Settle in with these Celebrated Books
Literary Cleveland “helps writers and readers explore other voices and discover their own.” We asked for book recommendations that would be especially relevant for Black History Month this February. Here are a few from Literary Cleveland programming associate Michelle R. Smith. Learn more about Literary Cleveland at litcleveland.org.
Luster: A Novel
By Raven Leilani
“Luster” brings a very new twist to the same old story of boy-meets-girl. In this case, Boy is married, “total daddy” Eric, and Girl is protagonist Edie, single, seemingly jaded, but really “all ooze inside.” She is also the first black woman Eric has ever dated. They meet online, but together figure out how different everything is IRL (In Real Life).
Deacon King Kong
By James McBride
In one stark act of violence on a tenement courtyard, Deacon Cuffy Lambkin of Five Ends Baptist Church sets into motion the series of entertaining and affecting events that make up this celebrated novel. It is a Top Ten of 2020, according to The New York Times, Time Magazine, and, yes, professional reader Oprah Winfrey.
A Promised Land & Becoming
By Barack Obama & Michelle Obama
We all know that behind just about every great man is a great woman. What we learn from this pair of polished memoirs by the former President and First Lady Obama is that beneath the granite monument of official history are the human stories of what really happened.
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
By Deesha Philyaw
This 2020 National Book Award Finalist is a collection of tender, intimate short stories about the invisible facets of the lives of women and girls who have been taught to be “good” no matter how badly it may hurt them. The talented Philyaw deftly explores their true thoughts, feelings and desires in this elegant, emotive volume.
Just Us
By Claudia Rankine
Just as in her previous volumes of poetry, “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely” and the renowned “Citizen,” Rankine uses her deeply intelligent, inquisitive work to examine American blackness, whiteness, womanhood, manhood, citizenship, and social unrest in “Just Us.”
The Underground Railroad
By Colson WhiteheadThis Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is not just a thrilling recount of young Cora’s escape from enslavement by way of Whitehead’s magical version of the Underground Railroad; it is also a deep, provocative contemplation on how the institution of slavery and construction of race and racism built the United States of America.
