Reading

Black History Month

Black History Month is marked every October in the UK, find out more on the Black History Month Website

Search the online catalogue to find or request the following books in a library near you, or search BorrowBox to read for free online

Black History Month (Books for Adults)

Fiction

  • Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  • Roots by Alex Haley
  • Beloved by Toni Morrison
  • Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
  • Swing Time by Zadie Smith
  • The Help by Kathryn Stockett
  • Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Baldwin
  • The Lonely Londoners by Samuel Selvon
  • Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
  • Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi
  • Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi
  • The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
  • The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
  • Their Eyes are Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
  • Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
  • Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
  • Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi
  • Ayiti by Roxane Gay
  • Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
  • Tell Me Your Secret by Dorothy Koomson
  • Ruby by Cynthia Bond
  • The Color Purple by Alice Walker
  • Down the River Unto the Sea by Walter Mosley
  • A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
  • Bluebird, Bluebird: A Novel by Attica Locke
  • Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo
  • The Sellout by Paul Beatty
  • Here Comes The Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn
  • An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
  • The Freedom Artist by Ben Okri

Non-fiction

  • Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation by Jeff Chang
  • Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala
  • The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire by David Olusoga
  • Bob Marley: The Untold Story by Chris Salewicz
  • Black Poppies: Britain's Black Community and the Great War by Stephen Bourne
  • I Can't Breathe: The Killing that Started a Movement by Matt Taibbi
  • Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
  • Windrush: The Irresistable Rise of Multi-Racial Britain by Mike Phillips
  • Abolitionism: A Very Short Introduction by Richard S. Newman
  • Africa's Long Road to Independence: The Many Histories of a Continent by Keith Somerville
  • Forgotten: The Untold Story of D-Day's Black Heroes, at Home and at War by Linda Hervieux
  • I Am Not Your Negro by James Baldwin
  • Grime Kids: The Inside Story of the Global Grime Takeover by DJ Target
  • Black and Britain: A Forgotten History by David Olusoga
  • Back to Black: Retelling Black Radicalism for the 21st Century by Kehunde Andrews
  • The Making of Black Lives Matter: A Brief History of an Idea by Christophe Lebron
  • The Good Immigrant by Nikesh Shukla
  • They Can't Kill Us All: The Story of Black Lives Matter byWesley Lowery
  • Born a Crime and Other Stories by Trevor Noah
  • This is Grime by Hattie Collins
  • Chuck D presents This Day in Rap and Hip-Hop History by Chuck D
  • Rise Up: The Merky Story So Far by Stormzy
  • The Penguin Atlas of African History by Colin McEvedy
  • Eskiboy by Wiley
  • The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah: The Autobiography by Benjamin Zephaniah
  • A Short History of Slavery by James Walvin
  • Inner City Pressure: The Story of Grime by Dan Hancox
  • Island People: The Caribbean and the World by Joshua Jelly-Schapiro
  • Black British History: New Perspectives by Hakim Adi
  • Sounds Like London: 100 Years of Black Music in the Capital by Lloyd Bradley
  • Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson by Geoffrey C. Ward
  • Notes from Africa: A Musical Journey with Youssou N'Dour by Jenny Cathcart
  • Black, Listed: Black Culture Explored by Jeffrey Boakye
  • Bloody Foreigners: The Story of Immigration to Britain by Robert Winder
  • Arthur Ashe: A Life by Raymond Arsenault
  • Voices of the Windrush Generation: The Real Story Told By The People Themselves by David Matthews
  • Kumukanda by Kayombo Chingonyi
  • Afropean: Notes from Black Europe by Johny Pitts
  • Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution by Simon Schama
  • The Oxford Companion to Black British History by David Dabydeen
  • Ali: The Fight America Didn't Want by Russell Routledge
  • Memphis 68: The Tragedy of Southern Soul by Stuart Cosgrove
  • Hidden Figures: The Untold Story of the African American Women Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
  • Homecoming: Voices of the Windrush Generation by Colin Grant
  • They Don't Teach This by Eniola Aluka
  • Lady Sings the Blues by Billie Holiday
  • Negro with a Hat: The Rise and Fall of Marcus Garvey by Colin Grant
  • Black Artists in British Art: A History from 1950 to the Present by Eddie Chambers
  • The Making of Black Working Class Britain by Ron Ramedin
  • The Heart of the Race: Black Women's Lives in Britain by Beverley Bryan
  • Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles by Richard Dowden
  • I & I: Marley, Tosh and Wailer by Colin Grant
  • Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama by David J. Garrow
  • Dare Not Linger: The Presidential Years by Nelson Mandela
  • Harlem 69: The Future of Soul by Stuart Cosgrove
  • The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr by Martin Luther King Jr
  • There Ain't No Black in the Union Jack: The Cultural Politics of Race and Nation by Paul Gilroy
  • The Three Degrees by Paul Rees
  • Black Britain: A Photographic History by Paul Gilroy
  • Bass Culture: When Reggae Was King by Lloyd Bradley
  • Black Klansman: Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of Lifetime by Ron Stallworth
  • The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race by Jesmyn Ward
  • Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
  • Maya Angelou: The Complete Poetry by Maya Angelou
  • England's Other Countrymen: Black Tudor Society by Onyeka Nubia
  • Hip Hop Raised Me by DJ Semtex
  • Motown: The Sound of Young America by Adam White
  • Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain by Peter Fryer
  • Becoming by Michelle Obama

Black History Month (Books for Young People)

Fiction

  • Black Enough: Stories of Being Young and Black in America by Ibi Aanu Zoboi
  • Noughts + Crosses by Malorie Blackman
  • Crossfire by Malorie Blackman
  • Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
  • The Sun is also a Star by Nicola Yoon
  • The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds
  • The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
  • On The Come Up by Angie Thomas
  • Nothing But the Truth by Dick Lehr
  • Oh My Gods by Alexandra Sheppard
  • Indigo Donut by Patrice Lawrence
  • The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta
  • The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
  • Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds
  • Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
  • Becoming Dinah by Kit De Waal
  • Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Black History Month (Books for Children)

Fiction

  • Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
  • Look Up! by Nathan Bryon
  • How High The Moon by Karyn Parsons
  • Hair Love by Matthew Cherry
  • Billy and the Dragon by Nadia Shireen
  • No Longer Alone by Joseph Coelho
  • Baby Goes to Market by Atinuke
  • Julian the Mermaid by Jessica Love
  • The Tunnels Below by Nadine Wild-Palmer
  • Astro Girl by Ken Wilson-Max
  • Mira's Curly Hair by Maryam Al Serkal
  • Patina by Jason Reynolds

Further reading

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