Recs if you like The Girl with the Louding Voice...

this is your reminder to read books by Black authors all month, all year, every year— not just during Black History Month. it’s crucially important to be able to diversify your reading and your bookshelves. expand your mind, your perspectives, your knowledge, and your taste. if you don’t know where to start, here are some recommendations!

Here's every book so far from BOTM's monthly shortlist since February 2015 for anyone who wants to read them all like I do!

an engaging collection that captures the depth and diversity of African storytelling, blending tradition, history, and modern life through powerful voices.

A few lovely books written by Black women spanning every genre!

Goodreads 80 of the Past Decade’s Very Popular Fiction from 2016 - 2025

2025 Broken Country - Isola 2024 The Women - Real Americans 2023 Tom Lake - Weyward 2022 Demon Copperhead - Diamond Eye 2021 Reading List - Cloud Cuckoo Land 2020 My Dark Vanessa - Vanishing Half 2019 Giver of Stars - Girl, Woman, Other 2018 Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell - Where the Crawdads Sing 2017 Stay with Me - 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo 2016 Lilac Girls - Behold the Dreamers

Literary and contemporary fiction with Black FMCs that will make your heart break into a million pieces and then knit itself back together (hopefully). Specifically wanted to curate books that all also come with tough topics and hefty doses of warnings for major possible triggers. Check the comments for specific warnings tagged to individual books (mostly major stuff, recommend doing some research before diving in if there are other things you don't want to read about no matter how minor).

The top 100 books of the 2020’s as voted on by Goodreads members

How many have you read?

The top 5 have switched order, they should be: 5) I’m Glad My Mom Died 4) The Midnight Library 3) The House in the Cerulean Sea 2) Project Hail Mary

1. Addie LaRue

Books that really should be read via audiobook instead of physical/digital copy. Production, narrator, experience all top tier. Memoirs narrated by the authors.

Diverse voices, from trailblazers to storytellers, that illuminate leadership, resilience, and the messy realities of influence.

Books that highlight the ways gender roles have harmed women, often through assigning an inherent wickedness to the entire gender and using suffering or punishment to “liberate” women from our wickedness. Starting with The Yellow Wallpaper, in which Victorian standards for women expected purity and perfection. Imperfection, whether it be postpartum depression or strong opinions, was labeled as female hysteria and treated in a way that only further harmed women. Exploring empowerment & autonomy

Reading Glasses Podcast frequently recommended books.

These books are chosen for “Read with Jenna” by Jenna Bush Hager.

Latest book added: September 2026

Books set in Africa or written by African authors.

every month, são paulo's public library creates a 10 book list based on a different country, here are the books of 2026 (january = france, february = england, march = italy, april = south korea, may = portugal, june = russia, july = usa, august = nigeria)

The Reading Program is a cherished tradition that brings together members to explore, share and discuss books.

Enlightening subjects in diverse genres, including: -Education for Mission -Leadership Development -Nurturing for Community -Social Action -Spiritual Growth

by jenna bush hager