Reads 365: No.15
February- Black Excellence
Black authors & Black experiences
Some of the books features heavy subject matter, so please be mindful of the content warnings and research them fully.
Your mental wellbeing matters.
You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
✨ Small-town prom queen campaign. One problem: Liz Lighty is Black, poor, and queer. None of which fits Campbell, Indiana's expectations.
Liz needs scholarship money for her dream music school. The solution? Become prom queen (scholarship included). The complication? Falling for Mack, her biggest competition. Leah Johnson's debut is a Black queer rom-com that's funny, sweet, and unapologetically joyful.
Think: To All The Boys I've Loved Before meets Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda with a Black queer girl at the centre.
💫 Perfect for:
• Rom-com lovers who want diversity
• Fans of heartwarming coming-out stories
• Anyone who loves prom drama with depth
⭐ Debut sensation
📚 Genre: Young Adult
🏳️🌈 Black Queer YA
#MarginsXReads #YouShouldSeeMeInACrown #LeahJohnson #BlackQueer #LGBTQ #QueerYA #BlackYA #RomCom #PromQueen #DiverseBooks
Passing
by Nella Larsen
1929. Harlem Renaissance. Two Black women. One passes for white. What happens when they meet again?
Nella Larsen's novella follows Irene Redfield's reunion with Clare Kendry, a childhood friend now "passing" as white. Larsen explores racial identity, desire, jealousy, and the violence of living in a body that society obsesses over. Slim, devastating, and newly adapted by Rebecca Hall starring Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga.
💫 Perfect for:
• Harlem Renaissance readers
• Anyone exploring racial identity
• Fans of the Netflix film
• Literary fiction lovers
📚 Genre: Literary Fiction
#MarginsXReads #BHM #Passing #NellaLarsen #HarlemRenaissance #1920s #RacialPassing #Netflix #TessaThompson #RuthNegga #ClassicLiterature #DiverseBooks
We Need New Names
by NoViolet Bulawayo
Darling grows up in Paradise (a shantytown in Zimbabwe), then immigrates to America. Neither place is what it promises.
NoViolet Bulawayo's debut follows Darling from playing in Paradise's dirt streets to freezing in Detroit, navigating two worlds that don't want her. Funny, heartbreaking, and a meditation on what we lose when we chase the American Dream.
💫 Perfect for:
• Immigration story readers
• Fans of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
• African diaspora literature seekers
• Coming-of-age enthusiasts
⭐ Man Booker Prize Finalist
🌍 Zimbabwean-American literature at its finest.
📚 Genre: Literary Fiction
#MarginsXReads #WeNeedNewNames #NoVioletBulawayo #Zimbabwean #AfricanLit #ManBookerPrize #Diaspora #Zimbabwe #DiverseBooks
Dhalgren
by Samuel R. Delany
1975. Samuel R. Delany writes 801 pages of queer Black sci-fi experimental fiction. It becomes a cult classic and changes science fiction forever.
In the ruined city of Bellona, time doesn't work right, the sky has two moons, and Kid (our bisexual protagonist) navigates sex, poetry, violence, and community. Dense, experimental, explicitly sexual, and utterly unique—this is sci-fi literature at its most ambitious.
Not an easy read. Absolutely worth it.
💫 Perfect for:
• Sci-fi readers wanting something challenging
• Fans of experimental fiction
• Anyone interested in LGBTQ+ sci-fi history
• Readers who love ambitious, weird books
🏳️🌈 Queer Black Sci-Fi Classic
📚 Genre: Science Fiction
#MarginsXReads #BHM #Dhalgren #SamuelRDelany #QueerSciFi #BlackSciFi #LGBTQ #ExperimentalFiction #CultClassic #1970s #ScienceFiction #Ambitious #DiverseBooks
The Famished Road
by Ben Okri
Azaro is an abiku, a spirit child who keeps dying and being reborn. This time, he decides to stay.
Ben Okri's Booker Prize-winning masterpiece blends Nigerian mythology, magical realism, and political commentary. As Nigeria approaches independence, Azaro witnesses poverty, violence, and the spirits who walk among us. Dense, dreamlike, and unlike anything else.
💫 Perfect for:
• Magical realism fans
• African literature readers
• Anyone who loves ambitious, lyrical prose
• Readers seeking spiritual narratives
🖤 Essential African literature
🏆BOOKER PRIZE WINNER
📚 Genre: Literary Fiction/Magical Realism
#MarginsXReads #BHM #TheFamishedRoad #BenOkri #BookerPrize #NigerianLit #MagicalRealism #AfricanLit #Mythology #Nigeria #Spiritual #DiverseBooks
Gorilla, My Love
by Toni Cade Bambara
Toni Cade Bambara's short stories are perfect. Not good. Not great. PERFECT.
This collection centers Black girls and women navigating Harlem, Brooklyn, and the South with humor, defiance, and community. The title story about a girl betrayed by the adults, is a masterclass in voice, rage, and childhood injustice.
Every writer should study Bambara. Every reader should experience her.
💫 Perfect for:
• Short story lovers
• Anyone who wants to study craft
• Readers seeking Black women's voices
• Fans of perfect, tight prose
⭐ Short story master
🖤 Harlem Renaissance influence
📚 Genre: Short Stories
#MarginsXReads #BHM #GorillaMyLove #ToniCadeBambara #ShortStories #BlackWomen #Harlem #LiteraryFiction #ShortStoryMaster #AmericanLiterature #DiverseBooks
February’s Black Excellence list