As summer approaches many of us are yearning for warmth of the outdoors, but on those relaxing days when you just want to stay in, there are plenty of stories from Black authors to explore.
There’s nothing more satisfying than a good book, and in the coming months, a bevy of novels, memoirs, and the like, will be released. New York Times bestselling authors Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray have penned a novel about the extraordinary partnership between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune set to be published later this month, Rachel Howzell Hall wrote the highly anticipated thriller What Never Happened, which will drop in July, and award-winning poet unveils the second installment to his Delights book series; something we’ll see hit shelves right before the fall.
In addition to the aforementioned books, there are several other works from Black writers being published this summer. The stories include essays from some amazing authors in history, a Southern love story, and the importance of family – especially during trying times.
So, if you’re looking to immerse yourself in a good book, here is a list of the best new books to read this summer.
A gripping, page-turning novel set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephen Jones as he’s sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead.
A novel about the extraordinary partnership between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune—a forbidden friendship that changed the world, from the New York Times bestselling authors of The Personal Librarian.
From the award-winning and critically acclaimed author of This Is My America comes another thriller about a wrongly accused teen desperate to reclaim both his innocence and his first love.
Viola Ford Fletcher’s memoir Don’t Let Them Bury My Story vividly recounts the lasting impact of the Tulsa Massacre on her life. As the oldest survivor and last living witness of the tragic events that unfolded in 1921, she shares her testimony with poignant clarity.
More than 30 acclaimed writers—including diverse voices such as Nikki Giovanni, David Omotosho Black, Natasha Trethewey, Barry Jenkins, Jacqueline Woodson, Tayari Jones, and Angela Flournoy—reflect on their experience and expertise in this unique book on the craft of writing that focuses on the Black creative spirit.
A compelling debut that glows with a bittersweet heart and touching emotion, deeply interrogating questions of family, redemption, and unconditional love in the sweltering summer heat of Savannah, as two people discover what it means to truly forgive.
It’s murder in paradise as a woman uncovers a host of secrets off the rocky California coast in a gripping novel of suspense by New York Times bestselling author Rachel Howzell Hall.
Two-time Pulitzer Prize winning Colson Whitehead continues his Harlem saga in a powerful and hugely-entertaining novel that summons 1970s New York in all its seedy glory.
From the National Book Award–winning author of Lighthead, a fascinating collection of graphic reviews, illustrated prose, and visualized poetics addressing the last century of American poetry.
An enduring tale of the rebellious early years of Mama Ruby in 1930s Louisiana – the bold, brassy, indomitable heroine of Mary Monroe’s acclaimed debut, The Upper Room. The new edition of a modern classic by New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Mary Monroe.
From a National Book Award finalist, Witness is an elegant, insistent narrative of actions taken and not taken.
Fletcher Dukes and Altovise Benson reunite after decades apart—and a mountain of secrets—in this debut exploring the repercussions of a single choice and how an enduring talisman challenges and holds a family together.
An extraordinary and unforgettable short story collection about community, home, betrayal, and forgiveness—from a writer whose “spellbinding, buoyant”* storytelling will break your heart as it tends to the wounds.
Homegoing meets The Mothers where three women are tied together by blood, love, and family secrets in this searing novel by New York Times bestseller Denene Millner.
From bestselling author of The Book of Delights and award-winning poet Ross Gay, a fresh new volume of lyrical mini-essays celebrating the everyday that will inspire readers to rediscover the joys in the world around us.
