The Zora Canon | 100 Best Books by Black Women Authors

1.
Beloved (Beloved Trilogy, #1)
Beloved (Beloved Trilogy, #1) 3.97 avg rating — 476,977 ratings
2.
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Their Eyes Were Watching God 3.99 avg rating — 377,802 ratings
3.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou's Autobiography, #1)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou's Autobiography, #1) 4.30 avg rating — 568,976 ratings
4.
The Color Purple
The Color Purple 4.27 avg rating — 737,231 ratings
5.
Song of Solomon
Song of Solomon 4.15 avg rating — 123,943 ratings
6.
Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1)
Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1) 4.20 avg rating — 238,996 ratings
7.
Sing, Unburied, Sing
Sing, Unburied, Sing really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 145,378 ratings
8.
An American Marriage
An American Marriage 3.93 avg rating — 379,528 ratings
9.
A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun 3.85 avg rating — 107,570 ratings
10.
Sula
Sula 4.05 avg rating — 117,014 ratings
11.
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches 4.53 avg rating — 39,727 ratings
12.
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration 4.48 avg rating — 113,290 ratings
13.
Salvage the Bones
Salvage the Bones 3.96 avg rating — 71,444 ratings
14.
The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1)
The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1) 4.29 avg rating — 317,193 ratings
15.
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness 4.52 avg rating — 115,045 ratings
16.
Women, Race & Class
Women, Race & Class 4.59 avg rating — 33,018 ratings
17.
The Women of Brewster Place
The Women of Brewster Place 4.20 avg rating — 21,533 ratings
18.
Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism
Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism 4.50 avg rating — 18,479 ratings
19.
White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide
White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide 4.47 avg rating — 14,603 ratings
20.
Brown Girl Dreaming
Brown Girl Dreaming 4.15 avg rating — 91,860 ratings
21.
A Mercy
A Mercy 3.76 avg rating — 31,913 ratings
22.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl 4.17 avg rating — 56,858 ratings
23.
There Is Confusion
There Is Confusion 3.99 avg rating — 569 ratings
24.
Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code
Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code 4.26 avg rating — 2,346 ratings
25.
Selected Poems
Selected Poems 4.20 avg rating — 2,813 ratings
26.
Jubilee
Jubilee 4.37 avg rating — 6,827 ratings
27.
Oreo
Oreo
by: Fran Ross
3.62 avg rating — 3,916 ratings
28.
Fish Tales
Fish Tales 3.34 avg rating — 238 ratings
29.
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf 4.29 avg rating — 34,461 ratings
30.
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name 4.40 avg rating — 23,084 ratings
31.
Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman (Verso Classsics, 26)
Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman (Verso Classsics, 26) 4.06 avg rating — 705 ratings
32.
But Some of Us Are Brave: All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men: Black Women's Studies
But Some of Us Are Brave: All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men: Black Women's Studies 4.40 avg rating — 1,782 ratings
33.
Waiting to Exhale (Waiting to Exhale, #1)
Waiting to Exhale (Waiting to Exhale, #1) 3.99 avg rating — 17,749 ratings
34.
Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo
Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo 4.10 avg rating — 3,963 ratings
35.
Thomas and Beulah (Carnegie Mellon Poetry Series)
Thomas and Beulah (Carnegie Mellon Poetry Series)
by: Rita Dove
3.96 avg rating — 1,469 ratings
35.
Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty
Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty 4.45 avg rating — 5,136 ratings
37.
The Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni: 1968-1995
The Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni: 1968-1995 4.39 avg rating — 965 ratings
38.
In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose
In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose 4.29 avg rating — 8,252 ratings
39.
When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America
When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America 4.33 avg rating — 2,074 ratings
40.
Where We Stand: Class Matters
Where We Stand: Class Matters 4.23 avg rating — 2,843 ratings
41.
Fledgling
Fledgling 3.80 avg rating — 37,691 ratings
42.
Native Guard: Poems
Native Guard: Poems 4.20 avg rating — 4,698 ratings
43.
Blood Dazzler
Blood Dazzler 4.42 avg rating — 1,645 ratings
44.
Our Nig or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black
Our Nig or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black 3.74 avg rating — 3,208 ratings
45.
A Voice from the South
A Voice from the South 4.13 avg rating — 341 ratings
46.
Iola Leroy
Iola Leroy 3.54 avg rating — 1,709 ratings
46.
Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine and the Foundations of a Movement
Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine and the Foundations of a Movement 4.44 avg rating — 33,949 ratings
48.
The Red Record
The Red Record 4.45 avg rating — 532 ratings
49.
Quicksand
Quicksand 3.72 avg rating — 8,339 ratings
50.
Passing
Passing 3.92 avg rating — 76,707 ratings
51.
Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica
Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica 3.98 avg rating — 2,471 ratings
51.
Whatever Happened to Interracial Love?
Whatever Happened to Interracial Love? 3.84 avg rating — 4,387 ratings
51.
How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective
How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective 4.47 avg rating — 4,609 ratings
54.
Moses, Man of the Mountain
Moses, Man of the Mountain 3.98 avg rating — 1,719 ratings
55.
The Street
The Street
by: Ann Petry
4.27 avg rating — 12,961 ratings
56.
Maud Martha
Maud Martha 4.10 avg rating — 3,717 ratings
57.
Brown Girl, Brownstones
Brown Girl, Brownstones 4.06 avg rating — 3,563 ratings
58.
Funnyhouse of a Negro
Funnyhouse of a Negro 3.72 avg rating — 464 ratings
59.
The Flagellants
The Flagellants 4.29 avg rating — 59 ratings
60.
The House of Dies Drear (Dies Drear Chronicles, #1)
The House of Dies Drear (Dies Drear Chronicles, #1) 3.34 avg rating — 3,757 ratings
61.
Coming of Age in Mississippi
Coming of Age in Mississippi 4.13 avg rating — 11,515 ratings
62.
To Be Young, Gifted, And Black
To Be Young, Gifted, And Black 4.42 avg rating — 2,810 ratings
63.
The Black Woman: An Anthology
The Black Woman: An Anthology 4.49 avg rating — 401 ratings
64.
We a BaddDDD People.
We a BaddDDD People. 4.65 avg rating — 74 ratings
65.
The Third Life Of Grange Copeland
The Third Life Of Grange Copeland 4.14 avg rating — 4,584 ratings
66.
Gorilla, My Love
Gorilla, My Love 4.11 avg rating — 2,311 ratings
67.
Corregidora
Corregidora 3.91 avg rating — 5,075 ratings
68.
Eva's Man
Eva's Man 3.93 avg rating — 657 ratings
69.
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Logans, #4)
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Logans, #4) 3.90 avg rating — 128,896 ratings
70.
Meridian
Meridian 3.75 avg rating — 6,509 ratings
71.
I've Been a Woman: New and Selected Poems
I've Been a Woman: New and Selected Poems 4.40 avg rating — 145 ratings
72.
The Salt Eaters
The Salt Eaters 3.84 avg rating — 1,576 ratings
73.
The Heart of a Woman
The Heart of a Woman 4.23 avg rating — 24,662 ratings
74.
Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology
Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology 4.35 avg rating — 920 ratings
75.
Linden Hills
Linden Hills 4.04 avg rating — 3,202 ratings
76.
Radiance from the Waters: Ideals of Feminine Beauty in Mende Art
Radiance from the Waters: Ideals of Feminine Beauty in Mende Art 4.85 avg rating — 26 ratings
77.
Blacks
Blacks 4.48 avg rating — 384 ratings
78.
Assata: An Autobiography
Assata: An Autobiography 4.59 avg rating — 29,691 ratings
79.
Black-Eyed Susans and Midnight Birds: Stories by and about Black Women
Black-Eyed Susans and Midnight Birds: Stories by and about Black Women 4.45 avg rating — 91 ratings
80.
Invisibility Blues: From Pop to Theory
Invisibility Blues: From Pop to Theory 4.08 avg rating — 88 ratings
81.
Ugly Ways
Ugly Ways 4.08 avg rating — 1,754 ratings
82.
The Black Christ (Bishop Henry McNeal Turner/Sojourner Truth Series in Black Religion)
The Black Christ (Bishop Henry McNeal Turner/Sojourner Truth Series in Black Religion) 4.14 avg rating — 209 ratings
83.
Parable of the Talents (Earthseed, #2)
Parable of the Talents (Earthseed, #2) 4.32 avg rating — 77,771 ratings
84.
Black Picket Fences : Privilege and Peril Among the Black Middle Class
Black Picket Fences : Privilege and Peril Among the Black Middle Class 3.95 avg rating — 294 ratings
85.
Topdog/Underdog
Topdog/Underdog 3.83 avg rating — 6,922 ratings
86.
Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision
Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision 4.33 avg rating — 1,658 ratings
87.
Directed by Desire: The Collected Poems of June Jordan
Directed by Desire: The Collected Poems of June Jordan 4.56 avg rating — 478 ratings
88.
African American Music: An Introduction
African American Music: An Introduction 4.21 avg rating — 39 ratings
89.
All Bound Up Together: The Woman Question in African American Public Culture, 1830-1900
All Bound Up Together: The Woman Question in African American Public Culture, 1830-1900 4.04 avg rating — 50 ratings
90.
Blue-Chip Black: Race, Class, and Status in the New Black Middle Class
Blue-Chip Black: Race, Class, and Status in the New Black Middle Class 3.97 avg rating — 92 ratings
91.
The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010
The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010 4.65 avg rating — 695 ratings
92.
The Ethnic Project: Transforming Racial Fiction into Ethnic Factions
The Ethnic Project: Transforming Racial Fiction into Ethnic Factions 4.17 avg rating — 66 ratings
93.
Things I Should Have Told My Daughter: Lies, Lessons & Love Affairs
Things I Should Have Told My Daughter: Lies, Lessons & Love Affairs 3.77 avg rating — 738 ratings
94.
Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness
Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness 4.46 avg rating — 545 ratings
95.
Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools
Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools 4.35 avg rating — 6,610 ratings
96.
Sweat
Sweat 4.04 avg rating — 4,456 ratings
97.
Unequal City: Race, Schools, and Perceptions of Injustice
Unequal City: Race, Schools, and Perceptions of Injustice 4.18 avg rating — 210 ratings
98.
Beyond Respectability: The Intellectual Thought of Race Women
Beyond Respectability: The Intellectual Thought of Race Women 4.40 avg rating — 240 ratings
99.
Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Social Upheaval
Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Social Upheaval 4.43 avg rating — 4,693 ratings
100.
Magical Negro
Magical Negro 4.31 avg rating — 2,769 ratings