Another October celebrating Black History Month has come to an end, yet it’s important to carry the significance and importance of the month all-year round. The theme for Black History Month 2026 is Honouring Our Communities, highlighting the everyday people and communities who might not always be recognised when celebrating Black Britain.

With that in mind, here are a collection of books, some of which are still yet to be published this year, that honour Black communities, whether its through history, friends and family, food, sport, and the people who helped inspire them.

A stunning chronicle of Suriname from Roemer, whose On a Woman’s Madness was a finalist for the 2023 National Book Award.

In 1966 Suriname, the Vanta family, an intricate blend of Creole, Maroon, French, Indian, Indigenous, British, and Jewish heritage, is led by Grandma Bee, a proud, cigar-smoking matriarch facing her final days. As she reflects on her scattered family and the loss of her favourite granddaughter, Heli, exiled to the Netherlands for an affair with her white teacher, Bee grapples with one question: What truly binds a family? Off-White offers a moving exploration of Bee’s legacy amid themes of male violence, colonialism, and the dismantling of racial identity, marking the return of a celebrated Surinamese author after two decades.

A rich collection of plant-based Ghanaian recipes and some of West Africa’s singularly iconic dishes.

Afia Amoako grew up in a kitchen that was never quiet, never empty, and never boring. Food, she understood from a young age, was the essence of her family’s Ghanaian culture. It was represented in the red palm oil that coloured their stews; it was pounded into the plantain and cassava-based fufu they ate with soups; and it shone through in the indigenous spices that flavoured kebabs and so much more. So, when her family immigrated to North America and Afia found herself drawn to a plant-based lifestyle, she worried that her connection to her home country would be lost. But happily, as she immersed herself more in West Africa’s culinary traditions, seeking to learn about and replicate the recipes she grew up on, food offered that connection to Ghana.

In Eat with Afia, Afia assembles a warm and ever-comforting blend of recipes that pay homage to Ghanaian cuisine from a plant-based perspective. Including stories of Ghanaian foodways, culture and family traditions, Eat with Afia is an irresistible invitation to explore with Afia as she cooks her way through Ghanaian classics and her favourite dishes. From quick bites like Kebab Mushrooms and Roasted Plantains to hearty meals like Groundnut Soup and Garden Egg Stew, and, of course, Afia’s recipe for Jollof Rice, this is a collection of recipes to delight all of your senses.

A midlife spy with outlawed magic. An ex-lover back from the dead. And a conspiracy that could unravel the Department from within.

Magic doesn’t expire at forty. London, rewritten by shadow and spell, hides a secret magical intelligence service: The Department of Dark Errands. Its operatives don’t just hunt traitors — they track the things that slip between worlds. Once the Department’s brightest commander, Nyra Vex now lives quietly at forty-five, running an apothecary along the canals of Little Venice. Her past is buried, her magic sealed, and the life she lost carefully forgotten. Until a shadowbeast tears through her wards and whispers her name. Dragged back into the Department’s grip, Nyra is reinstated, rearmed — and partnered with the one man she swore she’d never see again. Beck Morran. Her lover. Her betrayal. Dead ten years. Now alive — reanimated, cursed, and bound to the Patron’s coin.

As Nyra and Beck navigate a labyrinth of assassins, forbidden magic, and conspiracies older than Boudicca, the tether between them ignites again — part weapon, part desire, part doom. Every mission drags them deeper into the Department’s shadowed underworld of archives, sigils, and living magic, where loyalty fractures and survival is never guaranteed. But Nyra carries a secret of her own. She is shadowmarked. And the power inside her may be the only thing that can cut Beck free — or burn the world down trying.

Based on the true story of Alessandro de’ Medici, this sweeping novel follows a Black woman’s secret plot to put her son on a Renaissance throne.

In 1490, a dark-skinned baby girl arrives at the Santo Spirito foundling hospital with a bronze dagger strapped to her chest. Raised by Iye, a scarred African nurse who teaches her to fight and survive, Simonetta refuses the only futures offered to foundling girls: nun or wife. She has bigger plans.
Years later, when a midnight brawl leaves exiled prince Lorenzo de’ Medici owing her his life, Simonetta talks her way into the legendary Medici family — and finds herself falling for the beloved Medici son. But her dark skin and sharp tongue make enemies, and when the family accuses her of witchcraft, she’s forced to reveal her secret weapon: she’s pregnant with a potential Medici heir. Alessandro’s birth should secure her place in the family. Instead, it makes her their prisoner. Her own ambitions thwarted, Simonetta is determined to do anything —lie, cheat, and kill — to put Alessandro on Florence’s throne. European empires feed on the growing African slave trade, and the biracial boy threatens everything her enemies believe about power, bloodlines, and Simonetta’s legacy. As the gulf between mother and son widens, Simonetta must choose between the crown she sacrificed everything for and the son who wears it.

Big Man follows the life of Big, a middle-aged, Black British gay man who lives a gentle life with his boyfriend, Little, in their home in East London. Big and Little enjoy evenings out and group holidays with friends, as much as practising yoga together at home, and running side by side along the Hackney canals. Big came of age in the club scene under the watchful eye of Mother, an African American trans woman who made a home and a name for herself in London, her house a refuge for wayward queer youth like Big. When he finds out Mother is releasing a memoir, the two reconnect after decades of distance, and Big finds himself having to confront a long-repressed assault that opens old — and new — wounds. A tender, daring novel full of gentle humour, Big Man explores themes of identity, aging, sex, family, and trauma, turning a lens on what it means to age as a queer person, while being a double-edged love letter to the people and places that make us.

Winner of Grand Prix d’Afrique noire 2015.

In a cabin deep in the Cameroonian forest, two young lovers meet in secret. Afterward, one goes off to fight in WWII for France, a country he’s never seen before, while the other becomes a powerful priestess. Years later, their daughter comes together with a small group of people in the same cabin to discuss the future of their country. France has declared them free, but the colonialists who still control the local government aren’t giving up their power. From this humble cabin the resistance is born. Populated by a sprawling revolutionary community of found family, The Resistance chronicles the real post-colonial fight in Cameroon and the heart-breaking sacrifices made by those who led their people toward a vision of the world they would never live to see.

An era-defining novel about Black womanhood and urban American life following five women by Kirkus Prize finalist and two-time National Book Award nominee.

Desiree, Danielle, January, Monique and Nakia are in their early twenties and at the beginning. Of their careers, of marriage, of motherhood and of big-city lives in New York and Los Angeles. Together, they are finding their way through the wilderness, that period of life when the reality of contemporary adulthood — overwhelming, mysterious and full of freedom and consequences — swoops in and stays. Desiree and Danielle, sisters whose shared history has done little to prevent their estrangement, nurse bitter family wounds in different ways. January’s got a relationship with a “good” man she feels ambivalent about, even after her surprise pregnancy. Monique, a librarian and aspiring blogger, finds unexpected online fame after calling out the university where she works for its plans to whitewash fraught history. And Nakia is trying to get her restaurant off the ground, without relying on the largesse of
her upper middle-class family who wonder aloud if she should be doing something better with her life. As these friends transition from young adults to grown women, they must figure out what they mean to one another —
amid political upheaval, economic and environmental instability and the increasing volatility of modern life.

From USA Today bestseller Tati Richardson comes a magical, laugh-out-loud Black romcom where love talks louder than words.

Sports agent Jackie Miles is a petite powerhouse who has built her empire on killer instincts, designer stilettos, and tough skin. Her client roster is legendary, her temper is hotter than Georgia asphalt, and aside from her French bulldog PeeWee and her “boss chick village,” she’s perfectly content flying solo. Then Antonio Steele walks back into her life, and all hell breaks loose. The towering former football star turned rival agent has always known exactly which buttons to push. Just when Jackie thinks she can handle their explosive chemistry and complicated past, she mysteriously loses her voice. But this isn’t ordinary laryngitis; a cryptic stranger’s message implies that Jackie must ‘quiet her tongue and listen with her heart’ to lift whatever spell she’s under. With a career-defining client trip to Mexico looming, and only the devastatingly handsome Antonio as backup, Jackie must learn to let go – if only she could trust him to catch her.

Eisner Award-winner D’Salete reconstructs a forgotten part of Brazil’s dark history of slavery in this masterful graphic novel, inspired by a true story.

In the mid-19th century, millions of Africans were enslaved and brought to Brazil. Among them was Tiodora, who worked in the home of a priest in Sao Paulo. She wished to reconstruct the family ties lost during the journey from Africa to Brazil and to achieve emancipation for herself and her family. To buy her freedom, she needed the help of her husband and her son, who were working in the coffee plantations in another area of the city. She asks Claro, another slave, to help her write and send letters. Inspired by this secret correspondence, Tiodora’s Letters is a rigorously researched historical work, a compelling narrative based on her letters, and masterfully drawn by D’Salete, who graphically recreates her struggle. There are many wordless passages of danger, daring, and world-building, heartbreaking horror, character beats, breathtaking drawings of nature, and much more.

A trailblazing resource for Black and queer people, by Black and queer experts.

We know it’s hard to get good mental health and trauma care if you’re queer, Black, or—especially—both. This book takes a step towards changing that so you can address your struggles head-on and access the joy and peace that you deserve. The first of its kind, this much-needed guide offers insights, strategies, and coping skills for folks at the intersection of Blackness and queerness—identities that come with unique psychological and cultural experiences rarely reflected in mental health research or popular discussion. The authors, therapists Marc Campbell and K. Chelsea Davis, point out that mental health struggles are a perfectly normal response to conditions and systems that are designed to make us unwell. They walk you through the signs of depression, addiction, anxiety, grief, and imposter syndrome and point the way towards effective treatment and recovery. They also cover topics like external and internalised racism, generational trauma, religious abuse, and medical mistrust with compassion, clarity, and humour. If you’ve been disregarded in your doctor’s office, experienced microaggressions from a therapist, read a self-help book that completely missed the mark, or felt isolated by your struggles, this book has your back. Drawing upon on the authors’ clinical expertise, personal experiences, and the latest research, it was written to help you connect with your joyful, authentic self-expression and well-being. Because healing should be for all of us.

A powerful, updated history of Black New Yorkers – voices of courage, creativity, and change for readers 12 and up.

From the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in New Amsterdam in 1609 to the Harlem Renaissance to the impact of #BLM, here is a concise and newly updated history of Black Americans in New York for readers aged 12 and up. Black Legacy reasserts the essential work of teacher and historian William Loren Katz, who was committed to documenting and uplifting the stories of Black Americans’ courage and creativity, resilience and rebellion. Black Legacy includes chronological stories of: Black politicians and poets, abolitionists and athletes and activists, and the first Black children to attend public schools; Sojourner Truth, Paul Robeson, W.E.B. DuBois, Frederick Douglass, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, the Black Panthers, and others who fought for Black freedom; Shirley Chisholm, Madame C.J. Walker, NY’s first Black mayor David Dinkins and many other businesspeople and politicians who brought dignity through their work toward equality; and the Black history of Seneca Village and Weeksville, the Savoy and Cotton clubs of the Jazz Age, Harlem Hospital where Martin Luther King Jr. nearly died, the African burial site at Trinity Church, and so much more.

An American sports legend together with a renowned sports writer offer a sweeping history of Black boxing, celebrating the trailblazing athletes who fought in the ring and against racial injustice.

Here is Peter Jackson, a free-born Black tradesman and boxer from the island of St. Croix who KO’d the white boxer Tom Leeds in the thirtieth round to win the Australian Heavyweight championship in 1886. Most white fighters refused to get into the ring with Jackson. “Gentleman” Jim Corbett was one of the few who not only fought him, but said of him afterwards that Jackson was the most intelligent fighter he ever faced and could beat any heavyweight that Corbett ever fought or ever saw.

Here too of course are boxing legends Jack Johnson and Joe Louis, but also the dozens of outstanding Black boxers who fought from the late 1800s to the end of the 20th century, overcoming their opponents and facing discrimination in an array of forms, from being disqualified unfairly after winning fights to being mobbed and injured in the ring by white assailants while referees and judges looked on impassively, to having mobster managers who gave them only a minute portion of their winnings.

Here is Joe Gans, the first American-born Black boxer to win a world championship, in 1902, and who dominated the sport throughout the first decade of the 20th century. Here too is Sam Langford, who became heavyweight champ in 1923. But through most of the first half of the twentieth century Black boxers were separated into Black leagues and there were Black champions rather than world champions who were Black. That all began to change in the 1930s with Joe Louis. A new generation of Black boxers would come up after him, standing on Joe Louis’s shoulders, Floyd Patterson, George Foreman, Sonny Liston, Archie Moore, Larry Holmes, Ken Norton, Joe Frazier, and finally the young Cassius Clay, who would rename himself Muhammad Ali and come to dominate the sport for decades, and after him, though not a heavyweight, the great Sugar Ray Leonard. Scott’s unique perspective brings fresh insight and passion even to well-known stories about the fight game, and every time he adds something new.

An intergenerational conversation about anti-racist thought, shaped by ongoing struggles.

Waiting at Aimé Césaire International Airport, in the city of Lamentin, Martinique, Mayra A. Rodriguez Castro browses the bookshop. Alongside works by Césaire, it offers titles by Frantz Fanon, Maryse Conde and Patrick Chamoiseau. She picks up Nègre je suis, nègre je resterai, an interview between Francoise Verges and Césaire, and embarks. Another Sun revisits that initial interview, blending biographical experience and concise summaries of key figures in French anti-racist thought, marking their contemporary relevance. An eclectic, attentive, mobile conversation between Rodriguez Castro and Verges, shaped by ongoing struggles.

Sports icon Jackie Robinson shows the power of courage, strength, and character in this dynamic biography for kids.

Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play in Major League Baseball, the first black TV analyst for baseball, and the first black vice president of an American corporation. Through his character, use of nonviolence, and his many talents, Robinson changed baseball, sports, and significantly influenced almost every aspect of American life and culture. An inspiration to millions, the life of Jackie Robinson is indeed proof that Black history matters. Black History Heroes shares the lives and inspirations of black men and women who changed the world, yesterday, today, and for tomorrow.

Intrepid teen detective Goldie Vance is on the case in this acclaimed upper middle-grade graphic novel mystery that reads like Nancy Drew meets Only Murders in the Building.

Marigold “Goldie” Vance lives at a Florida resort with her dad and dreams of one day becoming the hotel’s in-house detective. Armed with endless curiosity and unstoppable determination, she’s ready to prove she has what it takes to solve any mystery, big or small! When current detective Walter encounters a case he can’t crack, he agrees to mentor Goldie in exchange for her help solving the mystery. Will this budding sleuth be the key to revealing the truth, or is she in over her head? Uncover secrets and adventures around every corner with this double-length detective adventure full of retro flair from New York Times bestselling and Eisner Award-winning writer Hope Larson, and critically-acclaimed artist Brittney Williams!

From his beginnings in public housing in Ottawa to building acclaimed brands like Sully & Son Co., House of Hayla, and Black Designers of Canada, George Sully’s journey defies the odds and the gatekeepers of an industry slow to embrace diversity. Through unflinching honesty and hard-won insight, Sully reflects on his triumphs and setbacks, navigating systemic exclusion, building his own platforms, and reimagining what it means to succeed on one’s own terms. His story extends beyond fashion to entrepreneurship, identity, and the quiet courage it takes to keep building when no one is watching. From creating the iconic Starfleet Boot for Star Trek: Discovery to mentoring the next generation of designers, Sully has left an indelible mark on Canadian culture. But Designing in the Dark is not just a memoir of success, it is a blueprint for creative survival and self-determination. Poignant, inspiring, and deeply human, Sully’s narrative illuminates the tension between legacy and reinvention urging readers to rise above the darkness and design a life that endures beyond it.

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