I started writing this post in February when it was Black History Month… well, it’s not February anymore but my lateness is the perfect reminder that books by Black authors can (and should) be read and enjoyed at any time. Here are some books I loved and highly recommend for you to check out:

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

This is a story about a transgender boy who is further exploring his identity and creativity and wondering if he’ll ever find love. Young adult contemporary is not a genre I tend to gravitate towards much but this book took me on an unexpected emotional rollercoaster and after finishing it, there was no doubt in my mind that it was a 5/5 read and one of my favorite books I read in 2020.

We follow Felix, a young artist attending summer school, who finds himself in the middle of a love triangle while figuring out a whole bunch of stuff going on in his life. So much angst but so worth it. I listened to the audiobook version and the narrator (Logan Rozos) did an amazing job with it so I can highly recommend this particular form of the book as well.

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I Think I Might Love You by Christina C. Jones

I Think I Might Love You is the first book in an adult romance series called Love Sisters. This book was such a breath of fresh air in the adult romance genre, which often includes way too much unnecessary drama. We follow Jaclyn and Kadan, who keep bumping into each other in their small town after a disastrous first encounter.

With this story and characters, I instantly felt at ease and highly entertained. Turns out that “less cheese, more fun” might be my favorite type of romance so I can’t wait to check out more books by this author.

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The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai

Respect and consent are the new sexy. This book made me think about how low the bar is sometimes because the couple in this adult romance was so respectful towards each other that it’s one of the main things I think about when I remember reading this book.

Admittedly, Rhiannon, a dating app business owner, and Samson, a former rugby player, didn’t start on the best foot with Samson ghosting her and Rhiannon deciding she would never forgive him but maybe second chances are warranted in some cases? We also got some online business talk and discussions about health concerns regarding rugby/football players, which was interesting to see.

Overall, this book struck me as quite unique and refreshing and I’m looking forward to continuing with the series.

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American Dreamer by Adriana Herrera

In the first book in an adult contemporary romance series called Dreamers, we follow Nesto Vasquez, who is moving his Afro-Caribbean food truck from New York City to Upstate New York and certainly doesn’t have time to start a romance with that cute guy from the local library. Or does he?

With lots of food and lots of hot content in general, this book was incredibly fun but also touched on topics like culture, racism, or bureaucracy.

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The Brown Sisters series by Talia Hibbert

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I just have to recommend this whole series, although I haven’t read the final book yet. However, I really enjoyed Get a Life Chloe Brown and I adored Take a Hint, Dani Brown so I assume I won’t be disappointed by Act Your Age, Eve Brown either.

Each book in this series focuses on one sister from the Brown family and you can read them in any order. In book one, we follow Chloe, a plus-sized chronically ill woman working in IT, who decides to compile a list of things to do to enjoy her life more and asks a local handyman/artist to help her with actually doing these things.

The books in this series are funny and super enjoyable and they also include some heavier discussions, striking a perfect balance.

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Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes

Here’s the thing… I actually picked up this book because the title caught my interest but I had no idea who Shonda Rhimes was at that time. Yep, that’s right. I’ve never seen Grey’s Anatomy or any of the other shows produced by Shondaland, and I’m generally pretty oblivious when it comes to famous people in the TV industry.

In spite of that, I ended up really enjoying this book. I loved Shonda’s voice (both literally, as I was listening to this on audio, and writing style-wise), found her musings about her career, personal life, race, glass ceilings, and other things quite fascinating.

The title gave me the impression that the book was going to be about saying “yes” to everything (the movie Yes Man definitely came to mind) but instead, it was about saying “yes!” to things that matter, even if it actually means summoning the courage to say “no” to things (or people) that are detrimental to your life.

Long story short, I’m really glad I kind of randomly picked up this book and I’d recommend it whether or not you’re familiar with Shondaland TV shows. (I’m still not really planning to watch Grey’s Anatomy because medical shows aren’t really my thing. Except for Scrubs – I really liked that one in college.)

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Let me know if you’ve read any of these books or what other books by Black authors you’d recommend in the comments below. :- )