For What It's Worth


Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Tell Me Something Tuesday: Favorite books written by Black authors or featuring Black Characters

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. 

It is co-hosted by (Linda from Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell, Roberta from Offbeat YA, Jen from That’s What I’m Talking About, Berl's from Because Reading is Better than Real Life  and me) 

Join in by answering this weeks question in the comments or on your own blog.

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Question:  Share some of your favorite books written by Black authors or featuring Black characters

Answer: 

*All links go to the authors page on Goodreads


Romance: Talia Hibbert  She's probably most popular for her recent Brown Sisters series but I've been reading her since back in her self pub days. 

Her books are hilarious, tender, and often feature neurotypical, chronically ill characters and real life like periods, taking medications and needing naps lol

YA: 

Tiffany D. Jackson - I've only read Grown by her but the tale of a teen girl swept up in the allure of the music industry and an R. Kelly like scenario was a powerful story and I'm planning on reading more by the author. 

Brandi Colbert - I've read several books by Colbert: Finding Yvonne, The Revolution of Birdie Randolph, Pointe, Voting Booth and she is an amazingly talented writer. She's particularly good at writing difficult family dynamics and teen life realistically.

Jason Reynolds -  For Every One is his poem that he read at the unveiling of the Martin Luther King memorial, Long Way Down is a powerful story in poetry/verse about gun violence, Stamped: Racism, Anti-racism and You is a must read exploration of racism and antiracism in America. (If he's narrating the audio version of any of his books then I highly recommend reading it that way. His narration infuses a whole other level to his writing. 

And finally the Queen (IMHO) Elizabeth Acevedo - Acevedo writes about Dominican-American and Afro-Caribbean culture with girls that break stereotypes and expectations, show the reality but always offer hope and are simply the best. The Poet X was the first book in verse that I actually made it through (and now I'm hooked), The Fire on High took a slightly lighter, more magical route but still wove a tale single motherhood, responsibilities, dreams and determination, while Clap When You Land celebrated fierce girls and found family. The audiobook versions area  must - she does her own narration and WOW - she's amazing. I could listen to her all day. 

Those are just off the top of my head but I could name dozens more:  Leah Johnson - You Should See Me in a Crown was an adorable Sapphic YA debut, Akwaeke Emezi - PET is their YA debut about the monsters that lurk among us and the adults that ignore them - featuring a transgender lead character, Jodan Ifueko wrote the excellent African inspired debut YA fantasy Raybearer, Ibi Zoboi's P&P retelling - Pride, and the powerful Punching the Air about rehabilitation and the prison system (co-written with Yuseff Salaam) just to name a few more.

Narrator: As I've said many times recently, audiobooks were a real struggle for me and I've just recently been able to listen. 

One of the factors was captivating narrators like Jason Reynolds and Elizabeth Acevedo narrating their own books but my FAVORITE narrator is Joniece Abbott-Pratt.

I first listened to her narrate Raybearer and I loved her voice so much that I read Grown and Caul Baby - two books I had no desire to read prior - because I saw she was narrating. She is so wonderful getting the emotions just right and deftly handles different genres, tones and characters. 

20 comments:

  1. Long Way Down is one of my favorite books ever. I have Pet sitting on my TBR shelf. Maybe this month would be a good time to read it.

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    1. I'm so happy I stumbled into one of his signings at ALA. I had no idea who he was but now I love his books..

      PET is so unusual and really good. Hope you like it too.

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  2. I actually read six of those, all fabulous. I am getting goosebumps just thinking about Grown. Jackson did an incredible job with that story

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    1. I was kind of blown away by Grown. I had only picked it up because of the narrator but it was an amazing book.

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  3. Thanks for sharing these. I have only started to read more diversely in the last few years. My two favorite books by black authors are The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, and Biased by Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt.

    Angie Thomas' book opened my eyes so much. I've always been pro BLM, but I didn't realize how much I didn't know until I read that book. I love Trevor Noah so much and I loved reading about his life in South Africa. And, I really learned a lot from Dr. Eberhardt. Her book was very informative about implicit bias and many other types of biases and how they play a role in racism and other -isms.

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    1. I have Born a Crime but STILL haven't read it yet. The print is so tiny lol I need to get it on audio.

      I saw THuG but haven't read the book.

      Karen @For What It's Worth

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  4. Wow- I haven't read any of these. I haven't listened to enough audio to really have a favorite narrator either. I keep saying if I did audio my reading total would shoot up!

    Oh, and I haven't started S5 of The expanse yet. Thinking of doing that tonight!

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    1. We liked it! Curious what you think.

      Keep trying audio. It took me YEARS of practice lol

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  5. I really enjoyed Talia H's Brown Sisters. I've picked up a couple of her older stuff, but haven't read it yet. Thanks for providing your recommendations, especially a few narrators!

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    1. I really liked A Girl Like Her and her M/M romance (I can't remember the name).

      I also love the narrator for her Brown sister series.

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  6. Thanks for sharing! I loved Long Way Down and With the Fire on High. I still need to read Clap When You Land. I'm also a huge fan of an older book called Tears of a Tiger by Sharon M. Draper.

    Lauren @ www.shootingstarsmag.net

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    1. I haven't heard of that one - I'll have to look it up.

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  7. Long Way Down is a great one! I also loved Clap When You Land! The Hate U Give is great of course, Some Other Now by Sarah Everett is a huge fave, The Freedom Race by Lucinda Roy, (Me) Moth by Amber McBride, Dread Nation by Justina Ireland, Early Departures by Justin A. Reynolds, The Space Between Worlds by Macaiah Johnson... okay that is all I have off the top of my head but I loved them all!

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    1. I will look them up, The only one I did read and didn't love was Dread Nation. I should have loved it because...zombies lol but I didn't.

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  8. A week late to tmst *hides in shame*
    Great picks!

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  9. I loved Clap When You Land. I need to check to see if she has anything new coming up. 🤗

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    1. She seems to have one book release per year.

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  10. When it comes to authors, Kennedy Ryan is right at the top for me. She is such an amazing storyteller. Brittainy Cherry cam be hit or miss but I've still enjoyed several by her. For narrators, Jakobi Diem is so, so good. That man's voice is like melted chocolate. *swoon*

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    1. I've read and enjoyed a few Kennedy Ryan ( I think Longshot per your rec). I'll check out the other author and narrtor.

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