100 Books by Black Women Everyone Should Read

1.
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Their Eyes Were Watching God 3.99 avg rating — 377,780 ratings
2.
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 — 568,919 ratings
3.
Beloved (Beloved Trilogy, #1)
Beloved (Beloved Trilogy, #1) 3.97 avg rating — 476,924 ratings
4.
The Color Purple
The Color Purple 4.27 avg rating — 737,166 ratings
5.
Half of a Yellow Sun
Half of a Yellow Sun 4.34 avg rating — 176,446 ratings
6.
White Teeth
White Teeth 3.79 avg rating — 170,741 ratings
7.
The Bluest Eye
The Bluest Eye 4.13 avg rating — 288,081 ratings
8.
Song of Solomon
Song of Solomon 4.15 avg rating — 123,924 ratings
9.
On Beauty
On Beauty 3.78 avg rating — 89,019 ratings
10.
Kindred
Kindred 4.31 avg rating — 258,296 ratings
11.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl 4.17 avg rating — 56,856 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 — 113,281 ratings
13.
Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1)
Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1) 4.20 avg rating — 238,892 ratings
14.
Quicksand
Quicksand 3.72 avg rating — 8,339 ratings
15.
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches 4.53 avg rating — 39,722 ratings
16.
Women, Race & Class
Women, Race & Class 4.59 avg rating — 33,015 ratings
17.
Small Island
Small Island 4.01 avg rating — 37,169 ratings
18.
Dust Tracks on a Road
Dust Tracks on a Road 4.11 avg rating — 8,197 ratings
18.
The Street
The Street
by: Ann Petry
4.27 avg rating — 12,961 ratings
20.
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name 4.40 avg rating — 23,083 ratings
21.
The Women of Brewster Place
The Women of Brewster Place 4.20 avg rating — 21,532 ratings
22.
Salvage the Bones
Salvage the Bones 3.96 avg rating — 71,438 ratings
23.
Breath, Eyes, Memory
Breath, Eyes, Memory 3.90 avg rating — 30,928 ratings
24.
A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun 3.85 avg rating — 107,560 ratings
25.
Unbowed
Unbowed 4.07 avg rating — 6,928 ratings
26.
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
27.
Cane River
Cane River 4.08 avg rating — 50,066 ratings
28.
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 — 115,042 ratings
28.
Push
Push
by: Sapphire
3.87 avg rating — 58,127 ratings
30.
Assata: An Autobiography
Assata: An Autobiography 4.59 avg rating — 29,687 ratings
31.
Jubilee
Jubilee 4.37 avg rating — 6,826 ratings
32.
The Farming of Bones
The Farming of Bones 4.07 avg rating — 9,774 ratings
33.
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
34.
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
35.
The Girl Who Fell from the Sky
The Girl Who Fell from the Sky 3.61 avg rating — 33,070 ratings
36.
The Darkest Child
The Darkest Child 4.38 avg rating — 16,722 ratings
37.
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
38.
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
39.
The Narrative of Sojourner Truth
The Narrative of Sojourner Truth 4.10 avg rating — 10,543 ratings
40.
Coming of Age in Mississippi: The Classic Autobiography of a Young Black Girl in the Rural South
Coming of Age in Mississippi: The Classic Autobiography of a Young Black Girl in the Rural South 4.13 avg rating — 11,515 ratings
41.
The Joys of Motherhood
The Joys of Motherhood 4.21 avg rating — 8,107 ratings
42.
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
43.
How Stella Got Her Groove Back
How Stella Got Her Groove Back 3.79 avg rating — 10,145 ratings
44.
The Collected Poetry, 1968-1998
The Collected Poetry, 1968-1998 4.41 avg rating — 1,681 ratings
45.
Brown Girl in the Ring
Brown Girl in the Ring 3.85 avg rating — 7,276 ratings
46.
Iola Leroy
Iola Leroy 3.54 avg rating — 1,709 ratings
47.
Some Sing, Some Cry
Some Sing, Some Cry 3.84 avg rating — 1,121 ratings
48.
Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center
Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center 4.45 avg rating — 8,771 ratings
49.
Brown Girl, Brownstones
Brown Girl, Brownstones 4.06 avg rating — 3,563 ratings
50.
Drinking Coffee Elsewhere
Drinking Coffee Elsewhere
by: ZZ Packer
3.88 avg rating — 7,777 ratings
51.
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie 3.51 avg rating — 40,907 ratings
52.
Who Fears Death
Who Fears Death 3.93 avg rating — 27,809 ratings
53.
On Black Sisters Street
On Black Sisters Street 3.88 avg rating — 2,699 ratings
54.
Unbought And Unbossed
Unbought And Unbossed 4.45 avg rating — 1,446 ratings
55.
Babylon Sisters (West End, #2)
Babylon Sisters (West End, #2) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2,545 ratings
56.
Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self
Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self 4.06 avg rating — 5,036 ratings
57.
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
58.
Head Off & Split
Head Off & Split 4.12 avg rating — 1,373 ratings
59.
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
60.
In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose
In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose 4.29 avg rating — 8,252 ratings
61.
All About Love: New Visions
All About Love: New Visions 4.02 avg rating — 123,551 ratings
62.
Silver Sparrow
Silver Sparrow 3.90 avg rating — 45,089 ratings
63.
When and Where I Enter
When and Where I Enter 4.33 avg rating — 2,074 ratings
64.
Wench
Wench 3.73 avg rating — 18,203 ratings
65.
Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology
Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology 4.35 avg rating — 920 ratings
66.
Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth
Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth 4.24 avg rating — 21,147 ratings
67.
The Taste of Salt
The Taste of Salt 3.45 avg rating — 2,009 ratings
68.
The Coldest Winter Ever (The Coldest Winter Ever, #1)
The Coldest Winter Ever (The Coldest Winter Ever, #1) 4.46 avg rating — 42,217 ratings
69.
Addicted
Addicted
by: Zane
4.24 avg rating — 20,836 ratings
69.
Ruthless Pamela Jean
Ruthless Pamela Jean 4.53 avg rating — 45 ratings
71.
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.
MAXINE
MAXINE 4.17 avg rating — 47 ratings
74.
Bitch Is the New Black: A Memoir
Bitch Is the New Black: A Memoir 3.29 avg rating — 841 ratings
75.
Ugly Ways
Ugly Ways 4.08 avg rating — 1,754 ratings
76.
Those Bones Are Not My Child
Those Bones Are Not My Child 3.52 avg rating — 541 ratings
77.
Daughter
Daughter 4.06 avg rating — 458 ratings
78.
32 Candles
32 Candles 4.19 avg rating — 5,875 ratings
78.
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 — 704 ratings
80.
The Other Side of Paradise
The Other Side of Paradise 4.20 avg rating — 2,131 ratings
80.
Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk
Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk 4.33 avg rating — 491 ratings
82.
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
83.
The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010
The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010 4.65 avg rating — 695 ratings
84.
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
84.
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
86.
Wild Stars Seeking Midnight Suns
Wild Stars Seeking Midnight Suns 4.14 avg rating — 768 ratings
87.
The Black Notebooks: An Interior Journey
The Black Notebooks: An Interior Journey 4.09 avg rating — 478 ratings
88.
My Soul to Take (African Immortals, #4)
My Soul to Take (African Immortals, #4) 4.13 avg rating — 1,262 ratings
89.
Plum Bun: A Novel Without a Moral
Plum Bun: A Novel Without a Moral 3.93 avg rating — 1,562 ratings
90.
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
91.
The Friends
The Friends
by: Rosa Guy
3.90 avg rating — 592 ratings
92.
Nappy Hair (Dragonfly Books)
Nappy Hair (Dragonfly Books) 3.91 avg rating — 812 ratings
93.
Of One Blood: Or, the Hidden Self
Of One Blood: Or, the Hidden Self 3.39 avg rating — 1,335 ratings
94.
A Small Place
A Small Place 4.05 avg rating — 17,325 ratings
95.
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
96.
Gathering of Waters
Gathering of Waters 4.01 avg rating — 2,797 ratings
97.
Daddy Was a Number Runner
Daddy Was a Number Runner 4.19 avg rating — 1,365 ratings
98.
When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip-Hop Feminist Breaks It Down
When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip-Hop Feminist Breaks It Down 3.99 avg rating — 2,103 ratings
99.
The Broke Diaries: The Completely True and Hilarious Misadventures of a Good Girl Gone Broke
The Broke Diaries: The Completely True and Hilarious Misadventures of a Good Girl Gone Broke 3.75 avg rating — 1,555 ratings
100.
Topdog/Underdog
Topdog/Underdog 3.83 avg rating — 6,921 ratings
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