Hell of a Book – Jason Mott

Really, the title says it all. I can’t tell you what this book is about because nothing covers it. It’s just a hell of a book. A ride. A masterpiece of what it must be like to be a Black author, to be a Black man, to be a Black boy, in America. It’s funny, …

The Intuitionist – Colson Whitehead

His debut novel! I thought I’d start at the beginning. I still don’t know what I thought of the end or the storyline in general. It’s like a noir but also almost scifi? I really won’t be able to explain, but you will learn a lot about elevators. The writing itself, of course, is wonderful. …

The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks about Race – Jesmyn Ward

A powerful collection of essays and poems by all the great writers of our day who write about race in America. Mostly written after the death of Mike Brown and the Charleston massacre, the essays explore the grief, pain, and everlasting hope of being a Black person in an America that would rather kill you …

Aftermath – LeVar Burton

Did you know he wrote a book? I had no idea until last week. Granted, it came out in 1997 when I was not paying any attention. It’s a dystopian future where in 2015 (!) the first Black president (!!) is assassinated and a race war breaks out (!!!). We’re in the aftermath of that, …

The Street – Ann Petry

It’s truly a shame that this novel didn’t/doesn’t get more press. It should have won all the prizes when it came out in 1946, but Petry is a Black woman and so we’re just hearing about it now. Sigh. The street is 116th street in Harlem, NYC, and Petry’s characters deal with the troubles of …

Infants of the Spring – Wallace Thurman

A quick, satirical portrait of the Harlem Renaissance by a talented author living through the Harlem Renaissance. Thurman only (only) wrote a few novels, but from what I can tell with this one is he was a great author and should be on all the classics lists. His more famous book, The Blacker the Berry, …

As Lie Is to Grin – Simeon Marsalis

A short novel that felt like Holden Caulfield, only Black and self-aware. Our narrator struggles to define his last year in high school and first in college through the lens of fiction. He shows us his relationships and their dark secrets. He offers a bit of himself, and a lot of New York City and …