Recommend me books written by Black authors!

[dwig]

I have never considered the author's race when acquiring a book, with very very very few exceptions. In fact, in the vast majority of cases I never was aware of their race beyond what cultural background flavored their writing, which of course I wasn't aware of until after I had read the book.

Long ago, when reading The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, I wasn't aware that Alexandre Dumas père was black, at least by the common standards of the society of my youth.

[issybird]

I’d like to request that people stay on topic, i.e., limit their comments to recommendations or discussions of black authors and books written by then. Thanks.

[Pajamaman]

Ben Okri is okay. He's Nigerian, but grew up in the UK. He's also black. A bit too abstract in general for me, but The Famished Road was good and deserved to win the Booker. He's abstract like Marquez.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Okri

I like his poetry more. Some of African Elegy is great.

We are the miracles that God made
To taste the bitter fruit of Time.
We are precious.
And one day our suffering
Will turn into the wonders of the earth.

There are things that burn me now
Which turn golden when I am happy.
Do you see the mystery of our pain?
That we bear poverty
And are able to sing and dream sweet things

And that we never curse the air when it is warm
Or the fruit when it tastes so good
Or the lights that bounce gently on the waters?
We bless things even in our pain.
We bless them in silence.

That is why our music is so sweet.
It makes the air remember.
There are secret miracles at work
That only Time will bring forth.
I too have heard the dead singing.

And they tell me that
This life is good
They tell me to live it gently
With fire, and always with hope.
There is wonder here

And there is surprise
In everything the unseen moves.
The ocean is full of songs.
The sky is not an enemy.
Destiny is our friend.

[hobnail]

Then there was me, downloading books from Gutenberg by James Baldwin,

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1982

cluelessly thinking that it was this James Baldwin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Baldwin

[BelleZora]

Zora Neale Hurston. Ta-nehisi Coates.

[najgori]

Originally Posted by dwig

Long ago, when reading The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, I wasn't aware that Alexandre Dumas père was black, at least by the common standards of the society of my youth.

Perhaps he never wrote about him?
Pushkin wrote a story inspired by his great-grandfather PETER THE GREAT'S NEGRO.

[Bookpossum]

Hildea, though this book is non-fiction, I found it a very powerful book to read: Why I’m no longer talking to White People about Race by UK author Reni Eddo-Lodge.

[issybird]

I wasn’t as fond of her later memoirs, but Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is wonderful.

I haven’t read her more famous novels yet, but I greatly enjoyed Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie‘s first novel, Purple Hibiscus.

[ekbell]

Originally Posted by BelleZora

Zora Neale Hurston. Ta-nehisi Coates.

fadedpage.com has a number of her writings available for those living in life+50 countries including her autobiography.

[BelleZora]

Leonard Pitts is an excellent writer. I particularly recommend Forward From this Moment: Selected Columns, 1994-2009 and Freeman.

[issybird]

Well worth reading and obviously public domain, is Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs, a fugitive slave.

[Pulpmeister]

I recall reading "Knock on Any Door", and its sequel, many years ago, and until recently I had no idea Motley was black. Maybe an American reader might have spotted it, but I certainly didn't.

[BelleZora]

I recently read Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. His father was white and his mother was black, and he was born in South Africa during apartheid. Highly recommended.

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by BelleZora

I recently read Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. His father was white and his mother was black, and he was born in South Africa during apartheid. Highly recommended.

I'm not a huge audio fan but that's also a recommended audiobook - his voice is great with it. The ending had one of the most beautiful, personal miracle stories I've read. I agree with the recommendation.

[issybird]

This thread has made me recall a wonderful mystery series by Barbara Neely that I’d like to revisit. The Blanche White novels are about a black domestic worker and were described by Essence magazine as the first black woman detective written by a black woman. I read these a long time ago and they’ve stuck with me, and I see they’re now available as ebooks. Highly recommended.