Y’all, I read sixteen books this year. SIXTEEN! To some that may be a small number, to others it may seem impossible, but to me, it’s a big deal. As much as I love to, I wasn’t previously making intentional time to finish the books I started. (Buying books, no problem! Completing them? Maybe tomorrow.) Turns out, a shelter-in-place order plus a snowy East Coast winter makes the perfect combination for actually reading through ‘til the end.
Since then, it’s been mostly about momentum. Just. Keep. Reading.
Most of the books I read this year were poignant and enthralling. ‘Twas nice to occasionally break away from fiction stories – which is my preferred genre – and tune into thought-provoking books like Thick and Other Stories by Tressie McMillan Cottom and So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo.
Placing one person’s creative output above another is subjective, and not the easiest task with so many compelling choices. So, in no particular order, I’ve rounded up six of my favorite 2021 reads that explore themes of Black love, interracial family dynamics, education segregation, disability justice and more.
Check out our Reader’s Round-up below.
During ItsQwere’s Mighty Real in November, The Prophets author Robert Jones, Jr. (left, center) discussed his critically acclaimed debut novel.
Standout Fiction Fave – The Prophets
It’s no secret that I was obsessed with The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr. On my first passthrough, I completed the book in just four days. So enthralled in this beautiful love story of two enslaved men, I fought sleep and ran late for work to read “just a few more pages.” If you’re looking for a tale like no other centering humans living and loving under inhumane conditions, this masterpiece is a must.
Eye Opening Non-Fiction Faves – Driving While Black & Disability Visibility
It’s a toss-up here between Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights by Gretchen Sorin, and Disability Visibility edited by Alice Wong. Both books offered me countless Ah-Ha moments and shed a blindingly bright light on situations and circumstances I’ve never had to consider. If you have time to read both, go for it; otherwise, I recommend the Disability Visibility text, and the documentary film version of Driving While Black.
Hip-Hop Classic Fave – B-Boy Blues
Written in the early ‘90s, the novel B-Boy Blues by James Earl Hardy is a time capsule of Black gay life in New York City before cell phones, dating apps, and emails. The “fiercely funny, seriously sexy, Black-on-Black love story” follows Mitchell and Raheim as they learn how to love one another despite contrasting life experiences. Even though the story is nearly 30 years old, so many of the themes (stigma, domestic abuse, race relations) are as relevant today as they were back then.
New York Times best selling author Naima Coster joined our June book club to discuss her 2021 release, What’s Mine And Yours, and her 2017 debut novel, Halsey Street.
2021 Favorite Faves – What’s Mine And Yours & Unprotected
What’s Mine and Yours by Naima Coster was our third book club selection and the first book club choice I’d made without consulting someone else. The multi-layered, time-hopping tale is a sweeping novel of legacy, identity, the American family, and the ways race affects even our most intimate relationships. What makes this book selection particularly special is that Naima joined our book club in June to discuss What’s Mine And Yours and her 2017 debut novel, Halsey Street.
Billy Porter’s memoir Unprotected is a standout, and a knockout. His charismatic, commanding perspective and tone of voice in the book are crystal clear, and there’s no way anyone other than Billy penned these words. If you were ever bullied in school, if you were denied opportunities that were rightfully yours, if you’re a fan of Broadway theatre, fan of an underdog making their way out from under, if you watched Pose, or just need a damn-good page turner: Unprotected is for you.
What was your favorite book of the year? Which titles are on your radar for 2022? If you’ve got something to share, holla back.
Happy New Year, book besties. See you in Twenty Twenty-Two.
xo.