Audiobooks by Black Authors

The 1619 Project

By: Caitlin Roper, Ilena Silverman & Jake Silverstein
Narrated by: Nikole Hannah-Jones & Full Cast
Length: 18 hours 56 minutes
Abridged: No

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A dramatic expansion of a groundbreaking work of journalism, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story offers a profoundly revealing vision of the American past and present.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • NPR • Marie Claire
 
In late August 1619, a ship arrived in the British colony of... Read more »

The Vanishing Half

By: Brit Bennett
Narrated by: Shayna Small
Length: 11 hours 33 minutes
Abridged: No

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2020 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES * THE WASHINGTON POST * NPR * PEOPLE * TIME MAGAZINE* VANITY FAIR * GLAMOUR 

2021 WOMEN'S PRIZE FINALIST

“Bennett’s tone and style recalls James Baldwin and Jacqueline Woodson, but it’s especially reminiscent of Toni...

How to Be an Antiracist

By: Ibram X. Kendi
Narrated by: Ibram X. Kendi
Length: 10 hours 43 minutes
Abridged: No

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the National Book Award–winning author of Stamped from the Beginning comes a “groundbreaking” (Time) approach to understanding and uprooting racism and inequality in our society—and in ourselves.

“The most courageous book to date on the problem of race in the Western mind.”—The New York Times

ONE OF THE BEST... Read more »

A Promised Land

By: Barack Obama
Narrated by: Barack Obama
Length: 29 hours 9 minutes
Abridged: No

A riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making—from the president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAACP IMAGE AWARD NOMINEE • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • Jennifer... Read more »

Ain't I a Woman

By: Bell Hooks
Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
Length: 8 hours 55 minutes
Abridged: No

A classic work of feminist scholarship, Ain't I a Woman has become a must–read for all those interested in the nature of black womanhood. Examining the impact of sexism on black women during slavery, the devaluation of black womanhood, black male sexism, racism among feminists, and the black woman's involvement with feminism, Hooks attempts to... Read more »

Parable of the Sower

By: Octavia E. Butler
Narrated by: Lynne Thigpen
Length: 12 hours 2 minutes
Abridged: No

Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Octavia E. Butler paints a stunning portrait of an all-too-believable near future. As with Kindred and her other critically-acclaimed novels, Parable of the Sower skillfully combines startling visionary and socially realistic concepts. God is change. That is the central truth of the Earthseed movement, whose... Read more »

On Juneteenth

By: Annette Gordon-Reed
Narrated by: Karen Chilton
Length: 3 hours 44 minutes
Abridged: No

Weaving together American history, dramatic family chronicle, and searing episodes of memoir, Annette Gordon-Reed’s On Juneteenth provides a historian’s view of the nation’s long road to Juneteenth, recounting both its origins in Texas and the enormous hardships that African-Americans have endured in the century since, from Reconstruction... Read more »

Honey Girl

By: Morgan Rogers
Narrated by: York Whitaker
Length: 10 hours 11 minutes
Abridged: No

Named Most Anticipated of 2021 by Oprah Magazine * Marie Claire * Ms. Magazine * E! * Parade Magazine * Buzzfeed * Cosmo * The Rumpus * GoodReads * Autostraddle * Brit & Co * Refinery29 * Betches * BookRiot and others!

A LibraryReads Pick
 
“HONEY GIRL is an emotional, heartfelt, charming debut, and I loved every moment of it.”
— Jasmine... Read more »

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

By: Honoree Fanonne Jeffers
Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo, Karen Chilton & Prentice Onayemi
Length: 29 hours 48 minutes
Abridged: No

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2021

AN AUDIBLE, AUDIOFILE, AND WASHINGTON POST BEST AUDIOBOOK OF THE YEAR

AN OPRAH BOOK CLUB SELECTION

LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/HEMINGWAY AWARD FOR DEBUT NOVEL • LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION • A FINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE FOR FICTION • SHORTLISTED FOR...

Caste (Oprah's Book Club)

By: Isabel Wilkerson
Narrated by: Robin Miles
Length: 14 hours 25 minutes
Abridged: No

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • “An instant American classic and almost certainly the keynote nonfiction book of the American century thus far.”—Dwight Garner, The New York Times

The Pulitzer Prize–winning, bestselling author of The Warmth of Other Suns examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows... Read more »

How the Word Is Passed

By: Clint Smith
Narrated by: Clint Smith
Length: 10 hours 6 minutes
Abridged: No

Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction

Winner of the Stowe Prize

PEN America 2022 John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction Finalist

A New York Times 10 Best Books of 2021

A Time 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2021

Named a Best Book of 2021 by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The...

Becoming

By: Michelle Obama
Narrated by: Michelle Obama
Length: 19 hours 1 minutes
Abridged: No

An intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States
 
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • WATCH THE EMMY-NOMINATED NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • NAACP IMAGE AWARD WINNER • ONE OF ESSENCE’S 50 MOST IMPACTFUL BLACK BOOKS OF THE PAST 50 YEARS

In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment,... Read more »

Harlem Shuffle

By: Colson Whitehead
Narrated by: Dion Graham
Length: 10 hours 35 minutes
Abridged: No

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, this gloriously entertaining novel is  “fast-paced, keen-eyed and very funny ... about race, power and the history of Harlem all disguised as a thrill-ride crime novel" (San Francisco Chronicle).

"Ray Carney was only... Read more »

Get a Life, Chloe Brown

By: Talia Hibbert
Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
Length: 10 hours 41 minutes
Abridged: No

“Absolutely charming... a flawless balance of humor, heat, sweetness, and depth, and I loved every page.” – Helen Hoang, USA Today bestselling author of The Bride Test

Talia Hibbert, one of contemporary romance’s brightest new stars, delivers a witty, hilarious romantic comedy about a woman who’s tired of being “boring” and recruits her...

Black Leopard, Red Wolf

By: Marlon James
Narrated by: Dion Graham
Length: 23 hours 59 minutes
Abridged: No

One of TIME’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time

Winner of the L.A. Times Ray Bradbury Prize 

Finalist for the 2019 National Book Award

The New York Times Bestseller

Named a Best Book of 2019 by The Wall Street Journal, TIME, NPR, GQ, Vogue, and The Washington Post

"A fantasy world as well-realized as anything Tolkien made." --Neil Gaiman... Read more »

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You

By: Jason Reynolds & Ibram X. Kendi
Narrated by: Jason Reynolds
Length: 4 hours 11 minutes
Abridged: No

The #1 New York Times bestseller and a USAToday bestseller!
A timely, crucial, and empowering exploration of racism--and antiracism--in America

This is NOT a history book.
This is a book about the here and now.
A book to help us better understand why we are where we are.
A book about race.

The construct of race has always been used to gain and keep... Read more »

Seven Days in June

By: Tia Williams
Narrated by: Mela Lee
Length: 10 hours 32 minutes
Abridged: No

A REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICK! 

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Named A Best Book by USA Today • Harper’s Bazaar • Oprah Daily • PopSugar • Shondaland • The Los Angeles Times • NPR • Kirkus • Marie Claire • New York Public Library • Bustle • Good Housekeeping • PureWow • CBS News • People • BuzzFeed • Reader’s Digest 

Named A Most...

I Take My Coffee Black

By: Tyler Merritt
Narrated by: Jimmy Kimmel, Tyler Merritt, James Iglehart, Jerrie Elaine Merritt & Milton Merrit
Length: 11 hours 4 minutes
Abridged: No

As a 6'2" dreadlocked black man, Tyler Merritt knows what it feels like to be stereotyped as threatening, which can have dangerous consequences. But he also knows that proximity to people who are different from ourselves can be a cure for racism. 

Tyler Merritt's video "Before You Call the Cops" has been viewed millions of times. He's appeared on... Read more »

Such a Fun Age

By: Kiley Reid
Narrated by: Nicole Lewis
Length: 9 hours 58 minutes
Abridged: No

A Best Book of the Year:
The Washington Post • Chicago Tribune • NPR • Vogue • Elle • Real Simple • InStyle • Good Housekeeping • Parade • Slate • Vox • Kirkus Reviews • Library Journal • BookPage

Longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize

An Instant New York Times Bestseller

A Reese's Book Club Pick 

"The most provocative page-turner of the year."... Read more »

Hood Feminism

By: Mikki Kendall
Narrated by: Mikki Kendall
Length: 6 hours 57 minutes
Abridged: No

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“The fights against hunger, homelessness, poverty, health disparities, poor schools, homophobia, transphobia, and domestic violence are feminist fights. Kendall offers a feminism rooted in the livelihood of everyday women.” —Ibram X. Kendi, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of  How to Be an Antiracist, in The... Read more »

Children of Blood and Bone

By: Tomi Adeyemi
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
Length: 17 hours 44 minutes
Abridged: No

*Winner of the Audie Award for Audiobook of the Year*

*This program is narrated by acclaimed reader Bahni Turpin, whose past work includes The Hate U Give and The Underground Railroad*

"Bahni Turpin's breathtaking narration of this exhilarating novel will keep listeners rooted to their seats, listening intently...an audiobook not to be missed." —...

Memphis

By: Tara M. Stringfellow
Narrated by: Karen Murray, Adenrele Ojo & Tara Stringfellow
Length: 9 hours 23 minutes
Abridged: No

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY • A spellbinding debut novel tracing three generations of a Southern Black family and one daughter’s discovery that she has the power to change her family’s legacy.

“A rhapsodic hymn to Black women.”—The New York Times Book Review

“I fell in love with this family, from... Read more »

Take My Hand

By: Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Narrated by: Lauren J. Daggett
Length: 10 hours 56 minutes
Abridged: No

“Deeply empathetic yet unflinching in its gaze…an unforgettable exploration of responsibility and redemption.” —Celeste Ng
 
“Highlights the horrific discrepancies in our healthcare system and illustrates their heartbreaking consequences.” —Essence
 
Inspired by true events that rocked the nation, a searing and compassionate new novel about a... Read more »

The Sum of Us

By: Heather McGhee
Narrated by: Heather McGhee
Length: 11 hours 8 minutes
Abridged: No

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD • One of today’s most insightful and influential thinkers offers a powerful exploration of inequality and the lesson that generations of Americans have failed to learn: Racism has a cost for everyone—not just for people of color.

WINNER OF THE PORCHLIGHT BUSINESS BOOK AWARD • ONE... Read more »