In celebration of Black History Month, we feature more than 70 outstanding contemporary works of nonfiction and historical fiction by Black authors.
From now through to the end of February we're giving readers free access to these books, all of which have a review, an excerpt, a range of read-alike recommendations, and a "beyond the book" article that looks at a historical or cultural aspect of the book.
You can also explore many other genres of books by Black writers, such as contemporary novels, short stories and fantasy, with almost every book backed by a review, beyond the book article and an excerpt.
In fact, you can get even more specific by customizing your search to filter hundreds of genres, settings, time periods, and themes (for example: Black authors + Adult-YA Crossover Fiction + Set in Africa).
All these filters are available to you for free during February but are normally only available to BookBrowse members and patrons and staff of subscribing libraries.
There are many places to find reader reviews on the web, but it can be a challenge to know which are truly independent.
The reader reviews offered through BookBrowse's First Impressions program are trustworthy because only our members can post them. Members have the opportunity to request books to read months ahead of publication in exchange for their honest opinion. They can request specific titles but the books are assigned by an algorithm. This approach helps ensure that the overall consensus will not be influenced by readers with personal connections to the author.
It also results in candid, thoughtful perspectives from our members that give a glimpse of the experiences they've had with a book. By seeing the similarities in reader reactions and opinions, you can better decide if a book is one you're likely to enjoy. And with all of the reviewed books available, you're sure to find many that appeal to you.
Below are this year's First Impressions titles. If you'd like to see more books, we have reviews of over 750 available for you to browse!
Last week, we introduced you to BookBrowse's Top 20 Books of the Year, as chosen by our subscribers. Now, it's time to announce the award winners. The winners for Best Fiction, Best Nonfiction, Best Debut and Best Young Adult Novel are the books with the highest ratings from subscribers in their respective category.
Wondering if a book might be right for your book club? Interested in seeing others' thoughts on a book you've read? BookBrowse's Book Club discussions are a great resource for readers who want to gain insight into recently released titles. In 2021, our members exchanged views on 18 different books. Scroll down for clickable images of each of the books.
Perhaps the thing I most enjoy about our book club forum is the quality of the discussion. BookBrowse and the publisher provide initial questions to spark inspired, in-depth conversation and to give participants the opportunity to share their ideas and feelings about the book, and participants also add their own topics to extend the conversation.
Most of these discussions are now closed for new posts, but you can browse them all to find out what people thought of each book and discover which topics generated the most lively exchanges.