A new book is as exciting to me as a new pair of Etta heels from J.Crew or pineapple upside down cake from Minton's. A while back, one of my favorite former Storefront students (I didn't forget about you Sonje!) asked me to put together a list of my favorite books. Before Black History Month gets away from me, I thought that I'd share 28 of my favorite titles. (Insert joke about February being the shortest month of the year here).
1. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: An epic novel by one of my new favorite authors; I am obsessed with everything she publishes. I'm still on the fence about that Beyoncé song though . . .
2. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou: I remember reading this during recess in 6th grade and being incredibly moved (ie. traumatized)
3. Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston by Valerie Boyd: Because who doesn't like a good trickster tale?
4. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Bulter. Dystopian fiction at its best. This is always very popular with my students.
5. Family by J. California Cooper: I've read everything that she's written and I have never been disappointed.
6. The Rage of the Black Middle Class by Ellis Cose: Because bougie bloggers get mad too.
7. Krik Krak by Edwidge Danticat: Read "Children of the Sea" and "Ville Rose."
8. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz: This is part novel; part history book. I love Diaz's latest book This is How You Lose Her as well.
9. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison: Quite possibly one of the most challenging and rewarding things ever written.
10. Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man by Henry Louis Gates Jr.: This is Gates at his best. Read the essay on Anatole Broyard.
11. The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley: Just because you've seen the Spike Lee film doesn't mean that you can skip the book. This was also a formative work during my middle school years.
12. A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry: A work of art ahead of its time.
13. A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid: Don't bring this on your next Caribbean vacation unless you want to feel guilty.
14. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston: Janie's hair was a character in itself.
15. Zami by Audre Lorde: A New Spelling of My Name: A Biomythography
16. Solider by June Jordan: A poet's life
17. Passing by Nella Larsen: I swear that there's a lesbian love affair in this one.
18. Browngirl Brownstone by Paule Marshall: This was on my 8th grade summer reading list and I hated it. Adulthood allowed me to connect with the characters, and I have come to the conclusion that Paule Marshall is terribly underrated.
19. Sula by Toni Morrison: I could have listed everything that Chloe Anthony Woffard has ever written. Her books are my roadmap.
20. The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor: Check out the TV movie also; probably the first depiction of a black lesbian couple on network TV.
21. Caucasia by Danzy Senna: Read "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" as well.
22. For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf: Because a Choreopoem and a Tyler Perry movie are not the same thing . . . I remember Kristina Kennedy performing a monologue from this in high-school.
23. White Teeth by Zadie Smith: Jacqueline Jenkins's favorite book.
24. The Blacker the Berry by Wallace Thurman: One of the finest works to come out of the Harlem Renaissance.
25. The Color Purple by Alice Walker: I loved the book AND the movie!
26. Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward: This book make me overuse the highlighting feature on my Kindle.
27. Joe Turner's Come and Gone by August Wilson: Read the entire Century Cycle.
28. The Colored Museum by George C. Wolfe: A totally underrated, hilarious, and thoughtful piece of American theater.
