Books for Black History Month

Watch this video on books for Black History Month on my Read Remark booktube channel.

Since February is Black History Month, I couldn’t let the month go by without taking the opportunity to recommend some black authors. I should clarify, though, these authors are not significant by virtue of their race. They’re just damn good authors.

Here are a handful of books for Black History Month reading recommendations.

Check out the different genres to can find the right book for you.

Historical fiction:

Homegoing

Yaa Gyasi

Sisters are separated at birth. We follow the generations of offspring who come after.

Children’s books:

The Watsons Go to Birmingham

Christopher Paul Curtis

A family travels to Birmingham in 1963 and deals with the church bombing.

Humor:

I Can’t Make This Up

Kevin Hart

Humor mixed with memoir, Kevin Hart talks through his rise to comedy fame.

Literary fiction:

So Much Blue

Percival Everett

A man’s present, past affair, and past journey through El Salvador. Beautiful art.

Another literary fiction:

On Beauty

Zadie Smith

A middle-aged professor stumbles through marriage and his failing career.

Classics:

Invisible Man

Ralph Ellison

A disillusioned man struggles to find his identity. A college reading must.

Memoir:

Hunger

Roxane Gay

Roxane recalls the brutal gang rape that led to a lifelong struggle with her body.

Young adult:

The Hate U Give

Angie Thomas

Teenager Starr finds herself in the middle of the Black Lives Matter movement.

• • Women’s lit:

The Wedding Date

Jasmine Guillory

A groomsman needs a date for a wedding. Enter his fake date, and enter sparks.

Horror:

The Changeling

Victor Lavalle

Book owner Apollo’s wife acts strange. Postpartum depression? Or something darker?

Steamy romance:

Haven

Rebekah Weatherspoon

An interracial couple gives each other some sexual healing. Bow-chicka-wow-wow.

Science fiction:

Bloodchild

Octavia E. Butler

On this planet, men carry the parasitic grub babies for their insect-like overlords.

Autobiography:

Growing Up in the Jackson Family

LaToya Jackson

LaToya details her dramatic life growing up with the Jacksons.

Poetry:

The Craft

Blackalicious

This isn’t actually a book. It’s an album. But it flows so lyrically like true poetry.

Graphic novel:

World of Wakanda

Roxane Gay

This offshoot of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Black Panther series follows female fighters.

Business:

The Tipping Point

Malcolm Gladwell

You’ve put in the work, sweated the small stuff. Now, tips your work to critical mass?

Money/budgeting:

7 Money Mantras for a Richer Life

Michelle Singletary

Michele teaches us the lessons her budget-minded grandmother taught her.

Nonfiction:

Between the World and Me

Ta-Nehisi Coates

Coates discusses his life and ownership of his body as a black man.

Happy reading!