Find your next great read by clicking on one of our Reading Lists! Each collection features a curated list of books available in our catalog or through Inter-Library Loan.
Racial Issues for Adult Readers
Racial Issues Reading List for adult Readers
A list for those who would like to learn more about the history and experiences of People of Color in America.
“Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on.” – Thurgood Marshall
Fiction
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
Black Enough by Ibi Zoboi
How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Nonfiction & poetry
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Brothers and Keepers by John Edgar Wideman
Busted In New York by Darryl Pinckney
Chokehold by Paul Butler
Citizen by Claudia Rankine
Dark Sky Rising by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Democracy in Black by Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.
Down These Mean Streets by Piri Thomas
Eloquent Rage by Brittney Cooper
Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall
How to Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
How We Fight For Our Lives by Saeed Jones
Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
No Ashes In the Fire by Darnell L. Moore
On the Other Side of Freedom by DeRay Mckesson
One Person, No Vote by Carol Anderson
Race Matters by Cornel West
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
Stamped–Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
Survival Math by Mitchell S. Jackson
Tears We Cannot Stop by Michael Eric Dyson
The Black and the Blue by Matthew Horace
The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
The Fire This Time by Jesmyn Ward
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
Things That Make White People Uncomfortable
by Michael Bennett and Dave Zirin
This Will Be My Undoing by Morgan Jerkins
When They Call You a Terrorist by Patrisse Kahn-Cullors & Asha Bandele
Racial Issues for Young Readers
Racial Issues Reading List for Young Readers
A list for those who would like to learn more about the history and experiences of People of Color in America.
“Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on.” – Thurgood Marshall
Fiction
Black Is a Rainbow Color by Angela Joy
For Black Girls Like Me by Mariama J. Lockington
Freedom Over Me by Ashley Bryan
Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams
Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry
Hey Black Child by Useni Eugene Perkins
I Am Enough by Grace Byers
Let the Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson
Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
New Kid by Jerry Craft
Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
Ruth and the Green Book by Calvin A. Ramsey
Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson
The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson
The Night Is Yours by Abdul-Razak Zachariah
The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson
The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore
Nonfiction
A Few Red Drops by Claire Hartfield
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Heart and Soul by Kadir Nelson
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
I Have a Dream: Martin Luther King Jr. by Kadir Nelson
March: Book One by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, & Nate Powell
March: Book Two by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, & Nate Powell
March: Book Three by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, & Nate Powell
The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander & Kadir Nelson
Books That Connect Us
BOOKS TO CONNECT US
Here is a short list of books for adults that may be of interest to you during this stay-in-place time.
Hopeful and upbeat
Hotel Silence by Audur Ava Olafsdottir
The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald Alice Menzies (Translator)
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
Gentle feel good
Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry
The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
Thrillers and suspense
Cold Storage by David Koepp
The Passengers by John Marrs
A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh
Helpers (non-fiction)
The Boys in the Cave by Matt Gutman
We Fed an Island by Jose Andres and Richard Wolffe
The Day the World Came to Town by Jim Defede
Armchair travel
I Might Regret This by Abbi Jacobson
From Scratch by Tembi Locke
Into the Planet by Jill Heinerth
Self-improvement
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
10% Happier by Dan Harris
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
Cathy Hirano (Translator)
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Youth Books
Love Makes a Family by Sophie Beer
Islandborn by Junot Díaz
Dream Big, Little One by Vashti Harrison
Julián is a mermaid by Jessica Love
Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal
Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers
The Proudest Blue : a Story of Hijab and Family by Ibtihaj Muhammad
A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara
Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o
All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold
You Matter by Christian Robinson
Just ask! Be Different Be Brave, Be You by Sonia Sotomayor
Adult Books
Breaking the Silence Habit : a Practical Guide to Uncomfortable Conversations in the #MeToo Workplace by Sarah Beaulieu
The Person You Mean To Be : How Good People Fight Bias by Dolly Chugh
White Fragility : Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin Diangelo
The Power of Disability : 10 Lessons for Surviving, Thriving, and Changing the World by Al Etmanski
Bridging Differences for Better Mentoring by Lisa Z. Fain
The Memo: What Women of Color Need to Know to Secure a Seat at the Table by Minda Harts
#MeToo in the Corporate World: Power, Privilege, and the Path Forward by Sylvia Ann Hewlett
Edge: Turning Adversity Into Advantage by Laura Huang
Subtle Acts of Exclusion: How to Understand, Identify, and Stop Microaggressions by Tiffany Jana
Inclusify: The Power of Uniqueness and Belonging to Build Innovative Teams by Stefanie K. Johnson
In the Land of Men: A Memoir by Adrienne Miller
We Can’t Talk About That At Work! by Mary- Frances Winters
