I read a lot, it’s what I do for learning, for pleasure, comfort, and when I’m unsure. The past few months I’ve been reading books from the many antiracist reading lists. Currently I’m reading Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi, and I am learning so much.
I made a commitment to myself to read more Black authors. I decided to rather than just go down the many lists that are circulating, I would seek out authors in genres that I read the most.
My genres these days include food writing, mystery, romance (my quarantine savior), textiles, and kids/YA.
Here’s what I’m reading and recommend. The links for all of these books go to Bookshop.org, a website that supports independent bookshops around the country. I’ve chosen to link to Source Booksellers a Black woman-owned bookshop in mid-town Detroit.
Food
The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty.
If you’d like to get a quick peek into Michael’s style of history and approach to food, watch him in the fourth episode of Taste the Nation, The Gullah Way, on Hulu.
Mystery
This is the genre I read the most and have read the least Black authors. I really enjoyed the first book in Attica Locke’s Highway 59 series, featuring Texas Ranger Darren Mathews, and am waiting to pick up book two, Heaven My Home from my library
Romance
Modern romance books, the paper version of Rom-Coms are what are getting me through when I just need to escape. I highly recommend anything by Jasmine Guillory, start with The Wedding Date, and just move right along the series.
Textiles
I am involved in modern textiles, and realize that I know very little about the history of American textiles and little detail about the role of slavery in textiles. Plantation Slave Weavers Remember: An Oral History by Mary Madison is a short but powerful book.
Kids/YA
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in Sky by Kwame Mbalia was written for middle grade readers, but it was one of my favorite books of last year. It’s an exciting fast-paced, magic-adventure story built around African American folk tales. I’ve already pre-ordered the sequel.
I am looking for recommendations for Black mystery writers, and a book on the history of cotton in the United States.
Are you reading any books by Black authors that you’d recommend?