20 books by Black authors you should read this Juneteenth

Juneteenth commemorates the day Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865, and announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state were free. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, not all enslaved people were immediately freed, as it could not be implemented in Confederate-controlled areas. 

To mark the holiday, which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States, consider supporting Black authors by reading one of these books. Many of the stories Black authors write are bound in heartache and triumph, making them truly unique reads. We’ve lined up fiction and non-fiction works to give you a wide range of stories to choose from.

You can find most of these books on Amazon, and can get them shipped to your door within 24 hours when you become an Amazon Prime member. You can join or start a 30-day free trial to start your

If you recognize the name of this book, you’ve likely seen the 1985 movie by the same name. The Color Purple book inspired the movie, and follows two sisters — a missionary in Africa and a young wife trapped in a terrible marriage in the South. 

A tough but important read, the novel solidifies why Walker has become one of the most prolific Black writers to date. 

Find a copy on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

A classic, Giovanni’s Room is one of Baldwin’s most memorable books. It’s set in the 1950s in Paris and follows David, an American expat who recently proposed to his girlfriend. However, he soon meets Giovanni, a bartender. The two embark on a heated relationship that ultimately ends in tragedy when David’s girlfriend returns to Paris.

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Everyone should read at least one Toni Morrison book in their lives. The Bluest Eye is the perfect place to start, as it's Morrison’s first novel. 

In the book, Pecola Breedlove is an 11-year-old Black girl with a fascination for blond, blue-eyed children who wants nothing more than to have blue eyes herself. A dark, deep and beautiful book, it’ll get you hooked on Morrison.

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Black Leopard, Red Wolf follows Tracker, well-known for his ability to track people. In the opening pages, he’s hired to find a missing boy. As the books goes on, Tracker uncovers a conspiracy he’ll have to deal with head-on. 

This is the first book in James’ planned trilogy. It honors African mythology, and isn’t for the weak of heart, as there’s a hearty amount of violence.

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Readers looking for a good mystery will find everything they love in My Sister, the Serial Killer. It’s a dark but hilarious novel set in Lagos. It explores the relationship between two sisters, but mainly focuses on one’s unfortunate habit of killing her boyfriends.

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Readers that like unique, somewhat odd reads should pick up Freshwater. It’s Emezi’s debut novel that follows Ada, a Nigerian child who is prone to fits of violence and eventually develops separate selves as she grows up. It all culminates when she goes to America for college, and is struck by a tragic event.

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A popular book on BookTok, McBride writes about a small town with big secrets in The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. It begins in 1972 in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. A crew is digging the foundations for a new development, only to find a skeleton at the bottom of a well. The residents of Chicken Hill, a neighborhood filled with Jewish and Black Americans, have long held the secret of whose body it is.

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Readers who want a truly horrifying, quick but important read, should pick up Ring Shout. It’s a dark look into what the KKK could have become. 

The pages turn 1915 America into a sci-fi landscape where Ku Kluxes, vampire-like creatures that consume the darkest thoughts of white Americans reign. The book follows the resistances fighters who hunt these creatures.

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Sing, Unburied, Sing is a look at a contemporary American family, struggling with their demons in various ways. It follows Jojo, a thirteen-year-old boy with a Black mother who is an addict and an absent white father, just being released from prison.

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A fun, easy read, Such a Fun Age addresses race and privilege in America. It revolves around a young black babysitter and her white employer. One night, while at the grocery store with the child she cares for, a woman calls the cops, claiming the child was being kidnapped. From there, a complex story unfolds, with unique twists and turns.

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Comedian Phoebe Robinson covers the very real prejudices black women face in the world in her book You Can’t Touch My Hair. Using her unique brand of comedic writing that led to her podcast, 2 Dope Queens, Robinson talks about casting calls, Lisa Bonet, Jesus and the NFL, among other pop-culture references.

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Malcolm X narrates his own life in The Autobiography of Malcolm X. A leader of the Black Muslim movement in America, everyone should consider reading his biography. He discusses the limitations of the American Dream and the deep threads of racism that run through society.

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If you didn’t read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in high school, grab a copy now. It’s the biography of one of America’s most famous writers, Maya Angelou. You’ll learn about her life growing up in the South where she endured a horrible attack by an older man, and how that affected her the rest of her life.

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The ten stories that make up Temple Folk follow Black Muslims in America. You’ll find stories that address race, religion, politics and sexuality and the diverseness that makes up our country.

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Dr. Uché Blackstock always knew that she would be a doctor. Her mother headed an organization of Black Women physicians, so becoming a doctor was a path she’d always known. Unfortunately, the healthcare education system isn’t designed for Black women. 

Blackstock’s memoir, Legacy, follows her journey through the medical system and eventually as a health equity advocate during the Black Lives Matter movement.

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The Ugly Cry is a look into Henderson’s life, which was anything but easy. She was abandoned at ten by her mother, who chose to stay with her drug-addicted boyfriend and left with her strong-willed, foul-mouthed grandmother. 

Henderson grew up as one of the few Black kids in an upstate New York town where she obsessively watched horror movies while she learned to deal with the aftermath of her mother leaving.

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Labeled a biomythography, Zami: A New Spelling of My Name reveals how Audre Lorde became the Black, feminist lesbian and poet she is today. You’ll be led through Lorde’s early life through her coming of age in the 1950s. Beautifully written, this book will be hard to put down for any type of reader.

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In I’m Still Here, Brown lays out various essays about being Black in America. Mostly focusing on Black womanhood, the book deals with faith, race and how white supremacy affects the self-worth of Black individuals.

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In All That She Carried, Tiya Miles lays out the history of an enslaved woman named Rose whose daughter, Ashley, was sold, separating them for life. Eventually, Ashley’s granddaughter found some of her great-grandmother’s belongings and the story of the family's past began to unfold. Miles uses archival data, art and other objects to tell the family’s story and other forgotten stories from slavery’s history.

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Learn about one of the most influential legal minds America ever saw. Brown-Nagin writes all about the life of Constance Baker Motley in Civil Rights Queen. She was a NAACP lawyer who was the first Black woman to argue a case in front of the Supreme Court. She defended Martin Luther Kind, argued in Brown vs. The Board of Education, and helped eliminate Jim Crow laws in the South.

Check out Amazon or Barnes & Noble to find a copy.