100 Books by Black Women Everyone Must Read

1.
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Their Eyes Were Watching God 3.99 avg rating — 377,806 ratings
2.
The Color Purple
The Color Purple 4.27 avg rating — 737,249 ratings
3.
A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun 3.85 avg rating — 107,574 ratings
4.
Beloved (Beloved Trilogy, #1)
Beloved (Beloved Trilogy, #1) 3.97 avg rating — 476,988 ratings
5.
The Bluest Eye
The Bluest Eye 4.13 avg rating — 288,130 ratings
6.
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 — 568,982 ratings
7.
Kindred
Kindred 4.31 avg rating — 258,371 ratings
8.
Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1)
Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1) 4.20 avg rating — 239,011 ratings
9.
Song of Solomon
Song of Solomon 4.15 avg rating — 123,945 ratings
10.
Half of a Yellow Sun
Half of a Yellow Sun 4.34 avg rating — 176,475 ratings
11.
Breath, Eyes, Memory
Breath, Eyes, Memory 3.90 avg rating — 30,928 ratings
12.
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
13.
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 — 115,048 ratings
14.
The Coldest Winter Ever (The Coldest Winter Ever, #1)
The Coldest Winter Ever (The Coldest Winter Ever, #1) 4.46 avg rating — 42,218 ratings
15.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl 4.17 avg rating — 56,858 ratings
16.
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie 3.51 avg rating — 40,911 ratings
17.
White Teeth
White Teeth 3.79 avg rating — 170,758 ratings
18.
The Women of Brewster Place
The Women of Brewster Place 4.20 avg rating — 21,533 ratings
19.
On Beauty
On Beauty 3.78 avg rating — 89,028 ratings
20.
Push
Push
by: Sapphire
3.87 avg rating — 58,132 ratings
21.
32 Candles
32 Candles 4.19 avg rating — 5,877 ratings
22.
Dust Tracks on a Road
Dust Tracks on a Road 4.11 avg rating — 8,197 ratings
23.
Possessing the Secret of Joy
Possessing the Secret of Joy 4.09 avg rating — 15,682 ratings
24.
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 — 113,292 ratings
25.
The Farming of Bones
The Farming of Bones 4.07 avg rating — 9,774 ratings
26.
The Collected Poetry, 1968-1998
The Collected Poetry, 1968-1998 4.41 avg rating — 1,681 ratings
27.
Daughters of the Dust: The Making of an African American Woman's Film
Daughters of the Dust: The Making of an African American Woman's Film 4.37 avg rating — 213 ratings
28.
Quicksand
Quicksand 3.72 avg rating — 8,339 ratings
29.
A Small Place
A Small Place 4.05 avg rating — 17,328 ratings
29.
Small Island
Small Island 4.01 avg rating — 37,171 ratings
31.
Brown Girl in the Ring
Brown Girl in the Ring 3.85 avg rating — 7,279 ratings
32.
Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center
Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center 4.45 avg rating — 8,770 ratings
33.
Who Fears Death
Who Fears Death 3.93 avg rating — 27,811 ratings
34.
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches 4.53 avg rating — 39,728 ratings
35.
Wench
Wench 3.73 avg rating — 18,203 ratings
36.
Gathering of Waters
Gathering of Waters 4.01 avg rating — 2,797 ratings
37.
Daddy Was a Number Runner
Daddy Was a Number Runner 4.19 avg rating — 1,365 ratings
38.
How Stella Got Her Groove Back
How Stella Got Her Groove Back 3.79 avg rating — 10,145 ratings
39.
Some Sing, Some Cry
Some Sing, Some Cry 3.84 avg rating — 1,121 ratings
40.
The Darkest Child
The Darkest Child 4.38 avg rating — 16,725 ratings
41.
Jubilee
Jubilee 4.37 avg rating — 6,827 ratings
42.
Discovering The Covering
Discovering The Covering 4.62 avg rating — 42 ratings
43.
Addicted
Addicted
by: Zane
4.24 avg rating — 20,837 ratings
44.
The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South
The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South 4.03 avg rating — 502 ratings
45.
The Hate U Give (The Hate U Give, #1)
The Hate U Give (The Hate U Give, #1) 4.46 avg rating — 986,419 ratings
46.
Coffee Will Make You Black
Coffee Will Make You Black 4.08 avg rating — 5,553 ratings
47.
Wild Stars Seeking Midnight Suns
Wild Stars Seeking Midnight Suns 4.14 avg rating — 768 ratings
48.
Ugly Ways
Ugly Ways 4.08 avg rating — 1,754 ratings
49.
Babylon Sisters (West End, #2)
Babylon Sisters (West End, #2) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2,545 ratings
50.
In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose
In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose 4.29 avg rating — 8,252 ratings
51.
The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010
The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010 4.65 avg rating — 695 ratings
52.
The Girl Who Fell from the Sky
The Girl Who Fell from the Sky 3.61 avg rating — 33,070 ratings
53.
The Joys of Motherhood
The Joys of Motherhood 4.21 avg rating — 8,107 ratings
54.
Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment
Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment 4.41 avg rating — 5,475 ratings
55.
My Soul to Take (African Immortals, #4)
My Soul to Take (African Immortals, #4) 4.13 avg rating — 1,262 ratings
55.
Iola Leroy
Iola Leroy 3.54 avg rating — 1,709 ratings
55.
Nappy Hair (Dragonfly Books)
Nappy Hair (Dragonfly Books) 3.91 avg rating — 812 ratings
58.
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name 4.40 avg rating — 23,085 ratings
59.
Brown Girl, Brownstones
Brown Girl, Brownstones 4.06 avg rating — 3,563 ratings
60.
Topdog/Underdog
Topdog/Underdog 3.83 avg rating — 6,922 ratings
61.
Assata: An Autobiography
Assata: An Autobiography 4.59 avg rating — 29,692 ratings
62.
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
63.
I Put a Spell on You: The Autobiography of Nina Simone
I Put a Spell on You: The Autobiography of Nina Simone 4.10 avg rating — 1,972 ratings
64.
The Narrative of Sojourner Truth
The Narrative of Sojourner Truth 4.10 avg rating — 10,543 ratings
65.
Salvage the Bones
Salvage the Bones 3.96 avg rating — 71,446 ratings
66.
Color Me Butterfly: A True Story of Courage, Hope and Transformation
Color Me Butterfly: A True Story of Courage, Hope and Transformation 4.04 avg rating — 856 ratings
66.
Spectre Specter Blue Ravine
Spectre Specter Blue Ravine 3.82 avg rating — 17 ratings
66.
I'm Cussin
I'm Cussin it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings
66.
The Many Facets of Me: From A Heart of Hurt To The Joy of Jesus
The Many Facets of Me: From A Heart of Hurt To The Joy of Jesus 2.67 avg rating — 3 ratings
66.
These Bones
These Bones 3.75 avg rating — 115 ratings
66.
Maxine
Maxine 4.17 avg rating — 47 ratings
72.
Our Black Year: One Family's Quest to Buy Black in America's Racially Divided Economy
Our Black Year: One Family's Quest to Buy Black in America's Racially Divided Economy 3.73 avg rating — 445 ratings
72.
A Piece of Cake
A Piece of Cake 4.25 avg rating — 37,797 ratings
72.
MAXINE
MAXINE 4.17 avg rating — 47 ratings
75.
Southern Horrors and Other Writings: The Anti-Lynching Campaign of Ida B. Wells, 1892-1900
Southern Horrors and Other Writings: The Anti-Lynching Campaign of Ida B. Wells, 1892-1900 4.36 avg rating — 760 ratings
75.
Ruthless Pamela Jean
Ruthless Pamela Jean 4.53 avg rating — 45 ratings
77.
Bitch Is the New Black: A Memoir
Bitch Is the New Black: A Memoir 3.29 avg rating — 841 ratings
78.
Those Bones Are Not My Child
Those Bones Are Not My Child 3.52 avg rating — 541 ratings
78.
Letter to My Daughter
Letter to My Daughter 4.09 avg rating — 33,952 ratings
78.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance Trilogy, #1)
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance Trilogy, #1) 3.89 avg rating — 80,325 ratings
81.
Daughter
Daughter 4.06 avg rating — 458 ratings
82.
The Other Side of Paradise
The Other Side of Paradise 4.20 avg rating — 2,131 ratings
83.
Unbought And Unbossed
Unbought And Unbossed 4.45 avg rating — 1,447 ratings
84.
Black White and Jewish
Black White and Jewish 3.78 avg rating — 2,940 ratings
85.
Women, Race & Class
Women, Race & Class 4.59 avg rating — 33,019 ratings
86.
The Black Notebooks: An Interior Journey
The Black Notebooks: An Interior Journey 4.09 avg rating — 478 ratings
87.
Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self
Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self 4.06 avg rating — 5,036 ratings
88.
Plum Bun: A Novel Without a Moral
Plum Bun: A Novel Without a Moral 3.93 avg rating — 1,562 ratings
89.
Head Off & Split
Head Off & Split 4.12 avg rating — 1,373 ratings
90.
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
91.
If It Wasn't for the Women. . .: Black Women's Experience And Womanist Culture In Church And Community
If It Wasn't for the Women. . .: Black Women's Experience And Womanist Culture In Church And Community 4.24 avg rating — 21 ratings
92.
The Friends
The Friends
by: Rosa Guy
3.90 avg rating — 592 ratings
93.
Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought
Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought 4.46 avg rating — 946 ratings
94.
Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America
Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America 4.26 avg rating — 3,391 ratings
95.
All About Love: New Visions
All About Love: New Visions 4.02 avg rating — 123,596 ratings
96.
Of One Blood: Or, the Hidden Self
Of One Blood: Or, the Hidden Self 3.39 avg rating — 1,335 ratings
97.
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
98.
Silver Sparrow
Silver Sparrow 3.90 avg rating — 45,093 ratings
99.
A Belle in Brooklyn: The Go-to Girl for Advice on Living Your Best Single Life
A Belle in Brooklyn: The Go-to Girl for Advice on Living Your Best Single Life 3.96 avg rating — 79 ratings
100.
Unbowed
Unbowed 4.07 avg rating — 6,929 ratings
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