Auckland Council Libraries: Fiction by Black authors

Fiction by Black authors

A selection of novels lifting the voices and work of Black authors across a range of genres.

The water dancer

Ta-Nehisi Coates

Book

Historical fiction. Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage - and lost his mother and all memory of her when he was a child - but he is also gifted with a mysterious power.

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Binti

Nnedi Okorafor

Book

Science fiction. Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy.

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The underground railroad

Colson Whitehead

Book

Historical fiction. Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, and they plot their escape, but things do not go as planned.

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White teeth

Zadie Smith

Book

Fiction. Two unlikely friends, Archie Jones and Samad Iqbal, hapless veterans of World War II, become agents of England's irrevocable transformation.

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Such a fun age

Kiley Reid

Book

Contemporary fiction. What happens when you do the right thing for the wrong reason? Alix Chamberlain is shocked when her babysitter is accused of kidnapping two-year old Briar.

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I almost forgot about you

Terry McMillan

Book

Romance. Dr. Georgia Young's wonderful life - great friends, family, and successful career - aren't enough to keep her from feeling stuck and restless. When she quits her job and moves house, she finds herself on a wild journey that may include love.

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Black leopard red wolf

Marlon James

Book

Fantasy. Tracker is known far and wide for his skills as a hunter - and he always works alone. But to find a child who disappeared three years ago, he must join a group to follow the lost boy's scent from one ancient city to another.

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Rebel

Beverly Jenkins

Book

Historical Romance. Top romance author Beverly Jenkins thrills with Valinda Lacy's mission to help the newly emancipated flourish in post-Civil War New Orleans. When thugs destroy her school, she runs - straight into the arms of Captain Drake LeVeq.

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Kindred

Octavia E. Butler

Book

Science fiction. Dana, a Black woman, finds herself transported by time travel to the antebellum South, where she must make sure that Rufus, the plantation owner's son, survives to father her ancestor.

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The bluest eye

Toni Morrison

Book

Fiction. Toni Morrison's first novel is the story of eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove - a black girl who prays for her eyes to turn blue: so that she will be beautiful and her world will be different.

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An American marriage

Tayari Jones

Book

Fiction. When Celestial's husband Roy is sentenced to twelve years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Celestial sticks by Roy until she begins to question their tumultuous marriage. Then Roy is released, conviction overturned.

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The fifth season

N. K. Jemisin

Book

Science fiction. Three terrible things happen in a single day. But Essun will have her daughter back. She does not care if the world falls apart around her. Essun will break it herself, if she must, to save her daughter.

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Their eyes were watching God

Zora Neale. Hurston

Book

Fiction. When Janie Starks returns to her rural 1930s Florida home, her small African American community is buzzing with gossip over her relationship with a younger man.

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Rosewater

Tade Thompson

Book

Science fiction. Rosewater is a town on the edge. A community formed around the edges of a mysterious biodome, its residents the hopeful, the hungry, and the helpless - people eager for a glimpse inside the dome or a taste of its healing powers.

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Devil in a blue dress

Walter Mosley

Book

Historical crime. Los Angeles, 1948: Easy is drinking in a friend's bar when a white man in a linen suit walks in, offering good money if Easy will simply locate Miss Daphne Money, a blonde beauty known to frequent black jazz clubs....

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Auckland Council Libraries:Book list Recommended reading lists about different topics and genres to help you find new books to read.