I blog about books by black authors at White Readers Meet Black Authors. Last year I designated December as National Buy a Book By a Black Author and Give It To Somebody Not Black Month. This year I created a list of 50 great gifts at IndieBound and I recommend that people looking for children’s books by black authors go to this list created by the Happy Nappy Bookseller.

Since I’m a writer of women’s fiction and mostly read women’s fiction (and since there was all the hoopla about Publisher’s Weekly best of 2009 list not including any women), I thought I’d contribute a list of 20 of my favorite novels by female authors that you may not have heard of. I tried not to repeat titles I’ve recently listed on my blog, IndieBound or Amazon. Not all of these were published in 2009; some are oldies, but goodies. All make great holiday gifts!

A New Kind of Bliss by Bettye Griffin

Black Girl in Paris by Shay Youngblood

Blood Colony by Tananarive Due

Bring on the Blessings by Beverly Jenkins

Caucasia by Danzy Senna

Finding Me by Darnella Ford

Getting Mother’s Body by Suzan-Lori Parks

Gotta Keep on Tryin’ by Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant

Life is Short But Wide by J. California Cooper

Loving Cee Cee Johnson by Linda Leigh Hargrove

The Middle Sister by Bonnie Glover

Nappily Ever After by Trisha R. Thomas

No Girl Needs a Husband Seven Days a Week by Nina Foxx

Sassy by Gloria Mallette

Some Things I Thought I’d Never Do by Pearl Cleage

This Bitter Earth by Bernice McFadden

Tumbling by Diane McKinney-Whetstone

Ugly Ways by Tina McElroy Ansa

The Vow by Angela Burt-Murray, Mitzi Miller, Denene Millner

Yellow Moon by Jewell Parker Rhodes



Carleen Brice is author of the novels Orange Mint and Honey and Children of the Waters.

The movie version of ORANGE MINT AND HONEY--"Sins of the Mother," starring Jill Scott--airs on LMN Feb. 7th!

www.carleenbrice.com