In February, the world celebrates Black History Month, and the Topsfield Town Library is highlighting Black authors in our collection! Check out our shelf-talkers in the stacks, highlighting some excellent books! This reading list highlights some of the newest additions to our collection by Black authors that you should check out today!
Bookclubbed to Death
by V.M. Burns
In the mood for a cozy mystery? Try V.M. Burns’ Bookclubbed to Death! After the local library floods, Michigan bookstore owner Sam Washington agrees to host a local book club, whose unpleasant leader turns up bludgeoned to death with an Agatha Christie collection.
Anywhere You Run
by Wanda Morris
Two sisters on the run from Jim Crow justice in 1964 Jackson, Mississippi, flee to separate parts of the country, unaware that they are both being pursued by someone with dark secrets and a disturbing motive for finding them that is unknown to anyone but himself.
Drunk on Love
by Jasmine Guillory
Margot Noble needs some relief from the stress of running the family winery with her brother. Enter Luke: sexy, charming, and best of all in the too-small world of Napa, a stranger. The chemistry between them is undeniable, and Margot is delighted that she lucked into the perfect one-night stand she’ll never have to see again. That is, until the winery’s newest hire, Luke, walks in the next morning.
The Furrows
by Namwali Serpell
Cassandra Williams is twelve, and her little brother Wayne is seven. One day, when they’re alone together, an accident happens and Wayne is lost forever. Or so it seems.she grows older, she sees her brother everywhere: in coffee shops, airplane aisles, subways cars, cities on either coast. But it can’t be, of course. Or can it?
Pride and Protest
by Nikki Payne
Pride and Prejudice meets Black-ish in this exciting new rom-com by debut author Nikki Payne.
Moonrise over New Jessup
by Jamila Minnicks
It’s 1957, and after leaving the only home she has ever known, Alice Young steps off the bus into the all-Black town of New Jessup, Alabama, where residents have largely rejected integration as the means for Black social advancement. She falls in love with Raymond Campbell, whose clandestine organizing activities challenge New Jessup’s status quo and could lead to the young couple’s expulsion-or worse-from the home they hold dear.
Nightcrawling
by Leila Mottley
A dazzling, unforgettable novel about a young Black woman who walks the streets of Oakland and stumbles headlong into the failure of its justice system–a debut that announces a blazingly original voice.
River Sing Me Home
by Eleanor Shearer
This beautiful, page-turning and redemptive story of a mother’s gripping journey across the Caribbean to find her stolen children in the aftermath of slavery marks the arrival of a remarkable new talent.
An Ordinary Wonder
by Buki Papillon
A powerful novel about an intersex Nigerian teenager and the courage to be yourself.Raised as a boy in a grand but unhappy family in Nigeria, Otolorin Akinro escapes to boarding school knowing two things: she is truly a girl, and to stay safe, she must hide that truth.
The Color of Family
by Jerry McGill
Who wants to believe their family could ever be broken? Devon and James Payne are brothers and rivals since childhood. But they share an affinity for sports that brings glory to their Connecticut town and promise for the future. Then they’re in a car accident. Devon is paralyzed for life, while James goes on to live the dream. For the Paynes, the tremulous repercussions of that evening never settled.
Behind Her Lives
by Briana Cole
“That’s not my sister.” Overwhelmed by shock and relief, those are the only words Deven can muster when she is called to identify the body of a suicide victim. A body she was informed was her sister, Kennedy. But as she stares at the lifeless stranger, she’s filled with questions: Who is this woman? Why was Deven listed as family? And most important, where is Kennedy? Her intuition tells her just one thing: this can’t be a total coincidence.
A Dash of Salt and Pepper
by Kosoko Jackson
Sometimes two cooks in the kitchen are better than one in this swoony romantic comedy. Xavier Reynolds is doing less than stellar. He just got dumped and was passed over for a prestigious fellowship. To top it all off, he’s back home in Harpers Cove, Maine, population 9,000. The last thing he wants to do is to work as a prep chef in the kitchen of the hip new restaurant in town: The Wharf. Especially since the hot, single-father chef who owns it can’t delegate to save his life. Logan O’Hare doesn’t understand Xavier or why every word out of his mouth is dipped in sarcasm.
