So, May 4th was National Black Authors Day. I missed out because it’s the end of the school term and my brain is only focused on wrapping up classes and preparing students for the final, so I completely missed out on that day. I didn’t realize it was Star Wars Day, either. Anyway, I had no time to hop on here to celebrate and I felt like it was pretty awful of me to let this important day just pass on by, especially when there are so many great Black authors out there with incredible books for you to read.

Since speculative fiction is my jam, I’m going to recommend authors by genre.

Horror

Tananarive Due

This novel is so good that it’s stayed with me over the year and a half since I’ve read it, and it’s made me more curious about Due’s other works, which I need to pick up. Anyway, this focuses on a young boy sent to a reformatory in Jim Crow South as a punishment for kicking a white boy in defense of his sister. The reformatory is filled with Black children who undergo severe abuses, and on top of that, the place may be haunted by ghosts from the past. An enthralling historical horror work that will live in your head forever.

Johnny Compton

A family on the run, full of secrets of their own. A too-good-to-be-true caretaker job that involves chronicling any paranormal event that may happen at “the most haunted house in Texas.” What sounds like the beginning to a traditional haunted house story stretches beyond that into new territory. With absolutely haunting imagery and memorable scenes. I’ve since picked up more of Compton’s work (Devils Kill Devils) but I haven’t read it yet. But I liked this book so much that I’ll pretty much auto-buy anything Compton writes.

Rivers Solomon

You can kind of see a trend here that I like haunted places in stories. This one pulls the rug out from under your feet, and I mean that in a good way. A family, the Maxwells, grew up in one of those mansion-type houses in a fancy gated neighborhood, but as adults, they all avoid it. The Maxwells were the only Black family in the neighborhood, and as soon as they moved into their home, strange and haunting things started happening. As adults, the Maxwell siblings don’t return to their childhood home until the death of their parents…which may or may not be natural. What starts out to be a chilling haunted house story delves into what makes people monstrous, too. I can never forget this book.

Fantasy (includes YA)

Kalynn Bayron

My first introduction to Bayron’s work was through Cinderella is Dead, which takes place in a fairytale kingdom long after Cinderella and her story has passed. The story is both dark and adventurous at the same time, filled with memorable characters, and an inspirational call to action at the end. Since then, I’ve bought a lot of Bayron’s work (This Poison Heart and its sequel; Sleep Like Death, another fairytale-inspired work; and Make Me a Monster, which I finished reading maybe a couple months ago). Bayron is wildly creative and adds a special twist to what you think would be familiar, but isn’t when it reaches Bayron’s hands.

N.K. Jemisin

N.K. Jemisin is way more famous for other works than The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, like the three-time Hugo award-winning Broken Earth trilogy, which I own, but haven’t read yet. As far as I know, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is one of Jemisin’s earliest works, and I was assigned to read it when I was a graduate student at Seton Hill University. I had grown burned out from epic fantasy as a genre, but this book changed something in me because it showed me what potential the genre could have; what it could be. I will always remember Yeine and Nahadoth and Sieh, my favorite characters, and I still need to finish the trilogy. This first book was so perfect to me, I actually have postponed reading the rest of the story because I think my brain will explode (even though I own the books). I don’t know how to explain that to you; the only other series that has me feeling this way is Heaven Official’s Blessing. These works are so good, it’s painful, and I can only take so much. Jemisin’s writing is like that for me–absolutely thrilling, but I have to watch my dosages. One of the best fantasy writers out there, period.

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So, here’s the thing. I have a huge quantity of works by Black authors loaded onto my Kindle, like Nnedi Okorafor, Markus Redmond, LaDarrion Williams, Marlon James, Tracy Deonn. I have collected entire series plus standalones. But I keep buying books and not reading them. That’s on me. I know I’m missing out on these great authors if I keep buying and then shelving the books. If I would have read these novels and short stories, I’d have a much, much longer list. Here’s hoping I get to them so I have more recommendations for you overall, not just on National Black Author Day.