Black History Month TBR: Books to Read to Support Black Culture, History and Livelihood

Go find my other posts on books by black authors here

I’ve done a few posts on black authors and book recommendations for black history month, but I wanted to share my black history curriculum! Books that I either own already and haven’t read yet or books I’m sourcing from my library that sound interesting and important to me. Books that help me support black authors, black lives, black communities, black history, black education, and black own voices.

If you want to create a personal curriculum for yourself, like the online trend that I am all for, then why not create a Black Voices Curriculum? If you’re interested, here is my list of books for your Black Voices Curriculum/ Black Representation Curriculum/ Black Lives Curriculum/ Black Education Curriculum… you get the idea!

Representation in the publishing industry matters. Let’s support our black authors and educate ourselves on diverse voices in the industry. There’s plenty of excellent books written by black authors in every genre. Just take a look…

My library offers these black lives audiobooks of interest to me:

(Check out what is available at your own local libraries and online using BorrowBox, an app for library users to download ebooks and audiobooks for free from your library.)

Non fiction:

Brit(ish) by Afua Hirsch

Inglorious Empire by Shashi Tharoor

How to Be An Anti-Racist by Ibram X Kendi

Mouth Full of Blood by Toni Morrison

Biased by Dr Jennifer Eberhardt

Caste by Isabel Wilkerson

Timelines of Black History by DK books

Homecoming by Colin Grant

Black British Lives Matter by Lenny Henry and Marcus Ryder

Manifesto by Bernadine Evaristo

Coming to England by Floella Benjamin

Rising to the Surface by Lenny Henry

Black in Time by Alison Hammond and E L Norry

The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama

What Are You Doing Here? by Floella Benjamin

Bits and Pieces by Whoopi Goldberg

Just Sayin’ by Malorie Blackman

Afropean by Johny Pitts

Notes on a Native Son by James Baldwin

My Black Motherhood by Sandra Igwe

Fiction:

Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson

Black Klansman by Rom Stallworth (I’ve watched the film, it’s great!)

Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly (again, film is great)

Ordinary People by Diana Evans

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

The Beauty of Breaking by Michele Harper

The Fraud by Zadie Smith

The Stuff of Nightmares by Malorie Blackman

Mr Loverman by Bernadine Evaristo

Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson

My Life is an Ice Cream Sandwich by Ibi Zoboi

Books I own but haven’t read yet by black authors:Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid – Dr. No by Percival Everett – Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead – Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo – brilliant N-W and White Teeth by Zadie Smith – literary fictionThe Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki – Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor – James by Percival Everett – retelling of Twin Ambitions by Mo Farah – memoir of famous British Olympian Mo FarahChain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah – dystopian, Hunger Games vibesWhere Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Abike-Iyimide – young adult dark academia thrillerCatherine House by Elisabeth Thomas – dark academia The Bread the Devil Knead by Lisa Allen-Agostini – literary fictionThe Fifth Season by N K Jemison – epic fantasy Slay in Your Lane by Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinene – non-fictionLoud Black Girls by Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinene – non-fictionBlack and British by David Olusoga – non-fictionHow to Argue with a Racist by Adam Rutherford – non-fiction

Please share any great books for black authors that you think I should read. Remember: don’t only read black authors or about black characters during Black History Month! Every month is black history month…

Sincerely,

S. xx