Black History Month Recommendations
For Black History Month, I wanted to write up some quick recommendations for a few of my favorite books by Black authors. I’ve linked to Bookshop.org for these books, but please buy from a Black-owned bookstore if possible! Here’s a list to get you started: https://www.thebookstorepodcast.com/home/black-owned-independent-bookstores.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy gets a lot of attention (all 3 novels won the Hugo for Best Novel, after all). But the Jemisin that I really love is the first book in her Inheritance trilogy. The premise is that gods have been enslaved by humans, and the worldbuilding is truly top tier, with a protagonist who is easy to cheer for.
https://bookshop.org/books/the-hundred-thousand-kingdoms/9780316043915
The Art of Death: Writing the Final Story by Edwidge Danticat
I love Danticat’s fiction, and I love non-fiction about death, so this was the perfect marriage for me. Danticat infuses her academic study of literature about death with her personal experience of her mother’s death, and I found this work both fascinating and comforting.
https://bookshop.org/books/the-art-of-death-writing-the-final-story/9781555977771
Bloodchild by Octavia E. Butler
My opinions of Butler’s work veer widely. I loved Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, but I hated Dawn. Bloodchild is a collection of short stories, and it’s interesting because you can see her start to explore some of the themes that pop up in her longer work.
https://bookshop.org/books/bloodchild-and-other-stories/9781583226988
Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo
We read this for Episode 7, and I loved it. That’s an early episode so I can’t be held responsible for how bad it may be, if you go back to listen to it. It explores the relationship between husband and wife, and if that sounds boring, I promise you it is anything but.
https://bookshop.org/books/stay-with-me-9781101974414/9781101974414
A Tempest by Aime Cesaire
This is a play! I don’t often read plays, and in fact I was forced to read this one in college. But I’m glad I did! It’s an anti-imperialist work that rewrites Shakespeare’s The Tempest. I like literature that gives the reader the perspective of a character that didn’t get a fair shake in the original (like Wide Sargasso Sea and Jane Eyre). And on a lighter note, I like to quote Caliban when I’m annoyed with someone (“Listen, you old goat”) and Ariel, when I’m trying to wake myself up (“Sleepers, awake, your life depends on it”).
https://bookshop.org/books/a-tempest/9781559362108
A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid
Anti-colonialism non-fiction that looks at Antigua and what the British did to the island nation. Also was used in the documentary Life and Debt, which I would also recommend.
https://bookshop.org/books/a-small-place/9780374527075
Passing by Nella Larsen
On the record that this is one of the best books I’ve ever read. You can listen to Episode 71 to get the full discussion of why it’s so great.
https://bookshop.org/books/passing/9780142437278
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
Never in my life have I read a 400 page novel so quickly. Absolutely did not want to put this down. It’s the stories of various Black women in Britain, written in a weird structure that once you get used to it, you won’t even notice. One of the most original pieces of writing I’ve ever read, and if the world was a just world, it would totally transform literature forever.
https://bookshop.org/books/girl-woman-other-a-novel-booker-prize-winner/9780802156983
