we were girls together
books about the beauty and heartbreak of lifelong, ever-evolving female friendships. oh, to have been children together! to have grown up together, or to have grown apart!






1001 Books to Read Before You Die
Based on the list/book published in 2006, general editor Peter Boxall.






โtiny bookshopโ books ๐
books featured in the cozy video game โtiny bookshopโ






assigned by frankie
almost every single book mentioned* on Frankie's Shelf youtube channel because their taste is wild and i love it.
updated as frankie posts. *mentioned as in the book is the focus of the video, listened in the description, or offhandedly said.






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






Read Like an English Major
Books for those who want to be well-read without the debt (created by someone with said debt)
Note: I will be deleting my PB account within the next two weeks, and I believe this list will be erased. Feel free to screenshot it if you see anything that interests you! โบ๏ธ 3/17/2026






Read Until You Understand
novels, poetry, literary criticism, and history books by Black authors referenced in Farah Jasmine Griffinโs Read Until You Understand; The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature โ forming a type of Black literary canon






toni morrison bootleg side quest
i am reading every toni morrison novel in publication order so feel free to join me! comment if you finished:
๐ฅ5 books - you will get a fun emoji ๐ all the books - you will get a fun emoji and bragging rights






Black Feminism
Essential writings from Black feminists.






Tiny Fables
All fiction books that appear in the Tiny Bookshop catalogue! Would sort them by genre as I read along.






โจ๏ธ๐โจ๏ธThe power of friendshipโจ๏ธ๐โจ๏ธ
Maybe the one piece was the friendships we made along the way.
These are all the suggestions the community graciously provided after I asked for friendship book recs (plus some of my own).
This list include all types of friendship dynamics from wholesome and life-affirming to toxic and obsessive. Enjoy!






Quickies! Books that are 200 pages or less
I see a few lists on here with this theme, but they were short themselves - and I was looking for a more diverse selection. So, thought I'd make my own list and share it! Nice for reading goals, but mostly, I like breaking up the rhythm if I'm reading something exceptionally long.






Black Classics
A curation of Black classic novels, poems, essays, and more from across the diaspora. Fiction and Non-Fiction. More will be added, recs welcome.






Friendship โ Time ๐ฐ ?
novels that track friendships throughout time. full of complex childhood comparison trauma, friend break ups and perhaps reconciliations, shifting friend group dynamics, and the impact of age on our most foundational relationships.






In Her Tears, A Black Woman's Strength
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).






Black Womanhood โ Toni Morrison Edition
An exploration of black womanhood through the great works of Toni Morrison






weird girlhood(s)
the books that are most interesting, inventive, and complex for the girlhood studies grad student in me. whose โgirlhoodโ are we talking about? iโm thinking of girlhood as a liminal, queer, socially constructed, often traumatic, uncanny space.






20 Classics under 250 Pages
For when your attention span is broken and your TBR list is judging you.






Service95 Book Club
Service95 Book Club Monthly Reads + more and more books from their lists :)






book recs for yellow readers
according to read your color on substack | updated periodically





