Black History Month Reading Lists are a yearly tradition on the blog. Until now, I’ve featured mainly kids’ books, but this year, I want to share three titles for you, the adult, to read. I love good cover art, and two of the following titles have covers that are a treat for the eyes.

1. Slay, by Brittney Morris.

The author’s debut, this YA novel has some serious world building and an interesting story line. At book club, it took some heat for liberties/improbabilities with the plot, but I think you’ll forgive the author. A younger, literary version of Netflix’s Dear White People, aspects of Black culture are highlighted and explained, and white readers will be reminded of what not to do when interacting with Black friends and family. Slay features a strong female lead, sibling relationships, and the secret lives of teenagers… when they are wildly creative, smart, and are learning how to create the world they want to live in.

2. Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement, by Angela Y. Davis

This was a challenging read, along the lines of Audre Lorde’s Sister Outsider. Like Lorde’s book, I kept having to stop the audio to take notes on quotes and ideas. Davis reminds us the Civil Rights Movement would not have been necessary if we had completely abolished slavery the first time. She draws connections between world movements and events in a compelling way that will turn on your brain lightbulb and get your gears grinding. The book is a collection of interviews and speeches, and it’s repetitive, which is a good thing – it gives you a chance to keep picking up the ideas she presents and work your way around and inside of them till you really get it. 3. Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Nora Neale Hurston

I listened to the audio book, and I highly recommend it – the narrator, Ruby Dee, is fantastic. There are classic books, and you read them because you have to for school, or to say you did… this is not that book. This is the classic book you read and think to yourself, Now THAT is a classic. The story takes place in the 1930’s in Florida, a time and place I have no connection to, but nothing was lost in translation. I felt with the characters. The raw emotions, the relationships, the life experiences, are achingly well written and emotionally compelling.