DREF Presents the Sister Scholars Advisory Council’s Fall/Winter Reading List

DREF’s Center for Research on African American Women ( The Center) comprises the Sister Scholars Advisory Council and the National Reading Circle.

Fall/Winter Reading List

There are three major objectives of The Center’s National Reading Circle:

  1. To educate readers about the important contributions made by African American women
  2. To support the African American authors who have written classic work and/or scholarly literature
  3. To motivate the readers to engage in activism that will create possibilities and improve lives for women and their families

The following 2024/2025 list for your fall and winter reading pleasure is :

Adult Fiction

  • Hold You Down by Tracy Brown
  • Neighbors and Other Stories by Diane Oliver
  • Love, Lies & Music 2: The Next Verse by Midnight Storm
  • The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
  • The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson
  • A Very Typical Family by Sierra Godfrey
  • The Awkward Black Man by Walter Mosley
  • Summer on the Bluffs by Sunny Hostin
  • While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams

Empowerment/Leadership

  • Lead From the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change by Stacey Abrams
  • Unparalleled Resilience: An Inspiring Collection of Experiences and Practical Tools and Wisdom to Help You Grow   Tamara Bond

Business/Finance

  • Super Rich by Russell Simmons
  • Black Business Secrets by Dante Lee
  • It’s About Damn Time by Arlan Hamilton
  • Your First Million by Arlan Hamilton
  • Danny Dollar Millionaire Extraordinaire: The Lemonade Escapade by Ty Allan Jackson (children’s book)

Mental Health/Inspirational

  • Tiny Book of Scriptures for Individuals with Schizophrenia by Lisa LaCon, Ph.D., CRCThe Nap Ministry’s Rest Deck: 50 Practices to Resist Grind Culture by Tricia Hersey
  • We Will Rest! The Art of Escape by Tricia Hersey
  • Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey
  • From Dreams to Life, to Restoration: A Woman’s Journey with God! Dr. Kyshone Moss
  • Stepping Out of The Darkness & Into His Glorious Light: The Blessing in the Storm, A Spiritual Memoir Lolita Law

Race and Political Thought

  • The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • Democracy in Black by Eddie S. Glaude
  • The Whiteness of Wealth by Dorothy A Brown, Karen Murray
  • Shirley Chisholm in Her Own Words: Speeches and Writings Edited by Zinga A. Fraser, Ph.D.

Culture and Education

  • Through Rites of Passage by Kamau Ptah
  • Soulful Holidays by Ciara L. Hill
  • A Year of Black Joy by Jamia Wilson
  • HBCU Made A Celebration of the Black College Experience  Edited by Ayesha Rascoe

Children’s Literature

  • Shirley Chisholm Dared: The Story of the First Black Woman in Congress by Alicia D. Williams and April Harrison
  • All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
  • Grace for President by Kelly S. DiPucchio
  • As Brave as You by Jason Reynolds
  • Little Boss with a Big Vision by Natalia Trota Gerald