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Celebrate Black History Month with New & Upcoming Books by Black Authors
In celebration of Black History Month in the United States, we’ve gathered below a broad sampling of books by Black authors hitting shelves in 2023. We’ve divided the list by release month, and further divided each month into adult and YA listings.
Keep in mind that this is an early sampling, as fall book announcements are just starting to roll out (as a major example, there's early word that a new novel by Jesmyn Ward will publish in October). So be sure to stay tuned for even more great titles to land on shelves later this year! Also, we have expanded our definitions this year to include Black authors beyond U.S. borders. You’ll find some international releases and/or books by African and U.K. authors in the list below.
This is a great chance to discover new books by Black authors as well as new-to-you Black writers. You’ll find just about every genre represented here: literary fiction, historical nonfiction, epic fantasy, memoirs, domestic suspense, queer romance, and several acclaimed debut novels.
Explore this list to find great reads, not just for Black History Month but for all year-round, and be sure to add the books that appeal to you to your Want to Read shelf.
January:
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January Young Adult:
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February:
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February Young Adult:
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March:
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March Young Adult:
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April:
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April Young Adult:
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May:
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May Young Adult:
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June and Beyond:
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June & Beyond Young Adult:
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What books are you planning to read during Black History Month (and beyond)? Let's talk books in the comments below!
Comments Showing 1-50 of 101 (101 new)
message 1:
by
✨Neena✨
(new)
Feb 01, 2023 01:22AM
yup :)
flag
these are some of the prettiest book covers ive ever seen in my entire life
I like it more when Goodreads groups by genre, in addition to month.
if anyone has sci-fi recs by Black authors I would love to hear them 💖
Just got “River Sing Me Home” and am also looking forward to “The House of Eve”
corgia wrote: "if anyone has sci-fi recs by Black authors I would love to hear them 💖"Some people rate it as sci-fi but it's more so suggested as fantasy but Legendborn by Tracy Deonn has great ratings! She just released book 2 of the series in November 2022 as well :)
Hope you enjoy them!!
loved these... "Want To Read" 'ed some of them! :) I loved all of the book covers and "Ride or Die" seems INCREDIBLY promising!
corgia wrote: "if anyone has sci-fi recs by Black authors I would love to hear them 💖"NK Jemisin is a fantastic black sci fi/Fantasy writer. Her Broken Earth Trilogy is great!
Douglas wrote: "I thought October was BHM?"In the UK it is. But it's February in the US.
It's sad if people need a month or a certain time in general to be reminded, to read something by someone f. e. black, turkish, muslim, etc...
Glad someone or something finally mentioned black history month today
corgia wrote: "if anyone has sci-fi recs by Black authors I would love to hear them 💖"What type of science fiction?
Do You Dream of Terra-Two? it is more philosophical but still set in space.
The Best of All Possible Worlds they travel to different planets.
Black Sci-Fi Short Stories it has a bunch of different science fiction short stories and four novella/novels. Of the stories it has five classic 19th/20th century classic scifi Black stories.
corgia wrote: "if anyone has sci-fi recs by Black authors I would love to hear them 💖""Kindred" by Octavia E. Butler. I wanted to read a sci-fi book that was written in the decade that I was born (70's) and found that Octavia's sci-fi books are considered to be written ahead of her time. I enjoyed Kindred but can be difficult to read because she writes with raw honesty as well, in my opinion. There is a series of this book on Hulu now. I haven't seen it, but I would bet the book is still better.
I've added a bunch of them to my list but it would have been easier to pick books if they were organized by genre. i am sure they're all great in their way but i just clicked 5 historical fictions when I could have skipped this bc I rarely evre read this genre
Douglas wrote: "I thought October was BHM?". That’s UK black history month. February is US black history month
Thanks!! A lot of amazing recommendations for 2023. I'm adding a lot to my list.
corgia wrote: "if anyone has sci-fi recs by Black authors I would love to hear them 💖"I have 2 but they’re labeled « fantasy ».
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle
And
Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark
LaValle has another fantasy book, The Changeling, that has gotten great reviews. I haven’t read it yet, but I plan on reading it this year.
I love how every month, Goodreads put books together in a genre.
So many of these have crazy beautiful covers?? Great work done by the artists/designers.
sing me to sleep is one of my most anticipated books of the year
horror recs by black authors would be appreciated :)
Wishing and hoping for a great successful year for all Black authors! Excited to be introduced to some many more authors and stories :)
Fatin Abbas Ghost Season wasnt mentioned. Also in April, please do a list/spotlight of new and perhaps recently published Jewish/Jewish American books/authors.
corgia wrote: "if anyone has sci-fi recs by Black authors I would love to hear them 💖"Africa Risen is a sci-fi anthology that came out a couple months ago with stories exclusively by Black authors. It's pretty good, I'd recommend giving it a try!
callie ✧*･ﾟ* wrote: "these are some of the prettiest book covers ive ever seen in my entire life" exactly that's what i was thinking
Kailen wrote: "horror recs by black authors would be appreciated :)"Haven't read it, but maybe "White Smoke" by Tiffany D. Jackson?
corgia wrote: "if anyone has sci-fi recs by Black authors I would love to hear them 💖"Octavia Butler of course, e.g. Xenogenesis Series (starts with Dawn)
Nnedi Okorafor (e.g. Lagoon)
Nalo Hopkinson (e.g. Brown Girl in the Ring)
corgia wrote: "if anyone has sci-fi recs by Black authors I would love to hear them 💖"Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond
AfroSF: Science Fiction by African Writers
Binti: The Complete Trilogy
A Dead Djinn in Cairo
So many amazing looking reads! Looking forward to checking some of them out!
Douglas wrote: "I thought October was BHM?"It is in the UK, but in the US its in February
Finally, GR promotes books by lesser known authors!
We need books for Homeschoolers! A lot of black parents are removing their children from the public school system. We need books that focus on the kids and books for the kids to use in their home libraries that represent them !
So many new and returning to so many amazing Black Authors and Books almost cried looking at this list my List just got even bigger come on yall lets addmore to our list some of these im buying
Well there goes my New Year's Resolution of ending 2023 with fewer books on my To Read List than were on it at the start of the year.
Eric wrote: "We need books for Homeschoolers! A lot of black parents are removing their children from the public school system. We need books that focus on the kids and books for the kids to use in their home l..."I am terribly sorry that those families are feeling so failed by the public school system. As a teacher your comment hit home. Thank you for speaking up, and thank you to the families of those kids for speaking out about injustices in our systems.
@douglas it is in the UK. Here in the states it is February.
Douglas wrote: "I thought October was BHM?"In the United Kingdom, it is in October; In the United States of America, it is in February.
Wow, I found several that I want to read! Thanks for sharing!
wow! A lot of great titles added to my list. Thank you! I love that these are books and authors I haven't heard of.
