2023 Audiobooks by Women of Color

How to Say Babylon

A Memoir

By: Safiya Sinclair
Narrated by: Safiya Sinclair
Length: 16 hours 46 minutes

“A poetic memoir of growing up Rastafari in Jamaica. A gripping story of growing up under a fundamentalist father who tried to mold her into the perfect Rasta daughter but who eventually rebelled and broke free. The writing is wonderful, melodious - it’s so clear it’s a poet who’s writing. The author’s many years of reciting poetry shines thru in... Read more

Quietly Hostile

Essays

By: Samantha Irby
Narrated by: Samantha Irby
Length: 9 hours 31 minutes

“The audiobook is absolutely stellar. Hearing the book in Irby's literal voice is a delightful way to enjoy her authorial voice. Funny, relatable, engaging, and rewarding. Read more

A History of Burning

By: Janika Oza
Narrated by: Lipica Shah & KP Upadhyayula
Length: 13 hours 41 minutes

This epic, sweeping historical novel full of "wondrous complexity” spans continents and a century, and reveals how one act of survival can reverberate through generations (Rachel Khong, author of Goodbye, Vitamin). ​

In 1898, Pirbhai, a teenage boy looking for work, is taken from his village in India to labor for the British on the East African... Read more

Liar, Dreamer, Thief

By: Maria Dong
Narrated by: Hannah Choi
Length: 10 hours 17 minutes

“Katrina is working a temp job that she doesn’t like, living with a roommate who is never home, estranged from her parents, has anxiety through the roof - oh and also she sometimes goes “through the kitchen door,” which means she sees things that aren’t there, like carpets of mushrooms and fantastical creatures - imagery and characters from her... Read more

A Thousand Miles to Graceland

By: Kristen Mei Chase
Narrated by: Kim Mai Guest
Length: 9 hours 40 minutes

The journey of a thousand miles begins with sequins and a beehive wig in this sharply funny and achingly tender debut novel about mothers, daughters, and the surprising power of Elvis.

Grace Johnson can’t escape the feeling that her life is on autopilot—until her husband announces he’s done with their marriage. Grace has a choice: wallow in... Read more

Stolen

By: Ann-Helén Laestadius
Narrated by: Jade Wheeler
Length: 13 hours 12 minutes

“Set in a small Scandinavian village, Stolen is the story of a Sami girl who - at a young age - witnesses the brutal killing of her reindeer, a crime treated as 'theft' in the surrounding community. The local police agency won’t do anything about these crimes, and it’s up to Elsa, as she matures, to stand up and fight for her people, her reindeer... Read more

Maame

A Today Show Read With Jenna Book Club Pick

By: Jessica George
Narrated by: Heather Agyepong
Length: 10 hours 10 minutes

“A moving and meaningful 'coming of age' debut, with a peek into Ghanaian culture and book publishing. Maddie is craving freedom and excitement but is unsure of how to achieve it, so she googles her questions! Told with wit and charm. Beautifully narrated by Heather Agyepong! Read more

Warrior Girl Unearthed

By: Angeline Boulley
Narrated by: Isabella Star LaBlanc
Length: 11 hours 32 minutes

“Warrior Girl Unearthed is an intense book that will keep the reader gripped from beginning to end. Perry Firekeeper-Birch’s determination, dedication, and strength of spirit will inspire readers to stand up for themselves and what they believe in. Read more

Twice as Hard

The Stories of Black Women Who Fought to Become Physicians, from the Civil War to the 21st Century

By: Jasmine Brown
Narrated by: Wanda Rush
Length: 7 hours 17 minutes

Black women physicians’ stories have gone untold for far too long, leaving gaping holes in American medical history, in women’s history, and in black history. It’s time to set the record straight

No real account of black women physicians in the US exists, and what little mention is made of these women in existing histories is often insubstantial... Read more

I’m Going to Have a Good Day!

Daily Affirmations with Scarlett

By: Tiania Haneline
Narrated by: Tiania Haneline & Joniece Abbott-Pratt
Length: 16 minutes

I am beautiful. I am kind. I am loved.In this uplifting picture book, young readers will discover how they can use daily affirmations to remind them of who they are and what makes them special. Join TikTok sensation Scarlett Gray and Tiania Haneline as they repeat exuberant affirmations that empower Scarlett throughout the day and inspire those... Read more

You Are Only Just Beginning

Lessons for the Journey Ahead

Morgan Harper Nichols Poetry Collection

By: Morgan Harper Nichols
Narrated by: Morgan Harper Nichols
Length: 2 hours 15 minutes

Read by the author with eleven audiobook-exclusive bonus poems!Find the inspiration you need to embrace your next adventure in life with confidence.It can be difficult and scary to take that first step into your future and surrender to the unknown. This illustrated collection of poetry and essays will empower you to strike out on your journey... Read more

Wires that Sputter

Poems

By: Britta Badour
Narrated by: Britta Badour
Length: 1 hour 2 minutes

A powerful debut collection from an award-winning artist, public speaker, and poet.

Trillium Book Award for Poetry, Finalist
Gerald Lampert Memorial Award, Shortlist
Pat Lowther Memorial Award, Shortlist
Raymond Souster Award, Longlist

With propulsive, intimate stylings and an eye toward Black liberations, pop culture, sports, and familial fractures,... Read more

Superfan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart

A Memoir

By: Jen Sookfong Lee
Narrated by: Jen Sookfong Lee
Length: 8 hours 16 minutes

Finalist for the 2024 Forest of Reading Evergreen Book Award and the City of Vancouver Book Award.
Named a Best Book of 2023 by the Globe and Mail and Apple Books Canada
A TODAY Show Recommended Read

This beautifully intimate memoir-in-pieces uses one woman's life-long love affair with pop culture as a revelatory lens to explore family, identity,... Read more

The Joy of Saying No

A Simple Plan to Stop People Pleasing, Reclaim Boundaries, and Say Yes to the Life You Want

By: Natalie Lue
Narrated by: Natalie Lue
Length: 7 hours 52 minutes

Read by the author.Are you still playing a role you learned in childhood to please others, such as the Good Girl/Boy, the Overachiever, or the Helper? Though these kinds of roles may have gained us attention and affection, they prohibited us from becoming our true selves.People-pleasing--putting others ahead of ourselves to avoid something... Read more

The Racism of People Who Love You

Essays on Mixed Race Belonging

By: Samira Mehta
Narrated by: Fareeda Pasha
Length: 5 hours 49 minutes

“With each essay I found myself thinking about the subject from a new perspective. I appreciated the author's struggle with loving the people in her life even as their actions and/or words are painful to her. I feel more knowledgeable now about how seemingly innocuous comments from me can be construed as a micro aggression to someone else. Read more

The Thing About Home

A Lowcountry Novel

By: Rhonda McKnight
Narrated by: Yinka Ladeinde
Length: 11 hours 33 minutes

From the author of Bitter and Sweet, an emotional love story about a woman who returns to the South to find her roots that combines the "vivid low country history" (Publisher's Weekly) of the Lowcountry with a story of love and family.Home is not a place--it's a feeling.Casey Black needs an escape. When her picture-perfect vow renewal ceremony... Read more

My Selma

True Stories of a Southern Childhood at the Height of the Civil Rights Movement

By: Willie Mae Brown
Narrated by: Karen Chilton & Willie Mae Brown
Length: 5 hours 46 minutes

"Karen Chilton conveys both powerful joy and profound grief in her narration of Willie Mae Brown's stories about growing up in Selma, Alabama, during the Civil Rights movement."- AudioFile

The preface and afterword are read by the author.

Combining family stories of the everyday and the extraordinary as seen through the eyes of her... Read more

Wandering Souls

A Novel

By: Cecile Pin
Narrated by: Ainsleigh Barber, Aoife Hinds & Ioanna Kimbook
Length: 5 hours 13 minutes

This program includes a multicast narration.

"Aoife Hinds, Ioanna Kimbook, and Ainsleigh Barber perform this stunning debut historical novel, which follows three orphaned Vietnamese refugees." - AudioFile Magazine

"A deeply humane and genre-defying work of love and uncompromising hope."—Ocean Vuong

A boldly imagined debut novel about three... Read more

A Country You Can Leave

A Novel

By: Asale Angel-Ajani
Narrated by: Amanda Cordner
Length: 9 hours 12 minutes

“Engrossing and original! Angel-Ajani, herself agrees that it's hard to answer the question, "What is this book about?" It's so many things, and it works! The prose is breathtaking, and the characters are complicated. Lara is the biracial daughter of an absentee Afro-Cuban father and a Russian mother. Lara is easy to love. Her single mom, Yvengia... Read more

Girls Like Girls

By: Hayley Kiyoko
Narrated by: Brandon Flynn, Hayley Kiyoko, Katie Gavin, Malia Pyles & Natalie Naudus
Length: 8 hours 31 minutes

This program is read by an all-queer cast: the author, Hayley Kiyoko; Natalie Naudus; Malia Pyles; Katie Gavin; and Brandon Flynn.

"This quaint performance by a five-narrator ensemble will tug at the heartstrings."- AudioFile

Trailblazing pop star, actor and director, Hayley Kiyoko debuts her first novel, a coming-of-age romance based on her... Read more