For many bibliophiles and librocubicularists books are truly a love language, and the holiday season is an opportune time to give the gift of reading. Reading gives a glimpse into the elusive power of language and how it can shape purpose and destiny. Ntozake Shange, the profound scholar, playwright, and poetess who gifted the world the Obie Award-winning play, for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf once said, “I’m a firm believer that language and how we use language determines how we act, and how we act then determines our lives and other people’s lives.” So, if you’re looking for a book by a bestselling author to add to your holiday TBR list, the selections below have been curated to highlight diverse genres of literature that range from romance to historical fiction, and beyond.
Reel by Kennedy Ryan
Entertainment Weekly has dubbed New York Times bestselling author Kennedy Ryan “One of the finest romance writers of our age.” As the first Black winner of a RITA Award for romantic fiction, Ryan has written bestselling books that showcase beautiful, multifaceted, and nuanced characters. She has written the bestselling books Before I Let Go, This Could Be Us, and The Kingmaker among others. This November, Ryan re-released Reel, book one of her Hollywood Renaissance series. Inspired by Harlem, especially the periods of the ‘20s and ‘30s. Reel centers on the romance between Neevah an up-and-coming actress and Canon, who happens to be the director of her first film. If you love rich, deep depictions of Black love, prose that leaps off the page and dances in your head, then you will adore this page-turner. And, for those who love to see books adapted for film and television, her book Before I Let Go and the Skyland series are currently developing for television at Peacock.
The Davenports: More Than This by Krystal Marquis
When The Davenports was released in 2023, the Davenport sisters stole our hearts. The beautiful romance and historical fiction novel gave a glimpse into the lives of Black elites during the Reconstruction period. It was an instant New York Times bestseller, A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year, and a winner of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) Award. This sequel to her bestselling novel, The Davenports: More Than This centers on Ruby Tremaine, Olivia Davenport and Helen Davenport, and Amy-Rose Shepherd, and is based on the real-life story of the wealthy Patterson family. This further provides a glimpse into the lives of the Black elite in the early 1900s––lavish balls, Black entrepreneurship, glamorous gowns, plush estates, and so much more. If you are a book lover who values reading multidimensional, nuanced Black characters living lives of privilege, romance, and perseverance, then you will adore this beautiful addition to the Davenport series. And, for those who love historical shows like Bridgerton and Queen Charlotte, you’ll be pleased to know that is being adapted to television with Prime Video from Alloy Entertainment.
High and Rising: A Book About De La Soul by Marcus J. Moore
Hip-hop is an anchor, a mirror to society, and a force that has the power to shape and shake culture around the globe. For those who are true hip-hop fans, music journalist Marcus J. Moore’s High and Rising: A Book About De La Soul is a book that reads like music to your ears. High and Rising thoroughly tells the story of De La Soul, and it’s clearly evident that Moore has done his research and has crafted a poignant cultural biography on a hip-hop group that many have dubbed “rap’s Mount Rushmore.” High and Rising takes a deep dive into hip-hop history, art, fashion, and more. Moore who also penned Kendrick Lamar’s first biography, The Butterfly Effect: How Kendrick Lamar Ignited The Soul of Black America, does an impressive job of sharing the legacy of De La Soul, and how the musical talent of this group still impacts hip-hop presently. And, for all the book and music lovers out there, be sure to check out, be sure to check out “5 Minutes That Will Make You Love…”, a jazz-focused series that Moore co-leads at the New York Times.
We Rip The World Apart by Charlene Carr
We Rip The World Apart is an intergenerational story that examines racial violence through the lens of motherhood. When Kareela discovers that she is pregnant, she grapples with the reality that she’s not sure if she wants the baby. She’s still struggling to find her place in the world as a biracial woman. Her mother, Evelyn, a white woman, fled to Jamaica with her father, a Jamaican man, and their firstborn child Antony, during the “Jamaican Exodus of the 1980’s”. Evelyn soon comes to learn that Black men are discriminated against in Canada too. Anthony is killed at a Black Lives Matter protest. And later, Violet, Evelyn’s mother-in-law comes to live with them. It is through Violet, that Kareela comes to learn more about her family heritage…and secrets. We Rip The World Apart provides a searing look at race, identity, motherhood, and the consequences of choice. We Rip The World Apart is a beautiful multigenerational book that weaves together the narratives of three women and shows that “simple choices” can have long-lasting consequences. Fans of Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half and Charlene Wilkerson’s Black Cake will value a powerful read such as this.
Tangleroot by Kalela Williams
With her debut YA novel Tangleroot, Williams has already received A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year selection, the Indies Introduce selection, the Indie Next selection, and a junior library Guild selection. In Tangleroot, Noni Reid has grown up in the shadow of her seemingly perfect mother Dr. Radiance Castine, a renowned Black literature scholar. And, after Dr. Castine takes on the position of the president of Stonepost College in a small Virginia town, Noni and her mother move to Tangleroot Plantation, which was built by one of Noni’s ancestors, an enslaved man named Cuffee Fortune. While Dr. Castine works to bring to light the true history of the university, Noni begins to make a few discoveries of her own about the big house in which she and her mother live, family secrets, and beyond. Tangleroot is a spell-binding YA novel filled with mystery and intrigue that is a definite page-turner.
An African History of Africa From the Dawn of Humanity to Independence by Zeinab Badawi
Written by award-winning broadcaster, journalist, filmmaker, and president of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Zeinab Badawi, An African History of Africa: From the Dawn of Humanity to Independence is an international bestseller that provides a comprehensive survey of Africa’s history and legacy spanning prehistory to the present. What sets this book a part from most is that it is written from a “decolonized” African perspective. Already a #1 Sunday Times bestseller and has been shortlisted for the Nero Book Awards, An African History of Africa corrects many of the misguided fallacies that pervade Western narratives about Africa. Badawi, having traveled to more than 34 African countries, dismantles many untruths in this prolific book. In a statement about the book, she shares that her research and interviews with countless historians, anthropologists, archaeologists, and local storytellers further support the reality that, “It is a persistent myth that, south of the Sahara, Africa somehow existed beyond the “known world” and was cut off from the global economy. The idea that Europeans “discovered” parts of Africa is a great misconception. It is a myth that Africa is a violent continent— it has been relatively free of war throughout much of its history, certainly in comparison to Europe. There is a myth that just because Africans did not always write their history that it means they did not record it. This is a myopic view— one must study African history through other means when the written word is lacking, such as through oral tradition (historical accounts handed down the generations), poetry, songs, dance, and archaeology.” An African History of Africa is a must-read, especially for those who want to dig deeper into African history from a non-Westernized perspective.
And She Was Loved: Toni Morrison’s Life in Stories by Andrea Davis Pinkney
Toni Morrison has become synonymous with Black literature, as she’s the one who brought us Sula, Beloved, The Bluest Eye, Jazz, Tar Baby, Song of Solomon, and many other notable literary works. Morrison dared to write aloud for Black folks what many discussed in private at dinner tables and on front porches. And She Was Loved written by New York Times bestselling and multiple Coretta Scott King award-winning author Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated by Caldecott Honor winner Daniel Minter is what Minter has coined as a “praise poem” paying homage to Morrison’s life and contributions to the literary world. Marvelous prose and lovely paintings fill the pages of And She Was Loved while beautifully introducing this literary giant and Noble Prize-winning author to the next generation. Not only is this remarkable book excellent for kids and teens, but it’s also a great gift to fans of any age who appreciate Morrison’s body of work. A message on the book jacket cover art pointedly poses the question, “Who was Toni Morrison?”, and this book succinctly answers the question. “She was a visionary, a storyteller, a daughter, a mother, a Howard graduate, a box-braider, weaving: Black pride, Black joy…Black families…Blackness. And most of all, she was loved.”
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