• Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United

WHERE BLACK CULTURE, COMMUNITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS MEET

Sign up for ESSENCE Newsletters the keep the Black women at the forefront of conversation.

Your email is required.
Your email is in invalid format.
Confirm email is required.
Email did not match.
Select the newsletters you'd like to receive:
Please select at least one option.
By clicking Subscribe Now, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
      • Paint The Polls Black
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · Entertainment

21 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2021

Make some room on your bookshelf for these highly anticipated picks!
21 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2021
JGI/Jamie Grill
By Keyaira Boone · Updated January 5, 2021

Twenty twenty-first’s crop of beach reads, complex satires, self-help books, and personal essay collections are full of nuanced takes on the Black experience transporting readers from the swelter of Florida sidewalks to old money enclaves in New England. 

Scribes are visiting different settings, and asking new questions in their work after a year of confinement and contemplation… Black scientists are encouraging us to look to the heavens for answers… After the natural hair community birthed changes in the media and legal representation, Black poets are connecting cultural traditions to spiritual experiences… Political insiders are inspiring us to question every aspect of our country’s constitutional legacy… And, lastly, while swipes of the thumb may be passing for courtship off the page, today’s Black writers are keeping romance alive.

See the 21 books we are most excited about reading in 2021 below. 

01
Girl Gurl Grrrl: On Womanhood and Belonging in the Age of Black Girl Magic by Kenya Hunt
The international fashion director reflects on what it feels like to be the only Black woman in the room in this collection of heartfelt essays. She describes what it feels like to be isolated in a fashion industry that lacks cultural nuance and questions the meaning of #BlackGirlMagic. The collection also features input from some of the biggest names in tech, fashion, and literature including Queenie author Candice-Carty Williams.
21 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2021
Amistad
Shop Now
02
Edge Control For The Soul by Brianna Laren
Brianna Laren looks to the natural hair lexicon to describe daily obstacles Black women face in this book of poetry. Merging Black beauty rituals with self-discovery, she presents a journey from “breakage” to “new growth.”
21 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2021
Black Girl Black Books Publishing
Shop Now
03
Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour (January 5)
The lure of a tech startup causes a young Black man named Darren to sacrifice his closest relationships in this bold satire about corporate sales tactics. Surrounded by coworkers who are openly racist, Darren manages to thrive by commodifying his Blackness and keeping the mission above his humanity. Pick this up if you’re exhausted by LLC Twitter.
21 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2021
HMH Books
Shop Now
04
Black Girl In Love (with Herself) A Guide To Self-love, Healing And Creating The Life You Truly Deserve by Trey Anthony (January 5)
Award-winning playwright Trey Anthony urges Black women to reject the roles of family ATM and clique patsy in this motivational book. Discover sharp sample language for confronting microaggressions, setting personal boundaries and redirecting negative conversations towards more appealing topics in its pages.
21 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2021
Hay House Inc.
Shop Now
05
Bevelations: Lessons from a Mutha, Auntie, Bestie by Bevy Smith (January 12)
The news correspondent, pop culture authority and radio host shares how she went from a luxury advertising director to one of our favorite television personalities in this memoir. Learn how she stepped beyond corporate boundaries to create a life full of glamour by listening to her gut.
21 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2021
Andy Cohen Books
Shop Now
06
Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas (January 12)
Angie Thomas introduces readers to the world that birthed Starr and Seven Carter in this prequel to The Hate U Give. Concrete Rose follows their father Maverick Carter as he sacrifices his boyhood and jeopardizes his safety to provide for his family.
21 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2021
Balzer + Bray
Shop Here
07
Just as I Am: A Memoir by Cicely Tyson (January 26)
Before the award-winning actress received the Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama, Cicely Tyson was a timid girl sitting in a church pew. The proud New Yorker takes readers on her journey from shy child to screen legend.
21 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2021
HarperCollins
Shop Now
08
Surviving The White Gaze: A Memoir by Rebecca Carroll (February 2)
Rebecca Carroll describes her experience going from the sole Black child in a sleepy New Hampshire to a young woman fighting to define her relationship to her Blackness. Find out how she overcomes her social isolation, birth mother’s dismissals, and her adoptive parents’ ignorance to develop her own ideas about family, faith, and friendship.
21 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2021
Simon & Schuster
Shop Now
09
Milk Blood Heat by Dantiel Moniz (February 2)
Characters wade through family obligations, and personal contradictions in this collection of short stories set in sunshine state. Study the intergenerational struggles of a group of people fighting to define themselves in North Florida and be forced to think twice before shaming their choices.
21 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2021
Grove Press
Shop Now
10
Professional Troublemaker: The Fear-Fighter Manual Book by Luvvie Ajayi Jones (March 2)
Luvvie Ajayi Jones reveals the ways imposter syndrome has threatened her writing career and argues truth tellers could do with some practice in this follow-up to 2016’s I’m Judging You. Use it to prepare for your next big win.
21 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2021
Penguin Life
Shop Now
11
Life After Death by Sister Souljah (March 2)
Twenty years after trying to outsmart the game landed her in a cell, Winter Santiaga returns to the streets. With her family’s drug dealing empire in shambles and her siblings scattered across the country, she’s is faced with the same temptations and dangers at the close of her sentence.
21 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2021
Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Shop Now
12
The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey Into Dark Matter, Spacetime & Dreams Deferred by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein (March 9)
Celebrated scientist Dr. Prescod-Weinstein uncovers how systematic racism limits humanity’s potential. Using the universe as her classroom, she highlights the value of equality in laboratories and society at large.
21 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2021
Bold Type Books
Shop Now
13
Get Good with Money: Ten Simple Steps to Becoming Financially Whole by Tiffany “Budgetnista” Aliche (March 30)
The financial influencer presents a ten-step plan for making the most of your income at any tax bracket.
21 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2021
Rodale Books
Shop Now
14
The Final Revival Of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton (April 20)
We don’t know what we love most about this book. The fact its heroine is reminiscent of Grace Jones and Tina Turner and the readers takes a journey through the colorful-and-complicated life of being a 70s rock ‘n’ roll goddess; its narrator is 40-something media maven with gorgeous locks; or that it’s the debut novel by former ESSENCE deputy editor Dawnie Walton. Still, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is a must-read when it hits our hands this spring.
21 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2021
Simon & Schuster
15
Summer on The Bluffs – Sunny Hostin
Secrets, and scandals collide in this juicy read from the Emmy award-winning lawyer and journalist set in the exclusive Black beach community.
21 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2021
William Morrow
Shop Now
16
While Justice Sleeps – Stacey Abrams
Set in the chambers of our nation’s highest court this complicated thriller from the political dynamo will shake your beliefs about politics, health care, and family ties. Blazing through the pages might inspire you to rethink your ballot section and double check that HR paperwork.
21 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2021
Penguin Random House
Shop Now
17
How to Find a Princess: Runaway Royals by Alyssa Cole (May 25)
Pause your third rewatch of Bridgerton (we’re not judging) to spend time with this sexy royal romance. Makeda Hicks learns her grandmother’s tryst with an Iberian Prince has left her as heir to the country’s monocracy. After losing her job and her girlfriend, she’s more interested in getting her life back than taking the throne but a change in circumstance, and a sexy stranger makes her think some cash and crown might be just what she needs.
21 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2021
Avon
Shop Here
18
A Lowcountry Bride by Preslaysa Williams (6/1)
An ambitious fashion designer and an overwhelmed single father forge an unlikely relationship in a Charleston bridal shop. As the pair discover love in the low country, they consider what it means to be successful in the boardroom and beyond.
21 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2021
Avon
Shop Now
19
Seven Days in June by Tia Williams (June 8)
Generational gifts and curses passed from mother to daughter are threaded into this steamy summer romance.
21 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2021
Grand Central Publishing
Shop Now
20
Island Queen by Vanessa Riley (July 6)
Based on the life of Montserratian legend Dorothy Kirwan Thomas, this historical novel depicts the journey of a former slave who became one of the most prominent property holders in the Caribbean. After purchasing her own freedom Kirwan comes back for her family and pushes forward and creates an unforgettable legacy.
21 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2021
William Morrow
Shop Now
21
Baby Girl: Better Known as Aaliyah – Kathy Iandoli (8/17)
Extensive research is combined with a series of exclusive interviews to introduce us to the mastery behind the icon.
21 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2021
Atria Books
Buy Now
COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now