Recommend me books written by Black authors!

[hildea]

I'm looking for recommendations of books written by Black authors. I mostly read science fiction, fantasy, and romance, but I'm willing to try other genres as well.

Here are a few of my favourites:

Justina Ireland: Dread Nation

Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—derailing the War Between the States and changing the nation forever. In this new America, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Education Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It's a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.

But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston's School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose.

But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies.

And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems.

Nnedi Okorafor: Who Fears Death

In a post-apocalyptic Africa, the world has changed in many ways, yet in one region genocide between tribes still bloodies the land. After years of enslaving the Okeke people, the Nuru tribe has decided to follow the Great Book and exterminate the Okeke tribe for good. An Okeke woman who has survived the annihilation of her village and a terrible rape by an enemy general wanders into the desert hoping to die. Instead, she gives birth to an angry baby girl with hair and skin the color of sand. Gripped by the certainty that her daughter is different—special—she names her child Onyesonwu, which means “Who Fears Death?” in an ancient tongue.

From a young age, stubborn, willful Onyesonwu is trouble. It doesn’t take long for her to understand that she is physically and socially marked by the circumstances of her violent conception. She is Ewu—a child of rape who is expected to live a life of violence, a half-breed rejected by both tribes.

But Onye is not the average Ewu. As a child, Onye’s singing attracts owls. By the age of eleven, she can change into a vulture. But these amazing abilities are merely the first glimmers of a remarkable unique magic. As Onye grows, so do her abilities—soon she can manipulate matter and flesh, or travel beyond into the spiritual world. During an inadvertent visit to this other realm she learns something terrifying: someone powerful is trying to kill her.

Desperate to elude her would-be murderer, and to understand her own nature, she seeks help from the magic practitioners of her village. But, even among her mother’s people, she meets with frustrating prejudice because she is Ewu and female. Yet Onyesonwu persists.

Eventually her magical destiny and her rebellious nature will force her to leave home on a quest that will be perilous in ways that Onyesonwu can not possibly imagine. For this journey will cause her to grapple with nature, tradition, history, true love, the spiritual mysteries of her culture, and ultimately to learn why she was given the name she bears: Who Fears Death?

L.L.McKinney: A Blade so Black

The first time the Nightmares came, it nearly cost Alice her life. Now she's trained to battle monstrous creatures in the dark dream realm known as Wonderland with magic weapons and hardcore fighting skills.
Yet even warriors have a curfew.Life in real-world Atlanta isn't always so simple, as Alice juggles an overprotective mom, a high-maintenance best friend, and a slipping GPA. Keeping the Nightmares at bay is turning into a full-time job. But when Alice's handsome and mysterious mentor is poisoned, she has to find the antidote by venturing deeper into Wonderland than she’s ever gone before. And she'll need to use everything she's learned in both worlds to keep from losing her head... literally.

Dhonielle Clayton: The Belles

Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orléans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orléans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be made beautiful.

But it’s not enough for Camellia to be just a Belle. She wants to be the Favorite—the Belle chosen by the Queen of Orléans to live in the royal palace, to tend to the royal family and their court, to be recognized as the most talented Belle in the land. But once Camellia and her Belle sisters arrive at court, it becomes clear that being the Favorite is not everything she always dreamed it would be. Behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that the very essence of her existence is a lie—that her powers are far greater, and could be more dangerous, than she ever imagined. And when the Queen asks Camellia to risk her own life and help the ailing princess by using Belle powers in unintended ways, Camellia now faces an impossible decision.

With the future of Orléans and its people at stake, Camellia must decide—save herself and her sisters and the way of the Belles—or resuscitate the princess, risk her own life, and change the ways of her world forever.

[Deskisamess]

I couldn't tell you the skin color of most authors that I read. Is that something I should pay attention to?

[hildea]

That's up to you, of course.

When I started to pay attention, some time ago, I found that my reading was dominated by white authors, and I decided that I wanted to change that. For some reason, right now I want to read more by Black authors, and spend my book-buying money on Black authors.

[issybird]

I’ve been rolling this issue around in my mind since I first read this thread. When I thought , about it, I realized that virtually all the books by black authors I read are non-fiction, either history or memoir. Most recently, that would have been They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South by Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers. It’s a searing account of women as slave owners, not just as the wives of slave owners, and full participants in both the economics and the evil of slavery. However, my sense is that’s not the type of book you’re looking for, which I imagine is imagined accounts of black lives by those for whom it is the lived experience.

While I think about this some more, I’d like to direct you to the first selection of the New Leaf Book Club here, Passing, by Nella Larsen. While the book had its flaws, it’s a short novel and well worth reading. You might be interested in the discussion.

[Deskisamess]

That book looks interesting...long wait list at my library, but at least they have it.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

I couldn't tell you the skin color of most authors that I read. Is that something I should pay attention to?

I’m finding this comment somewhat disingenuous. It’s clear that the everyday experience of blacks in America at any rate is different from that of whites. Certainly the books you read might be aracial, but I suspect that’s not typical. Nor do I think that authors should be kept from writing in the voice of the “other,” whether it be sex, age, orientation, religion - you catch my drift. However, I think hildea’s point is reasonable and well-taken, especially in the current climate. She wants to read those whose daily life is reflected in their fiction and she wants authentic accounts to deepen her understanding, at least that’s my inference.

[Paperbackstash]

Like many here, I don't pay attention to race when picking books, so have no idea on author skin color unless the author is rather famous. I did go through my read list of the year a few years ago after getting into a debate about this on BookRiot, who focuses a lot on race and diversity when creating their reading challenges of the year, and had to look up the authors had pictures available on Goodreads. As a coincidence, it did turn out that over 98% of my reading that year was white authors. It wasn't from my choice of only picking up white authors, but their point that more white authors are published and promoted in general. I try to seek out books from other races and pay more attention now.

I read Toni Morrison for the first time a few years back with Sula - she wrote beautifully! I intend to read more of her works

The Mothers by Brit Bennett was very well done and I plan on getting her new book released this month.

Both of these books were general fiction/drama genre

Most of my reading is Urban Fantasy, mystery, some romance and some horror. I read other genres as well but they don't make up the larger bulk of my reading percentage. I really have no idea of author race unless I research the author for most of the books I do read, and I don't think about it or have the time to do this on a regular basis.

[Paperbackstash]

You may find some good suggestions on the Goodreads site if you are a member. They recently did a blog post about recommended books. I'm not sure how accurate their thoughts are on it it, or if they go off popularity alone with how much these books are shelved by their members. It looks like their recent blog post this week has some atrocious comment fighting, so only read that part of it if you want to read a written soap opera.

Book Riot often has done many lists you may find helpful for finding authors of different races

[Deskisamess]

One of the genres I read are pretty much written by "white" women. I'm not sure I've ever seen Amish lite fiction written by someone of color, black, Asian, etc. I did find some male authors in that genre, writing both from a female and male POV.

It makes me curious about the background of some of the "Christian" authors I've read. Now I need to look some of them up.

I don't think authors should be pigeon-holed into writing only from a certain POV. I think research needs to be well done for any author writing totally outside of their world, whether it is a gender POV, or a cultural POV.

It's too bad the old Amazon forums are gone. There was a lengthy thread began by someone who only wanted to read male authors. It sparked a good conversation.

Back later for more thoughts...

[Apache]

Octavia Butler was a very good science fiction author. I read and enjoyed her books. She died at age 548 in 2007.
Also Samuel R. Delany has written some very good sci fi.
Apache

[Apache]

The color of a person's skin has no bearing what so ever on my reading. Neither does a person's sex or sexual orientation. The only requirement I have for an author is that I enjoy their work.
Apache

[HLS]

kobo now has a black lives matter banner where you can see recommended books

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by Apache

Octavia Butler was a very good science fiction author. I read and enjoyed her books. She died at age 548 in 2007.
Also Samuel R. Delany has written some very good sci fi.
Apache

Wow, 548 years old?

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

Like many here, I don't pay attention to race when picking books, so have no idea on author skin color unless the author is rather famous.

I don’t buy this. If a story is about white characters I don’t think you can claim ignorance when the author turns out to be white, also. And most stories give some description of the main characters so it’s obvious. As I said above, there are probably some books that are aracial, in that there is no clue whatsoever, but they really are going to be very, very few.

As a coincidence, it did turn out that over 98% of my reading that year was white authors. It wasn't from my choice of only picking up white authors, but their point that more white authors are published and promoted in general. I try to seek out books from other races and pay more attention now.

Hardly a coincidence. For whatever reason, you gravitated toward white authors.

Yes, there are more white authors and some part of that is benign, in that it reflects the underlying population. But that’s not the whole of it, either.

I read mostly white authors, for a lot of reasons. But I’d never claim that I’m shocked, shocked to find out they’re mostly white. I certainly wouldn’t expect to be believed if I did.

[SteveEisenberg]

I can't recall any book I've read, as good as this, written by a politician (the author became his country's president shortly after publication):

My First Coup d'Etat: And Other True Stories from the Lost Decades of Africa