Welcome back to Wearing on My Mind! I wanted to publish this post during Black History Month, but hey, every month is Black History Month. Also, this is a long email. To read the entire post, click “View Entire Message,” or “View in Browser.” Thanks and enjoy!
Books fill my apartment. Some sit against the window sill in that indie interior decorator way, others line a stunning thifted bookshelf and a few sit on the corner of my desk.
I read some of these during high school and college and kept them for nostalgia (they were great reads). The books in my MFA program are piling up quickly, as I often read 3-4 or more books each month. I have some books that were never, and probably won’t ever be, finished (no shade). But a select few seem to wink at me as I pass them daily, their covers shining brightly in the morning sunlight. Most of these were written by Black authors.
Today’s post features a list of my favorite books by Black authors. Some of these books I’ve read multiple times, some I’ve read once, some I’ve started partially, and some are on my read-wish list. I also recommend some of my favorite newsletters written by Black writers.
*Note: I’ve included links to purchase these books on Bookshop.org. When you purchase on Bookshop.org, your money helps independent bookstores worldwide. The links are also affiliate links, so if you purchase, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you!
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxanne Gay
Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston by Valerie Boyd
Three Girls from Bronzeville: A Uniquely American Memoir of Race, Fate, and Sisterhood by Dawn Turner
How to Say Babylon: A Memoir by Safiya Sinclair
Somebody’s Daughter: A Memoir by Ashley C. Ford
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
Thick and Other Essays by Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom
Sometimes I Trip on How Happy We Could Be by Nichole Perkins
Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens by Alice Walker
Women, Race, & Class by Angela Davis
Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Also, the play Color Struck by ZNH (link)
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Sula by Toni Morrison
Go Tell It on the Moutain by James Baldwin
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris
Milk Blood Heat by Dantiel W. Moniz
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
Homie by Danez Smith
Don’t Call Us Dead by Danez Smith
Black Girl, Call Home by Jasmine Mans
Black Queer Hoe by Britteney Black Rose Kapri
Magical Negro by Morgan Parker
The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde
The Tradition by Jericho Brown
Hung Up by
screaming into the void, but in lowercase by
Tamia Talks by
by by by byall about love by bell hooks
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Barracoon: The Story of the Last Black Cargo by Zora Neale Hurston
Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human by Cole Arthur Riley
Abolition. Feminism. Now. by Beth E. Richie, Angela Y. Davis, Gina Dent, and Erica R. Meiners
All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles
She Memes Well: Essays by Quinta Brunson
The Ugly Cry: How I Became a Person (Despite My Grandmother's Horrible Advice) by Danielle Henderson
A Visible Man by Edward Enninful
Finding Me by Viola Davis
The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom
Misfits: A Personal Manifesto by Michaela Coel
Assembly by Natasha Brown
Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir by Natasha Trethewey
Stash: My Life in Hiding by Laura Cathcart Robbins
Neighbors and Other Stories by Diane Oliver
Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith
If you’ve read any of the books listed above, let me know in the comments! Tell me what’s on your read-wish list, too.
If you liked reading this post, give it a like. You’ll have my profound gratitude!!
I’m proud to say I’ve read and enjoyed a couple of the books you’ve listed here 😌
How to Say Babylon was an absolutely beautiful and heart wrenching book. Born a Crime was my introduction to memoirs and I thoroughly enjoyed it, plus it was funny! And Wash Day Diaries was a fun read and the art?? Amazing!
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi has been on my TBR list for so long 😭 I hope to finally read it soon.
I’ve also been wanting to get into reading poetry so thank you for the recs!
Thank you for including me! You’ve introduced me to some new writers here- thank you ❤️