We’ve compiled a list of 20 books of varying genres to read this Black History Month and beyond.

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The Good Ally by Nova Reid

The Good Ally by Nova Reid is an urgent call to arms to become better allies against racism and provides a thoughtful approach, centering collective healing, to do so.

It is a book for those against persistent racial injustice, hungry to expand their knowledge and understanding of systemic racism in Britain and beyond. It uncovers the roots of racism and its birthplace, anti-Blackness.

It is for those who not only want to be able to better recognise both subtle and overt forms of racism in action, to examine their powerful role in it, but who want to know what to do about it. The answer often lies within.

Until I Met You by Amber Rose Gill

We all need some romantic escapism in our lives and Love Island 2019 winner Amber Rose Gill has delivered this in spades with her debut novel.

Set in Tobago, Until I Met You is feel-good romance that has everything romance readers love…
 enemies to friends to lovers
 found family
 tropical setting
resilient heroine
supportive hero

Amber injects her humour and confidence into each line which is why Until I Met You has been in The Bookseller Fiction Heatseeker charts every week since it’s release on July 7th.

Patience is a Subtle Thief by Abi Ishola-Ayodeji

Hope and circumstance define a young woman’s life in this heartbreaking tale of lost innocence, set in politically volatile 1990s Nigeria, from an exciting and fresh voice in global literature.

For as long as she can remember, Patience Adewale has been waiting for confirmation that she is loved, that there is a place where she truly belongs. More than anything, Patience wants to know why her father and uncle banished her mother from their compound years ago – and whether her mother is even alive.

Suspenseful and evoking the subtleties of Nigerian life in an fresh and unexpected way, Patience Is a Subtle Thief is a heart-wrenching story of one young woman’s precarious journey to adulthood, and the risks and sacrifices it takes to follow her heart.

The Duke’s Defiant Cinderella by Parker J Cole

The Binding Room by Nadine Matheson

The Binding Room is the follow on to the superb thriller, Jigsaw Man. You don’t need to have read the first to follow the mystery element of the plot, but it helps to understand DI Henley and her colleagues.

The Serial Crimes Unit are called in to investigate when a local pastor is found stabbed to death. As DI Henley assesses the crime scene, she discovers a hidden door that conceals a room set up for torture – and bound to the bed in the middle of the room is the body of a man…

The Binding Room is dynamic and highly intricate, with a plot twist you won’t see coming. You will be hooked from the very beginning!

Cinderella Masquerade by LaQuette

Love in Catalina Cove by Brenda Jackson

Vashti was certain she would never return to Catalina Cove – the place of her younger-self’s heartbreak. But when she inherits a B&B she must face both her past, and her future in the town once again.

Soon repairing the dilapidated B&B helps the hurt begin to fade as she makes new memories with the town – and its handsome sheriff Sawyer. But some pasts are too big to escape, and when a bombshell of a secret changes everything Vashti thought she knew, she learns that family isn’t always a matter of blood – sometimes it’s a matter of heart.

Love in Catalina Cove is a heartwarming romance of second chances, perfect for fans of Virgin River

Nightingale Point by Luan Goldie

After reading Nightingale Point, you will have no questions as to why this stunning debut novel was longlisted for The Women’s Prize For Fiction and the RSL Ondaatje Prize – as well as being a BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick.

On an ordinary Saturday morning in 1996, the residents of Nightingale Point wake up to their normal lives and worries.

Mary has a secret life that no one knows about, not even Malachi and Tristan, the brothers she vowed to look after.
Malachi had to grow up too quickly. Between looking after Tristan and nursing a broken heart, he feels older than his twenty-one years.
Tristan wishes Malachi would stop pining for Pamela. No wonder he’s falling in with the wrong crowd, without Malachi to keep him straight.
Elvis is trying hard to remember to the instructions his care worker gave him, but sometimes he gets confused and forgets things.
Pamela wants to run back to Malachi but her overprotective father has locked her in and there’s no way out.

It’s a day like any other, until something extraordinary happens. When the sun sets, Nightingale Point is irrevocably changed and somehow, through the darkness, the residents must find a way back to lightness, and back to each other.

Temptation in Istanbul by Hana Sheik

Billionaire Faisal is awaiting custody of his little girl, who’s been living away with her mother. However, first he must win the approval of her nanny, Maryan, who has travelled with her to Istanbul. With their attraction hard to ignore, and Maryan leaving in two weeks, Faisal must decide how much of his bruised heart he is prepared to risk…

Temptation in Istanbul is perfect if you love opposites attract romances with the single dad trope. Expect glamour, relatable characters and a heartwarming ending.

Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick by Zora Neale Hurston

In 1925, college student Zora Neale Hurston – the sole black student at Barnard College, New York – was living in the city, ‘desperately striving for a toe-hold on the world.’

During this period, she began writing short works that captured the zeitgeist of African American life and transformed her into one of the central figures of the Harlem Renaissance. Nearly a century later, this singular talent is recognised as one of the most influential and revered American artists of the modern period.

Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick is an outstanding collection of stories about love and migration, gender and class, racism and sexism that proudly reflect African American folk culture. Brought together for the first time in one volume, they include eight of Hurston’s ‘lost’ Harlem stories, which were found in forgotten periodicals and archives.

The Road to Rose Bend by Naima Simone

The Road to Rose Bend has all the quirky, community-driven small town elements that fans of Gilmore Girls love. Except it also has lots of 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Sydney Collins left the town of Rose Bend eight years ago, grieving her sister’s death – and heartbroken over her parents’ rejection. But now she’s back – newly divorced and pregnant – ready to face her fears and make a home for her child in the community she once knew. The last thing she needs is trouble. Except trouble just walked in the door.

Widower Cole Dennison is still grieving the loss of his wife and child. But after a chance run-in with Sydney, grumpy -by-nature Cole finds himself drawn to her optimistic view of life. Yet when Sydney’s past threatens to upend everything she’s rebuilt, both find that a little trouble will take them where they never expected to go…

Rise by Siya Kolisi 

His truth. His story. In his words.

There have been many comments made and books written about Siya Kolisi, captain of the Springboks, and the first black man to lead his country in over 128 years of South African rugby.

In Rise, Siya Kolisi shares his story in an extraordinarily intimate memoir, charting his journey from being born into the impoverished Zwide township, to leading his proud nation to an astonishing victory at the Rugby World Cup in 2019.

We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza

Riley and Jen have been best friends since they were children, and they thought their bond was unbreakable. It never mattered to them that Riley is black and Jen is white. And then Jen’s husband, a Philadelphia police officer, is involved in the shooting of an unarmed black teenager and everything changes in an instant.

This one act could destroy more than just Riley and Jen’s friendship. As their community takes sides, so must Jen and Riley, and for the first time in their lives the lifelong friends find themselves on opposing sides.

We Are Not Like Them is about friendship and love. It’s about prejudice and betrayal. It’s about standing up for what you believe in, no matter the cost.

Snowbound In Her Boss’s Bed by Marcella Bell

The CEO she can’t resist…

When Miriam is summoned to Benjamin Silver’s luxurious Aspen chalet, she certainly doesn’t expect a blizzard to leave her stranded there for Hanukkah! Until the storm passes, she must battle her scandalous and ever-intensifying attraction to her boss…

Snowbound In Her Boss’s Bed is perfect if you like your romances on the steamier side!

Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare

All aboard the Queen Mary for martinis, mystery… and murder 🍸

London, 1936

Lena Aldridge is wondering if life has passed her by. The dazzling theatre career she hoped for hasn’t worked out. She has nothing to look forward to until a stranger offers her the chance of a lifetime: a starring role on Broadway and a first-class ticket on the Queen Mary bound for New York.

After a murder at the club, the timing couldn’t be better and Lena jumps at the chance to escape England. Until death follows her onto the ship and she realises that her greatest performance has already begun.

Because someone is making manoeuvres behind the scenes, and there’s only one thing on their mind… Murder!

Christmas Miracle on Their Doorstep by Ann McIntosh

Discovering a baby girl left on the doorstep of Carey House immediately ignites Dr Theo Turner’s and midwife Nya Ademi’s protective instincts! But caring for this precious infant together has Nya suddenly seeing her old friend in a different light. Are they prepared to put their bruised hearts – and years of friendship – on the line…to claim the second chance they both so deserve?

Christmas Miracle on Their Doorstep is perfect if you love workplace romances and the friends-to-lovers trope!

Africana by Lerato

Africana travels the continent showcasing its vibrant and varied cuisines that are rich in flavour, diverse in culture and steeped in tradition.

Combining recipes passed down the generations with her own modern and inventive style, food writer and cook Lerato shares her own stories of Africa with a delectable sense of adventure.
Discover iconic dishes from Nigeria to Madagascar, Morocco to South Africa.

There are over 100 recipes to delight and inspire, Spice Island Coconut Fish Curry, Harissa Leg of Lamb with Hibiscus, Senegalese Yassa, Tunisian Tagine, South African Malva Pudding, and the secret to the perfect Jollof.

Millennial Black by Sophie Williams

If you’re keen to re-think colour and culture in the workplace and hear from exceptional Black women (June Sarpong! Aja Barber! Munroe Bergdorf!) about their experiences of work across a wide range of industries, you need a copy of Sophie Williams’ Millennial Black.

Featuring interviews and insight from exceptional Black women, Millennial Black also offers clear, no-nonsense guidance for employers who want to be part of the change. Why is diversity just the start? And what does being truly inclusive really mean?

From insight into the race pay gap, through advice on setting boundaries and building your own ‘lady gang’, to tackling workplace sexual harassment and racist abuse, this is essential reading for a generation of Black women and their allies.

I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes and illustrated by Gordon C James

Selected by Oprah Magazine as one of its ‘essential books for discussing racism with kids’.

I am a non-stop ball of energy.
Powerful and full of light.
I am a go-getter. A difference-maker. A leader.

Step inside the mind of the confident narrator of this book. He is proud of everything that makes him who he is. He’s got big plans, and will see them through. He’s creative, adventurous, smart, funny. A good friend. A superhero. Sometimes he falls, but he always gets back up. And other times he’s afraid, because he’s often misunderstood. So, slow down, look and listen as he shows you who he really is …

Six Days to Live by Lisa Dodson

By Lauren Gardiner