Best African American Literature

1
The Color Purple
by Alice Walker
22,611 members
369 reviews
4.1
6 Members
sturlington, Dilara86, gypsysmom, ahef1963, kara.shamy, ManWithAnAgenda
2
Kindred
by Octavia E. Butler
10,737 members
408 reviews
4.2
5 Members
hipdeep, sturlington, Dilara86, gypsysmom, ManWithAnAgenda
3
Parable of the Sower
by Octavia E. Butler
11,569 members
318 reviews
4.1
5 Members
sturlington, Dilara86, gypsysmom, ManWithAnAgenda, Nonconformisto
4
Beloved
by Toni Morrison
26,595 members
447 reviews
3.9
4 Members
sturlington, gypsysmom, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda
5
A Raisin in the Sun
by Lorraine Hansberry
6,406 members
87 reviews
3.8
4 Members
hipdeep, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda, Nonconformisto
6
The Underground Railroad
by Colson Whitehead
11,204 members
494 reviews
4
4 Members
sturlington, gypsysmom, ahef1963, kara.shamy
7
Passing
by Nella Larsen
3,570 members
134 reviews
3.8
4 Members
sturlington, Dilara86, gypsysmom, ahef1963
8
Native Son
by Richard Wright
8,757 members
112 reviews
4
3 Members
Dilara86, kara.shamy, Nonconformisto
9
Their Eyes Were Watching God
by Zora Neale Hurston
22,349 members
386 reviews
4
3 Members
hipdeep, sturlington, ahef1963
10
Parable of the Talents
by Octavia E. Butler
4,897 members
126 reviews
4.1
4 Members
sturlington, Dilara86, gypsysmom, ManWithAnAgenda
11
Fences
by August Wilson
2,169 members
21 reviews
3.8
3 Members
hipdeep, ManWithAnAgenda, Nonconformisto
12
Go Tell It on the Mountain
by James Baldwin
6,925 members
134 reviews
3.9
3 Members
Dilara86, ahef1963, Nonconformisto
13
Breath, Eyes, Memory
by Edwidge Danticat
3,188 members
72 reviews
3.8
3 Members
dara85, gypsysmom, ahef1963
14
Push
by Sapphire
4,129 members
172 reviews
3.8
2 Members
dara85, ahef1963
15
Black Boy
by Richard Wright
5,888 members
73 reviews
4
2 Members
Dilara86, Nonconformisto
16
My Bondage and My Freedom
by Frederick Douglass
1,228 members
4 reviews
½ 4.4
2 Members
kara.shamy, Nonconformisto
17
The Kitchen House
by Kathleen Grissom
4,354 members
263 reviews
4
2 Members
dara85, gypsysmom
18
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
by Frederick Douglass
11,106 members
133 reviews
4
2 Members
Dilara86, Nonconformisto
19
The Good Lord Bird
by James McBride
2,491 members
139 reviews
3.9
2 Members
gypsysmom, kara.shamy
20
Song of Solomon
by Toni Morrison
12,594 members
137 reviews
4
2 Members
gypsysmom, kara.shamy
21
Lilith's Brood
by Octavia E. Butler
2,946 members
65 reviews
4.2
2 Members
sturlington, Dilara86
22
The Help
by Kathryn Stockett
34,323 members
1,538 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
17,558 members
259 reviews
4
2 Members
gypsysmom, kara.shamy
24
Another Country
by James Baldwin
3,497 members
52 reviews
4.2
Member
ManWithAnAgenda
25
Cane River
by Lalita Tademy
3,254 members
57 reviews
3.9
Member
dara85
26
Pym
by Mat Johnson
608 members
33 reviews
3.8
Member
kara.shamy
27
Cane
by Jean Toomer
1,620 members
15 reviews
3.8
Member
kara.shamy
28
River, Cross My Heart
by Breena Clarke
1,369 members
15 reviews
½ 3.3
Member
dara85
29
Invisible Man
by Ralph Ellison
18,428 members
231 reviews
4
Member
Nonconformisto
30
The Prophets
by Robert Jones Jr.
1,146 members
30 reviews
4.1
Member
ManWithAnAgenda
31
Quicksand and Passing
by Nella Larsen
1,038 members
6 reviews
3.8
Member
Dilara86
32
The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African-American Literary Criticism
by Henry Louis Jr Gates
323 members
1 review
4
Member
kara.shamy
33
How Long 'Til Black Future Month?
by N. K. Jemisin
1,840 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
6,224 members
73 reviews
4.2
Member
kara.shamy
37
In the Fall
by Jeffrey Lent
991 members
23 reviews
3.8
Member
dara85
38
Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt
by Deborah Hopkinson
2,051 members
63 reviews
½ 4.4
Member
dara85
39
The New Negro: Voices of the Harlem Renaissance
by Alain Locke
511 members
5 reviews
4.1
Member
kara.shamy
40
Sula
by Toni Morrison
8,924 members
117 reviews
3.9
Member
kara.shamy
41
Salvage the Bones
by Jesmyn Ward
3,591 members
181 reviews
3.9
Member
kara.shamy
42
The Black Kids
by Christina Hammonds Reed
545 members
21 reviews
3.8
Member
ManWithAnAgenda
43
A Visitation of Spirits
by Randall Kenan
305 members
4 reviews
4
Member
sturlington
44
The Trees
by Percival Everett
1,442 members
81 reviews
4.1
Member
sturlington
45
Narrative of Sojourner Truth
by Sojourner Truth
1,399 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
15,951 members
271 reviews
3.9
Member
sturlington
48
The Classic Slave Narratives
by Henry Louis Jr Gates
1,220 members
8 reviews
4
Member
kara.shamy
49
Cane [Norton Critical Edition]
by Jean Toomer
550 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
840 members
5 reviews
4.1
Member
kara.shamy
52
Devil in a Blue Dress + Crimson Stain
by Walter Mosley
1,363 members
49 reviews
3.8
Member
sturlington,gypsysmom
53
Uncle Tom's Cabin
by Harriet Beecher Stowe
19,655 members
209 reviews
3.8
Explanations
sturlington : Stowe was not black.