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African Literature Black Canadian Authors Black Literature Black Writers Monthly Reads New Releases

83 Books by Black Authors Coming Out in June 2026

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June BOTM: We Don’t Talk About Carol by Kristen L. Berry

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May BOTM: Where the Wildflowers Grow

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March BOTM Pick: The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley

by LalaaLeave a Comment on March BOTM Pick: The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley

Last month’s book was EVERYTHING!!! Thanks to the women who showed up, who read along and who came out to hold space for the other women in the group. For our second book of Season …

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Black Canadian Authors Black Writers Community & Culture

Beyond the Single Story: Why Black Canadian Storytelling Deserves More Than a Box

by LalaaLeave a Comment on Beyond the Single Story: Why Black Canadian Storytelling Deserves More Than a Box

There are some conversations that feel bigger than an event. This is one of them. On Sunday, March 1, 2026 (2:00–4:00 PM), Pickering Public Library is hosting In Conversation with Black Canadian Authors: Beyond the …

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Black Canadian Authors Black Writers Book Life Community & Culture

Black Canadian Books to Read (and Why They Matter)

by LalaaLeave a Comment on Black Canadian Books to Read (and Why They Matter)

A reading list for Black Brilliance Month — and every month after I’ll be honest: I don’t always love the phrase Black history. Not because history doesn’t matter, it does. Deeply. But because the word …

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Black Writers Book Life

A Literary Holy Day — Honouring Toni Morrison & Audre Lorde

by LalaaLeave a Comment on A Literary Holy Day — Honouring Toni Morrison & Audre Lorde

Some dates hold a particular kind of weight. Not because the calendar says they should, but because the ancestors left fingerprints there. February 18 is one of those days. Today, we honour two women whose …

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Book Club Pick Monthly Reads

February Book of the Month: Love After Love (This Black Girl Reads — Season 8)

by LalaaLeave a Comment on February Book of the Month: Love After Love (This Black Girl Reads — Season 8)

We’re officially stepping into our first book club read of 2026, and baby… it’s giving tender, funny, messy-in-the-most-human-way, and full of second chances. For February, we’re reading: Love After Love by Ingrid PersaudA warm, wise, …

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Book Life Book Reviews New Releases

50+ New Books by Black Authors in February 2026 (Plus My Top 5 Picks)

by LalaaLeave a Comment on 50+ New Books by Black Authors in February 2026 (Plus My Top 5 Picks)

Listen… February is feeding us. If you’ve been needing a sign to refresh your TBR, reclaim your reading life, and keep your shelf Blackity Black Black, this is it. I pulled together a big drop …

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About Me

Hey I'm Lalaa
Hey I'm Lalaa

library curator + literacy advocate and certified Black book enthusiast. I share recs, reviews, and soft-goodie vibes for anyone building a better bookshelf (and a better self). Come read with me. 🖤📚

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Looking for a simple way to track your reading life? Check out the Rooted in Reading Journal!

Looking for a simple way to track your reading life? Check out the Rooted in Reading Journal!

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    May BOTM: Where the Wildflowers Grow

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Lately, I've been thinking about what it really me Lately, I've been thinking about what it really means to live a rich life.

Not the kind the internet tries to sell us.

The kind we build.

A life filled with books that change us, conversations that ground us, mornings that aren't rushed, flowers on the table because we deserve beauty, and libraries that remind us knowledge has always belonged to us.

As This Black Girl Reads continues to grow, I'm realizing this community has never just been about books.

It's about the lives we're building because of them.

It's about decolonizing our bookshelves, yes, but also about reimagining what abundance, softness, joy, and intention can look like for Black women.

This little poem feels like the beginning of that conversation.

What does luxury look like to you these days? 🤎

A library card. A cup of tea. An afternoon with nowhere to be. A bookshelf that tells the truth about who you are...

I'm listening.
Yall June is overflowing with Black books, and hon Yall June is overflowing with Black books, and honestly? My TBR never stood a chance. 📚✨🤷🏾‍♀️

There are more than 80 books by Black authors hitting shelves this month, spanning romance, literary fiction, fantasy, memoir, young adult, and nonfiction. The beauty of Black literature is that there is never just one story, one voice, or one way of being.

A few of the June releases I'm especially excited about include: 

📖 Breakout by some of our favs .. this one is already on my shelf and I can't wait to begin listening to it. Thanks @librofm for the AudioARC

📖 Half Lives by @krystlezara

📖The Missed Connection by @tiawilliamswrites  - I love all her books and I cannot wait to lounge in the sun on my patio and indulge in this one 

📖 Doe by Rebecca Barrow
📖 To Catch a Sinner by Dylan Allen and Lucy Wilson-Tagoe,
📖 A Committee of One by Opal Lee
📖 Never Tell a Black Girl How to Black Girl by Amena Brown
📖 The Deepest Blue by @shauntay_grant and Simply Winnie by @winnieharlow  - I'm so excited to read these during the summer at our storytime pop ups across toronto. The kids are going to love them. 

Whether you're looking for a summer page-turner, a book club pick, or a story that lingers long after the last page, June has something waiting for you.

Swipe through to discover some of the Black-authored books releasing this month and let me know: Which one is going straight onto your TBR?

Want the full list? Comment 'June List' and I'll send it over! 

#BlackAuthors #BooksByBlackAuthors #ReadBlackBooks #ThisBlackGirlReads #SummerReading
June reading life is not about finishing books, it June reading life is not about finishing books, it’s about being changed by them, sitting with stories and learning in community. 

This month I’m reading for growth, for heritage, and for the beauty of community. I’m reading slower. I’m reading softer. I’m reading like I belong to something bigger than myself.

These are my reading intentions for June, how I want to move through stories, and how I want stories to move through me. Rooted. Open. Connected.

Tell me what your intention are this month. Did any of these speak to you?🖤📚

#thisblackgirlreads #readinglife #ReadingIsResistance #ReadingAsResistance
Some stories are buried. Some refuse to stay hidde Some stories are buried. Some refuse to stay hidden.

For June, we're reading We Don't Talk About Carol by @kristenlberry a powerful novel that explores family secrets, missing Black girls, generational trauma, and the truths that shape our lives long after they've been left unspoken.

At TBGR we're always drawn to stories that ask us to look deeper. Stories that honor Black women. Stories that remind us that healing often begins when we find the courage to name what has been silenced.

As you read this month, we invite you to sit with these questions:

🖤 What stories live beneath the surface of your family history?

🖤 What do we inherit from the silences of those who came before us?

🖤 What truths are waiting to be named?

Join us as we read, reflect, and uncover the stories that deserve to be remembered.

Have you picked up your copy yet? Let us know in the comments. 📚✨

Want the link to register? Comment 'June Book'

 #WeDontTalkAboutCarol #BlackWomenRead #BooksAndHealing #botm #bookclubreads
As Black women, reading has always been deeper tha As Black women, reading has always been deeper than a hobby.

It is how we remember.
How we heal.
How we imagine lives beyond survival.
How we reconnect with ourselves after a world that too often asks us to shrink, silence ourselves, or disappear entirely.

Every page we turn becomes an act of tenderness toward ourselves.
Every story becomes proof that we belong here too.

So no, reading is not a luxury for me.
It is grounding.
It is resistance.
It is coming home to myself again and again.

Save this reminder for next time you feel guilty about taking time to read at your leisure. Because you deserve it sis! 

How do you feel about this? 🤎

#thisblackgirlreads #readingisjoy #readingisresistance #rootedinreading
A Sunday reminder... Reading is not a race. Not a A Sunday reminder...

Reading is not a race.
Not a performance.
Not a pile of books you must conquer to prove something.

Read slowly.
Read softly.
Read what calls you back to yourself.

And if you’ve fallen out of rhythm with books lately, let this be your reminder:
the stories meant for you will wait patiently until you return. 🤎

#ReadingIsResistance #readingisjoy #ThisBlackGirlReads #readingrevolution
Mother’s Day can hold so many feelings... joy, gri Mother’s Day can hold so many feelings... joy, grief, tenderness, memory, gratitude, and everything in between.

Today, I’m honouring the women who mothered us with words.

The mothers.
Grandmothers.
Aunties.
Big sisters.
Neighbours.
Church mothers.
Community women.

The ones who gave us proverbs, prayers, warnings, recipes, stories, correction, and care.

Some of them may not have called themselves readers, but they carried whole libraries in their mouths.

Before we had bookshelves, we had their words.

Who was the first woman who taught you the power of story? Drop her name, her saying, or her memory below.

#BlackWomenRead #mothersday #blackwoman
May’s Book of the Month is here 🖤🌿 This month, we May’s Book of the Month is here 🖤🌿

This month, we’re reading Where the Wildflowers Grow by @terahsharris

This a beautiful story about becoming, about what we carry, and what we’re learning to release.

This book speaks to...

🔹️How lineage plays a part in our story
🔹️To the quiet ways women learn to survive
🔹️Love and the ways it heals 

“Survival is simpler than you think; it’s one task at a time…”

And maybe that’s what this month is asking of us,
to slow down, to tend to ourselves, to take it one step at a time.

If you’ve been needing a gentler read, a softer space, a moment to come back to yourself…

this is it.

We’re reading, reflecting, and gathering, in community, as always.

💻 Thursday, May 28th at 7 pm Eastern 
Link in bio to join us

Save this for your reading week 🖤

Let us know if you'll be joining us in the comments 🌿If you need the details comment 'May Book'

.
.
.

#bookclub #BOTM #thisblackgirlreads #BlackWomenRead #BlackBookClub
May said we’re not playing about our reading lives May said we’re not playing about our reading lives 📚✨

The shelves are full.
The stories are layered.
And Black authors are giving us everything love, chaos, softness, tension, history, and the kind of storytelling that lingers.

🔹️From Layaway Child by @csutherwrites  (and whew… this one is sitting with me already)
🔹️to Honey by @_imani_thompson_  (unhinged feminist rage, I’m listening 👀)
🔹️to Score by the GOAT @kennedyryan1  (because we will always show up for Black love done right)
🔹️to Smallie by @edenmckenziegoddard and The Talk of the Party by @foagbaje, stories that feel quiet but carry weight…

This month is asking us to slow down and choose what we need.

Some of these books will hold you.
Some will challenge you.
Some will just be a good time.

All of them?

A reminder that reading us, reading our stories, reading our lives…
is joy, is rest, is resistance.

✨ Save this for later
✨ Send to your reading partner
✨ Tell me what’s first on your May TBR

Because I already know… we not reading just one 😭

#ThisBlackGirlReads #BooksByBlackAuthors #MayBooks #BlackWomenRead
In honour of Canadian Children’s Book Week, I want In honour of Canadian Children’s Book Week, I wanted to gather Black Canadian books for the young readers in our lives.

This list holds 80+ titles across reading ages, from picture books and early readers to middle grade and young adult. These are stories that make room for joy, curiosity, culture, history, imagination, and belonging.

Because the books we place in young hands matter.

They shape how children see themselves.
They expand what feels possible.
They remind young readers that their stories, voices, and lives belong on the page too.

Whether you’re a parent, educator, librarian, auntie, book lover, or someone simply trying to build a more thoughtful shelf, I hope this list helps you discover something meaningful.

Save this for later, share it with someone raising a young reader, and let me know: what Black Canadian book would you put in a young reader’s hands?

#CanadianChildrensBookWeek #BlackCanadianAuthors #YoungReaders #BlackKidLit  #ThisBlackGirlReads
BIG NEWS FAM!!! We’ve been reading If I Ruled the BIG NEWS FAM!!!

We’ve been reading If I Ruled the World by @amyduboisbarnett

Sitting with it. 
Questioning things. 
Seeing ourselves in it.

And now… we get to talk about it with her.

Yes, Amy DuBois Barnett will be joining our online book club discussion this month. 🔥🔥🔥

Just a real conversation. About the story. The choices. The questions that stayed with us.

You are invited into the room exactly as you are.

Come with your thoughts.
Come with your questions.
Or just come and listen.

This is what This Black Girl Reads is about.
Reading together. Holding space. Being in conversation with the words, and the people who write them.

✨ Save your spot + join us

And tell me
Where are you in the book right now?

#ThisBlackGirlReads #BlackWomenWhoRead #bookclub #ifiruledtheworld
Some weeks, the reading doesn’t come. Not because Some weeks, the reading doesn’t come.

Not because you’ve fallen off, but because you’re carrying more than usual.

My girl, give yourself a little grace! 

You are not behind.
You are not failing your reading life.
You are allowed to rest and return when you’re ready.

🟤Save this for the weeks when the book stays closed. You are still a reader. Always.

Let me know which one spoke to you? 

What has your reading life been lately?

#ThisBlackGirlReads #BlackWomenWhoRead #ReadingIsResistance #readingisjoy
Today is National Librarian Day, so what better wa Today is National Librarian Day, so what better way to celebrate than by honouring the legacy of Black librarianship and a few of the Black librarians whose work helped shape access, memory, and the preservation of our stories.

As a Black librarian myself, this kind of reflection feels personal. It reminds me that this work has never just been about books. It is about community, care, history, and making sure people can find themselves in the stories, collections, and spaces around them.

There is something powerful, too, about standing in this lineage. About knowing Black librarians have long been doing the work of building, preserving, teaching, and opening doors. 

Which of these names are you learning today?

Drop a 🔥🔥 if you appreciate this info. Want the full list? Comment 'Librarian' and I'll send it your way 

🖤💚❤️

#blacklibrarians #ThisBlackGirlReads #blackbookstagrammer
Yuh pick up a book from mawning? 👀👀 Who else grew Yuh pick up a book from mawning? 👀👀

Who else grew up hearing some version of this?

At the time, it felt like a likkle scolding, the response anytime I said I was bored or had nothing fi do.

But the older I get, the more I see it differently. 

Now I think it was also an invitation. Toward stories. Toward learning. Toward a life where books were always an option.

Because of that, I grew up knowing the library was a place I could return to, and that reading was never a waste of time.

Did anybody else grow up with this kind of reminder to read?

#thisblackgirlreads #jamaicangirl #ReadingIsResistance #BookishCommunity
A little moment I’m really grateful for. 🤎📚 I was A little moment I’m really grateful for. 🤎📚

I was featured in the @globeandmail in an article about how to read more, and I’m honoured I got to be part of that conversation.

What meant the most to me was being able to speak not just about reading as a habit, but about reading as something deeper too. For many people of colour, reading can be rest. It can be refuge. It can be resistance. It can be one of the few places where we get to slow down, imagine differently, and return to ourselves.

That has always been part of the heart of TBGR.

This space has never only been about getting through a stack of books. It has been about what reading makes possible for us: joy, reflection, language, healing, connection, and care.

To see that perspective reflected in a space like this felt special.

Thank you to everyone who reads with me, grows with me, and continues to believe in the power of stories. 🤎

#ThisBlackGirlReads #blackbookstagram #ReadingisResistance #torontoblogger
Today, we honour Dr. Maya Angelou. A Black woman Today, we honour Dr. Maya Angelou.

A Black woman who wrote like she knew words could save a life.

Her work gave us courage, memory, tenderness, and truth. It gave so many of us permission to speak plainly, rise anyway, and trust that our stories matter. Today would have marked her 98th birthday, and I’m thinking about the way her books still find us right on time.

Happy heavenly birthday to a literary giant.
May we keep returning to her words.
May we keep telling our own.

Check out my beautiful niece's dance on slide 8. You did that Kammy 👏🏽 

#MayaAngelou #ThisBlackGirlReads #ReadingAsResistance #BlackLiterature
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Slow reading. Big feelings. Black women in community. Welcome to Season 8 of This Black Girl Reads, where we’re not rushing through pages like it’s a race. We’re reading like it’s a ritual. We’re taking …

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