Featured Photo by Jadon Johnson on Unsplash
Although it’s best to read diverse books all year round to keep your perspective varied and constantly expanding, here are some book recommendations for Black History Month if you’re looking to put something new on your shelf.
Some of these books can fit into more than one category, so I’ve aimed to sort them based on which genre is most prominent in the narrative.
📢 Helpful Mention: If you’re looking for an organized way to track your books read and TBR, the black-owned app The StoryGraph is a good option. It has cool features like buddy reads, book clubs, and reading challenges for those who love the social aspect of reading, and it also offers built-in DNFing and half-star ratings (because it makes no damn sense that Goodreads still won’t update its interface in 2026).
Nonfiction
Why We Can’t Wait by Martin Luther King, Jr.
This book contains the well-known “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and goes into the mechanics of how the Civil Rights Movement was conducted in Alabama in the 1950s and 1960s. You get to understand just how members of the movement supported each other, how they planned every step they took in the struggle for freedom, and how they took cues from previous efforts in other cities—everything was done with intention.
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? by Martin Luther King, Jr.
It always overwhelms me how books like this one are still so relevant today even though decades separate us. What I found most illuminating—and what I still think about on a near daily basis, honestly…—was how MLK Jr. spoke on the issue of white liberals who claim to be on the side of justice yet are just as racist as the proud white supremacists. Maybe they don’t attack with fists or guns, but instead with their plain dismissal of and anger toward black people’s continual struggle for progress.
Some quotes:
“Over the last few years many Negroes have felt that their most troublesome adversary was not the obvious bigot of the Ku Klux Klan or the John Birch Society, but the white liberal who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice, who prefers tranquility to equality.”
“Even in areas where liberals have great influence—labor unions, schools, churches and politics—the situation of the Negro is not much better than in areas where they are not dominant. This is why many liberals have fallen into the trap of seeing integration in merely aesthetic terms, where a token number of Negroes adds color to a white-dominated power structure.”
Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine by Uché Blackstock
This is a very insightful read and will be relatable to any black person who’s ever had to do battle with the medical system just to get decent treatment. It delves into a black physician’s journey within medicine and the many inequities that exist for black people, both as patients and healthcare professionals.
One of the parts that still stands out in my memory is Dr. Blackstock highlighting the differences in care of two ERs that sit next door to each other, NYU Tisch and Bellevue. People who get sent to Bellevue often experience all types of inadequate treatment in comparison to the people at the private hospital—including being screamed at and treated roughly by paramedics. Which really isn’t shocking when you know the medical system’s history with black people in this country, but I guess there are always new lows to find.
Medical Bondage: Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology by Deirdre Cooper Owens
This book explores a subject that has gripped my attention since college—medical experimentation on black people, particularly enslaved black women in relation to gynecology in the 1800s. Many modern gynecological advancements exist because enslaved black women were used as test subjects for them in incredibly brutal ways.
Those of you who were interested by the history of Irish oppression that was woven into Sinners may get some value from this book, as it also goes into how Irish immigrant women were abused by the medical system during this time.
Chasing Space: An Astronaut’s Story of Grit, Grace, and Second Chances by Leland Melvin
This book covers the life and recovery journey of an astronaut who experienced a severe medical injury during NASA training. As someone who has struggled with their own hearing for years now, I particularly liked Leland’s perspective on being partially deaf and still getting to realize his space dreams. (Including the Purple Rain mention in one of the early chapters…God!!!)
Romance
The Kiss Countdown by Etta Easton
Another space-y book for those who like out-of-this-world narratives, though this novel leans heavier on the romance and less on the outer space aspect. An event planner starts a fake relationship with an astronaut she meets at a coffee shop for mutual benefits: She can pretend she has the perfect life in front of her ex, and he can put to rest his family’s concerns about him finding a partner. I don’t read romance novels often, but this one was pretty fun and got quite a few laughs out of me.
The Davenports by Krystal Marquis
If you love period pieces or binge-watch every new Bridgerton season (which I kind of hate to invoke because I never made it past episode one of that show…), try this 1910s-era book. The story follows four different black women who are a part of or associated with the Davenport family, which has been made well-known and wealthy from its riding carriage company. You’ll experience a range of romantic relationships that are influenced by the history of the era. Helen’s storyline is personally my favorite, with Ruby’s probably being second.
Sci-Fi
Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase
This is truly my favorite book that I’ve read in the past couple years. It’s set in a world similar to Minority Report and explores topics like motherhood, dysfunctional family dynamics, family secrets, body swapping, and memory manipulation. This debut novel has caught quite a bit of flack among reviewers because of the info-dumping and worldbuilding that doesn’t always make sense, but sometimes you just have to smile and nod through the parts you don’t get and keep it pushing.
How Long ’til Black Future Month? by N. K. Jemisin
This one’s a classic; I remember excitedly pre-ordering this and waiting with bated breath for it to be released. It’s a short story collection of works all by N. K. Jemisin, who also wrote the Broken Earth trilogy (which pretty much changed my life almost a decade ago). It’s all the sci-fi and fantasy in different settings that you could want, from alien villages to sentient cities.
Mostly, I just need more people to read “The Evaluators” so I can talk to someone about it because that story still haunts me to this day and I’m still not entirely sure what happens in it. I know I said I don’t like epistolary formats, but…
The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe and other authors
This is a companion book of short stories that complements the also-life-changing Dirty Computer album and emotion picture. This is actually the only book on this list I haven’t read yet despite owning it (look…I was going through pure hell in 2022), so check out the reviews if you’re interested. These stories center on the concept of what happens when your memories can be controlled by an oppressive force, and the different possibilities for breaking free.
Fantasy
Skin Folk by Nalo Hopkinson
This anthology features “The Glass Bottle Trick,” which is a Bluebeard retelling I read in college and have been thinking about on and off ever since then. Some stories just stick with you for whatever reasons. This book features glass-shard winds that can cut you to shreds, golden tables with all the riches you could ever want, and many more fantastical new environments and retellings of familiar stories.
This Ravenous Fate by Hayley Dennings
Another period piece, this time set in the 1920s. This novel is a lesbian enemies-to-lovers romance between two former childhood friends—one who was turned into a vampire. Like The Davenports, it also features a wealthy black family, except their dealings include running a vampire-hunting enterprise. See how things can get contentious there? It’s a fitting read for people who want LGBT+ romance in a grittier setting; there is blood, gore, and speakeasies galore.
The Unbroken by C. L. Clark
This military fantasy features a lesbian/bisexual enemies-to-lovers romance, though it also has the overarching element of an oppressor/oppressed relationship with heavy themes of colonization throughout the narrative itself, so maybe tread lightly if that’s not currently your speed. Our protagonist is a soldier being called on to help stop a rebellion in her homeland, which is raging against the imperialist system that she was forced into at a young age. Moral conflict abounds.
Horror
Out There Screaming edited by Jordan Peele
One more anthology for the road. This one was edited by Jordan Peele and contains authors like N. K. Jemisin, Tananarive Due, and Nalo Hopkinson. There are freedom riders stuck on a speeding bus, a version of our world where the sun goes out for minutes at a time and leaves everything in pitch-black chaos, deep web hitman services, and undead women killing male drivers on a lonely stretch of highway. There’s a bit of something for everyone.
Jackal by Erin E. Adams
This novel explores the horrors of small-town white racism and missing/murdered young black girls with a supernatural twist. The protagonist returns to her hometown for her friend’s wedding and everything hits the fan when her friend’s daughter goes missing at the reception. The summary of the novel When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen is very similar to this book, but I haven’t read that one yet, so maybe that’s another to put on your list.
Sharing my favorite lines:
“Grandma Abigail said not to give you attention because it goes against God to speak to a demon. Are you a demon?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Good. ’Cause if you are, Grandma Abigail said, it’s only a matter of time until a fool gives you enough attention.”
Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma
This YA vampire book brings a bit of everything: fantasy, horror, dark academia, and tortured romance (if either the MMC or FMC will admit to it). Stans of enemies-to-lovers relationships, come get y’all juice. I’m not a huge fan of that trope (yet there are at least three of these books on this list…), but Kidan and Susenyos’ dynamic is so interesting even from the first moment they meet. I also just love that a black female character gets to be an unhinged crashout for an entire book. The fangs scene(s)? Breaking her own arm? Yeah.
Are there any books you’d recommend? Share them in the comments ⬇️
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