2023 Reading Schedule Builder

Create your reading list to tackle the best classic books in the new year, setting aside just 20 minutes a day! More info & examples →
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Most Popular Genres Collections

Genres › African American

The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
James Weldon Johnson
18 days •
ⓘ 1912 • Fictional account of a biracial man in post-Reconstruction America who to escape the violent racism of the country decides to "pass" as white.
Cane
Jean Toomer
17 days •
ⓘ 1923 • A collection of sketches, poems, and stories of black life in the South. A powerful work of the Harlem Renaissance.
Clotel; or, The President's Daughter
William Wells Brown
20 days •
ⓘ 1853 • Clotel and her sister, though daughters of Thomas Jefferson, are slaves. Considered the first novel published by an African American in the U.S., this fast-paced story explores the horrors and hypocrisy of early America.
The House Behind the Cedars
Charles W. Chesnutt
22 days •
ⓘ 1900 • Two African American siblings move to a new city and begin new lives as white Americans, in this examination of racial identity and interracial relations in post-Civil War America.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Harriet Jacobs
29 days •
ⓘ 1861 • Jacobs shares her experiences as a slave, describing the particular horrors of being an enslaved woman, in an appeal to abolish slavery.
The Narrative of Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth
14 days •
ⓘ 1850 • The remarkable story of Sojourner Truth, from her slavery in rural New York to her work as a traveling preacher, social reformer, and counselor of former slaves.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass
16 days •
ⓘ 1845 • One of the most influential pieces of literature in the abolitionist movement, former slave and famous orator Frederick Douglass retells his life as a slave.
A Negro Explorer at the North Pole
Matthew Henson
11 days •
ⓘ 1912 • The thrilling memoir of Matthew Henson who traveled with Robert Peary on seven Arctic expeditions.
The New Negro
Alain Locke
44 days •
ⓘ 1925 • An anthology of fiction, poetry, and essays on African and African-American art and literature, edited by Locke. Considered to be the definitive text of the Harlem Renaissance.
Our Nig
Harriet E. Wilson
7 days •
ⓘ 1859 • Abandoned by her parents, Frado suffers abuse and neglect as a servant for a white family in the free North.
The Souls of Black Folk
W.E.B. Du Bois.
27 days •
ⓘ 1903 • A collection of essays and landmark in both the history of African-American literature and in the history of sociology. W.E.B. Du Bois argues it is beneath the dignity of a human to beg for rights inherently granted to all men and women.
Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases
Ida B. Wells
4 days •
ⓘ 1892 • The famous pamphlet from Ida B. Wells detailing her research on lynching in the United States.
Twenty-Two Years a Slave
Austin Steward
26 days •
ⓘ 1857 • An autobiography of Steward's enslavement, escape, and life as a free man before the Civil War.
A Voice from Harper's Ferry
Osborne Perry Anderson
7 days •
ⓘ 1859 • A firsthand account of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry - a turning point in the fight against slavery - by the only surviving black combatant.
Why Is the Negro Lynched?
Frederick Douglass
6 days •
ⓘ 1895 • Douglass attacks the concept of "the negro problem" in post-Civil War America, showing how it is instead "a great national problem" with racism entrenched in the systems of society.
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