Reading is fuel for the soul, and upon the announcement that Michelle Obama will be releasing an extremely personal memoir, we couldn’t be more elated. But, while we anxiously wait for it, why not download some of the top African American authors who are trending at this moment.
These books get to the soul and in these trying times, who doesn’t need a good cry? Here are five trending African American authors you need to read ASAP! They are inspirational, award-winning, and just plain empowering.
Colson Whitehead
His first novel came out nearly twenty years ago and now, several books in, he is still on top. A Harvard graduate, his most recent work is The Underground Railroad, which netted him the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. This is highly recommended reading and was just named Harriet Tubman one of the Most Influential African American Women for Black History Month. Let’s keep the ball rolling.
Renee Watson
She just received the Coretta Scott King Award for her novel Piecing Me Together, about Jade, and African American teen who feels like an outcast at an all-white prep school. Watson has also garnered the John Newbery Medal and was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in the children’s category. She also has an upcoming book for all ages to be released, so keep on the lookout.
Angie Thomas
She is winning 2018 for her book The Hate U Give. So far, she has won the William C. Morris Award, the Michael L. Printz Award, and the Coretta Scott King Award for this particular book. At barely thirty, the Belhaven University graduate has a New York Times bestseller on her hands for her young adult novel revolving around a protagonist who becomes an activist after seeing the police gun down her unarmed friend. This may be her first novel but it for sure won’t be her last.
Gabrielle Union
Gabrielle is proving that she is not just a pretty face and a talented actress with the release of her memoir We’re Going to Need More Wine: Stories That Are Funny, Complicated, and True. I always love reading actors’ biographies and finding out little nuggets that prove they are truly just like us in ways we may have been unaware of until reading their books. It was chosen by Emma Straub as a Best New Celebrity Memoir, became a New York Times bestseller, and was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in nonfiction. Out since October 2017, it has a score of 4.2/5 on Goodreads and is solidifying Union as a triple-threat!
Samantha Irby
She had me with her latest book’s cover, which shows the most adorable kitten. Entitled We Are Never Meeting in Real Life, Irby is a blogger, comedian, and open book. Married to wife Kirsten Jennings since 2016, for Irby no topic is off-limits in this New York Times bestseller, a work chock-full of comedic essays that are seriously life-changing and also featured in O, the Oprah Magazine.