Black History Month reading suggestions
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To celebrate Black History Month, we have selected our choice of recommended titles. Follow the link to request the title to collect from your local library. You will need your library card and PIN. Forgotten your PIN?
Adult Fiction
The List by Yomi Adegoke
Couples Retreat by Lorraine Brown
The Unfortunates by J. K. Chukwu
Tremor – Teju Cole
Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks
And So I Roar by Abi Daré
Dazzling by Chikodili Emelumadu
Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi
A House for Alice by Diana Evans
James by Percival Everett
Harlem After Midnight by Louise Hare
The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris
Moon Witch, Spider King by Marlon James
The World We Make by N. K. Jemisin
The Birdcatcher by Gayl Jones
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
Fast by the Horns by Moses McKenzie
Nightbloom by Peace A. Medie
Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley
Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson
Locks by Ashleigh Nugent
The Road to the Country by Chigozie Obioma
We Were Girls Once by Aiwanose Odafen
Losing the Plot by Derek Owusu
We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza
The Fraud by Zadie Smith
The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor
Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward
Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead
Adult Non-Fiction
African and Caribbean People in Britain: a History by Hakim Adi
An African History of Africa by Zeinab Badawi
Just Sayin’: My Life in Words by Malorie Blackman
Four Hundred Souls by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain
I Heard What You Said by Jeffrey Boakye
The Shoulders We Stand On by Preeti Dhillon
Maybe I Don’t Belong Here by David Harewood
Black British Lives Matter by Lenny Henry and Marcus Ryder
Black London by Avril Nanton and Jody Burton
The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama
This is Not America by Tomiwa Owolade
Afropean: Notes from Black Europe by Johny Pitts
Imperial Island by Charlotte Lydia Riley
How (Not) To Be Strong by Alex Scott
100 Great Black Britons by Patrick Vernon and Angelina Osbourne
Black History Walks by Tony Warner
Teenage Fiction
The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander
The Merciless Ones by Namina Forna
Love Radio by Ebony LaDelle
Everyone’s Thinking It by Aleema Omotoni
Influential by Amara Sage
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Love is a Revolution by Renée Watson
Teenage Non-Fiction
Musical Truth by Jeffrey Boakye
Black Joy by Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff and Timi Sotire
The Beautiful Struggle: A Memoir by Ta-Nehisi Coates
All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto by George M. Johnson
Black History Matters by Robin Walker
Migrants in Britain c. 800-present. Student book by Tony Warner
Children’s Fiction
Hey You! by Dapo Adeola
Amari and the Great Game by B. B. Alston
Look Up! by Nathan Bryon
The Case of the Chaos Monster by Patrice Lawrence
Portraits and Poison by J. T. Williams
Harbour Me by Jacqueline Woodson
Windrush Child by Benjamin Zephaniah
Children’s Non-fiction
Brilliant Black British History by Atinuke
Everyday Action, Everyday Change by Natalie Evans
Rosa Parks by Izzi Howell
The Extraordinary Life of Serena Williams by Shelina Janmohamed
Black and British by David Olusoga
You Can Do It by Marcus Rashford
Young, Gifted and Black by Jamia Wilson
Black History Matters by Robin Walker