39 Black Authors On Their Favorite Books by Black Authors

“It’s difficult to pick a favorite, but On Beauty by Zadie Smith is definitely high on the list. It is a close examination of family, marriage, politics, and culture, all done with humor and heart.” —Anissa Gray, author of The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls

“This is an impossible question to answer, but I’ll say that I’ve been thinking a lot about The Color Purple lately. This is such an iconic text by now, with its film and Broadway adaptations, but I first read this book in junior high and it became almost sacred to me. It’s a story about Black women living in the intersections of racialized and gendered violence, who find liberation through community with each other. This book is brutal and beautiful and holy and secular and I hope we’re reading it forever.” —Brit Bennett, author of The Vanishing Half

“My favorite novel is The Color Purple by Alice Walker because the portrayal of Black female friendship is the gift that keeps on giving.” —Bernice L. McFadden, author of Sugar

“The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr. is one of those visceral, raw books that sinks its fangs into you the moment you crack its spine, and won’t let go until you die. The moment I heard about Robert’s debut—a story of love, queerness, Blackness, religion, and power, set on a Deep South plantation during slavery—I knew I had to get my hands on it. Robert’s ability to mold words like an alchemist who changes matter is legendary. The way he cares for his characters without shying away from the truth and the darkness of the antebellum South is a masterclass in writing emotional historical fiction. We are so lucky to exist in the world while Robert Jones, Jr. is creating literature.” —Kosoko Jackson, author of I’m So (Not) Over You

“Every few months or so, I pick up Phoebe Robinson’s You Can’t Touch My Hair and read an essay or two (or the entire book, TBH) because it feels like one of those perfect, cathartic, hilarious, and poignant conversations you have with the friend who will both lift you up and put you in your place. I’ve been a fan of Phoebe’s for years since the 2 Dope Queens podcast (and her pitch-perfect recaps of ‘How to Get Away with Murder’ on Vulture) and reading this collection of essays gives insight into her journey as a Black woman in the entertainment business, belly-laugh-inducing observations on pop culture, and deft criticisms of microaggressions, systematic racism, and the patriarchy. This book, as with all of Phoebe’s writing, makes me want to watch reality TV, lead a protest, and call my best friends.” —Danielle Jackson, The Accidental Pinup

“My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite is such an addictive read. Set in Lagos, this darkly funny novel explores the relationship between two sisters, one of whom has an inconvenient habit of killing her boyfriends. I read the book while I was writing Yinka, and I was inspired by how Braithwaite used wit to touch on serious matters such as trauma and colorism.” —Lizzie Damilola Blackburn, author of Yinka, Where is Your Huzband?

“I love My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. It approaches such a dark topic—murder—with humor and highlights the complex bond between sisters.” —Jane Igharo, author of The Sweetest Remedy

“I still recall the impact Beloved by Toni Morrison had on me when I first read it years ago. This is a mesmerizing story of a woman grappling with the legacy of enslavement even as she becomes free but also, it is a book of great physical power. I continue to be thrilled and inspired by the rhythm of the writing, by Morrison’s ability to use language that is both lyrical and unconventional, both sweeping in its gaze and wholly intimate.” —Charmaine Wilkerson, author of Black Cake

“I have been haunted by Beloved ever since I first read it at a young age. Communicating with the spirit world is a gift, and I always felt seen and heard each time I returned to Toni Morrison’s work. It is no coincidence that once I became a mother, language and story would come to me from the dream world as well. May we all strive for freedom in our words and inspiration from the other side.” —Rachel Montez Minor, author of The Sun, The Moon, and the Stars

“Like most Black girls of my generation, I saw the movie before I read the book. In vivid detail, I recall my mother sitting my sister and me down in front of our ancient television mounted in wood, pushing the VCR tape in, and declaring, having just signed her own divorce papers, that it was time we girls knew what it meant to be women. The movie, so well-known that most folk I know can quote it by heart, even its first few minutes imprinted in my ten-year-old mind an indelible image—a Black woman in a nightgown stood smoking a cigarette over the remnants of her failed marriage, declaring it all trash. When I finally read the novel in college, I again was blown away by how visceral the characters were, how incredible their agency was. Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan taught me how to be a woman. That I, too, would overcome my own divorce, that it was just fine, a right thing, to smoke a cigarette and ponder my worth. So much more than a novel, Waiting to Exhale is a cultural relic that rests squarely in Black Americana. We know every scene. Can sing every song. Perhaps because McMillan’s prose taught me, taught us all, that sisterhood is as necessary as air. And that I can always take a moment to breathe. What a gift. What a gift to the world.” —Tara M. Stringfellow, author of Memphis

“For me? It’s Terry McMillian. It’s her bravery and ambition and her faith in the stories of Black women. Knowing and necessary, Terry McMillan’s 1992 novel, Waiting to Exhale, ‘proved’ to a narrow-minded culture industry that not only did Black people read but that Black women read so much and so deeply they launched era-defining trends like McMillan’s storytelling did with the 1995 film version of Waiting to Exhale. Exhale made back near its entire budget over opening weekend and served as inspiration for an all-Black woman soundtrack that in 2022 remains one of the most successful of all time. We haven’t even started talking about Mama (1987), or How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1996), or how Terry McMillan’s books gave me the courage to keep placing one sentence after another.” —Danyel Smith, author of Shine Bright

“There is one book that feels like it is speaking directly to and about me, revealing itself as both testimony and witness: James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain. It is the literary master’s very first novel and, in my estimation, his very best. I marvel at the ways in which language, structure, spirit, truth, and wisdom blend to create something that strikes like lightning and shakes like thunder, but also cleanses like rain. The last section of the book, ‘The Threshing Floor,’ is the most exquisite, complex writing I have ever read. I study it over and over again, hoping to one day achieve that level of artistic magnificence. My favorite passage from Go Tell It on the Mountain is this: ‘Ah, down! — and to what purpose, where? To the bottom of the sea, the bowels of the earth, to the heart of the fiery furnace? Into a dungeon deeper than Hell, into a madness louder than the grave? What trumpet sound would awaken him; what hand would lift him up? For he knew, as he struck again, and screamed again, his throat like burning ashes, and as he turned again, his body hanging from him like a useless weight, a heavy rotting carcass, that if he were not lifted, he would never rise.”’ —Robert Jones, Jr., author of The Prophets

“I really enjoyed The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon. It’s one of the first novels I read that accurately portrays the nuances of interracial relationships and doesn’t gloss over the ugly parts of it. Not to mention, it’s incredibly well-written, showcases great depth while managing to not drown in it, and is just an overall really beautiful work of fiction. I can’t recommend it enough.” —Erica Martin, author of And We Rise

“I often turn to Dorothy Roberts’s seminal text Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty to ground me and deepen my analysis. Originally published twenty-five years ago, it is a classic of Black feminist thought—linking racist stereotypes of Black women in popular culture to law, policy, and surveillance. Roberts’s voice is fresh and accessible, her critique devastating and at the same time, liberating. Sadly, it is just as relevant now as it was in 1997.” —Shannon Gibney, author of Dream Country

“Given the fact that I made the decision years ago to center much of my reading on Black literature to rectify the imbalance of how little I experienced in my teenage years, it is incredibly overwhelming to choose one book that I return to over and over again for inspiration. But I have re-read Richard Wright’s Black Boy multiple times, and I am constantly referencing it as a memoir for young Black boys who would like to explore and unpack the origins of their pain. Though it is extremely hard to read at times, I find comfort in returning to this book as a reference for Black resilience, intelligence, and robust interrogation of Black masculinity. Richard Wright’s story is one that’s left a forever mark on my spirit, and I have never stopped thinking about how relevant it still is today.” —Candice lloh (they/she), author of Every Body Looking

“The book I return to often is James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time. Baldwin’s writing always inspires me, and these two essays powerfully capture his brilliance, passion, and radical honesty. The Fire Next Time also demonstrates Baldwin’s vision for the future and his firm belief that we still have an opportunity to do better and be better. This is an urgent message we need today as we grapple with a myriad of social issues, including state-sanctioned violence, voter suppression, and economic inequality.” —Keisha N. Blain, co-editor of Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019

“James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time is just as urgent and pressing now as when he published it nearly sixty years ago. His words and vision provided the text for the Civil Rights movement and the book, sliced into two essays, confronts America’s racial tensions and the need for people’s thoughts on race to evolve.” —Jonathan Abrams, author of All the Pieces Matter

“The People Could Fly by the Ohioan Virginia Hamilton (and illustrated by Leo Dillon and Diane Dillion, Ph.D.) was formative in my understanding of story and — more importantly — the expansiveness of Black fantasy. Folktales, as they were presented to me in places like school, only scratched the surface of what I believed could be possible in the form of both oral and written narrative world-building. It was refreshing to find that this book existed and had existed for a handful of years by the time I found it. So many of the folktales within wrestle with the concept of freedom, translated in its many forms, and I remain thankful for it today.” —Hanif Abdurraqib, author of A Little Devil in America

“Growing up in prison and spending 18 years of my life in solitary, I felt The Autobiography of Malcolm X was a life-changing book. Because it showed that we can evolve as humans. When I saw that Malcolm had made the dictionary his companion, I did the same, studying Merriam-Webster Dictionary from front to back until it was tattered and blackened from the years of my thumbs searching for knowledge. This book is a must-read for anyone seeking evolution as a human being, particularly a black male growing up in America.” —Ian Manuel, author of My Time Will Come

“Well, favorites can change with one’s mood or needs. My love and gratitude for the essays of Ralph Ellison and the plays of Adrienne Kennedy are longstanding though, and unceasing. I first read the great novelist’s nonfiction in the early 60s. The probing mind, the sly but passionate quest to discard the racial constrictions of cultural criticism and expand its aesthetics! I was stirred and I was emboldened. I’ve followed Adrienne Kennedy’s work since the sixties too. Her fearless imagination and kinetic language still astound me. How she joins psychological complexity to historical destiny; merges literature with performance.” —Margo Jefferson, Constructing a Nervous System

“Professional Troublemaker by Luvvie Ajayi Jones kicked my butt about living small and about letting fear chip away at my sense of self. I turn to it any time I need to remember who I am and that I belong in this world as much as anyone else.” —Gia De Cadenet, author of Getting His Game Back

“For all of us who care deeply about the health and well-being of Black children in America, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye is a foundational read. In this beautifully written but tragic coming-of-age novel, Morrison exposes the profound impact of social hierarchies, racism, sexism, and marginalization on Black girls like Pecola Breedlove. Morrison’s truth-telling about the struggle for a healthy Black adolescent identity is remarkably apt more than fifty years later.” —Kristin Henning, author of The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth

“Off the top of my head, I can think of a dozen books that have influenced me, but if I had to choose one, it would be I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. I read Maya Angelou’s first autobiography when I was fourteen and to that point, I’d never read the story of a Black person’s life. That coming-of-age story enlightened, shocked, astonished, and touched me in a way that few books have since. I was not only inspired by her writing but by her young life as well. Ms. Angelou endured, she persisted, and her writing in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings always made me want to be better and do better no matter what situation or circumstance I faced.” —Victoria Christopher Murray, author of The Personal Librarian

“There are so many great books that I turn to for inspiration. One that stands out in my mind is I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. This was one of the first books I remember picking up when I was fourteen years old, and it has stuck with me since then. Maya Angelou’s tenacity in this autobiography always gives me the courage to keep going, even when I don’t always think it’s possible.” —Kristen R. Lee, author of Required Reading for the Disenfranchised Freshman

“I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. I read this brutally honest yet sensitive account of Ms. Angelou’s life many years ago and immediately became enamored with the life of this remarkable woman. Ms. Angelou tells the story — in stunning prose — of her years growing up in the South. She tackles difficult themes of racism, sexual abuse, and poverty with courage, grace, and humor that often made me forget I was reading a memoir. Her story taught me that there can be triumph in the midst of adversity — a message that is even more relevant in these present times.” —Abi Daré, author of The Girl with the Louding Voice

“There are so many – like different medicines for different ailments, or a treat for every kind of mood. That said, I have found myself seeking out Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work again. It is part memoir, part essay collection by Edwidge Danticat. When I first read it years ago, I was still at some remove from it. Now being far away from home, thinking and writing about memory and place and the urgency of this moment, it feels much closer. It is such a tender collection, but it is fierce too, an elegy and a call-to-arms. It touches me, fires me up, and sends me to the page.” —Ayanna Lloyd Banwo, author of When We Were Birds

“There are many Black writers who inspire me but because I can only talk about one in this moment, I choose Lorraine Hansbury. Her canonical A Raisin in the Sun ignited my senses like a firecracker and I became obsessed. I have seen numerous productions of Raisin (even the one with P. Diddy as Walter Lee). Talk about dialogue so sharp and spare it transcends time! Her words resonate universally and have no choice but to sparkle forever. All that she might have accomplished had she not died so young is often speculated upon. But everyone is not meant to have a long life; instead, some like Hansbury have brief, dazzling and sacred ones.” —Tricia Elam Walker, author of Dream Street

“Wow! This is a tough one! But I have to say I love all of Jasmine Guillory’s books, but there’s just something about The Proposal. From the characters to the sheer hilarity of the actual proposal, this book is true escapism at its best. I also love that Nikole knows what’s best for her and is always fighting to make the right decision for herself, no matter what outside pressure she receives. This is a delightful read.” – Tina Wells, author of Honest June

“The Parable Series found me traveling solo across Paris for the first time. The heartbeats within those pages echoed: ‘All that you touch. You Change. All that you Change Changes you. The only lasting truth Is Change.’ This mantra rippled through my body from that summer in 2007 until today. Parable of the Sower & Parable of the Talents course-corrected my place in the world of literature, creation, and resistance. Butler birthed a galaxy of revolutions where each new universe inherited the ugly of our racist, patriarchal, and classist country. Butler bestowed upon us this truth, this ferocious text, this legacy of liberation.” —Mahogany L. Browne, author of Vinyl Moon

“My inspiration pile is crowded with too many favorites to list here, but one I’ve checked in with most recently is Zadie Smith’s White Teeth. Every time I open this story about three families trying to survive the collision of their histories, cultures, beliefs, and expectations, I’m awed by how Smith uses humor to slice the world open and reveal how collaboratively we participate in its comedy and its tragedy.” —Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, author of Blue: A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky

“When I was an undergraduate, I took an independent study with a brilliant graduate student who introduced me to the work of Toni Cade Bambara. The encounter with Bambara’s work was life-altering. When I first read Bambara’s collection of short stories, Gorilla, My Love, I immediately saw myself in Hazel, the main character of the title story. Her sassy and precocious voice was unlike anything I’d ever read. I had never read fiction that captured the way I spoke – the rhythmic seventies vernacular of so many African American communities. Bambara taught me that I could write stories derived from my own experience and in my own language.” —Dolen Perkins-Valdez, author of Take My Hand

“I adore Gorilla, My Love by Toni Cade Bambara. Her command of voice is masterful and each short story in this collection feels like a lesson in craft and how to have fun with language. Bambara doesn’t limit herself in terms of character, setting, or point of view and yet this collection is pulled together through the capturing of something so specific and yet so ordinary about black life, black characters, and black people. It truly changed my idea of what short stories can be like.” —Leila Mottley, author of Nightcrawling

“There are so many fantastic books by Black authors, so it is hard to choose one! However, Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents is a relatively recent release that is super inspiring to me in the way that it tells history. The writing is both gripping and informative and gives insights into systemic racism that helps the reader to more easily digest a very complex concept. It is one of my favorite modern books!” —Tiffanie Drayton, author of Black American Refugee

“I love all things Jacqueline Woodson. Her words are always comforting even when they upset falsehoods that you hold dear. She writes with a knowledge of the past, an acceptance of the present, and a hopefulness for the future. Her book, Brown Girl Dreaming, sparked something inside my daughter, Marley Dias, which gave her the vision to create the #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign. I read and listened to Woodson’s book after my daughter and her words stayed with me. They reminded me of the simple beauty that existed in the best parts of my childhood in the red hills of Retreat, St. Mary, Jamaica, West Indies.” —Janice Johnson Dias, Ph.D., author of Parent Like it Matters

“The Nickel Boys is one of my favorite books by Colson Whitehead. He flawlessly describes the agonizing truth about what happened to several young Black men in a Florida reform school. He dazzled me with his juxtaposition of an idealistic, possible future against the reality of what we really face. We’re thrown into this all-too-real world of punishment and abuse, all in the name of reform. Whitehead is unafraid to get to the heart of whatever subject matter he tackles: even if — or maybe because — it’s painful and difficult to read (and write) about. Such a masterful writer can take you places that other people are afraid to even consider in their narratives, and that taking that risk, and making it work, is incredible to watch.” —Brendan Slocumb, author of The Violin Conspiracy

“When pressed to pick a favorite book by a Black author, there are so many that come to mind, I’m overwhelmed and want to shy away from the question. But if I’m going to be true, my heart and mind always go to Terry McMillan, and then my choices are instantly narrowed to a toss-up between two of her amazing works: Mama and Disappearing Acts. Being a romance author, I’m going with Disappearing Acts. The incredible realness while at the same time, the vulnerability and tenderness that Ms. McMillan showed in Franklin and Zora’s story has always stuck with me. Seeing Black love displayed so beautifully and honestly on the page is always a gift and Ms. McMillan is a master of it.” —Kwana Jackson, author of Real Men Knit

“Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin. I had the chance to interview Baldwin back in the mid-1980s when he was a visiting professor in Massachusetts. His mere presence in the flesh inspired me to start thinking of writing books.” —Wil Haygood, author of Colorization: One Hundred Years of Black Films in a White World

“One of our favorite Black authors is Maya Angelou. We love all her books because she vibrantly detailed the Black experience and inspired us to think and approach life differently through amazing storytelling. She understood and expressed the human experience so beautifully and made us feel it. Maya Angelou said, ‘I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’ As creators, as storytellers, our goal is to help someone learn and feel something – that’s how memories are made, and how legacies are forged.” —Antoinette M. Clarke and Tricia Clarke-Stone, authors of Double Down

“Hmmmmm. I’d have to say Ernest Gaines and his book A Gathering of Old Men. I believe this book to be some of the most intricate and well-developed storytelling of any author, in any canon for that matter. Gaines, in my opinion, is a true master of American storytelling and is still rather underrated from my vantage point.” —Jasmon Drain, author of Stateway’s Garden

“I don’t actually have a single favorite book by a Black author, so this one is hard. But if I had to choose one of my faves, then I choose Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor. It was one of the first books I read where the Black girl wasn’t there to be a prop to advance someone else’s story. I was so invested in Cassie Logan and her siblings and her community because she was just like me and the people I knew with no apologies or regrets. Cassie Logan is where I learned that Black girls have a right to love themselves and to fight for their own futures.” —Mikki Kendall, author of Hood Feminism

“Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. This is the first book I read by a Black female author. My love of words started in my very early years with poetry. Zora was recommended to me by a librarian at our local public library who saw a girl who would sit cross-legged in a corner for hours reading until closing hours. I had read all of the children’s books worth reading so she introduced me to Zora and I fell in love instantly. Zora’s poetic work in fiction was like magic. It changed the way I viewed myself, my own Blackness, and at the same time, opened a whole new world of the power of stories. She made me want to become a storyteller. So I did.” —MaryAnne Howland, author of Warrior Rising

“Zora Neale Hurston is best known for her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, that resonant classic exploring the sonorous and the sinister of Southern Black life in the 1930s. However, the full breadth of Hurston’s work spans mediums: investigative journalism to biography to anthropology in one artful bound. And with the recent rediscoveries of Barracoon and Hitting a Straight Lick With a Crooked Stick, there is still more to be learned from Hurston’s vibrant renderings which live effortlessly at the intersection of truth and fiction.” —Afia Atakora, author of Conjure Women

“The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson. The writer’s ability to beautifully storytell and simultaneously weave historical data into each character was captivating. Wilkerson brought a fresh narrative to the great migration that encouraged a deeper exploration into racial terror, Jim Crow, and redlining. These are major racial injustices that shaped our country and contribute to the wealth gap presently.” —Latasha Morrison, author of Be the Bridge

“Intercepted by Alexa Martin. When I read Marlee’s internal monologue, it was one of the first experiences I had feeling like an author could have been writing about me. I love all of Alexa’s books, and I’m particularly excited to read Snapped, which directly addresses #BlackLivesMatter and professional sports.” —Andie J. Christopher, author of Not That Kind of Guy

“One of my favorites is A Phoenix First Must Burn, an anthology of sixteen Science Fiction/Fantasy short stories written by bestselling and award-winning Black authors. I love this anthology because it’s both a celebration of and a testament to the innate power and magic of the Black experience. I can’t recommend it enough!” —Alexis Henderson, author of The Year of Witching

“The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls. I enjoyed this book because it was about family, how you can stick with them, and lean on them no matter how tough the times, even when sometimes it’s family that has caused the pain.” —Abby Collette, author of A Deadly Inside Scoop

“I am absolutely obsessed with Andie J. Christopher’s Not the Girl You Marry. Not only did she fearlessly delve into the struggles of being a mixed-race woman, but she also created a heroine who cared more about herself than society’s expectations of her. Watching Hannah get her happily ever after is the most enjoyable, satisfying journey a reader could have.” —Alexa Martin, author of Mom Jeans and Other Mistakes