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African American Fiction & Non-Fiction May 2023 |
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Before I Let Go
by Kennedy Ryan
After a devastating tragedy, a married couple, Yasmen and Wade, discover that love isn't enough to save their marriage, but it eventually might be enough to bring them back together for a second time around.
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Call and Response: Stories
by Gothataone Moeng
A collection of stories set in modern Botswana include that of a young widow who adheres to the cultural expectation of wearing mourning clothes for a year and a woman who hides her sexual exploits.
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The Family Business 6
by Carl Weber
When over a million tabs of HEAT, once known as the perfect drug, are stolen, Orlando Duncan discovers that a billionaire, with ties to illegal contraband smuggling rings, is targeting his family, putting them all on a deadly collision course as they try to reach the top.
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House of Cotton
by Monica Brashears
A broke and effectively orphaned nineteen-year-old, Magnolia Brown, accepts an offer from a mysterious, slick stranger for a lucrative “modeling” job at his family's funeral home and becomes concerned as the job requests become increasingly weird.
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The House Is On Fire
by Rachel Beanland
Told from the perspectives of four people whose actions changed the course of history, this masterful work of historical fiction takes readers back to 1811 Richmond, Virginia, where, on the night after Christmas, the city's only theater burned to the ground, tearing apart a community.
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Lone Women: a Novel
by Victor LaValle
In 1915, Adelaide Henry, after her secret sin killed her parents, sets out for Montana, dragging an enormous steamer trunk that's locked at all times, to become one of the“lone women” taking advantage of the government's offer of free land where she hopes to bury her past.
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Love, Honor, Betray
by Mary Monroe
"With mysterious serial murders putting peaceful Lexington, Alabama, on edge, Jessie and Hubert Wiggins' steadfast calm and devotion to each other reassures everyone that faith will see them through. But Jessie and Hubert have paid a terrible hidden costto maintain their devout facade and respectable standing. Nothing can allay the guilt they feel--or stop the growing distrust between them..."
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Lover Man
by Alston Anderson
"Raw, fearless, ironic, the stories in Lover Man (1958) promised the birth of a new sensibility in American fiction. Inspired by the bebop he loved, and the philosophy he studied at the Sorbonne, Alston Anderson looked back at the North Carolina of his youth to capture the hidden lives of Black boys and men in the early 1940s. Fascinated by loners and outsiders--tricksters, addicts, jazzmen, drifters, "queers"--and by the spiritual cost exacted by the myths of white supremacy, Anderson assembled an original kind of story collection, whose themes troubled and bewildered many of his early readers. Although later championed by Langston Hughes and Henry Louis Gates. Jr., among others, this--his only collection--has remained out of print since the '50s"
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Our Best Intentions: a Novel
by Vibhuti Jain
Caught in the middle of a criminal investigation after finding her classmate stabbed and bleeding, Angie, an introverted teenager, must navigate conflicting narratives while her father attempts to shield her and protect his hard-earned efforts to assimilate, which overshadows his ability to see right from wrong.
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Pride
by Victoria Christopher Murray
"The 7 Deadly Sins series that inspired several Lifetime original movies continues with this unputdownable novel following mortgage broker Journee Alexander as she tries to escape the secrets of her past without losing all she has worked to build in the present. Journee Alexander grew up believing that the only person she could depend on was herself. After being abandoned by her mother, burning bridges with friends, and narrowly escaping bad business dealings with her first mentor, her trust is hard to earn and harder to keep. But she has overcome all of that and now, as a successful mortgage broker at the top of her game in Houston's booming real estate market, she has every reason to be proud of her accomplishments. She achieved this massive success onher own-there's no need to put her trust in anyone else. But when Journee starts receiving cryptic text messages from an unknown number threatening to destroy everything she has worked to build, she is out of her depth for the first time. Forced to consider accepting help from someone, Journee turns to the first man she loved, the one who got away. But old habits are hard to break and after trusting only her own instincts for so long, can she put her pride aside and accept advice from an old flame? Or should she put her trust in a brand-new love who is in sync with all that she wants to do? Journee is forced to confront the secrets of her past, the old hurts that never seem to heal, and the fact that sometimes a meteoric rise is just the first step in a devastating fall that will change her life forever."
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River Sing Me Home
by Eleanor Shearer
In 1834 Barbados, after the master of the Providence plantation in Barbados refuses to let them go even though the king has decreed an end to slavery, Rachel escapes and embarks on a grueling, dangerous journey to find her five children who survived at birth and were sold.
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Rosewater
by Liv Little
Evicted from her social housing in south London, 28-year-old Elsie turns to her childhood friend, Juliet, for help, and among Juliet's mismatched cushions and shelves lined with trinkets, Elsie is able to breathe for the first time in years, discovering what she's been searching for has been there all along.
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The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho: a Novel
by Paterson Joseph
In 1746 Georgian London, Charles Ignatius Sancho, a young Black man and escaped slave, after an unexpected twist of fate, meets the king, writes and plays highly acclaimed music, becomes the first Black person to vote in Britain and leads the fight to end slavery.
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Small Joys: a Novel
by Elvin James Mensah
While working at a dead-end job at a movie theater, college dropout Harley attempts to take his own life, but is interrupted by his new roommate who takes him under his wing, showing him everything that makes life worth living until their friendship becomes complicated, which causes him to falter once again.
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Symphony of Secrets
by Brendan Slocumb
When he is asked to authenticate a newly discovered piece from famed 20th-century composer Frederick Delaney, Bern Hendricks uncovers clues that indicate Delaney may have had help composing his most successful work, which makes him a target of a powerful organization that will stop at nothing to keep its secret hidden.
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The Time of Your Life
by Sandra Kitt
"When Everett Nicholls dies, he leaves his millions to the two people he cared about most--the young law student he was mentoring, and his beloved stepson. Eden Marsh and Beck Dennison are instantly suspicious of each other. Suddenly, with all this moneyat their fingertips, family problems they've each been ignoring can no longer be swept under the rug. Beck and his mother have had a strained relationship since tragedy befell the family when he was a young teen, and Eden knows it's long past time to forge a new relationship with her demanding younger sister. As they begin to confide in each other--and to have fun together--their friendship is an anchor in a stormy new life..."
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Verity and the Forbidden Suitor: a Novel
by J. J. McAvoy
"A spirited and independent heiress defies the expectations of society to chase happily ever after in this irresistible romance from the author of Aphrodite and the Duke. With her brother, the Duke of Everely, married off to the beautiful and charming Aphrodite Du Bell, Verity Eagleman feels more alone than ever within the cold halls of the family estate. So when she's invited to stay in the Du Bells' clamorous, boisterous home, she leaps at the chance. When Verity crosses paths with Theodore Darrington,the doctor who saved her brother's life, she can't help but notice how her heart flutters anytime he is near. But as the estranged bastard son of the Marquess of Whitmear, Theodore is forbidden to pursue anyone of the noble set. Despite being popular amongst the ton for both his heroic efforts and handsome charm, Theodore knows that no amount of social capital will allow him to be with the woman he secretly loves. Luckily for him, Verity has never cared much for the rules of society. . . . A forbidden romance blossoms as Verity and Theodore give in to their all-consuming passion, with any thought of scandal flung to the side. But when the concerns of their friends and family begin to loom over their love, will they truly be able to break the rules?"
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You Never Know: a Novel of Domestic Suspense
by Connie Briscoe
After someone breaks into her home and tries to assault her, Alexis Roberts, who is hearing impaired, believes the intruder is her husband, who, after she made a horrifying discovery, disappeared without a trace, and finds herself trapped in a nightmare of fear and uncertainty.
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I Am Debra Lee: a Memoir
by Debra Lee
"A riveting memoir by the former CEO of Black Entertainment Television (BET), about the glamorous and ugly moments of being a high-powered Black woman executive in the entertainment industry."
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I Saw Death Coming: a History of Terror and Survival in the War Against Reconstruction
by Kidada E. Williams
"In I Saw Death Coming, Kidada E. Williams offers a breakthrough account of the much-debated Reconstruction period, transporting readers into the daily existence of formerly enslaved people building hope-filled new lives. Drawing on overlooked sources and bold new readings of the archives, Williams offers a revelatory and, in some cases, minute-by-minute record of nighttime raids and Ku Klux Klan strikes. And she deploys cutting-edge scholarship on trauma to consider how the effects of these attacks would linger for decades--indeed, generations--to come"
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A Madman's Will: John Randolph, 400 Slaves, and the Mirage of Freedom
by Gregory May
"Few legal cases in American history are as riveting as the controversy surrounding the will of Virginia Senator John Randolph (1773-1833), which--almost inexplicably--freed all 383 of his slaves in one of the largest and most publicized manumissions in American history. With this groundbreaking investigation, historian Gregory May now reveals a more surprising story, showing how madness and scandal shaped John Randolph's wildly shifting attitudes toward his slaves--and how endemic prejudice in the Northultimately deprived the freedmen of the land Randolph had promised them. Sweeping from the legal spectacle of the contested will through the freedmen's dramatic flight and horrific reception in Ohio, A Madman's Will is an extraordinary saga about the alluring promise of freedom and its tragic limitations."
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Straight Shooter: a Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes
by Stephen A. Smith
Revealing who he really is when the cameras are off, America's most popular sports media figure writes about the greatest highs and deepest lows of his life and career, while sharing his signature, uninhibited opinions about current political and social issues.
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Walking with Gorillas: the Journey of an African Wildlife Vet
by Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka
"In her enchanting memoir, Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Uganda's first wildlife veterinarian, tells the remarkable story from her animal-loving childhood to her career protecting endangered mountain gorillas and other wild animals. She is also the defender of people as a groundbreaking promoter of human public health and an advocate for revolutionary integrated approaches to saving our planet. In an increasingly interconnected world, animal and human health alike depend on sustainable solutions and Dr. Gladys has developed an innovative approach to conservation among the endangered Mountain Gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and their human neighbors."
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Walk the Walk: How Three Police Chiefs Defied the Odds and Changed Cop Culture
by Neil Gross
Taking readers deep inside three unusual police departments in California, Colorado and Georgia, this book, informed by research, and by turns gripping, tragic and inspirational, follows the chiefs?—?and their officers and detectives?—?as they worked to replace aggressive culture with something better.
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The Wounded World: W. E. B. Du Bois and the First World War
by Chad Louis Williams
Drawing on a broad range of sources, including his unpublished manuscript and research materials, this dramatic account of the most significant scholar-activist in African American history's failed efforts to complete the definitive history of Black participation in World War I offers new insight into this largely forgotten book.
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For personalized reading recommendations from Durham County librarians, try My Next 5! Simply complete an online form to tell us a little about what genres, books, and authors you like (or dislike). A DCL librarian will review your submission and reply with a list of the next five books you should read -- all ages of readers welcome!
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