Best African American Literature

1
The Color Purple
by Alice Walker
22,705 members
371 reviews
4.1
6 Members
sturlington, Dilara86, gypsysmom, ahef1963, kara.shamy, ManWithAnAgenda
2
Kindred
by Octavia E. Butler
10,806 members
410 reviews
4.2
5 Members
hipdeep, sturlington, Dilara86, gypsysmom, ManWithAnAgenda
3
Parable of the Sower
by Octavia E. Butler
11,677 members
320 reviews
4.1
5 Members
sturlington, Dilara86, gypsysmom, ManWithAnAgenda, Nonconformisto
4
Beloved
by Toni Morrison
26,731 members
449 reviews
3.9
4 Members
sturlington, gypsysmom, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda
5
A Raisin in the Sun
by Lorraine Hansberry
6,428 members
87 reviews
3.8
4 Members
hipdeep, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda, Nonconformisto
6
The Underground Railroad
by Colson Whitehead
11,259 members
495 reviews
4
4 Members
sturlington, gypsysmom, ahef1963, kara.shamy
7
Passing
by Nella Larsen
3,599 members
134 reviews
3.8
4 Members
sturlington, Dilara86, gypsysmom, ahef1963
8
Native Son
by Richard Wright
8,783 members
113 reviews
4
3 Members
Dilara86, kara.shamy, Nonconformisto
9
Their Eyes Were Watching God
by Zora Neale Hurston
22,453 members
392 reviews
4
3 Members
hipdeep, sturlington, ahef1963
10
Parable of the Talents
by Octavia E. Butler
4,932 members
126 reviews
4.1
4 Members
sturlington, Dilara86, gypsysmom, ManWithAnAgenda
11
Fences
by August Wilson
2,185 members
21 reviews
3.8
3 Members
hipdeep, ManWithAnAgenda, Nonconformisto
12
Go Tell It on the Mountain
by James Baldwin
6,953 members
134 reviews
3.9
3 Members
Dilara86, ahef1963, Nonconformisto
13
Breath, Eyes, Memory
by Edwidge Danticat
3,194 members
73 reviews
3.8
3 Members
dara85, gypsysmom, ahef1963
14
Push
by Sapphire
4,142 members
172 reviews
3.8
2 Members
dara85, ahef1963
15
Black Boy
by Richard Wright
5,910 members
73 reviews
4
2 Members
Dilara86, Nonconformisto
16
My Bondage and My Freedom
by Frederick Douglass
1,233 members
5 reviews
½ 4.4
2 Members
kara.shamy, Nonconformisto
17
The Kitchen House
by Kathleen Grissom
4,376 members
263 reviews
4
2 Members
dara85, gypsysmom
18
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
by Frederick Douglass
11,093 members
133 reviews
4
2 Members
Dilara86, Nonconformisto
19
The Good Lord Bird
by James McBride
2,504 members
140 reviews
3.9
2 Members
gypsysmom, kara.shamy
20
Song of Solomon
by Toni Morrison
12,627 members
136 reviews
4
2 Members
gypsysmom, kara.shamy
21
Lilith's Brood
by Octavia E. Butler
2,959 members
65 reviews
4.2
2 Members
sturlington, Dilara86
22
The Help
by Kathryn Stockett
34,447 members
1,539 reviews
½ 4.3
3 Members
dara85, gypsysmom, ahef1963,sturlington ,Dilara86
Explanations
sturlington : Stockett is not black.
23
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
by Maya Angelou
17,645 members
261 reviews
4
2 Members
gypsysmom, kara.shamy
24
Another Country
by James Baldwin
3,511 members
52 reviews
4.2
Member
ManWithAnAgenda
25
Cane River
by Lalita Tademy
3,266 members
57 reviews
3.9
Member
dara85
26
Pym
by Mat Johnson
610 members
34 reviews
3.8
Member
kara.shamy
27
Cane
by Jean Toomer
1,627 members
15 reviews
3.8
Member
kara.shamy
28
River, Cross My Heart
by Breena Clarke
1,372 members
15 reviews
½ 3.3
Member
dara85
29
Invisible Man
by Ralph Ellison
18,489 members
232 reviews
4
Member
Nonconformisto
30
The Prophets
by Robert Jones Jr.
1,157 members
30 reviews
4.1
Member
ManWithAnAgenda
31
Quicksand and Passing
by Nella Larsen
1,041 members
6 reviews
3.8
Member
Dilara86
32
The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African-American Literary Criticism
by Henry Louis Jr Gates
322 members
1 review
4
Member
kara.shamy
33
How Long 'Til Black Future Month?
by N. K. Jemisin
1,853 members
60 reviews
4.2
Member
ManWithAnAgenda
34
Mary Jane
by Dorothy Sterling
107 members
½ 3.7
Member
dara85
35
Black and Conservative
by George S. Schuyler
32 members
1 review
Member
Dilara86
36
The Souls of Black Folk
by W. E. B. Du Bois
6,268 members
74 reviews
4.2
Member
kara.shamy
37
In the Fall
by Jeffrey Lent
992 members
23 reviews
3.8
Member
dara85
38
Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt
by Deborah Hopkinson
2,065 members
63 reviews
½ 4.4
Member
dara85
39
The New Negro: Voices of the Harlem Renaissance
by Alain Locke
513 members
5 reviews
4.1
Member
kara.shamy
40
Sula
by Toni Morrison
8,946 members
118 reviews
3.9
Member
kara.shamy
41
Salvage the Bones
by Jesmyn Ward
3,621 members
181 reviews
3.9
Member
kara.shamy
42
The Black Kids
by Christina Hammonds Reed
548 members
21 reviews
3.8
Member
ManWithAnAgenda
43
A Visitation of Spirits
by Randall Kenan
309 members
4 reviews
4
Member
sturlington
44
The Trees
by Percival Everett
1,464 members
84 reviews
4.1
Member
sturlington
45
Narrative of Sojourner Truth
by Sojourner Truth
1,410 members
14 reviews
½ 3.7
Member
kara.shamy
46
Redwood and Wildfire
by Andrea Hairston
196 members
3 reviews
½ 3.7
Member
Dilara86
47
The Bluest Eye
by Toni Morrison
16,039 members
274 reviews
3.9
Member
sturlington
48
The Classic Slave Narratives
by Henry Louis Jr Gates
1,225 members
8 reviews
4
Member
kara.shamy
49
Cane [Norton Critical Edition]
by Jean Toomer
549 members
5 reviews
3.8
Member
kara.shamy
50
The Norton Anthology of African American Literature {2nd edition}
by Henry Louis Gates Jr.
283 members
2 reviews
3.8
Member
kara.shamy
51
Blues People: Negro Music in White America
by Amiri Baraka
843 members
5 reviews
4.2
Member
kara.shamy
52
Devil in a Blue Dress + Crimson Stain
by Walter Mosley
1,367 members
49 reviews
3.8
Member
sturlington,gypsysmom
53
Uncle Tom's Cabin
by Harriet Beecher Stowe
19,769 members
210 reviews
3.8
Explanations
sturlington : Stowe was not black.