With summer on the horizon, it’s the perfect time to pack up some great reads for your beach days, countryside getaways or anywhere you plan to unwind this season.
No matter if you’re into biographies, mysteries or romance novels, this year’s selection is truly impressive. Each book has a can’t-put-down quality that makes them must-haves for all your warm-weather adventures.
And the cherry on top? They’re all penned by Black authors.
Here are seven must-read titles you won’t want to miss this summer!
This is Not a Ghost Story: A Novel
by Amerie
Release date: June 10th
$27 – Buy
This is Not a Ghost Story is written by Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, Amerie. It follows the journey of a Black man who enters a bright light and arrives in Los Angeles. Although he can’t remember anything about his life or how he passed away, he becomes famous for being the first visible ghost.
Make Your Way Home
by Carrie R. Moore
Release date: July 15
$18 – Preorder
An anthology featuring 11 beautifully crafted stories set in the American South, Make Your Way Home revolves around Black characters navigating their journeys to discover love in spaces that do not always love them back.
Joy Goddess: A’Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance
by A’Lelia Bundles
Release date: June 10th
$27 – Buy
Joy Goddess is the biography of A’Lelia Walker, the daughter of Madam CJ Walker. This book, authored by her great-granddaughter, A’Lelia Bundles, transports readers to the Harlem Renaissance, immersing them in a lively community that created a vibrant culture and lifestyle in Harlem during the 1920s.
When We Ruled: The Rise and Fall of Twelve African Queens and Warriors
by Paula Akpan
Release date: April 24
$31 – Buy
Historian Paula Akpan examines the reign of 12 queens and warriors from various regions of Africa in her research. She details how these leaders rose to power and how they governed and represented their communities before colonization altered the course of history.
Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer’s Legendary Editorship
by – Dana A. Williams
Release date: June 17th
$30 – Buy
Many of us recognize Toni Morrison as the author of renowned novels like Beloved. However, in Toni at Random, Dana A. Williams, the Dean of the Graduate School at Howard University, explores Morrison’s role as an editor at Random House, sharing personal anecdotes from their conversations.
The book delves into the life of one of the most prolific writers of our time, shedding light on not only her well-known achievements, but also some of the lesser-known aspects of her legacy. It brings to the fore her crucial role as an editor who had a deep impact on shaping a key time in American publishing and literature.
The Great Misfortune of Stella Sedgwick
by S. Isabelle
Release date: July 8
$20 – Preorder
If you are a Bridgerton fan you are going to love The Great Misfortune of Stella Sedgwick. It’s a funny romance about a young Black woman in 1860s England who’s juggling her dream of becoming a writer with the expectations society had for women back then.
Coded Justice
by Stacey Abrams
Release date: July 15
$28 – Preorder
In the last installment of the Avery Keene thriller series, lawyer and former Georgia State Representative Stacey Abrams tells the story of a former Supreme Court clerk who has joined a renowned law firm in Washington, D.C. She is assigned to investigate a questionable death at a tech company that wants to change the medical field, but she needs to find out if this death points to something even more sinister
