Black History Month is an annual recognition of achievements by African Americans and their central role in U.S. history. From children’s to nonfiction, we have the right listen for you! Hit play on these audiobook recommendations all year long!

The Grift

Written by Clay Cane

Performed by Clay Cane

Published by Recorded Books

Part history and part cultural analysis, The Grift chronicles the nuanced history of Black Republicans. By studying these figures and their tactics, Cane exposes the grift and lays out a plan to emancipate our future.

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There Was a Party for Langston

Written by Jason Reynolds

Performed by Jason Reynolds

Published by Recorded Books

You are invited. To a most marvelous party. For a most marvelous man. A man who turned the alphabet into thump a bump. Who turned words into jazz into rivers into bustin’ a move. All of his word-children will be there, uh-huh. Because it’s a party for Langston. Langston Hughes. King o’ Letters. Renaissance Man. So don’t be shy. Come on in. To the Hoopla in Harlem. Everyone is welcome.

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Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon

Written by Wole Talabi

Performed by Ben Arogundade

Published by Recorded Books

The debut fantasy novel from an award-winning, Nebula-nominated Nigerian author A mythic tale of disgruntled gods, revenge, and a heist across two worlds, perfect for fans of Nnedi Okorafor, Neil Gaiman, Marlon James, and Karen Lord.

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All the Fighting Parts

Written by Hannah V. Sawyerr

Performed by Hannah V. Sawyerr

Published by Recorded Books

Sixteen-year-old Amina Conteh has always believed in using her words as her weapon—even when it gets her into trouble. After cursing at a classmate, her father forces her to volunteer at their church with Pastor Johnson. But Pastor Johnson isn’t the holy man everyone thinks he is.

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Failures of Forgiveness: What We Get Wrong and How to Do Better

Written by Myisha Cherry

Performed by Tracey Conyer Lee

Published by Recorded Books

In Failures of Forgiveness, Myisha Cherry argues that these beliefs couldn’t be more wrong—and that the ways we think about and use forgiveness, personally and as a society, can often do more harm than good. She presents a new and healthier understanding of forgiveness—one that will give us a better chance to recover from wrongdoing and move toward “radical repair.”

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Womb City

Written by Tlotlo Tsamaase

Performed by Christel Mutombo

Published by Recorded Books

This genre-bending Africanfuturist horror novel blends The Handmaid’s Tale with Get Out in an adrenaline-packed, cyberpunk body-hopping ghost story exploring motherhood, memory, and a woman’s right to her own body. 

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Victory. Stand! Raising My Fist for Justice

Written by Tommie Smith and Derrick Barnes

Performed by Korey Jackson

Published by Recorded Books

Cowritten with Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Author Honor recipient Derrick Barnes, Victory. Stand! paints a stirring portrait of an iconic moment in Olympic history that still resonates today.

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John Lewis: In Search of the Beloved Community

Written by Raymond Arsenault 

Performed by Jaime Lincoln Smith

Published by Tantor Audio

The first full-length biography of civil rights hero and congressman John Lewis.

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Bayard Rustin: A Legacy of Protest and Politics

Written by Michael G. Long

Performed by Bill Andrew Quinn

Published by Tantor Audio

With expansive, searching, and sometimes critical essays from a range of esteemed writers—including Rustin’s own partner, Walter Naegle—this volume draws a full picture of Bayard Rustin: a gay, pacifist, socialist political radical who changed the course of US history and set a precedent for future civil rights activism, from LGBTQ+ Pride to Black Lives Matter.

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