Well-Read Black Girl Festival Picks

We're Going to Need More Wine

Stories That Are Funny, Complicated, and True

By: Gabrielle Union
Narrated by: Gabrielle Union
Length: 7 hours 48 minutes

“I know what this book looks like, and it's true that it's a '90s celebrity's memoir. But the other parts of this book are so remarkable that to limit its description to that would be an injustice. Gabrielle Union is an honest writer and cultural critic. I'm ashamed I didn't know this until now. Her reflections on race, gender, and authenticity... Read more

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

An Oprah’s Book Club Novel

By: Honoree Fanonne Jeffers
Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo, Karen Chilton & Prentice Onayemi
Length: 29 hours 48 minutes

“This book really won me over with its brilliant writing and entrancing story. Honestly, I was intimidated by the length and title (especially as someone who doesn't love poetry) but the blurb was so good and it sounded right up my alley. The narrators, Adenrele Ojo, Karen Chilton & Prentice Onayemi, all have gorgeous voices and immediately... Read more

The Sum of Us

What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together

By: Heather McGhee
Narrated by: Heather McGhee
Length: 11 hours 8 minutes

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

It's About Damn Time

How to Turn Being Underestimated into Your Greatest Advantage

By: Arlan Hamilton & Rachel L. Nelson
Narrated by: Arlan Hamilton
Length: 5 hours 57 minutes

“A hero’s tale of what’s possible when we unlock our potential, continue the search for knowledge, and draw on our lived experiences to guide us through the darkest moments.”—Stacey Abrams

From a Black, gay woman who broke into the boys’ club of Silicon Valley comes an empowering guide to finding your voice, working your way into any room you... Read more

A Knock at Midnight

A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom

By: Brittany K. Barnett
Narrated by: Karen Chilton
Length: 13 hours 20 minutes

LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE FINALIST • NAACP IMAGE AWARD NOMINEE • A “powerful and devastating” (The Washington Post) call to free those buried alive by America’s legal system, and an inspiring true story about unwavering belief in humanity—from a gifted young lawyer and important new voice in the movement to transform the system.

“An essential... Read more

Until I Am Free

Fannie Lou Hamer's Enduring Message to America

By: Keisha N. Blain
Narrated by: Tyra Kennedy
Length: 7 hours 1 minute

Explores the Black activist’s ideas and political strategies, highlighting their relevance for tackling modern social issues including voter suppression, police violence, and economic inequality.

“We have a long fight and this fight is not mine alone, but you are not free whether you are white or black, until I am free.”—Fannie Lou Hamer

A... Read more

Hurricane Summer

A Novel

By: Asha Ashanti Bromfield
Narrated by: Asha Ashanti Bromfield
Length: 10 hours 19 minutes

"Author and narrator Asha Bromfield offers an engrossing performance of this coming-of-age audiobook. Bromfield's experience as an actress and her ease with Jamaican Patois will draw listeners into a story that has multiple levels of emotional intensity." -- AudioFile Magazine

This program is read by the author, and includes a bonus conversation... Read more

Dear Miss Metropolitan

A Novel

By: Carolyn Ferrell
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
Length: 11 hours 12 minutes

“This novel is, in a word, heartbreaking. Dear Miss Metropolitan is going right to the top of my recommendation list for 2021. Read more

Rise to the Sun

By: Leah Johnson
Narrated by: Lexi Underwood & Alaska Jackson
Length: 7 hours 33 minutes

“Leah Johnson is officially an auto-buy for me. I honest to goodness could not stop marking this book, nor did I realize just how much I needed it. From the off, Toni and Olivia's journeys were some sort of catharsis, healing my soul even after only two chapters. By the end, my eyes were run over and my cheeks were salty. This one's for the... Read more

Sometimes I Trip On How Happy We Could Be

By: Nichole Perkins
Narrated by: Nichole Perkins
Length: 7 hours 2 minutes

“Hear the dark liquor of her laughter rippling behind her sentences” in this magnetic memoir as it explores a journalist’s obsession with pop culture and the difficulty of navigating relationships as a Black woman through fanfiction, feminism, and Southern mores (Saeed Jones). 

A Roxane Gay Audacious Bookclub November Pick
Named "Most Anticipated... Read more

We Are Bridges

A Memoir

By: Cassandra Lane
Narrated by: Cassandra Lane
Length: 8 hours 5 minutes

When Cassandra Lane finds herself pregnant at thirty-five, the knowledge sends her on a poignant exploration of memory to prepare for her entry into motherhood. She moves between the twentieth-century rural South and present-day Los Angeles, reimagining the intimate life of her great-grandparents Mary Magdelene Magee and Burt Bridges, and Burt’s... Read more

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

By: Deesha Philyaw
Narrated by: Janina Edwards
Length: 4 hours 6 minutes

“In this powerful anthology we are introduced to a diverse cast of characters, each with their own distinct voice and troubles. Through them we explore the complexities & expectations of womanhood, the challenges of love & relationships, and how these topics impact their lives within church culture. Full of moving, delicious language that... Read more

Revival Season

By: Monica West
Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt
Length: 8 hours 24 minutes

“In Revival Season, 15-year-old Miriam Horton's eyes are opened to the complexities of spirituality and the depraved nature of humans, including one who she admires the most: her own father, an Evangelical Baptist preacher who plans revival circuits every summer. After witnessing her father violently react to a man who questions his ability to... Read more

Instructions for Dancing

By: Nicola Yoon
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
Length: 7 hours 48 minutes

AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"A charming, wholehearted love story that's sure to make readers swoon."—Entertainment Weekly

"Nicola Yoon writes from the heart in this beautiful love story."—Good Morning America

“It’s like an emotional gut punch—so beautiful and also heart-wrenching."—US Weekly

In this romantic page-turner from the author of... Read more