• 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

#SummerReads: 14 Books By Black Authors To Add To Your Bookshelf

You might not be able to luxuriate on a beach, but these books could take you there.
14 Summer Books By Black Authors To Add To Your Reading List
By Joi-Marie McKenzie · Updated December 6, 2020

While beach reading might be a bit different this year due to obvious reasons that doesn’t mean you can’t escape the confines of your own home by going on a written getaway.

You might not be able to luxuriate on a beach this year, but these books could definitely take you there. You’ve just got use your imagination!

ESSENCE has selected 14 books by Black authors that are so necessary to read right now–from children’s books to romance novels. Whether it’s a love story of which Black women rarely get to be the star, or the uncovering of Black history that needs to be passed down throughout generations, these books tell our story.

Check out which books to binge right now:

01
It’s About Damn Time (May 5)
Arlan Hamilton went from being on food stamps to breaking into the boys’ club of Silicon Valley as a Black gay woman, no less. Enough said.
14 Summer Books By Black Authors To Add To Your Reading List
Buy Now
02
My Vanishing Country (May 19)
Bakari Sellers, who was the youngest Black elected official, details his life as a young man in the poorest state in the U.S., South Carolina. He also sheds light on the rural and forgotten people in his state, who are dealing with dwindling factories, hospitals and media attention.
14 Summer Books By Black Authors To Add To Your Reading List
Buy Now
03
The Vanishing Half (June 2)
14 Summer Books By Black Authors To Add To Your Reading List
Buy Now
04
A Song Below Water (June 2)
Bethany C. Morrow writes about Black mermaids and sisterhood, which proves to be the strongest black girl magic ever invented.
14 Summer Books By Black Authors To Add To Your Reading List
Buy Now
05
All the Things We Never Knew (June 9)
Two Texas basketball stars meet on the court and lock eyes. Next thing you know they’re intertwined in a whirlwind romance in this YA novel, but they’re both keeping secrets.
14 Summer Books By Black Authors To Add To Your Reading List
Buy Now
06
Your Hidden Superpower (June 9)
Good Morning America correspondent and anchor Adrienne Bankert writes about the transformative power of kindness.
14 Summer Books By Black Authors To Add To Your Reading List
Buy Now
07
Twisted: The Tangled History of Black Hair Culture (June 23)
BBC race correspondent Emma Dabiri explores how Black hair and its texture has been politicized and stigmatized. From pre-colonial Africa to the modern day natural hair movement, Dabiri’s research leads to self love and acceptance.
14 Summer Books By Black Authors To Add To Your Reading List
Buy Now
08
Party of Two (June 23)
No one writes a love story like Jasmine Guillory and in this read we meet Olivia Monroe, who’s just moved to LA to start her own law firm. That’s when she meets a cute (White) man at a hotel bar. Here we go…
14 Summer Books By Black Authors To Add To Your Reading List
Buy Now
09
Take A Hint, Dani Brown (June 23)
Danika Brown wants one thing: an easy “lay,” no matter the gender. But when she meets security guard Zafir Ansari, who helps her during a workplace drill gone wrong, the moment goes viral and now the whole world, it seems, wants Dani to really fall in love. But can she rise to the occasion? Does she even want to?
14 Summer Books By Black Authors To Add To Your Reading List
Buy Now
10
Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir (July 28)
This memoir details the horrific murder of the Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Natasha Trethewey’s mother at the hands of her then step-father.
14 Summer Books By Black Authors To Add To Your Reading List
Buy Now
11
This Is My America (July 28)
In this young adult novel, Kim Johnson introduces us to 17-year-old Tracy, who needs help getting her innocent father off of death row. With time running out, her brother is now accused of killing a White girl.
14 Summer Books By Black Authors To Add To Your Reading List
Buy Now
12
The Death of Vivek Oji (August 4)
Nigerian writer Akwaeke Emezi takes us to a small village to introduce us to Vivek, who suffers from blackouts. Vivek finds refuge in a cousin Osita and realizes secrets abound.
14 Summer Books By Black Authors To Add To Your Reading List
Buy Now
13
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (August 11)
Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson explores America’s hidden caste system and the best way to dismantle it.
14 Summer Books By Black Authors To Add To Your Reading List
Buy Now
14
Harlem Grown (August 18)
If you’re looking for a new picture book for your little one, get into this true story of how Tony Hillery turned a vacant lot into a beautiful farm.
14 Summer Books By Black Authors To Add To Your Reading List
Buy Now
TOPICS:  Book Books Brit Bennett children essence Essence News family Gabrielle Union
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