Black History Month 2023: Recent Arrivals

By:
Steven McGuirl
Comrade Sisters Book Cover

To commemorate Black History Month 2023 we present a selection of new releases, and older books newly added, that have landed on our shelves since last year's list. These books explore the depth and breadth of the immeasurable contributions made by Black Americans to the history and culture of the United States. This is just a very small fraction of what is in the Library's collection, so be sure to click subject links in our catalog records to explore other relevant books. For more, see our lists from previous years: 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.  Also check this bibliography of books in our stacks related to the Library's 2021-2022 exhibition, Black Literature Matters.

Jump to: HISTORY | BIOGRAPHIES & MEMOIRS | RACE RELATIONS, CIVIL RIGHTS, ACTIVISM & PROTEST | WOMEN'S STUDIES | LITERATURE - CRITICISM, HISTORY & ANTHOLOGIES | FINE & PERFORMING ARTS | HISTORICAL FICTION / NEWLY ACQUIRED OLDER FICTION | YOUNG ADULT | CHILDREN'S

HISTORY

BIOGRAPHIES & MEMOIRS

RACE RELATIONS, CIVIL RIGHTS, PROTEST & ACTIVISM

WOMEN'S STUDIES

LITERATURE - CRITICISM, HISTORY & ANTHOLOGIES

FINE & PERFORMING ARTS

HISTORICAL FICTION & NEWLY ACQUIRED OLDER FICTION

  • Afia, Nekesa - Harlem sunset (latest in Afia's Harlem Renaissance Mystery series featuring Louise Lloyd; a young Black woman working in a speakeasy gets caught up in a series of murders)
  • Anderson, Alston - All God's children (1965 novel by author of the collection Lover Man)
  • Bland, Eleanor Taylor - Dead time (acclaimed 1992 mystery in the Marti MacAlister series)
  • Chase-Riboud, Barbara - The great Mrs. Elias: a novel (fictional treatment of the life of Hannah Elias, a Black woman who became a millionaire in the early 20th-century)
  • Demby, William - Beetlecreek: a novel (acclaimed 1950 novel about race relations in small West Virginia town)
  • Henderson, George Wylie - Ollie Miss: a novel (reprint of a 1935 novel set in rural Alabama)
  • Himes, Chester B. - The heat's on (Harlem Detetives series w/ Coffin Ed and Grave Digger Jones; originally published in 1966)
  • Huguley, Piper - By her own design: a novel of Ann Lowe, fashion designer to the social register (fictional treatment of the life of Ann Lowe, 1920s-1960s)
  • Lapierre, Alexandra - Belle Greene (based on the story of Belle da Costa Greene, librarian to J.P. Morgan)
  • Mayr, Suzette - The sleeping car porter (award-winning novel about closeted gay Black man working as a railroad porter set in 1929)
  • Morrison, Toni - Recitatif: a story (1983; Morrison's first and only published short story)
  • Newson, Rasheed - My government means to kill me (novel about gay activists in 1980s Harlem)
  • Perkins-Valdez, Dolen - Take my hand (set in the early 1970s; a nurse with a strong belief in reproductive rights works to help the Black community in rural Alabama)
  • Pharr, Robert Deane - The book of numbers (reprint of classic 1969 crime novel set in 1930s Richmond, VA; for fans of Mosley & Himes)
  • Phillips, Gary - One-shot Harry (set in Los Angeles, 1963; hard-boiled crime fiction. Protagonist is an African American Korean War veteran and photographer who investigates a murder)
  • Pitts, Leonard - Freeman: a novel (2012 historical fiction set during Reconstruction)
  • Pitts, Leonard - The last thing you surrender (2019 historical fiction set during WWII)
  • Reed, Ishmael - The free-lance pallbearers (Reed's first novel; published in 1967)
  • Shades of Black: crime and mystery stories by African-American authors (2004 collection; Eleanor Taylor Bland, ed.)
  • Simmons, Herbert - Man walking on eggshells (1962 portrait of a jazz musician praised for its depth and authenticity; by author of cult noir classic, Corner Boy)
  • Smith, William Gardner - South Street (1954 novel; author of Stone Face; set in 1950s Philadelphia)
  • Wideman, John Edgar - A glance away (debut novel from a giant in American fiction; originally published in 1967)
  • Williams, John A. - !Click song (1982 novel; winner of the American Book Award)
  • Williams, John A. - One for New York (1975 novel about young Black man working in NYC publishing; author of The Man Who Cried I Am)
  • Wright Faladé, David - Black cloud rising: a novel (Black soldiers during the Civil War, featuring real-life real-life sergeant Richard Etheridge & the African Brigade)

CHILDREN'S

YOUNG ADULT