Reads 365: No.16
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.
SLAY
by Brittney Morris
Kiera is a straight-A student by day. By night? She built SLAY, a secret online game where Black kids can be Black superheroes in medieval fantasy.
When a teen is murdered over a dispute in the game, the media blames SLAY and by extension, Kiera. Brittney Morris's debut celebrates Black culture, gaming, and the spaces we create when the world won't make room for us.
For every Black kid who's been told they "talk white." For every gamer told gaming isn't for them. For every person who code-switches to survive.
💫 Perfect for:
• Gamers of all kinds
• Readers interested in tech & culture
• Anyone exploring code-switching
• Fans of Black Girl Magic
⭐ Black girl gamer protagonist
🖤 Celebrates Black culture
🎮 Gaming Culture
📚 Genre: Young Adult
#MarginsXReads #BHM #SLAY #BrittneyMorris #BlackGamer #Gaming #BlackYA #CodeSwitching #BlackCulture #TechCulture #DiverseBooks #BlackGirlMagic
Brown Girl, Brownstones
by Paule Marshall
Brooklyn. 1939. Barbadian immigrants. The American Dream looks different from the inside.
Selina Boyce grows up in Brooklyn's Barbadian community, caught between her mother's fierce ambition and her father's dreaming. Paule Marshall's debut is a coming-of-age story about immigration, identity, and what it costs to survive in America.
💫 Perfect for:
• Immigration story readers
• Coming-of-age enthusiasts •
Caribbean-American literature seekers
• Fans of Brooklyn narratives
⭐ Coming-of-age classic
🖤 Influential debut
📚 Genre: Literary Fiction
#MarginsXReads #BHM #BrownGirlBrownstones #PauleMarshall #CaribbeanLit #BarbadianAmerican #Brooklyn #Immigration #ComingOfAge #1950s #DiverseBooks
Corregidora
by Gayl Jones
"They burned all the documents... That's why they want to leave evidence. And that's what makes their children."
Ursa Corregidora is a blues singer carrying generations of trauma. Her great-grandmother and grandmother were enslaved by a Brazilian slaveholder who fathered them both. Gayl Jones's debut explores how sexual violence echoes through generations, how we carry history in our bodies, and the blues as survival.
Devastating. Essential. Unforgettable.
💫 Perfect for:
• Readers exploring generational trauma
• Fans of Toni Morrison
• Anyone interested in blues & Black music
• Literary fiction that challenges
🎵 Blues & Black music culture
📚 Genre: Literary Fiction
🖤 Black History Month ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
#MarginsXReads #BHM #Corregidora #GaylJones #BlackWomen #Blues #LiteraryFiction #ToniMorrison #1970s #Essential #DiverseBooks
The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor
Seven Black women. One dead-end street. Stories of survival, community, and resilience.
Gloria Naylor's debut weaves together the lives of seven women living in a decaying housing project: Mattie, Etta Mae, Kiswana, Lucielia Louise, Cora Lee, Lorraine, and Theresa. Each chapter is one woman's story; together they're a portrait of Black women's strength, pain, and sisterhood.
National Book Award winner. Oprah Winfrey miniseries. Essential.
💫 Perfect for:
• Readers who love interconnected stories
• Fans of Black women's literature
• Community-focused narratives
• Anyone seeking powerful character studies
⭐ National Book Award Winner
🖤Essential 1980s literature
📚 Genre: Literary Fiction
#MarginsXReads #BHM #WomenOfBrewsterPlace #GloriaNaylor #NationalBookAward #BlackWomen #Community #InterconnectedStories #1980s #DiverseBooks
Waiting to Exhale
by Terry McMillan
Four Black women. Phoenix, Arizona. Careers, dating, friendship, and trying to breathe.
Savannah, Robin, Bernadine, and Gloria are successful, smart, and tired of waiting for Mr. Right. Terry McMillan's phenomenon changed Black romance, proved Black women's stories sell, and created a cultural moment. The 1995 film with Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett cemented its icon status.
"Why do I have to be strong all the time?"
💫 Perfect for:
• Romance & friendship readers
• Fans of ensemble casts
• Anyone who loved the film
• Black women's contemporary fiction
⭐ Cultural phenomenon
🖤 Changed Black romance
💕 Friendship & dating
📚 Genre: Literary Fiction/Romance
#MarginsXReads #BHM #WaitingToExhale #TerryMcMillan #BlackRomance #BlackWomen #Friendship #WhitneyHouston #AngelaBasset #1990s #CulturalPhenomenon #DiverseBooks
The Water Dancer
by Ta-Nehisi Coates
"You are a dancer, and the pounding footfalls of the world are your rhythm, and your duty is to bend it as you see fit."
Hiram Walker was born into slavery, but he has a gift. He can transport people through water and memory. Ta-Nehisi Coates's first novel brings magical realism to the Underground Railroad, exploring how memory becomes resistance, how trauma lives in the body, and how we save ourselves and each other.
💫 Perfect for:
• Fans of Coates's nonfiction
• Magical realism lovers
• Readers interested in slavery narratives
• Anyone who loved The Underground Railroad
⭐ NYT Bestseller
✨ Magical Realism
📚 Genre: Historical Fiction/Magical Realism
#MarginsXReads #BHM #TheWaterDancer #TaNehisiCoates #MagicalRealism #UndergroundRailroad #Slavery #OprahsBookClub #HistoricalFiction #DiverseBooks
Ring Shout
by P. Djèlí Clark
1920s Georgia. The Ku Klux Klan isn't just racist — they're ACTUAL demons. And Maryse and her friends hunt them with swords and magic.
P. Djèlí Clark's novella reimagines Reconstruction as Lovecraftian horror, where the KKK summons monsters and Black women warriors fight back with magic, steel, and resistance. D.W. Griffith's "Birth of a Nation" opened a portal. It's time to close it.
Afrofuturist revenge fantasy at its finest.
💫 Perfect for:
• Horror fans wanting social commentary
• Lovecraft readers seeking better stories
• Anyone who loves monster-hunting
• Afrofuturism enthusiasts
👹 Afrofuturist Horror
⭐ Revenge fantasy
📚 Genre: Horror/Fantasy
#MarginsXReads #BHM #RingShout #PDjèlíClark #Afrofuturism #Horror #Lovecraft #KKK #BlackFantasy #Revenge #MagicRealism #DiverseBooks
February’s Black Excellence list