Music to My Ears
Orrin Greenwood, ex-boy-bander and notorious womanizer, is ready to make his big comeback. Needing a hit record sooner than later, his manager suggests up-and-coming singer/songwriter Jauri Tutuola. He jumps at the chance thinking she will be an easy ride to the top of the charts, but what he doesn't anticipate is her taking him on the most thrilling tour of his life as she makes him confront his past and make room for her on his stage and in his future.
Surrounded by a music industry full of clones, Jauri “JT” Tutuola wants to break new ground and do things her way. She vows to no longer let anything keep her from the spotlight, especially not her deeply melanated skin, her bushy hair or her “creative genius” label head. She initially dismisses Orrin as just another distraction until he begins to show her that making music and making love don't have to be mutually exclusive.
Broken Places
Cass took a bullet two years ago after an incompetent colleague screwed up a tense confrontation with an armed suspect. Deeply traumatized, Cass resigned from the Chicago PD, leaving one less female African-American on the force. Now she’s the head of a one-woman private investigation agency, taking on just enough work to pay the bills. But when the only father figure she’s ever known, Father Ray Heaton, asks her to look into a recent spate of vandalism at his church, she readily agrees to handle it.
Only hours later Cass is horrified to discover Father Ray’s murdered body in the church confessional, a dead gangbanger sprawled out nearby. She knew Pop, as she called him, had ticked off plenty of people, from slumlords to politicians, with his uncompromising defense of the downtrodden. But a late-night random theft doesn’t seem like much of a motive at a cash-strapped parish. The lead detective assigned to the case is all too eager to dismiss it as a burglary gone awry, just another statistic in a violent city. But Cass’s instincts tell her otherwise, and badge or no badge, she intends to see justice done . . .
A Winning Season
Baseball ace Sutton Reed’s returned home triumphant after years in the majors. When he moves next door to a troubled young man, he’s determined to help—for the boy’s sake and for the boy’s gorgeous older sister, Zoey Allen. After sacrificing everything to keep her family together, Zoey has no time for romance…even with a hometown hero. But will this unlikely combo be the home run love story they all deserve?
The Conductors
As a conductor on the Underground Railroad, Hetty Rhodes helped usher dozens of people north with her wits and magic. Now that the Civil War is over, Hetty and her husband Benjy have settled in Philadelphia, solving murders and mysteries that the white authorities won’t touch. When they find one of their friends slain in an alley, Hetty and Benjy bury the body and set off to find answers. But the secrets and intricate lies of the elites of Black Philadelphia only serve to dredge up more questions. To solve this mystery, they will have to face ugly truths all around them, including the ones about each other.
Master of Poisons
The world is changing. Poison desert eats good farmland. Once-sweet water turns foul. The wind blows sand and sadness across the Empire. To get caught in a storm is death. To live and do nothing is death. There is magic in the world, but good conjure is hard to find.
Djola, righthand man and spymaster of the lord of the Arkhysian Empire, is desperately trying to save his adopted homeland, even in exile.
Awa, a young woman training to be a powerful griot, tests the limits of her knowledge and comes into her own in a world of sorcery, floating cities, kindly beasts, and uncertain men.
Black Buck
An unambitious twenty-two-year-old, Darren lives in a Bed-Stuy brownstone with his mother, who wants nothing more than to see him live up to his potential as the valedictorian of Bronx Science. But Darren is content working at Starbucks in the lobby of a Midtown office building, hanging out with his girlfriend, Soraya, and eating his mother’s home-cooked meals. All that changes when a chance encounter with Rhett Daniels, the silver-tongued CEO of Sumwun, NYC’s hottest tech startup, results in an exclusive invitation for Darren to join an elite sales team on the thirty-sixth floor.
After enduring a “hell week” of training, Darren, the only black person in the company, reimagines himself as “Buck,” a ruthless salesman unrecognizable to his friends and family. But when things turn tragic at home and Buck feels he’s hit rock bottom, he begins to hatch a plan to help young people of color infiltrate America’s sales force, setting off a chain of events that forever changes the game.
