Welcome Back, Booklovers! I have mixed feelings about heritage months when it comes to the book community because I find many people save books to read during that month. People who don't normally promote those books push themselves at the forefront for views and likes. And I find that though many people are reading about these different groups of people they aren't fully engaging. I try to diversify my reading and engage with a variety of cultures outside of books. I'm very passionate about sharing books by Black authors and I realize February is a month where they have a lot more eyes on them. So I wanted to put together a list of books (most I've read, with a few sprinkled in I plan to read) from various Black authors. Hopefully you're able to find books on this list that interest you and happy reading!
Young Adult
Contemporary
Somebody That I Used to Know by Dana L. Davis
Dylan Woods hasn’t seen her best friend, Langston, in years. After he moved to Los Angeles, he ghosted her. Then he became Legendary, the biggest teen R&B artist on the planet.
For the most part, Dylan has moved on, with her sights set on Juilliard. But when her parents announce that Langston is coming for a short stay with them, the entire family is thrilled. Except for Dylan. The idea of sharing a house with music’s biggest bad boy makes her stomach churn.
But maybe Langston hasn’t changed as much as Dylan thought―he’s kept the bucket list they made together years ago. As they start checking off items on the list, Dylan starts to remember old times, her previous self, and their shared love of music.
And there’s something else. As Dylan considers giving Langston another chance, she starts to realize that maybe her feelings for him go beyond friendship.
Maybe, just maybe, she’s falling for her ex–best friend.
Monique is a preacher’s daughter who detests the impossible rules of her religion. Everyone expects her to wait until marriage, so she has no one to turn to when she discovers that she physically can’t have sex.
After two years of trying and failing, her boyfriend breaks up with her. To win him back, Monique teams up with straight-laced church girl Sasha—who is surprisingly knowledgeable about Monique’s condition—as well as Reggie, the misunderstood bad boy who always makes a ruckus at church, and together they embark upon a top-secret search for the cure.
While on their quest, Monique discovers the value of a true friend and the wonders of a love that accepts her for who she is. Despite everyone’s opinions about her virtue, she learns to live for herself, inspiring us all to reclaim our bodies and unapologetically love ourselves.
Marva Sheridan was born ready for this day. She’s always been driven to make a difference in the world, and what better way than to vote in her first election?
Duke Crenshaw is so done with this election. He just wants to get voting over with so he can prepare for his band’s first paying gig tonight.
Only problem? Duke can’t vote.
When Marva sees Duke turned away from their polling place, she takes it upon herself to make sure his vote is counted. She hasn’t spent months doorbelling and registering voters just to see someone denied their right.
And that’s how their whirlwind day begins, rushing from precinct to precinct, cutting school, waiting in endless lines, turned away time and again, trying to do one simple thing: vote. They may have started out as strangers, but as Duke and Marva team up to beat a rigged system (and find Marva’s missing cat), it’s clear that there’s more to their connection than a shared mission for democracy.
A glance was all it took. That kind of connection, the immediate and raw understanding of another person, just doesn't come along very often. And as rising stars on their Texas high schools' respective basketball teams, destined for bright futures in college and beyond, it seems like a match made in heaven. But Carli and Rex have secrets. As do their families.
Horror, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Ruin Road by Lamar Giles
Cade Webster lives between worlds. He’s a standout football star at the right school but lives in the wrong neighborhood--if you let his classmates tell it. Everywhere but home, people are afraid of him for one reason or another. Afraid he’s too big, too fast, too ambitious, too Black.
Then one fateful night, to avoid a dangerous encounter with the police, he ducks into a pawn shop. An impulse purchase and misspoken desire change everything when Cade tells the shopkeeper he wishes people would stop acting so scared around him, and the wish is granted...
At first, it feels like things have taken a turn for the better. But it’s not just Cade that people no longer fear--it’s everything. With Cade spreading this newfound “courage” wherever he goes, anything can happen. Fearless acts of violence begin to escalate in both his neighborhood and at school. With the right moves, and brave friends, Cade might have one -- and only one -- chance to save all he loves. But at what cost? After all, the devil’s in the details.
Dead Girls Walking by Sami Ellis
Temple Baker knows that evil runs in her blood. Her father is the North Point Killer, an infamous serial killer known for how he marked each of his victims with a brand. He was convicted for murdering 20 people and was the talk of countless true crime blogs for years. Some say he was possessed by a demon. Some say that they never found all his victims. Some say that even though he’s now behind bars, people are still dying in the woods. Despite everything though, Temple never believed that her dad killed her mom. But when he confesses to that crime while on death row, she has no choice but to return to his old hunting grounds to try see if she can find a body and prove it.
Turns out, the farm that was once her father’s hunting grounds and her home has been turned into an overnight camp for queer, horror-obsessed girls. So Temple poses as a camp counselor to go digging in the woods. While she’s not used to hanging out with girls her own age and feels ambivalent at best about these true crime enthusiasts, she tries her best to fit in and keep her true identity hidden.
But when a girl turns up dead in the woods, she fears that one of her father’s “fans” might be mimicking his crimes. As Temple tries to uncover the truth and keep the campers safe, she comes to realize that there may be something stranger and more sinister at work—and that her father may not have been the only monster in these woods.
Sign of the Slayer by Sharina Harris
High school is supposed to be about studying, socializing, and marching-band practice. Not fighting vampires. Then one night flipped my world inside out―now, my life sucks. But it isn’t all bad. I’m at a slayer academy, learning things like the real origin of vamps and how to make serious weapons out of thin air.
Every last one of them will pay for what they did. I’m doing great.
Until I come face-to-face with the actual vampire prince…and I’m not sure of anything anymore. Vampires are supposed to be soul-sucking demons. But Khamari is…something else. He’s intelligent and reasonable―and he seems to know things about me that could change everything.
He’s also hiding something big, even from his own kind. And when a threat from an ancient evil is so extreme that a vampire will team up with a slayer to take it down, it isn’t just my need for revenge that’s at stake anymore.
It’s the whole damn world.
The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste
Love potions is a dangerous business. Brewing has painful, debilitating side effects, and getting caught means death or a prison sentence. But what Venus is most afraid of is the dark, sentient magic within her.
Then an enemy's iron bullet kills her mother, Venus's life implodes. Keeping her reckless little sister Janus safe is now her responsibility. When the powerful Grand Witcher, the ruthless head of her coven, offers Venus the chance to punish her mother's killer, she has to pay a steep price for revenge. The cost? Brew poisonous potions to enslave D.C.'s most influential politicians.
As Venus crawls deeper into the corrupt underbelly of her city, the line between magic and power blurs, and it's hard to tell who to trust…Herself included.
Daughters of Jubilation by Kara Lee Corthron
In the Jim Crow South, white supremacy reigns and tensions are high. But Evalene Deschamps has other things to worry about. She has two little sisters to look after, an overworked single mother, and a longtime crush who is finally making a move.
On top of all that, Evvie’s magic abilities are growing stronger by the day. Her family calls it jubilation—a gift passed down from generations of black women since the time of slavery. And as Evvie’s talents waken, something dark comes loose and threatens to resurface…
And when the demons of Evvie’s past finally shake free, she must embrace her mighty lineage, and summon the power that lies within her.
The Second Chance of Darius Logan by David F. Walker
Darius Logan is far from a hero. Since his parents were killed, he has spent most of his life navigating foster homes and shelters, abandoned neighborhoods and decaying buildings. All Darius knows is survival. Life was hard enough, but now he finds himself being hunted by the police after a drug deal he never should have been involved in goes bad. And when they catch him, Darius is positive he will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
But in place of a long prison sentence, Darius is handed an opportunity almost too good to be true: the chance to get away from his circumstances by joining the Second Chance program of the Super Justice Force, a league of people with special powers who strive to do good and protect the world from harm. Darius soon discovers a strength he never knew he possessed, but evil forces manifest and threaten to destroy everything he holds dear. Will Darius be able to save the world when he faces a deadly--and all too familiar--enemy?
Blood at the Root by LaDarrion WilliamsTen years ago, Malik's life changed forever the night his mother mysteriously vanished and he discovered he had uncontrollable powers. Since then, he has kept his abilities hidden, looking out for himself and his younger foster brother, Taye. Now, at 17, Malik is finally ready to start a new life for both of them, far from the trauma of his past. However, a daring act to rescue Taye reveals an unexpected connection with his long-lost grandmother: a legendary conjurer with ties to a hidden magical university that Malik’s mother attended.
At Caiman University, Malik’s eyes are opened to a future he never could have envisioned for himself—one that includes the reappearance of his first love, Alexis. His search for answers about his heritage, his powers, and what really happened to his mother exposes the cracks in their magical community as it faces a reawakened evil dating back to the Haitian Revolution. Together with Alexis, Malik discovers a lot beneath the surface at Caiman: feuding covens and magical politics, forbidden knowledge and buried mysteries.
In a wholly unique saga of family, history and community, Malik must embrace his legacy to save what's left of his old family as well as his new one. Exploring the roots and secrets that connect us in an unforgettable contemporary setting, this heart-pounding fantasy series opener is a rich tapestry of atmosphere, intrigue, and emotion.
Adult
Family Drama
Black Candle Women by Diane Marie Brown
Generations of Montrose women—Augusta, Victoria, Willow—have always lived together in their quaint California bungalow. They keep to themselves, never venture far from home, and their collection of tinctures and spells is an unspoken bond between them. But when young Nickie Montrose brings home a boy for the first time, their quiet lives are thrown into disarray.
For the family has withheld a crucial secret from Nickie all these years: any person a Montrose woman falls in love with will die. Their surprise guest forces each woman to reckon with her own past choices and mistakes. And as new truths about the curse emerge, they're set on a collision course dating back to 1950s New Orleans’s French Quarter—where a hidden story in a mysterious book may just hold the answers they seek in life and in love…
The Thing About Home
Casey Black needs an escape. When her picture-perfect vow renewal ceremony ends in her being left at the altar, the former model turned social media influencer has new fame--the kind she never wanted. An embarrassing viral video has cost her millions of followers, and her seven-year marriage is over. With her personal and business lives in shambles, Casey runs from New York City to South Carolina's Lowcountry hoping to find long-lost family. Family who can give her more answers about her past than her controlling mom-slash-manager has ever been willing to share.
What Casey doesn't expect is a postcard-worthy property on a three-hundred-acre farm, history, culture, and a love of sweet tea. She spends her days caring for the land and her nights cooking much needed Southern comfort foods. She also meets Nigel, the handsome farm manager whose friendship has become everything she's never had. And then there are the secrets her mother can no longer hide.
Through the pages of her great-grandmother's journals, Casey discovers her roots run deeper than the Lowcountry soil. She learns that she has people. A home. A legacy to uphold. And a great new love story--if only she is brave enough to leave her old life behind.
The Townsend Family Recipe for DisasterOne estranged family. One lost recipe. One last barbecue on the line. Mae is about to learn what happens when things go south…
Mae Townsend has always dreamed of connecting with her estranged Black family in the South. She grew up picturing relatives who looked like her, crowded dinner tables, bustling kitchens. And, of course, the Townsend family barbecue, the tradition that kept her late father flying to North Carolina year after year, despite the mysterious rift that always required her to stay behind.
But as Mae's wedding draws closer, promising a future of always standing out among her white in-laws, suddenly not knowing the Townsends hits her like a blow. So when news arrives that her paternal grandmother has passed, she decides it's time to head South.
What she finds is a family in turmoil, a long-standing grudge intact, a lost mac & cheese recipe causing grief, and a family barbecue on the brink of disaster. Not willing to let her dreams of family slip away, Mae steps up to throw a barbecue everyone will remember.
For better or for worse.
Romance
Counterfeit Courtship by Synithia Williams
When a kiss at a reality TV wedding is caught on camera, there’s only one way to save his reputation and her career. Now paranormal promoter Tyrone Livingston and makeup artist Kiera Fox are officially dating. But their fake romance can’t go on forever. Is Tyrone the love ’em–and–leave ’em player portrayed by the media? Or can a relationship with an agreed-upon end date turn into a real and lasting love?
Spin the Block by Reese Ryan
Karris
Five years ago, I was the reigning princess of pop. Now, I’m just a former boy band member’s ex. I’ve been in this business a long time, so I’ve developed a tough skin. But negative press is hijacking my fundraising campaign to save my performing arts high school in Atlanta from being demolished. Desperate times call for desperate measures. So to spin the story my way, I’ve asked celebrity DJ Ward Hughes to reprise his role as my fake boyfriend—a stunt we pulled in high school. But this time, Ward has demands.
Ward
I started out spinning records in underground clubs in Atlanta and rose to fame playing sets at legendary clubs and festivals all over the world. Ten years in, and I’m tired of grueling, international tours and living out of hotel rooms. I’m ready to shift gears and become a songwriter and record producer. But A-list artists are reluctant to work with an unproven writer and producer. Working on Karris’ comeback album will give me the chance to showcase my pen game and production skills while helping her make music with a soulful vibe she was truly meant to sing.
But faking it as high school sweethearts who spin the block hits a little too close to home because nothing about our feelings has ever really been fake.
Naima Simone by Church Girl
Aaliyah Montgomery isn’t just ditching her wedding. She’s also fleeing her suffocating small town and her family’s expectations. She’s got plans—for college, for finding herself. But landing a job in Chicago that fits her schedule isn’t easy. Good thing Von Howard is desperate to find a live-in nanny. Bad thing that he’s a gritty, grumpy, gorgeous tattoo artist carrying as much baggage as he has ink.
Von’s new hire is inexperienced and a fire hazard in the kitchen. She’s also all thick curls, thicker curves, and a distracting mix of innocence and sensuality. After the upheaval of a divorce, he just needs a nanny, not a sneaky link. Meanwhile, Aaliyah is bonding with his seven-year-old and showing an unexpected flair for tattoo art. Who could resist?
Yet deep down, Aaliyah’s still running—from her feelings and her fear of losing herself to someone else’s expectations again. Even as their pasts return to haunt them, their undeniable heat says maybe it’s time to stand and fight for a love they didn’t see coming.
This contract is entered into by and between Allegra Malone and Damon Dawson. The term of this agreement shall begin immediately and continue through its termination date of never.
The terms are as follows:
1. Find the bright side when your best friend (the woman you’ve secretly been in love with for 10+ years) finds an engagement ring in her live-in boyfriend’s gym bag.
2. When she discovers the ring isn’t for her, and you volunteer to mop up her tears, don’t freak out if you accidentally share a world-shattering kiss.
3. Remember she’s your best friend and law firm partner…and a hopeless romantic. Being her rebound isn’t worth risking the only family you have.
4. Immediately—rationally—draw up a no-strings agreement, stipulating equal opportunity orgasms. Under no circumstances is PDA or catching (further) feelings allowed.
5. If while adding a wedding plus-one clause, the doorbell rings and it’s a moving company with all her belongings, and now you’re going to be roommates, shower. The colder, the better.
In consideration of the mutual promises set forth herein, both parties agree that if at any time while forced to live and work together they find themselves falling in love, they will re-read the fine print.
Fine Print: Do not fall in love.
This contract shall be binding and may not be modified in any manner unless in writing and signed by both parties.
Horror
The Spite House by Johnny Compton
Eric Ross is on the run from a mysterious past with his two daughters in tow. When he comes across an ad for a caretaker for the Masson House, Eric hopes they have finally caught a lucky break. The owner of the “most haunted place in Texas” is looking for proof of paranormal activity. All they need to do is stay in the house and keep a detailed record of everything that happens there―provided the house’s horrors don’t drive them all mad, like the caretakers before them.
The job calls to Eric, not just because of the huge payout, but because he needs access to the secrets of the spite house. If it is indeed haunted, maybe it will help him understand the uncanny power that clings to his family, driving them from town to town, too afraid to stop running…
Welcome to Curdle Creek, a place just dying to make you feel at home.
Osira, a forty-five-year-old widow, is an obedient follower of the strict conventions of the remote all-Black town that’s stuck in the past and governed by ominous rituals including a one in, one out population policy. Osira has always been considered blessed, but her luck changes when her grown children run off to parts unknown, escaping Curdle Creek’s harsh traditions, she comes in second to last in the Running of the Widows, and her father flees after his name is called in the annual Moving On ceremony.
Forced to jump into a well in a test of allegiance, Osira finds herself transported first back in time, and then into another realm where she must answer for crimes committed by Curdle Creek. Exile forces her to jump realms again, landing Osira even farther away from home, in rural England. Safe there as long as she sticks to the rules, she quickly learns there are consequences for every kindness. Each jump could lead Osira anywhere but will she ever find a place to call home?
Fantasy
Forging a Nightmare by Patricia A. Jackson
The only link between a series of grisly murders in New York City is that the victims were all born with twelve fingers and twelve toes. These people are known in occult circles as the Nephilim, a forsaken people, descendants of fallen angels.
After a break in the case leads to supposedly killed-in-action Marine sniper Anaba Raines, Michael finds the soldier alive and well, but shockingly no longer human. Michael then discovers that he is also a Nephilim, and next on the killer’s list.
Everything Michael once thought of as myth and magic starts to blur the lines of his reality, forcing him to accept a new fate to save the innocent, or die trying.
The Knights of Breton Court by Maurice Broaddus
The wars have been raging since before King James White was born. The gangs battle for territory, for market share, for the respect that’s the only armor against attack. The unaffiliated keep their heads down and their mouths shut, hoping to survive.
But King has a hard time seeing nothing. He sees the hunger for power that preys on the weak and cannibalizes the strong. He sees Lady G., struggling to protect a soft heart on hard streets. Wayne, on a mission to reach runaways who’ll end up dead often as not. Percy, the innocent son of a fearsome father, with potential greater than any suspect. Lott, handsome and cocksure, with a secret fire burning inside. Babbling old Merle with his tinfoil wizard’s cap and tales of an unseen world.
And when elf assassins, undead addicts, and rampaging elementals emerge to threaten the neighborhood King calls home, he has to consider whether Merle is right about other things too. Like that the better future King yearns to fight for is possible. That the hearts that come together around their scarred cable spool of a round table can overcome dragonsmoke and kidnapping, deadly standoffs, teenage nihilism, and the wounds of grief that never heal. That courage, wisdom, and mercy can still win the day.
All it will take to make it true is everything.
The Improvisers by Nicole Glover
Velma Frye is many things. A pilot, a former bootlegger, a well-seasoned traveler, a jazz pianist…and a wielder of celestial magic. She’s also a member of the mystical Rhodes family as well as an investigator for arcane oddities for a magic rights organization, dealing with both simple and complicated cases. And when a pocket watch instigates a magical brawl after one of her flight shows, things become very complicated.
In 1930s America, enchanted items are highly valuable, especially in the waning days of the magical Prohibition. As Velma digs deeper, she discovers the watch is part of a collection of dangerous artifacts manipulating people across the country—and in some cases, leading to their deaths. Something about all this is tickling Velma’s memories, and the more she discovers, the more these seemingly isolated incidents feel as if they’re building to something apocalyptic.
Connecting the dots isn’t easy, though, and further complicating her work is journalist Dillon Harris. He hounds her steps, and while not actively sabotaging her investigation, he also clearly knows more than he lets on. Whether it’s his presence that she finds so vexing or his easygoing charm, that’s a mystery she isn’t interested in solving. Because someone is out there seeding cursed objects with the intent on wreaking havoc, and Velma will have to use every trick in her tool kit, including some well-placed magical improvisation, to win the day.
Historical Fiction
The Jewel of the Blues by Monica Chenault-Kilgore
Billed as the Little Girl with the Big Voice, blues singer Lucille Arnetta Love always dreamed of life under the lights. From traveling family gospel band to lead singer in a riotous vaudeville troupe, Lucille is on the rise. But a devastating family secret, one that’s poised to shatter every dream she’s ever had, casts an inescapable shadow over Lucille’s career.
Decades ago, a botched robbery ended in a suspicious death—and all signs point to Lucille’s own father as the culprit. It’s a secret that Lucille’s family is determined to keep buried—even from Lucille herself. For a time, a fresh start feels possible, especially when Marcus Williams, Lucille’s manager—and sometimes paramour—sets her up with a band to tour the country: Miss Lucille’s Black Troubadours. Lucille’s dream of seeing her name in the bright lights of Broadway may happen yet, if she and the Troubadours can endure the highly competitive, rocky road to fame.
Beneath the dazzling glamour of the vaudeville scene lies a wicked underbelly, as drinking, gambling, salacious love affairs and racial tensions compete to dim Lucille’s shining star. And when shady figures from her father’s past emerge, their thirst for revenge threatens to silence Lucille’s career—and the sultry singer herself—for good.
Wild Women and the Blues by Denny S. Bryce
1925: Chicago is the jazz capital of the world, and the Dreamland Café is the ritziest black-and-tan club in town. Honoree Dalcour is a sharecropper’s daughter, willing to work hard and dance every night on her way to the top. Dreamland offers a path to the good life, socializing with celebrities like Louis Armstrong and filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. But Chicago is also awash in bootleg whiskey, gambling, and gangsters. And a young woman driven by ambition might risk more than she can stand to lose.
2015: Film student Sawyer Hayes arrives at the bedside of 110-year-old Honoree Dalcour, still reeling from a devastating loss that has taken him right to the brink. Sawyer has rested all his hope on this frail but formidable woman, the only living link to the legendary Oscar Micheaux. If he’s right—if she can fill in the blanks in his research, perhaps he can complete his thesis and begin a new chapter in his life. But the links Honoree makes are not ones he’s expecting...
Piece by piece, Honoree reveals her past and her secrets, while Sawyer fights tooth and nail to keep his. It’s a story of courage and ambition, hot jazz and illicit passions. And as past meets present, for Honoree, it’s a final chance to be truly heard and seen before it’s too late. No matter the cost...
Cookbooks
Carla Hall's Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration
In Carla Hall’s Soul Food, Carla Hall returns to her Nashville roots for an authentic and refreshing look at America’s favorite comfort cuisine. She also traces soul food’s journey from Africa and the Caribbean to the American South. Carla shows us that soul food is more than barbecue and mac and cheese. Traditionally a plant-based cuisine, everyday soul food is full of veggie goodness that’s just as delicious as cornbread and fried chicken.
From Black-Eyed Pea Salad with Hot Sauce Vinaigrette to Tomato Pie with Garlic Bread Crust, the recipes in Carla Hall’s Soul Food deliver her distinctive Southern flavors using farm-fresh ingredients. The results are light, healthy, seasonal dishes with big, satisfying tastes—the mouthwatering soul food everyone will want a taste of.
Featuring 145 original recipes, 120 color photographs, and a whole lotta love, Carla Hall’s Soul Food is a wonderful blend of the modern and the traditional—honoring soul food’s heritage and personalizing it with Carla’s signature fresh style.
Homage: Recipes and Stories from an Amish Soul Food Kitchen
In HOMAGE, Chris Scott tells the remarkable story of his family over seven generations via comforting dishes and vivid narratives: From his enslaved ancestors to his great-grandfather, who migrated to Pennsylvania after the Emancipation Proclamation, to his own childhood in Amish country, and, ultimately, his successful restaurant career in Philadelphia and New York City.
In this tribute to those who came before him, Chris Scott shares 100 dishes born of a unique blend of Southern, German, and Dutch cuisines, including Chicken Fried Steak with Sassafras Country Gravy, Charred Radicchio Salad with Roasted Grapes and Shaved Amish Cheddar, and the ultimate Whoopie Pies.
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