Black Authors

The Secret Game

By: Scott Ellsworth

Narrated by: Scott Ellsworth

Length: 11 hours 11 minutes

Abridged: No

Winner of the 2016 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing: The true story of the game that never should have happened -- and of a nation on the brink of monumental change.

In the fall of 1943, at the little-known North Carolina College for Negroes, Coach John McLendon was on the verge of changing basketball forever. A protégé of James... Read more

They Were Her Property

By: Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers

Narrated by: Allyson Johnson

Length: 10 hours 26 minutes

Abridged: No

A bold and searing investigation into the role of white women in the American slave economy.



Bridging women's history, the history of the South, and African American history, this book makes a bold argument about the role of white women in American slavery. Historian Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers draws on a variety of sources to show that... Read more

Cookies & Milk

By: Shawn Amos

Narrated by: Shawn Amos

Length: 4 hours 54 minutes

Abridged: No

It's a summer of family, friendship, and fun fiascos in this semi-autobiographical novel that's as irresistible as a fresh-baked cookie.
 
Eleven-year-old Ellis Johnson has the summertime blues. He dreamed of spending the summer of 1976 hanging out with friends, listening to music, and playing his harmonica. Instead, he'll be sleeping on a lumpy... Read more

Black Girl You Are Atlas

By: Renée Watson

Narrated by: Renée Watson

Length: 51 minutes

Abridged: No

A thoughtful celebration of Black girlhood by award-winning author and poet Renée Watson.

In this semi-autobiographical collection of poems, Renée Watson writes
about her experience growing up as a young Black girl at the intersections of race, class, and gender.

Using a variety of poetic forms, from haiku to free verse, Watson shares recollections... Read more

The Light on Halsey Street

By: Vanessa Miller

Narrated by: Je Nie Fleming

Length: 8 hours 54 minutes

Abridged: No

Two girls’ lives are irrevocably intertwined the summer of 1985 in the streets of Brooklyn, New York, and neither will ever be the same in this coming-of-age story that spans decades.In the summer of 1985, Lisa Whitaker is a church kid headed to college on a scholarship while her best friend, Dana, is floundering in the wake of her mother’s... Read more

The Prophets

By: Robert Jones, Jr.

Narrated by: Karen Chilton

Length: 14 hours 52 minutes

Abridged: No

Best Book of the Year
NPR • The Washington Post • Boston Globe • TIME • USA Today • Entertainment Weekly • Real Simple • Parade • Buzzfeed • Electric Literature • LitHub • BookRiot • PopSugar • Goop • Library Journal • BookBub • KCRW

• Finalist for the National Book Award
• One of the New York Times Notable Books of the Year
• One of the New York... Read more

The Love Dare

By: Abiola Bello

Narrated by: Nneka Okoye

Length: 6 hours 37 minutes

Abridged: No

Can a dare made at Notting Hill Carnival turn into true love? He’s All That meets How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days in this trope-filled sizzling summer romance, perfect for fans of Joya Goffney and Lynn Painter.
 
Popular girl Eva Òjó is used to boys falling for her without her even trying. So when her friend dares her to dance with a random guy at... Read more

Hope's Path to Glory

By: Jerdine Nolen

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin

Length: 5 hours 5 minutes

Abridged: No

In Alexandria, Virginia, in the mid-19th century, a slave-owning family is facing financial trouble. The eldest son, Jason, thinks going to California to mine for gold might be the best way to protect his father’s legacy. He’ll need a cook, a laundress, and a hostler for the journey, and one of them is twelve-year-old Clementine, whose mother... Read more

Memorial Drive

By: Natasha Trethewey

Narrated by: Natasha Trethewey

Length: 5 hours 9 minutes

Abridged: No

An Instant New York Times Bestseller A New York Times Notable Book One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2020Named One of the Best Books of the Year by: The Washington Post, NPR, Shelf Awareness, Esquire, Electric Literature, Slate, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and InStyleA chillingly personal and exquisitely wrought memoir of a daughter... Read more

Amari and the Night Brothers

By: B. B. Alston

Narrated by: Imani Parks

Length: 11 hours 11 minutes

Abridged: No

New York Times bestseller! Artemis Fowl meets Men in Black in this exhilarating debut middle grade fantasy, the first in a series filled with #blackgirlmagic. Perfect for fans of Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, the Percy Jackson series, and Nevermoor. Amari Peters has never stopped believing her missing brother, Quinton, is alive. Not... Read more

Hip-Hop Is History

By: Questlove

Narrated by: Questlove

Length: 11 hours 20 minutes

Abridged: No

Recorded at the legendary Electric Lady Studios in New York City, the audiobook features narration and storytelling by Questlove, who expertly weaves together a rich sonic tapestry of hip-hop tales large and small, well-known and obscure. From hearing “Rapper’s Delight” for the first time in 1979 to directing and producing the 50th Anniversary... Read more

One of the Good Ones

By: Maika Moulite & Maritza Moulite

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin, Jordan Cobb & Carolyn Smith

Length: 9 hours 49 minutes

Abridged: No

"One of the Good Ones is magic.” —Damon Young, author of What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker

A shockingly powerful exploration of the lasting impact of prejudice and the indomitable spirit of sisterhood that will have readers questioning what it truly means to be an ally, from sister-writer duo Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite, authors of... Read more

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

By: Neil deGrasse Tyson

Narrated by: Neil deGrasse Tyson

Length: 3 hours 41 minutes

Abridged: No

The essential universe, from our most celebrated and beloved astrophysicist.What is the nature of space and time? How do we fit within the universe? How does the universe fit within us? There’s no better guide through these mind-expanding questions than acclaimed astrophysicist and bestselling author Neil deGrasse Tyson.But today, few of us have... Read more

Patsy

By: Nicole Dennis-Benn

Narrated by: Sharon Gordon

Length: 17 hours 9 minutes

Abridged: No

When Patsy gets her long-coveted visa to America, it comes after years of yearning to leave Pennyfield, the beautiful but impoverished Jamaican town where she was raised. More than anything, Patsy wishes to be reunited with her oldest friend, Cicely, whose letters arrive from New York steeped in the promise of a happier life and the possible... Read more

D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding

By: Chencia C. Higgins

Narrated by: Rebecca Lee

Length: 8 hours 47 minutes

Abridged: No

Instant I Do could be Kris Zavala’s big break. She’s right on the cusp of really making it as an influencer, so a stint on reality TV is the perfect chance to elevate her brand. And $100,000 wouldn’t hurt either. D’Vaughn Miller is just trying to break out of her shell. She’s sort of neglected to come out to her mom for years, so a big splashy... Read more

The Underground Railroad (Television Tie-in)

By: Colson Whitehead

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin

Length: 10 hours 43 minutes

Abridged: No

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • A magnificent tour de force chronicling a young slave's adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. • Now an original Amazon Prime Video series directed by Barry Jenkins.

Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is... Read more

Here for It

By: R. Eric Thomas

Narrated by: R. Eric Thomas

Length: 7 hours 34 minutes

Abridged: No

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Read with Jenna Book Club Pick as Featured on Today • From the creator of Elle’s “Eric Reads the News,” a heartfelt and hilarious memoir-in-essays about growing up seeing the world differently, finding unexpected hope, and experiencing every awkward, extraordinary stumble along the way.

“Pop culture–obsessed, Sedaris-level... Read more

They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us

By: Hanif Abdurraqib

Narrated by: Hanif Abdurraqib

Length: 8 hours 37 minutes

Abridged: No

*2018 "12 best books to give this holiday season" TODAY Show*Best Books of 2018* Rolling Stone"A Best Book of 2017" NPR, Buzzfeed, Paste Magazine, Esquire, Chicago Tribune, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, CBC, Stereogum, National Post, Entropy, Heavy, Book Riot, Chicago Review of Books, The Los Angeles Review, Michigan Daily*American Booksellers Association... Read more

No Gods, No Monsters

By: Cadwell Turnbull

Narrated by: Dion Graham

Length: 9 hours 49 minutes

Abridged: No

Named a BEST BOOK OF 2021 by the New York Times, NPR, the New York Public Library, Audible, Tor.com, Book Riot, Library Journal, and Kirkus!Longlisted for the 2022 PEN Open Book Award“Riveting…[A] tender, ferocious book.”—New York Times“Beautifully fantastical.”—NPR“Masterful.”—Chicago TribuneOne October morning, Laina gets the news that her... Read more

The Jigsaw Man

By: Nadine Matheson

Narrated by: Davine Henry

Length: 14 hours 8 minutes

Abridged: No

"A heart-pounding roller coaster ride."—Tami Hoag, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Boy

*A Crime Reads Most Anticipated Book of 2021*

A serial killer and his copycat are locked in a violent game of cat and mouse. Can DI Anjelica Henley stop them before it’s too late?

On the day she returns to active duty with the Serial Crimes Unit,... Read more

Medical Apartheid

By: Harriet A. Washington

Narrated by: Ron Butler

Length: 19 hours 1 minute

Abridged: No

Medical Apartheid is the first and only comprehensive history of medical experimentation on African Americans. Starting with the earliest encounters between black Americans and Western medical researchers and the racist pseudoscience that resulted, it details the ways both slaves and freedmen were used in hospitals for experiments conducted... Read more

The Saint of Bright Doors

By: Vajra Chandrasekera

Narrated by: Sid Sagar

Length: 12 hours 20 minutes

Abridged: No

The Saint of Bright Doors sets the high drama of divine revolutionaries and transcendent cults against the mundane struggles of modern life, resulting in a novel that is revelatory and resonant.

Fetter was raised to kill, honed as a knife to cut down his sainted father. This gave him plenty to talk about in therapy.

He walked among invisible... Read more

skin & bones

By: Renée Watson

Narrated by: Zenzi Williams

Length: 9 hours 7 minutes

Abridged: No

From the acclaimed #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a soulful and lyrical novel exploring sisterhood, motherhood, faith, love, and ultimately what gets passed down from one generation to the next
 
At 40, Lena Baker is at a steady and stable moment in life—between wine nights with her two best friends and her wedding just weeks away,... Read more

Shadow Speaker

By: Nnedi Okorafor

Narrated by: Délé Ogundiran

Length: 10 hours 27 minutes

Abridged: No

A deluxe, expanded edition of an out-of-print early novel from Africanfuturist luminary Nnedi Okorafor, with a brand-new introduction from the author.



Niger, West Africa, 2074



It is an era of tainted technology and mysterious mysticism. A great change has happened all over the planet, and the laws of physics aren't what they used to be.



Within all... Read more