Thoughts & Things

Black History Month Reading List: Adult Fiction

I have gathered together a series of smaller lists for this one larger post. Rather than just give a list of a few general fiction books, I have narrowed down many books into smaller list of genres. The lists feature books by and about black people to celebrate the varieties of books that incredible minds have given us over the last century. Hopefully the break down of genre means that more people are able to find a great book that suits their tastes.

Historical Fiction
Home by Toni Morrison
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat

Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
Everfair by Nisi Shawl
Dossouye by Charles R. Saunders
My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due
Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord

Mystery
Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey
Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
Darkness and the Devil Behind Me: A Lanie Price Mystery by Persia Walker
Hollywood Homicide by Kellye Garrett
Blanche on the Lam by Barbara Neely

Contemporary
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Baby of the Family by Tina McElroy Ansa
Halsey Street by Naima Coster
An Untamed State by Roxane Gay

Romance
Forbidden by Beverly Jenkins
An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole
A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson
Surrender the Dark by L.A. Banks
Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon
Kissing the Captain by Kianna Alexander

Classics
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
Passing by Nella Narsen
The Living is Easy by Dorothy West
Efuru by Flora Nwapa
Jubilee by Margaret Walker
The River Between by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Horror
The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi
Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves
The Changeling by Victor LaValle
Jesus Freaks by Andre Duza
Crescendo: Welcome Home, Death Awaits by L. Marie Wood

Previous posts in the series are:
"A Black History Month Reading List: Introduction" 
"Black History Month Reading List: Poetry" 
"Black History Month Reading List: Children's Books" 
"Black History Month Read List: Middle Grade Books" 
"Black History Month Read List: YA Books" 
"Black History Month Reading List: The Canadian Edition"