Inspired by Saidiya Hartman's Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments, these stories center love, pleasure, healing, positivity, and light. Even when the world seems to be submerged in trauma and ruin, there will always be a way to find joy. Love yourself and hopefully soothe your soul with one or more of the books below.
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” -- Audre Lorde
list curated by WORD
Check out the rest of our curated book lists here!
The first novel in USA Today Bestselling Author Beverly Jenkins’s compelling new series follows a Northern woman south in the chaotic aftermath of the Civil War . . .
In her brand-new series, Brenda Jackson welcomes you to Catalina Cove, where even the biggest heartbreaks can be healed...
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Nonfiction Award Winner • A rip-roaring, edgy and unabashedly raunchy new collection of hilarious essays from the New York Times bestselling author of We Are Never Meeting in Real Life.
An Entertainment Weekly TOP 10 ROMANCE BOOKS OF THE YEAR
A Bookpage TOP PICK
A Kirkus BEST BOOKS OF 2017
A Vulture TOP 10 ROMANCE BOOKS OF 2017
A Publishers Weekly BEST BOOKS OF 2017
A Booklist TOP 10 ROMANCE FICTION 2017
"If you're looking for an easy charmer, this is the novel for you."—Shondaland
When their foster-turned-adoptive mother suddenly dies, four brothers struggle to keep open the doors of her beloved Harlem knitting shop.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
From beloved astrologer Chani Nicholas comes an essential guide for radical self-acceptance.
A community of Black faith healers witness an event that will change their lives forever in this "hard-nosed, wise, funny" novel (Los Angeles Times).
Set in a fictional city in the American South, the novel also "inhabits the nonlinear, sacred space and sacred time of traditional African religion” (The New York Times Book Review).
Whenever we envision a world without war, prisons, or capitalism, we are producing speculative fiction. Organizers and activists envision, and try to create, such worlds all the time. Walidah Imarisha and adrienne maree brown have brought 20 of them together in the first anthology of short stories to explore the connections between radical speculative fiction and movements for social change.
NOMINATED FOR AN NAACP IMAGE AWARD • An inspiring collection of essays by black women writers, curated by the founder of the popular book club Well-Read Black Girl, on the importance of recognizing ourselves in literature.
“Sister Outsider, a collection of essays and speeches by the pioneering feminist Audre Lorde, is one of my all-time-favorite books. It’s always great to have an intersectional tome on hand.” —Amanda Gorman
Here is the good stuff: poetry written by women that actually excites the thinking reader. This anthology, spanning work of the last 75 years, will broaden its readers' notions of what defines erotic poetry. For what is more intriguing, more satisfying than strong, self-assured writing?
A struggling novelist travels the world to avoid an awkward wedding in this hilarious Pulitzer Prize-winning novel full of "arresting lyricism and beauty" (The New York Times Book Review).WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE
National Bestseller
A New York Times Notable Book of 2017
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“A thoughtful and joyous literary experience that celebrates its characters and liberally rewards its readers.” —New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice
"I tore through this novel like an orphaned reader seeking a home in its ragtag yet shimmering world." — Carrie Brownstein
“The Right Swipe is everything you want in a Summer read: fun, clever, and so, so sexy.” — Popsugar
Alisha Rai returns with a sizzling new novel, in which two rival dating app creators find themselves at odds in the boardroom but in sync in the bedroom.
As seen on The Today Show!
The new exhilarating New York Times bestselling romance from the author of The Proposal, a Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick!
Maddie and Theo have two things in common:
1. Alexa is their best friend
2. They hate each other
An Instant New York Times Bestseller and #1 Indie Bestseller!
A William C. Morris YA Debut Award Finalist
An Asian Pacific American Librarians Association Honor Book
Two friends. One fake dating scheme. What could possibly go wrong?
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A coming-of-age classic, acclaimed by critics, beloved by readers of all ages, taught in schools and universities alike, and translated around the world—from the winner of the 2019 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature.
NOMINATED FOR AN NAACP IMAGE AWARD • An inspiring collection of essays by black women writers, curated by the founder of the popular book club Well-Read Black Girl, on the importance of recognizing ourselves in literature.