I've only read a handful from this particular list, but you're so right about there being so many more great Black authors and books, Ashley. Why couldn't they include Middle Grade or Graphic Novels? Some of the best ones I've read were Ghost Roast (granted that was an arc, lol), Swim Team, Wash Day Diaries, Maybe An Artist, and Wing Bearer. Goodreads does a disservice to readers that have shorter attention spans by not including titles from these categories, but I know I'm preaching to my librarian choir.
The last Binti book is so good! I felt like that series just got better and better I really enjoyed Legendborn and the sequel, I'd love to hear your tjoughts when you reread it. I love short stories, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, Office of Historical Events and Hitting A Straight Lick are three of my favourite ones.
The Violin Conspiracy was my favorite book of 2022. I think it helps to know it’s not truly a mystery, it’s a combination of litfic, historical fiction, and a little bit of mystery. It also leans towards being more character driven.
Oh! And I read Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko on your recommendation and have been singing its praises to anyone who will listen. Also NKJ is frickin amazing. I also do NOT stop talking about her work.
I definitely read diversely all year, but I will admit I love all the lists and recs that come up with every history month (whether it's Black History Month, AAPI History Month, Pride Month, etc) just because I'm always looking to add to my TBR.I just finished read The Prophets and it was one of the best novels I've ever read. EVER. Obviously all the TW since it focuses on the lives of enslaved people, but it's so well-written and I just want everyone to read it so I can talk about it with them. :)
I totally agree! I also feel like it's a good way to narrow down the books that have been piling up on my tbr. So often, it's books I already bought games ago and haven't gotten around to yet. I didn't buy them for this month, but now that it's here, it's gives me a reason to bump up the priority on them.
As cliche as it sounds, I'm gonna recommend Toni Morrison. She has published so many other books besides The Bluest Eye and Beloved, even as recently as 2015, but I rarely see any of her other titles on anyone's lists. P. Djeli Clark's A Master of Djinn is also a great read as well as The Burning Series by Evan Winter for anyone interested in fantasy... This definitely seems like a list that was based off of books that were previously nominated for a Goodreads award (and happened to have Black authors), lol.
I was gonna say I was surprised Toni Morrison wasn’t on the list!!! I guess what people consider her classics weren’t recent enough for what they were going for? But yeah I also agree about her others not getting enough love, Jazz is one that I adore
I fell in love with Black Horror in the last couple years thanks to Jesse on UA-cam as well and Ace of Spades and When No One is Watching, I was surprised that category seemed so small. I'm slowly but surely making my way through NK Jemisin's work and my fav book of 2023 was the Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi. I'm not reading just books by Black authors this month, since I just make them part of my TBR all year long, but I am looking forward to the audiobooks of The Deep as well as Delicious Monsters!
Love Sorrowland (Rivers Solomon is definitely one of if not my favourite contemporary writer working today and is definitely one of Butlers children) & I agree that the romance should've stuck to black romance but I found Honey Girl amazing partly because it was also a coming of age story that resonated with my own experiences of taking an alternative approach in life and facing parental backlash. Definitely for fans of insta love though 😭
Since the list is "Essential New Works of Fiction," I take it to mean works you need to have read or know about to participate in dialogue about black fiction. For that reason, I think the list is mostly fine. I also think that so many black women end up with non-black partners that excluding interracial romance would negate an experience / conversation that is ever-present in our community. The Wedding Date is problematic IMO, I remember DNFing it pretty quickly, but all interracial romance isn't like that. And while I wouldn't recommend it, I'm also not sure I'd want to have a serious convo about interracial romance narratives with someone who hasn't read some of the worst of it, seen just how popular can be, and examined why. I'm just happy that Deesha Philyaw and Bryan Washington made the list. They're my favorite authors of the last 5 years. There was a lot of good queer rep on the list. Alice Walker has published in the last 15 years. I also like Danez Smith, Margo Jefferson, and Dorothy West but they wouldn't qualify for this list.
I will say that I love The Hate U Give and I teach it every semester, but I think it's losing its impact (and I have had to stop teaching it bc it was banned in my district), so I'm always on the look out for something to replace it with. I'm white, and have a very diverse student population that I teach, but the students always (so far) love the novel.
My favorite Nnedi Okorafor is Who Fears Death. It's kind of fantasy, but also not. I don't really know how to describe it, but I so so highly recommend (with a BIG trigger warning for sexual violence)
I agree with you about authors coming up multiple times. I also wish they had pulled from more older and less popular titles. That said, the first book that I'd love to recommend people is also only a year old. 😅 The Runaway Princess and Other Stories by Helen Nde.
My number one book so far this year is My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson. It should definitely be on this list. I just picked up The Reformatory last night and will be starting it today. I’m super excited by it and I do NOT do big books. It just leapt off the ALA Notable list at me. I can’t recommend The Secret Lives of Church Ladies more highly. It is brilliant and I would say there isn’t a clunker in the bunch. Delightfully sexy too.
Loved this thanks Ashley - will check out your booklist. I am annoyed by lack of middlegrade and picture books. MG is one of my favourite age ranges to read. I loved how you phrases it about childrens books being building blocks fir reading. Currently loving Root Magic by Eden Royce 💜📚
I tried it but disliked it and DNF it. I only ended up finishing it after giving Moon Witch Spider King a try and absolutely loving it. I'm super stoked for him to release the 3rd book. It's not just a straight up retelling from an alternate POV, there's a lot more to it than that. I did end up really liking BLRW, but I still think the second book was better. You should pick it up if you haven't already
I’m so excited to see what you think of The Fifth Season (and the whole Broken Earth trilogy if you decide to continue). It is easily my favorite series EVER, absolutely brilliant. Also, Sorrowland is a ground-shaking experience-it’s the most beautifully written novel I have ever read. Rivers Solomon is an all-time favorite and an instant buy author for me!
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies was so good! I didn’t notice any queer books besides this one, but maybe I just missed them. Songs of Irie by Asha Ashanti Bromfield was really good and I loved Outdrawn by Deanna Grey. And Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington had me on the edge of my seat!
I agree with you about reading black historical and story books without the encouragement of Black History Month; but we have to start somewhere, because the darkness and blood of the slave trade acts as a shadow on this nation. I love your video and write some books to check out. Thank you so much.
I also wish they would have stuck with Black love in the romance section. I just finished listening to Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase and I thought it was so gripping. I think it was released last month! It's an afrofuturist horror book. I will say as someone who doesn't typically read scifi or horror, I'm sincerely glad I gave it a listen.
The Fifth Season/ Broken Earth trilogy is one of my favourites of all time, I'm so excited for you to read those books for the first time! Chain Gang All Stars was my first read - and first 5 star - of the year, so I definitely recommend that one too. I recently read No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull which was super intriguing (lots of characters, lots going on, contemporary fantasy I guess it could be classified as?) and I can't wait to read the next book in the series.
I really personally enjoyed Fifth Season. The way N.K. Jemisin built her world had that strange, isolated feel in areas is what I aspire to create personally. Suprisingly she doesn't make you feel stupid in the way she explains the world even though it's a Sci-Fantasy (It's defeantly both and people who don't know how to discribe it I guess never heard of the genre before.) and in Second Person. I still plan on finishing the other two books, but I started to read The Oblisik Gate at a *really* bad time as my mom had just discovered she had cancer and we were dealing with a shitty Chemo doctor (Better situation now) and some of the themes of Mother and Daughter was hitting in areas that I wasn't ready for personally in my mental state. The only reason why I had to DNF it at the time and return the book to the Library. Though I'm curious what was the other N.K. Jemisin books you read because I'm actually very intrested in the Dreamblood Duology and had plans on reading in her Inherience series once I finish Broken Earth and Dreamblood. Reads with Rachel also suggested I try The City we Became as well so there's that to add in the future. Other books I plan to read by Black Authors (at any time whenever I get the chance to): The Poet X, All Boys Aren't Blue, Kingdom of Souls, Silent Sounds (This one sounds SO good. Also a Sci-Fantasy but it's also YA. It's about a girl lives in this world of Fae on a different planet that you be hunted and since her parents had gone missing, she has to live with her eccentric Teacher aunt who is strangely on a short leash and for some reason doesn't realize she does?), Freshwater, And Monday's Not Coming, LegendBorn, to just name a few that I can name quickly (and I wanted to read some of Angela Davis' books and you got me wanting to read Delicious Monsters as that sounded so good damn it xD).
Some rambling thoughts: One of the books I read last year and loved was Pritty by Keith F Miller Jr. Surprised but happy to see The Space Between Worlds on the list. I just reread N.K. Jemisin's short story collection for a book club and most of the stories were really cool For me, I've read most of the fantasy and least in romance (I am not much of a romance reader)
Love Goodreads for tracking purposes but something about their lack of review bombing prevention and creep dms is crazy. I just want to read & talk books. It's definitely more social than Storygraph from what I hear. I haven't tried Storygraph & am loyal to Goodreads. But some people prefer the other one. I completely agree we should be reading variety year long not just a few singular months. It's so difficult to find more diverse books. I seek them out & recently found hashtags to narrow my search. Thanks for talking about your favorites & ones you look forward to. The Goodreads awards categories have been eliminated so much. It's sad. Why not add a category? Not eliminating.
I'm just glad I managed to read 1 book from each category. Agree with them not reusing authors for different categories. See this list makes me wanna re-read some of these books, like Felix Ever After or Ring Shout. Also have Heaven and Earth Grocery store from the library, been in a bit of a reading rut this month. (Also have The Year of the Witching, The Prophets, The Undertakers, and a few arcs to read these next couple of months).
I wish a list like this, that focuses on just the last decade, were used to bring attention to more books by lesser known Black authors instead of being almost entirely books that received a ton of publicity that most people already know about. It feels like a list curated to make white people feel good about themselves as they read it checking off all the books they've already read or at least have heard of. And I say that because I'm white and nothing on the list was new to me, except romance because it's not my genre. If it's not trying to redress some of the wrongs in the publishing industry involving the inequitable spending of publicity budgets, then it feels like the list creators missed the entire point.
The main problem with this list besides the specific books on it is the fact that they are all fiction. If you're going to celebrate black history month, shouldn't you also have a list of history books? I'm not just talking about history of the civil rights movement either, but the black experience throughout American history.
I keep trying to scroll your screen... You're dead on regarding When No One Is Watching being a horror... they may not have marketed it that way but it's very much in the lineage of the working class gothics in the womens' periodicals and dime novels of the 1800s. Also it nearly gave me heart failure, no hyperbole. I did a reread recently and feel like The Hate U Give holds up literarily, but yeah it is a time capsule in a lot of ways. Which is surreal given how recent it is. The thing about these lists, and you touched on this, is it's kinda always the same books. I don't mind a few like that. But why always The Fifth Season and not, oh, The City We Became, which is more recent and fewer people know about it? To be fair I didn't expect everything tho. Tananarive Due and Justina Ireland have been particular favorites of mine for a while, and it seems like they only recently started getting the eyes on their work that I think they should have. I feel like I do not typically see enough Sofia Samatar on these lists, and her stories linger in the back of your mind like a haunting. Which is appropriate for them to do, come to think of it.
Id personally start with Moon Witch Spider King over Black Leopard Red Wolf. I DNFd BLRW, but loved the second book and loved it enough to go back and give BLRW another try and really enjoyed it that time.
I started an American history project in January. I'm in the colonial period, when racialized slavery started in America. I am reading books that contain that topic, but I haven't read ahead to the other books about black history in later periods because I'm trying to read in rough order. I have tried to include history and historical fiction books about Black, Indigenous, Asian, and Latino groups in my list. I don't tend to read contemporary fiction.
I have to agree about lists - authors should only appear once. It gets annoying to see one author take up half the list :) I enjoyed Delicious Monsters.
I was planning on reading both The Blood Trials and Rust in the Root this month but they both just disappeared from Hoopla! I guess my libraries' license to then expired or something but I was so sad!
When my kids we little, I depended on goodreads to help me find books for my children to read. It's sad that they don't see categories beneficial to its users.
I wish they had opted out of having multiple works from the same author. I would have liked to see more indie authors in the romance categories like something from Alexandria House or Christina C Jones
I agree about the repeat authors…I can maybe forgive repeating across very different genres, but for example Colson Whitehead had two in the Historical Fiction category AND one in the Mystery/Thriller category (which was also historical)…I love his books but if you’re going to have the caveat of “There are so many more that we could have included on this list”…then don’t repeat authors and include more people imo 🤷🏼♀️
I met Marlon James at Books & Books down here in Miami while he was promoting Moon Witch Spider King, and let me say he was the nicest person. He signed my well-read copy of Black Leopard Red Wolf with a smile. That being said, BLRW is a very strong and misogynistic text in more ways than one. Granted, the book wants you to know the main guy is a lil 💩 at times and pulls no punches, but it’s not a “feel good” book by any means. However, if you power through it, Moon Witch Spider King will be one of the greatest reading experiences of your life! Marlon James says you can read the books in any order (and chronologically, this tracks) but BLRW is just a more bitter drink and I suggest you get it over with first. This series won me over tho… so my opinion is biased.
Personally, I'd like to see these lists include books with a little more levity. Across all the genres they seem very literary (in my opinion). Humor is a huge part of black culture and I'd love to see book lists reflect that. There are competing factors for this, but still…
Does the list include any black British authors? I was surprised not to see Candice Carty-Williams. And do you wonder whether the picture book and middle grade lists were excluded to detract any attention from groups that push book challenging in schools?
I'm still astonished by GR narrowing their award categories and now this. Not everyone reads fiction. Or some people really need recommendations for their classrooms or children.
AND finallyyyyy someone shares my exact views on "seven days in June" omg. it was the weird dynamic with the male character and teens in that book for me!
I am also surprised that there wasn't a nonfiction section. There was many fantastic nonfiction books within the last decade.
Excellent point about repeat authors on lists like this.
I’ll also have to swing back that Rebekah Weatherspoon!
The Love Songs of WEB DuBois is WONDERFUL!
I've only read a handful from this particular list, but you're so right about there being so many more great Black authors and books, Ashley. Why couldn't they include Middle Grade or Graphic Novels? Some of the best ones I've read were Ghost Roast (granted that was an arc, lol), Swim Team, Wash Day Diaries, Maybe An Artist, and Wing Bearer. Goodreads does a disservice to readers that have shorter attention spans by not including titles from these categories, but I know I'm preaching to my librarian choir.
Wash Day Diaries is great!
I heard all the hot takes of You Make A Fool of Death with Your Beauty and I still said 'yes' and I loved it.
The last Binti book is so good! I felt like that series just got better and better
I really enjoyed Legendborn and the sequel, I'd love to hear your tjoughts when you reread it.
I love short stories, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, Office of Historical Events and Hitting A Straight Lick are three of my favourite ones.
Hope you enjoy The Fifth Season!!! The next 2 in Broken Earth trilogy are my favs because I love a cranky old woman as a main character.
The Violin Conspiracy was my favorite book of 2022. I think it helps to know it’s not truly a mystery, it’s a combination of litfic, historical fiction, and a little bit of mystery. It also leans towards being more character driven.
Oh! And I read Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko on your recommendation and have been singing its praises to anyone who will listen. Also NKJ is frickin amazing. I also do NOT stop talking about her work.
I definitely read diversely all year, but I will admit I love all the lists and recs that come up with every history month (whether it's Black History Month, AAPI History Month, Pride Month, etc) just because I'm always looking to add to my TBR.I just finished read The Prophets and it was one of the best novels I've ever read. EVER. Obviously all the TW since it focuses on the lives of enslaved people, but it's so well-written and I just want everyone to read it so I can talk about it with them. :)
I totally agree! I also feel like it's a good way to narrow down the books that have been piling up on my tbr. So often, it's books I already bought games ago and haven't gotten around to yet. I didn't buy them for this month, but now that it's here, it's gives me a reason to bump up the priority on them.
As cliche as it sounds, I'm gonna recommend Toni Morrison. She has published so many other books besides The Bluest Eye and Beloved, even as recently as 2015, but I rarely see any of her other titles on anyone's lists. P. Djeli Clark's A Master of Djinn is also a great read as well as The Burning Series by Evan Winter for anyone interested in fantasy... This definitely seems like a list that was based off of books that were previously nominated for a Goodreads award (and happened to have Black authors), lol.
I was gonna say I was surprised Toni Morrison wasn’t on the list!!! I guess what people consider her classics weren’t recent enough for what they were going for? But yeah I also agree about her others not getting enough love, Jazz is one that I adore
My favorite Morrison is _Song of Solomon_. _Sula_ (not mentioned yet) is also good.
Friday Black was well done dystopia. I absolutely LOVED the Secret Life of Church Ladies!
I fell in love with Black Horror in the last couple years thanks to Jesse on UA-cam as well and Ace of Spades and When No One is Watching, I was surprised that category seemed so small. I'm slowly but surely making my way through NK Jemisin's work and my fav book of 2023 was the Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi. I'm not reading just books by Black authors this month, since I just make them part of my TBR all year long, but I am looking forward to the audiobooks of The Deep as well as Delicious Monsters!
One of my fave videos because I ended up learning so much and get great recs!
Love Sorrowland (Rivers Solomon is definitely one of if not my favourite contemporary writer working today and is definitely one of Butlers children) & I agree that the romance should've stuck to black romance but I found Honey Girl amazing partly because it was also a coming of age story that resonated with my own experiences of taking an alternative approach in life and facing parental backlash. Definitely for fans of insta love though 😭
Do you recommend one to start with? I have all her books on my TBR but can't decide which to enjoy first.
I really wish they had included a middle grade category! So many great authors and books!
Since the list is "Essential New Works of Fiction," I take it to mean works you need to have read or know about to participate in dialogue about black fiction. For that reason, I think the list is mostly fine. I also think that so many black women end up with non-black partners that excluding interracial romance would negate an experience / conversation that is ever-present in our community. The Wedding Date is problematic IMO, I remember DNFing it pretty quickly, but all interracial romance isn't like that. And while I wouldn't recommend it, I'm also not sure I'd want to have a serious convo about interracial romance narratives with someone who hasn't read some of the worst of it, seen just how popular can be, and examined why. I'm just happy that Deesha Philyaw and Bryan Washington made the list. They're my favorite authors of the last 5 years. There was a lot of good queer rep on the list. Alice Walker has published in the last 15 years. I also like Danez Smith, Margo Jefferson, and Dorothy West but they wouldn't qualify for this list.
The Space Between Worlds is a great book, one of the few I've read more than once. Highly recommend the audio if you get the chance.
I will say that I love The Hate U Give and I teach it every semester, but I think it's losing its impact (and I have had to stop teaching it bc it was banned in my district), so I'm always on the look out for something to replace it with. I'm white, and have a very diverse student population that I teach, but the students always (so far) love the novel.
Nickel Boys is one of those books that sticks with me always. I read it when it came out, and can still recall the characters and emotions I felt.
My favorite Nnedi Okorafor is Who Fears Death. It's kind of fantasy, but also not. I don't really know how to describe it, but I so so highly recommend (with a BIG trigger warning for sexual violence)
I agree with you about authors coming up multiple times. I also wish they had pulled from more older and less popular titles. That said, the first book that I'd love to recommend people is also only a year old. 😅 The Runaway Princess and Other Stories by Helen Nde.
My number one book so far this year is My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson. It should definitely be on this list.
I just picked up The Reformatory last night and will be starting it today. I’m super excited by it and I do NOT do big books. It just leapt off the ALA Notable list at me.
I can’t recommend The Secret Lives of Church Ladies more highly. It is brilliant and I would say there isn’t a clunker in the bunch. Delightfully sexy too.
Loved this thanks Ashley - will check out your booklist.
I am annoyed by lack of middlegrade and picture books. MG is one of my favourite age ranges to read. I loved how you phrases it about childrens books being building blocks fir reading.
Currently loving Root Magic by Eden Royce 💜📚
I'm waiting to pick up Bloodmarked until closer to book three release. I loved Legendborn though, so I'm hoping I'll enjoy the rest of the series.
The way I want you to read black leopard, red wolf. That was one of the wildest drug trips I’ve ever had and I wasn’t even on drugs 😂
😂 You know it's crazy when people leave reviews like that
I tried it but disliked it and DNF it. I only ended up finishing it after giving Moon Witch Spider King a try and absolutely loving it. I'm super stoked for him to release the 3rd book. It's not just a straight up retelling from an alternate POV, there's a lot more to it than that. I did end up really liking BLRW, but I still think the second book was better. You should pick it up if you haven't already
I’m so excited to see what you think of The Fifth Season (and the whole Broken Earth trilogy if you decide to continue). It is easily my favorite series EVER, absolutely brilliant.
Also, Sorrowland is a ground-shaking experience-it’s the most beautifully written novel I have ever read. Rivers Solomon is an all-time favorite and an instant buy author for me!
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies was so good! I didn’t notice any queer books besides this one, but maybe I just missed them. Songs of Irie by Asha Ashanti Bromfield was really good and I loved Outdrawn by Deanna Grey.
And Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington had me on the edge of my seat!
I agree with you about reading black historical and story books without the encouragement of Black History Month; but we have to start somewhere, because the darkness and blood of the slave trade acts as a shadow on this nation. I love your video and write some books to check out. Thank you so much.
I also wish they would have stuck with Black love in the romance section. I just finished listening to Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase and I thought it was so gripping. I think it was released last month! It's an afrofuturist horror book. I will say as someone who doesn't typically read scifi or horror, I'm sincerely glad I gave it a listen.
Also Chain Gang is absolutely phenomenal! Would love to know your opinion on it
I just finished it and feel like I'm not sure what to do with my life from here 😩
My Sister the Serial Killer was good. Well written, great characters.
Totally agree about the lack of books for younger readers, duplicating authors and not including IR romances.☺
I’m sending you love! This is such an important video❤
The Fifth Season/ Broken Earth trilogy is one of my favourites of all time, I'm so excited for you to read those books for the first time!
Chain Gang All Stars was my first read - and first 5 star - of the year, so I definitely recommend that one too.
I recently read No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull which was super intriguing (lots of characters, lots going on, contemporary fantasy I guess it could be classified as?) and I can't wait to read the next book in the series.
I really personally enjoyed Fifth Season. The way N.K. Jemisin built her world had that strange, isolated feel in areas is what I aspire to create personally. Suprisingly she doesn't make you feel stupid in the way she explains the world even though it's a Sci-Fantasy (It's defeantly both and people who don't know how to discribe it I guess never heard of the genre before.) and in Second Person. I still plan on finishing the other two books, but I started to read The Oblisik Gate at a *really* bad time as my mom had just discovered she had cancer and we were dealing with a shitty Chemo doctor (Better situation now) and some of the themes of Mother and Daughter was hitting in areas that I wasn't ready for personally in my mental state. The only reason why I had to DNF it at the time and return the book to the Library. Though I'm curious what was the other N.K. Jemisin books you read because I'm actually very intrested in the Dreamblood Duology and had plans on reading in her Inherience series once I finish Broken Earth and Dreamblood. Reads with Rachel also suggested I try The City we Became as well so there's that to add in the future.
Other books I plan to read by Black Authors (at any time whenever I get the chance to): The Poet X, All Boys Aren't Blue, Kingdom of Souls, Silent Sounds (This one sounds SO good. Also a Sci-Fantasy but it's also YA. It's about a girl lives in this world of Fae on a different planet that you be hunted and since her parents had gone missing, she has to live with her eccentric Teacher aunt who is strangely on a short leash and for some reason doesn't realize she does?), Freshwater, And Monday's Not Coming, LegendBorn, to just name a few that I can name quickly (and I wanted to read some of Angela Davis' books and you got me wanting to read Delicious Monsters as that sounded so good damn it xD).
I think you're definitely right about the romance section not focusing on Black romance...it's quite weird
My rec: CONFESSIONS OF AN ALLEGED GOOD GIRL by Joya Goffney
Some rambling thoughts:
One of the books I read last year and loved was Pritty by Keith F Miller Jr.
Surprised but happy to see The Space Between Worlds on the list.
I just reread N.K. Jemisin's short story collection for a book club and most of the stories were really cool
For me, I've read most of the fantasy and least in romance (I am not much of a romance reader)
Love Goodreads for tracking purposes but something about their lack of review bombing prevention and creep dms is crazy. I just want to read & talk books. It's definitely more social than Storygraph from what I hear. I haven't tried Storygraph & am loyal to Goodreads. But some people prefer the other one.
I completely agree we should be reading variety year long not just a few singular months. It's so difficult to find more diverse books. I seek them out & recently found hashtags to narrow my search. Thanks for talking about your favorites & ones you look forward to.
The Goodreads awards categories have been eliminated so much. It's sad. Why not add a category? Not eliminating.
I'm just glad I managed to read 1 book from each category. Agree with them not reusing authors for different categories. See this list makes me wanna re-read some of these books, like Felix Ever After or Ring Shout. Also have Heaven and Earth Grocery store from the library, been in a bit of a reading rut this month. (Also have The Year of the Witching, The Prophets, The Undertakers, and a few arcs to read these next couple of months).
I'm planning to finally read The Space Between Worlds this month since the sequel comes out soon!
I wish a list like this, that focuses on just the last decade, were used to bring attention to more books by lesser known Black authors instead of being almost entirely books that received a ton of publicity that most people already know about. It feels like a list curated to make white people feel good about themselves as they read it checking off all the books they've already read or at least have heard of. And I say that because I'm white and nothing on the list was new to me, except romance because it's not my genre. If it's not trying to redress some of the wrongs in the publishing industry involving the inequitable spending of publicity budgets, then it feels like the list creators missed the entire point.
The main problem with this list besides the specific books on it is the fact that they are all fiction. If you're going to celebrate black history month, shouldn't you also have a list of history books? I'm not just talking about history of the civil rights movement either, but the black experience throughout American history.
I keep trying to scroll your screen...
You're dead on regarding When No One Is Watching being a horror... they may not have marketed it that way but it's very much in the lineage of the working class gothics in the womens' periodicals and dime novels of the 1800s. Also it nearly gave me heart failure, no hyperbole.
I did a reread recently and feel like The Hate U Give holds up literarily, but yeah it is a time capsule in a lot of ways. Which is surreal given how recent it is.
The thing about these lists, and you touched on this, is it's kinda always the same books. I don't mind a few like that. But why always The Fifth Season and not, oh, The City We Became, which is more recent and fewer people know about it? To be fair I didn't expect everything tho. Tananarive Due and Justina Ireland have been particular favorites of mine for a while, and it seems like they only recently started getting the eyes on their work that I think they should have.
I feel like I do not typically see enough Sofia Samatar on these lists, and her stories linger in the back of your mind like a haunting. Which is appropriate for them to do, come to think of it.
Id personally start with Moon Witch Spider King over Black Leopard Red Wolf. I DNFd BLRW, but loved the second book and loved it enough to go back and give BLRW another try and really enjoyed it that time.
I started an American history project in January. I'm in the colonial period, when racialized slavery started in America. I am reading books that contain that topic, but I haven't read ahead to the other books about black history in later periods because I'm trying to read in rough order. I have tried to include history and historical fiction books about Black, Indigenous, Asian, and Latino groups in my list. I don't tend to read contemporary fiction.
Thank you for the video
I have to agree about lists - authors should only appear once. It gets annoying to see one author take up half the list :) I enjoyed Delicious Monsters.
You The Best Ashley! 🤗💙👍
Jacqueline Woodson is a queen!
I really loved What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky but it's HEAVY for how short it is
I was planning on reading both The Blood Trials and Rust in the Root this month but they both just disappeared from Hoopla! I guess my libraries' license to then expired or something but I was so sad!
When my kids we little, I depended on goodreads to help me find books for my children to read. It's sad that they don't see categories beneficial to its users.
I wish they had opted out of having multiple works from the same author. I would have liked to see more indie authors in the romance categories like something from Alexandria House or Christina C Jones
I agree about the repeat authors…I can maybe forgive repeating across very different genres, but for example Colson Whitehead had two in the Historical Fiction category AND one in the Mystery/Thriller category (which was also historical)…I love his books but if you’re going to have the caveat of “There are so many more that we could have included on this list”…then don’t repeat authors and include more people imo 🤷🏼♀️
I’ve been accused of being an evangelist for S. A. Cosby. Razorblade Tears is in my top ten all-time favorites.
I want Nicky Drayden on this list so bad. Her scifi and fantasy is so weird and fun.
I met Marlon James at Books & Books down here in Miami while he was promoting Moon Witch Spider King, and let me say he was the nicest person. He signed my well-read copy of Black Leopard Red Wolf with a smile.
That being said, BLRW is a very strong and misogynistic text in more ways than one. Granted, the book wants you to know the main guy is a lil 💩 at times and pulls no punches, but it’s not a “feel good” book by any means. However, if you power through it, Moon Witch Spider King will be one of the greatest reading experiences of your life! Marlon James says you can read the books in any order (and chronologically, this tracks) but BLRW is just a more bitter drink and I suggest you get it over with first.
This series won me over tho… so my opinion is biased.
The short story section was good i didn't know some of those were collections. Where was Nonfiction???
Personally, I'd like to see these lists include books with a little more levity. Across all the genres they seem very literary (in my opinion). Humor is a huge part of black culture and I'd love to see book lists reflect that. There are competing factors for this, but still…
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I started The Violin Conspiracy and struggled with it. I’ll probably finish but to be real, it’s pretty far down the list.
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Does the list include any black British authors? I was surprised not to see Candice Carty-Williams. And do you wonder whether the picture book and middle grade lists were excluded to detract any attention from groups that push book challenging in schools?
Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Bernardine Evaristo, and Talia Hibbert are there. Would love more visibility for black British writers.
I'm still astonished by GR narrowing their award categories and now this. Not everyone reads fiction. Or some people really need recommendations for their classrooms or children.
I personally thought "the love songs of WEB Dubois" was not worth the read for how long it is... I wanna tell you to maybe save your time 😭
AND finallyyyyy someone shares my exact views on "seven days in June" omg. it was the weird dynamic with the male character and teens in that book for me!
... and then there are those of us who weep upon its mention. Not for everyone but certainly gold for some. Loved it! ❤😊