Books by Women of Color to Read in 2022

Brown Girls

“Told in the collective voice of the women of color of Queens, Brown Girls reads like poetry, with each chapter packing a powerful punch as we drop in on scenes in the girls' lives as they grow up, move away, and return to their home borough. This is one of those perfect books that goes down equally well as a one-sitting read or one that's doled out a chapter at a time. I've never read anything like this utterly compelling debut novel (and I've never been to Queens, let alone any other borough in New York), but reading this book still felt like coming home. ”

Kate, Bookmarks

The School for Good Mothers

“This novel toggles between infuriating, terrifying, and comedic. An interesting study on what it means to be a woman and a mother. Extremely satisfied with an unexpected ending.”

Kristine, Buttonwood Books and Toys

Olga Dies Dreaming

“What a debut! If you’re looking for a compelling, well written story about a woman at odds with her heritage, her family and trying desperately to figure out her place in the world Olga Dies Dreaming is the book for you. I couldn’t put it down-I stayed up until 2:30 in the morning because I had to know what happened to Olga!”

Kathleen, A Great Good Place for Books

A TIME, NPR, VOGUE, OPRAH DAILY, AND VULTURE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR (SO FAR)

One of TIME’s 100 Must-Read Books of 2022

“Ho's debut work is the perfect modern example of great American fiction. . . . You will love it.” —Jake Tapper

“Intimate, cinematic. . . . The world Ho creates between the two women feels like one friend reading the other’s story,... Read more »

“A deeply generous and honest gift to the world.”
—Elliot Page
 
The author of I’m Afraid of Men lets readers in on the secrets to a life of reinvention.

Vivek Shraya knows this to be true: people change. We change our haircuts and our outfits and our minds. We change names, titles, labels. We attempt to blend in or to stand out. We outgrow... Read more »

To Paradise

“Expansive, wholly original, and utterly engrossing, To Paradise is a masterpiece. Fans of Yanagihara’s A Little Life will find themselves making a little more room in their hearts for this marvelous, emotional, and brilliant story.”

Christine Bollow, Loyalty Bookstores

From the bestselling and Booker Prize–winning author of Girl, Woman, Other, Bernardine Evaristo’s memoir of her own life and writing, and her manifesto on unstoppability, creativity, and activism

Bernardine Evaristo’s 2019 Booker Prize win was a historic and revolutionary occasion, with Evaristo being the first Black woman and first Black British...

An Indigenous environmental scientist breaks down why western conservationism isn't working--and offers Indigenous models informed by case studies, personal stories, and family histories that center the voices of Latin American women and land protectors.

Despite the undeniable fact that Indigenous communities are among the most affected by... Read more »

Introduction by New York Times bestselling author Henry Louis Gates Jr. 

Spanning more than 35 years of work, the first comprehensive collection of essays, criticism, and articles by the legendary author of the Harlem Renaissance, Zora Neale Hurston, showcasing the evolution of her distinctive style as an archivist and author.

“One of the greatest...

A sharp-witted and deeply insightful look into the storied world of elite prep schools from the first African-American legacy student to graduate from The Taft School.

Early on in Kendra James’ professional life, she began to feel like she was selling a lie. As an admissions officer specializing in diversity recruitment for independent prep... Read more »

If you enjoyed Convenience Store Woman, then you’ll love Joan Is Okay.

“This book about a doctor navigating work and personal life questions and struggles pre- and post-Covid was reminiscent of Convenience Store Woman and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine but it also felt original and fresh. The main character was believable and lovable and the writing was solid, insightful, funny and moving. I only wished there had been a little more of this book to love, but also liked its sparseness. This might be my favourite book of the year so far!”

Tracey, Turning the Tide Bookstore

If you enjoyed The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, then you’ll love Violeta [English Edition].

“Before you gas up for your next solo road trip, load up Violeta. With the conversational tone and linear plot line you’ll feel like you’ve got a buddy in the passenger seat who really knows how to tell a story!”

Angie, The Country Bookshop

“An elegant meditation on the complexities of the American South—and thus of America—by an esteemed daughter of the South and one of the great intellectuals of our time. An inspiration.”

—Isabel Wilkerson, New York Times bestselling author of The Warmth of Other Suns and Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

An essential, surprising journey...

In the twelve unforgettable tales of Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, the strange is made familiar and the familiar strange, such that a girl growing wings on her legs feels like an ordinary rite of passage, while a bug-infested house becomes an impossible, Kafkaesque nightmare. Each story builds a new world all its own: a group of... Read more »

One of Bustle's Most Anticipated Books of 2022
One of Pop Sugar's Best New YA of 2022

From stories that take you to the stars, to stories that span into other times and realms, to stories set in the magical now, Reclaim the Stars takes the Latin American diaspora to places fantastical and out of this world.

Follow princesses warring in space,...

From the acclaimed author of We Ride Upon Sticks comes a luminous novel that moves across a windswept Mongolia, as estranged twin brothers make a journey of duty, conflict, and renewed understanding.

"A dazzling achievement...The rhythms are more like prayer than prose, and the puzzlelike plot yields revelations." —The New York Times

Tasked with... Read more »

"[Narrators] Melendez and del Castillo work together to heighten the vibrancy and tension of Huerta's narrative with forceful deliveries and dynamic characterizations. In a moving exploration of family, power, community, and love, two stories beautifully combine into a vivid, captivating adventure. A compelling debut, well suited to fans of...

The critically acclaimed author of The Rib King returns with an eagerly anticipated collection of interlocking short stories including the title story written exclusively for this volume, that explore relationships between friends, family and strangers in a Black neighborhood over fifteen years

The twelve gripping tales...

A mythic love story set in Trinidad, Ayanna Lloyd Banwo's radiant debut is a masterwork of lush imagination and exuberant storytelling—a spellbinding and hopeful novel about inheritance, loss, and love's seismic power to heal.

"Roots the reader in [Trinidad’s] traditions and rituals [and] ... in the glorious matriarchy by which lineage is... Read more »

A Long Petal of the Sea meets Cold Mountain in this “epic and exquisitely wrought” (Patricia Engel, New York Times bestselling author) saga following a Mexican army nurse and an Irish soldier who must fight, at first for their survival and then for their love, amidst the atrocity of the Mexican-American War—from the author of The Distance... Read more »