CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY MONTH WITH THESE FEMALE AUTHORS
Are you one of those literary lovers who picks a new book up the minute you finish reading the one you just put down? Or do you like to pace yourself, ending each year with at least a few under your belt?
A recent article in Literary Hub reported that four in 10 Americans didn’t read a single book during during 2025. And despite the popularity in self-publishing and book clubs, the survey conducted found that this stat held steady the two years prior, as well. Most Americans who did read only finished a handful of books, while a minority of them plowed through the pages of their literary selections.
To celebrate Black History Month 2026, we at shades Magazine thought that highlighting a diverse mix of books written by Black, female authors is one way we can also help promote the importance of reading during all stages of life. To help us, contributor and avid reader Laurie Wolfe – who proudly represents those who “plowed through the pages” of books every year – shares her top picks from this grouping.
Cursed Daughters
By Oyinkan Braithwaite
Penguin Random House, 2025
A tale that blends love, female rivalry, superstitions and modern-day life of a family of women in Lagos, Nigeria.
The story contains humor, wisdom, romantic love and familial obligation. It asks us what it means to be granted a second chance, and how to live both wisely and well with what we’ve been given.
Braithwaite is the author of My Sister, the Serial Killer. She was born in Lagos, raised there and in the UK and currently lives in London with her family.
Death of the Author
By Nnedi Okorafor
Harper Collins, 2025
This sci-fi novel, which takes place in a future timeline on earth, got a little long in the middle for this reader, but the wonderfully surprising ending made it so worth it!
Okorafor is the winner of the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, and other awards and also has written comics for Marvel, and her memoir Broken Places and Outer Spaces.
She lives with her daughter and family in Phoenix.
Good Dirt
By Charmaine Wilkerson
Penguin Random House, 2025
A blend of historical fiction, a murder mystery, and a little romance by the author of Black Cake, Wilkerson brings to life a multi-generational epic that examines how the past informs our present.
Wilkerson in The New York Times, Marie Claire, BET, The Christian Science Monitor, Woman’s Day and several other publications.
The Caribbean-American writer has lived in Jamaica and Italy.
HAPPY LAND
By Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Penguin Random House, 2025
A woman learns the incredible story of a real-life American Kingdom — and her family’s ties to it — in this enthralling novel from the New York Times bestselling, NAACP Image Award-winning author of Take My Hand.
Inspired by true events, Happy Land is a multi-generational novel about the stories that shape us and the dazzling courage it takes to dream.
Dolen is currently Associate Professor in the Literature Department at American University. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her family.
THE HOUSE OF EVE
By Sadeqa Johnson
Penguin Random House, 2024
An instant New York Times Best Seller, Target Book Club pick, nominated for a NAACP Image Award and a 2023 Goodreads Choice award finalist, this novel is set in the 1950s and follows two young Black women, Ruby and Eleanor, in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., as they navigate ambition, forbidden love, and the difficult choices surrounding motherhood and class in a pre-Roe v. Wade America.
When their stories collide in the most unexpected of ways, Ruby and Eleanor will both make decisions that shape the trajectory of their lives.
Originally from Philadelphia, Johnson currently lives near Richmond, Virginia.
MAAME
By Jessica George
St. Martin’s Press, 2021
Maddie, a young British Ghanaian woman in London, has spent years as a caregiver for her father with Parkinson’s disease, leading to feelings of guilt and a loss of self.
The story follows her journey of self-discovery as she navigates grief, family duty, racism and relationships after moving out on her own.
George is a New York Times bestselling author who was born and raised in London to Ghanaian parents and studied English Literature at the University of Sheffield.
CONCRETE ROSE
By Angie Thomas
Balzer + Bray,2021
A young adult novel by Angie Thomas, this work serves as a prequel to The Hate U Give and explores the life of Maverick Carter as a teenager.
As the son of a former gang legend, Maverick, is determined to take care of his family and does that the only way he knows how: Dealing for the King Lords. With this money he can help his mom, who works two jobs while his dad’s in prison. The young man believes he’s got everything under control until he learns he’s a father.
Thomas was born and raised in Mississippi, but now calls Atlanta her home.
Laurie Wolfe is a retired book lover and social activist who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is an occasional guest on shades Magazine’s #RealTalkPlus podcast show on Clubhouse.