Black Women in History: On the Bookshelf

 If I didn’t define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people’s fantasies for me and eaten alive. 

- Audre Lorde

I'm not lacking inspiration for the Black Women in History Post Series, however since there is consistent hammering, clanging, banging, and screaming coming from the apartment below and I am having trouble filtering out the noise, I am going to keep it simple today.  As I have stated in several of my post I have a goal of reading twenty-four books, by the end of the year.  While I am broadening my horizons, many of the books on my list come from Black Women authors, since they possess the voice that I can identify with most.

Today's post consist of a list of books that I have read or plan to read over the next year from some of my favorite black female authors....

Books that I have read by Black Women include

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Their Eyes Are Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

Baileys Cafe by Gloria Naylor

Some love Some Pain Sometime by J. California Cooper
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is not Enough by Ntozake  Shange
Paradise by Toni Morrison

And a few more in-between that I can't recall right now.  I am currently in the process of finishing  The Street by Ann Petry and restarting Jazz by Toni Morrison. New to my list in no particular order-

Coal by Audre Lorde

Linden Hills by Gloria Naylor

The Narrows by Ann Petry

Mama Day by Gloria Naylor

The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor

The Men of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor

The Chicken Chronicles: Sitting with the Angels Who Have Returned with My Memories: Glorious, Rufus, Gertrude Stein, Splendor, Hortensia, Agnes of God, the Gladyses, & Babe: A Memoir by Alice Walker

Maud Martha: A Novel by Gwendolyn Brooks

Blacks by Gwendolyn Brooks

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Letter to my Daughter by Maya Angelou

A Piece of Mine: Stories by J. California Cooper

Homemade Love by J. California Cooper

1996 by Gloria Naylor 

Linden Hills by Gloria Naylor

Some Soul to Keep by J. California Cooper

Some People, Some other Place  by J. California Cooper

The Wake of the Wind by J. California Cooper

In Search of Satisfaction by J. California Cooper

If I read this whole list I would exceed my goal.  I know Gloria Naylor, Ann Petry, Audre Lorde, Alice Walker, Gwendolyn Brooks, Maya Angelou, Zora Neal Hurston and J.California Cooper aren't the only Black Women authors out there, but I celebrate them today.  What not on my list are some good mystery stories or biographies, any recommendations?

Peace and Love,

Najeema Iman(Falling in love with good books)