“Books support us in our solitude and keep us from being a burden to ourselves.”

–Jeremy Collier

Goodreads.com is the ( self-proclaimed ) world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations.

Some nice features of the site are that you can:

See what books your friends are reading.

Track the books you’re reading, have read, and want to read.

Check out personalized book recommendations. Their recommendation engine analyzes 20 billion data points to give suggestions tailored to your literary tastes.

Find out if a book is a good fit for you from the community reviews.

Here are 10 popular books of interest to Black Americans from their site.


The Help (Hardcover)
by Kathryn Stockett (Goodreads Author)
avg rating 4.45 — 2,082,275 ratings — published 2009
Want to Read


The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother (Paperback)
by James McBride (Goodreads Author) (shelved 4 times as african-american-interest)
avg rating 4.06 — 134,625 ratings — published 1996


Beloved (Paperback)
by Toni Morrison (shelved 4 times as african-american-interest)
avg rating 3.77 — 393,126 ratings — published 1987


The Hate U Give (Hardcover)
by Angie Thomas (Goodreads Author) (shelved 3 times as african-american-interest)
avg rating 4.60 — 170,618 ratings — published 2017


The Invention of Wings (Hardcover)
by Sue Monk Kidd (Goodreads Author) (shelved 3 times as african-american-interest)
avg rating 4.22 — 330,304 ratings — published 2014


Wench (Hardcover)
by Dolen Perkins-Valdez (Goodreads Author) (shelved 3 times as african-american-interest)
avg rating 3.68 — 24,462 ratings — published 2009


The Women of Brewster Place (Paperback)
by Gloria Naylor (shelved 3 times as african-american-interest)
avg rating 4.14 — 28,808 ratings — published 1982


The Color Purple (Paperback)
by Alice Walker (shelved 3 times as african-american-interest)
avg rating 4.17 — 614,242 ratings — published 1982


The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates (Hardcover)
by Wes Moore (shelved 3 times as african-american-interest)
avg rating 3.76 — 39,942 ratings — published 2010


The Autobiography of Malcolm X (Paperback)
by Malcolm X (shelved 3 times as african-american-interest)
avg rating 4.28 — 270,844 ratings — published 1965


I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Mass Market Paperback)
by Maya Angelou (shelved 3 times as african-american-interest)
avg rating 4.20 — 543,248 ratings — published 1969

More selections: