Best African American Authors

1.
Kindred
Kindred 4.31 avg rating — 258,378 ratings
2.
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Their Eyes Were Watching God 3.99 avg rating — 377,816 ratings
3.
Beloved (Beloved Trilogy, #1)
Beloved (Beloved Trilogy, #1) 3.97 avg rating — 476,998 ratings
4.
The Color Purple
The Color Purple 4.27 avg rating — 737,256 ratings
5.
Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1)
Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1) 4.20 avg rating — 239,018 ratings
6.
Roots: The Saga of an American Family
Roots: The Saga of an American Family 4.45 avg rating — 163,554 ratings
7.
Wild Seed (Patternist, #1)
Wild Seed (Patternist, #1) 4.21 avg rating — 38,336 ratings
8.
The Souls of Black Folk
The Souls of Black Folk 4.31 avg rating — 44,287 ratings
9.
God Don't Like Ugly (God Don't Like Ugly, #1)
God Don't Like Ugly (God Don't Like Ugly, #1) 4.35 avg rating — 10,409 ratings
10.
Song of Solomon
Song of Solomon 4.15 avg rating — 123,946 ratings
11.
Native Son
Native Son 4.04 avg rating — 103,288 ratings
12.
Invisible Man
Invisible Man 3.92 avg rating — 198,742 ratings
13.
Go Tell It on the Mountain
Go Tell It on the Mountain 4.05 avg rating — 78,212 ratings
14.
Sleeping with Strangers (Gideon, #1)
Sleeping with Strangers (Gideon, #1) 4.35 avg rating — 6,312 ratings
15.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass 4.12 avg rating — 132,002 ratings
16.
Sister, Sister
Sister, Sister 4.20 avg rating — 8,346 ratings
17.
Jubilee
Jubilee 4.37 avg rating — 6,827 ratings
18.
Another Country
Another Country 4.30 avg rating — 32,349 ratings
19.
Fledgling
Fledgling 3.80 avg rating — 37,693 ratings
20.
The Women of Brewster Place
The Women of Brewster Place 4.20 avg rating — 21,533 ratings
21.
Black Boy
Black Boy 4.09 avg rating — 55,307 ratings
22.
Buck: A Memoir
Buck: A Memoir 4.05 avg rating — 3,060 ratings
23.
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman 4.18 avg rating — 14,106 ratings
24.
The Ways of White Folks
The Ways of White Folks 4.46 avg rating — 5,399 ratings
25.
Sula
Sula 4.05 avg rating — 117,024 ratings
26.
The Fire Next Time
The Fire Next Time 4.55 avg rating — 115,162 ratings
27.
The Wedding
The Wedding 3.96 avg rating — 6,444 ratings
28.
Devil in a Blue Dress (Easy Rawlins, #1)
Devil in a Blue Dress (Easy Rawlins, #1) 3.87 avg rating — 29,363 ratings
29.
The Upper Room
The Upper Room 4.24 avg rating — 4,029 ratings
30.
The Salt Eaters
The Salt Eaters 3.84 avg rating — 1,577 ratings
31.
Brothers and Sisters
Brothers and Sisters 4.15 avg rating — 4,412 ratings
32.
Parable of the Talents (Earthseed, #2)
Parable of the Talents (Earthseed, #2) 4.32 avg rating — 77,781 ratings
33.
Love, Activism, and the Respectable Life of Alice Dunbar-Nelson
Love, Activism, and the Respectable Life of Alice Dunbar-Nelson 4.16 avg rating — 38 ratings
34.
See Me Naked: Black Women Defining Pleasure During the Interwar Era
See Me Naked: Black Women Defining Pleasure During the Interwar Era 4.50 avg rating — 6 ratings
35.
Drive Me Crazy
Drive Me Crazy 4.07 avg rating — 2,888 ratings
36.
Black No More
Black No More really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4,580 ratings
37.
Mind of My Mind (Patternist, #2)
Mind of My Mind (Patternist, #2) 4.18 avg rating — 15,072 ratings
38.
Home to Harlem
Home to Harlem 3.64 avg rating — 1,655 ratings
39.
Minion (Vampire Huntress Legend, #1)
Minion (Vampire Huntress Legend, #1) 3.50 avg rating — 6,603 ratings
40.
The Hunted (Vampire Huntress Legend, #3)
The Hunted (Vampire Huntress Legend, #3) 4.17 avg rating — 3,141 ratings
41.
What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day (Idlewild, #1)
What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day (Idlewild, #1) 3.75 avg rating — 21,453 ratings
42.
Push
Push
by: Sapphire
3.87 avg rating — 58,133 ratings
43.
Clay's Ark (Patternist, #3)
Clay's Ark (Patternist, #3) 3.84 avg rating — 11,722 ratings
44.
Seed to Harvest (Patternist, #1-4)
Seed to Harvest (Patternist, #1-4) 4.39 avg rating — 6,601 ratings
45.
Dawn (Xenogenesis, #1)
Dawn (Xenogenesis, #1) 4.15 avg rating — 60,539 ratings
46.
Tales of the Astonishing Black Spark
Tales of the Astonishing Black Spark 4.02 avg rating — 100 ratings
47.
JUDGES: When The Light Lay Still
JUDGES: When The Light Lay Still 3.37 avg rating — 60 ratings
48.
Patternmaster (Patternist, #4)
Patternmaster (Patternist, #4) 4.03 avg rating — 10,566 ratings
49.
Uncle Tom's Children
Uncle Tom's Children 4.13 avg rating — 3,358 ratings
50.
The Price of the Ticket: Collected Nonfiction, 1948-1985
The Price of the Ticket: Collected Nonfiction, 1948-1985 4.68 avg rating — 676 ratings
51.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl 4.17 avg rating — 56,859 ratings
52.
The Awakening (Vampire Huntress Legend, #2)
The Awakening (Vampire Huntress Legend, #2) 4.03 avg rating — 3,695 ratings
53.
The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories
The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 284 ratings
54.
Simple's Uncle Sam
Simple's Uncle Sam 4.37 avg rating — 63 ratings
54.
Baby of the Family
Baby of the Family 4.15 avg rating — 902 ratings
56.
A Little Yellow Dog (Easy Rawlins, #5)
A Little Yellow Dog (Easy Rawlins, #5) 4.07 avg rating — 4,479 ratings
57.
My Bondage and My Freedom
My Bondage and My Freedom 4.38 avg rating — 12,159 ratings
58.
Survivor (Patternist, #4)
Survivor (Patternist, #4) 3.80 avg rating — 1,371 ratings
59.
Lilith's Brood (Xenogenesis, #1-3)
Lilith's Brood (Xenogenesis, #1-3) 4.37 avg rating — 21,511 ratings
60.
Quicksand
Quicksand 3.72 avg rating — 8,339 ratings
61.
Gorilla, My Love
Gorilla, My Love 4.11 avg rating — 2,311 ratings
62.
12 Years a Slave
12 Years a Slave 4.22 avg rating — 123,137 ratings
63.
Miss Ophelia
Miss Ophelia 4.02 avg rating — 158 ratings
64.
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 — 568,987 ratings
65.
The Negro Speaks of Rivers
The Negro Speaks of Rivers 4.33 avg rating — 713 ratings
66.
Cane
Cane 3.82 avg rating — 11,323 ratings
67.
Passing
Passing 3.92 avg rating — 76,712 ratings
68.
The Known World
The Known World 3.84 avg rating — 44,325 ratings
69.
Not Without Laughter
Not Without Laughter 4.23 avg rating — 3,669 ratings
70.
1959
1959 3.32 avg rating — 97 ratings
71.
Bailey's Café
Bailey's Café 4.01 avg rating — 4,614 ratings
72.
Mama Day
Mama Day 4.19 avg rating — 11,153 ratings
73.
Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned
Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned 4.18 avg rating — 4,426 ratings
74.
Mules and Men
Mules and Men 4.10 avg rating — 6,334 ratings
75.
Middle Passage
Middle Passage 3.85 avg rating — 5,410 ratings
75.
The Blacker the Berry...
The Blacker the Berry... 3.94 avg rating — 2,936 ratings
77.
The Marrow of Tradition
The Marrow of Tradition 3.92 avg rating — 3,509 ratings
78.
Adulthood Rites (Xenogenesis, #2)
Adulthood Rites (Xenogenesis, #2) 4.19 avg rating — 27,351 ratings
79.
Imago (Xenogenesis, #3)
Imago (Xenogenesis, #3) 4.20 avg rating — 23,533 ratings
80.
Don't Tell Your Cousin
Don't Tell Your Cousin 3.53 avg rating — 144 ratings
80.
Narcolepsy
Narcolepsy really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 24 ratings
80.
Citizens Creek
Citizens Creek 3.91 avg rating — 1,349 ratings
83.
BLACK CHESS: A Novel
BLACK CHESS: A Novel 4.48 avg rating — 23 ratings
83.
A Different Drummer
A Different Drummer 4.22 avg rating — 2,948 ratings
85.
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Logans, #4)
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Logans, #4) 3.90 avg rating — 128,898 ratings
86.
God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse
God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse 4.26 avg rating — 639 ratings
86.
Live at Five
Live at Five 3.17 avg rating — 29 ratings
86.
A Burst of Light
A Burst of Light 4.38 avg rating — 1,975 ratings
89.
Nowhere Is a Place
Nowhere Is a Place 4.14 avg rating — 2,112 ratings
90.
Brown Girl, Brownstones
Brown Girl, Brownstones 4.06 avg rating — 3,563 ratings
91.
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches 4.53 avg rating — 39,728 ratings
92.
The Ballad of Black Tom
The Ballad of Black Tom 3.84 avg rating — 32,627 ratings
93.
Waiting to Exhale (Waiting to Exhale, #1)
Waiting to Exhale (Waiting to Exhale, #1) 3.99 avg rating — 17,749 ratings
94.
Tumbling
Tumbling 4.25 avg rating — 3,601 ratings
95.
Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo
Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo 4.10 avg rating — 3,963 ratings
96.
Coffee Will Make You Black
Coffee Will Make You Black 4.08 avg rating — 5,553 ratings
97.
The Broken Kingdoms (Inheritance, #2)
The Broken Kingdoms (Inheritance, #2) 4.14 avg rating — 38,522 ratings
97.
Pleasure (Nia #1)
Pleasure (Nia #1) 4.17 avg rating — 4,199 ratings
99.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance, #1)
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance, #1) 3.89 avg rating — 80,327 ratings
100.
Tambourines to Glory
Tambourines to Glory 4.12 avg rating — 399 ratings
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