Books

In celebration of Black History Month, here are seven inspiring and evocative stories about being Black in America.

Here are the bestsellers for the week that ended Saturday, Feb. 20, compiled from data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide, powered by NPD BookScan © 2021 NPD Group. (Reprinted from Publishers Weekly, published by PWxyz LLC. © 2021, PWxyz LLC.) HARDCOVER FICTION 1. "A Court of Silver Flames" by Sarah J. Maas (Bloomsbury) Last week: – ...

The list contains historical fiction, mystery, sci-fi, sociology, political commentary, poetry, cookbooks, and many more.

"Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019," edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain; One World (528 pages, $32) ——— As distinguished historian Ibram X. Kendi points out in his rousing introduction to "Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019," histories “of Black America have almost always been written by a single individual, ...

"Three Ordinary Girls" by Tim Brady; Citadel (304 pages, $26) ——— Among the deadliest fighters in Nazi-occupied Holland were a trio of schoolgirls barely out of pigtails. Sisters Freddie and Truus Oversteegen, along with their friend Hannie Schaft, started small: stealing documents, circulating banned publications and passing along messages to underground resistance fighters. But before long, ...

"Blood Grove" by Walter Mosley; Mulholland Books (320 pages, $27) ——— Walter Mosley’s books about Easy Rawlins are crime fiction, not history. But taken together, they’re a vivid picture of Black life in Los Angeles in the mid-20th century. Mosley writes in many genres, and he does it so well that the National Book Foundation gave him its 2020 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American ...

"The Survivors" by Jane Harper; Flatiron (384 pages, $27.99) ——— To most people, The Survivors is an iron monument to the 54 passengers and crew killed in a shipwreck more than a century ago just outside Evelyn Bay, Tasmania, south of Australia’s mainland. The memorial also is a testament to three families who are survivors of more recent losses. Two young men launching their fishing business ...

Inspired to start your own book group? Here are some ideas from a few longtime book clubs on how to make yours go the distance.

Here are the bestsellers for the week that ended Saturday, Feb. 13, compiled from data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide, powered by NPD BookScan © 2021 NPD Group. (Reprinted from Publishers Weekly, published by PWxyz LLC. © 2021, PWxyz LLC.) HARDCOVER FICTION 1. "The Four Winds" by Kristin Hannah (St. Martin’s) Last week: 1 2. ...

In Amelia Pang’s new nonfiction book, “Made in China: A Prisoner, An SOS Letter, and the Hidden Cost of America’s Cheap Goods,” Oregon mother Julie Keith opens a package of discounted Halloween decorations to find an SOS letter written by a Chinese political prisoner. From this letter, Keith learns that her purchase was assembled and packaged by a man named Sun Yi, imprisoned for campaigning ...

"Milk Blood Heat" by Dantiel W. Moniz; Grove Press (208 pages, $25) ——— "Milk Blood Heat," the stunning debut short story collection by Dantiel W. Moniz, is populated by characters, most of them women or girls, standing on the cusp of change — or sometimes on its cliff edge. As its title suggests, this book’s 11 stories are about human need, about intimacy physical and otherwise, and about ...

Sometimes, the book is better. Like maybe a lot of you, I got pulled into "The Undoing" on HBO a couple of months back. A psychological thriller starring Nicole Kidman as a well-off New York City therapist and Hugh Grant as her debonair doctor husband who's definitely not what he seems (and possibly may be a murderer), it was a series that promised a lot (think "Big Little Lies," Manhattan ...

“The Black Civil War Soldier: A Visual History of Conflict and Citizenship” by Deborah Willis; NYU Press (256 pages, $35) ——— It wasn’t just a war for freedom. It was a war for the future. Black soldiers during the Civil War weren’t just fighting for themselves. They were fighting for their children and all who came after. They were fighting for tomorrow. “The Black Civil War Soldier: A Visual ...

"The Unwilling" by John Hart; St. Martin’s (384 pages, $27.99) ——— Engrossing — and effective — historical mysteries don’t have to take place during eras hundreds of years ago. Often, the most gripping historicals take place during our immediate past as John Hart demonstrates in “The Unwilling,” set in 1972 during the height of The Vietnam War. Hart’s seventh novel delivers an intense story ...