What’s on your reading list for this month? I just added these six great books to read for my monthly book list! Featuring James Baldwin, African American women writers, and more! Keep reading to see what’s on my March book list.
I’ve been trying to make it a monthly goal to read at least two books each month. In the past, I let life and work keep me so busy that I neglected reading regularly.
When I was a teenager and a young adult in college, I read all of the time. I’d love to get back to that routine because reading always made me feel so happy and connected.
Do you feel that way, too, when you read on a regular basis?
HERE ARE A FEW BOOKS TO READ THIS MARCH
Written by Lauren Wilkinson, An American Spy is a thriller that was inspired by true events about Thomas Sankara, known as “Africa’s Che Guevara”. Good Read’s calls An American Spy “a gripping spy thriller, a heartbreaking family drama, and a passionate romance.”
The novel is formatted as a letter in which Marie, the main character, writes to her twin sons. The setting of the story is in 1986 during The Cold War. As a young black woman working in a male-dominated field, Marie faces challenges in her career.
Marie Mitchell is an FBI intelligence officer who is given an opportunity to join a task force whose mission is to take down Thomas Sankara. Although she believes the only reason why she was selected for the job is because of her race, Marie accepts the position to escape her dull desk job.
The novel is a page-turner and even has a love story. Action, drama, mystery, and romance– how can we resist?!
Writer Nafissa Thompson-Spires shares a collection of vignettes that are funny, moving, and sometimes a little dark. The stories focus on social pressures such as Black identity and political identity, such as:
- A new mother and funeral singer driven to madness with grief for young black boys who have fallen victim to gun violence
- A teen who struggles with her upper middle class upbringing and her longing to connect with Black culture
Here’s a terrific article by NPR about Thompson-Spires’ novel.
Oprah Winfrey praised Khary Lazarre-White‘s novel saying, “Khary is using his passion to uplift and inspire a next generation.”
“Though the story told in Passage takes place in 1993, there is a striking parallel between Warrior’s experience and the experiences of black male youth today, since nothing has really changed. Every memory in the novel is the memory of thousands of black families. Every conversation is a message both to those still in their youth and those who left their youth behind long ago.
This anthology features forty-nine African American women writers from before, during, and after the Civil War. Writers such as Sojourner Truth, Harriet Jacobs, and Ella Sheppard are featured in the book.
The collection is divided into sections:
- Memoir
- Poetry
- Essays on feminism and education
Various topics are explored such as the abolition, women’s suffrage, and civil rights.
I’ve seen quite a few of my friends share social media posts about reading Daisy Jones & The Six. It has now sparked my interest in checking out the novel!
This book is a fictional depiction of an iconic 1970s rock band and their beautiful lead singer Daisy. The novel chronicles the life of Daisy and how she becomes the lead vocalist of the rock group The Six and then ultimately the story behind the group’s infamous breakup.
Naturally, the rock and roll lifestyle of sex, drugs, and identity are explored in the novel. I mean, it is the 70s rock era!
Of course, this isn’t a new release, but it is a classic that I have been waiting to read for quite some time. I love the work of James Baldwin and I mention him frequently on my Instagram Stories.
If Beale Street Could Talk is a novel about 19-year-old Tish and Fonny, her boyfriend and father of her child. Fonny is falsely accused of a crime and sent to prison. Tish and Fonny’s families work hard to clear Fonny’s name. As Fonny’s future is uncertain, the couple experience a mix of emotions such as affection, despair, and hope.
Baldwin’s novel was also turned into a film last year. Directed by Barry Jenkins, the movie starred KiKi Layne, Stephan James, and Regina King (who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in the film).