23 highly anticipated new books by Black authors in 2022, according to Goodreads

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• Whether you love romances or nonfiction, there are countless incredible new books to read this year.
• Goodreads compiled a list of the most highly anticipated 2022 books by Black authors.
• Titles were added based on how frequently they appeared on readers' "Want To Read" lists.

To celebrate Black History Month in February, Goodreads has pulled together a list of popular new and highly anticipated soon-to-released books by Black authors, from literary fiction and fantasy to mystery, nonfiction, and romance. 

On Goodreads, over 125 million readers rate, review, and recommend their favorite books but can also browse upcoming titles and add them to their "Want to Read" shelves for later. For this list, Goodreads added and ranked new and upcoming books by Black authors based on how often readers added them to their "Want to Read" shelves. 

If you're looking for a great new read in 2022, here are the most highly anticipated books by Black authors, from Charmaine Wilkerson's "Black Cake" to Nikki May's "Wahala."

Learn more about how Insider Reviews reviews and researches books.

The 23 most anticipated 2022 books by Black authors, according to Goodreads:

"The Intangible" by C.J. Washington

Available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $10.99

Amanda Jackson and her husband are enjoying the first few weeks of Amanda's pregnancy when they get the devastating news that Amanda has pseudocyesis — a condition where she has the signs and symptoms of pregnancy but isn't pregnant. When she turns to neuroscientist Patrick Davis to heal her mind, body, and marriage, Patrick and his own life begin to spiral as both couples struggle with loss in this emotional and suspenseful story of healing.

Publication date: January 1, 2022

"Wahala" by Nikki May

Available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $21.07

"Wahala" is a story of female friendship amongst three Anglo-Nigerian best friends as a fourth, glamourous but conniving woman named Isobel infiltrates their group. As the women navigate new relationships, career challenges, and children, the chaos surrounding Isobel grows until the group's lives — both individually and together — are torn apart.

Publication date: January 6, 2022

"Yonder" by Jabari Asim

Available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $22.49

This new historical fiction novel follows a group of enslaved Black people on a southern plantation in the mid-1800s, who are forced to work in inhumane conditions and strip away their culture, valued as next to nothing until a visiting minister begins to preach independence. As the group learns what freedom might truly mean, they reimagine what life and love they could have in a story that shines a brutal light upon America's shameful history.

Publication date: January 11, 2022

"Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?" by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn

Available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $18.29

This romantic comedy follows Yinka, who has an education, a great job, a balanced life, and a bright future, but no husband — a constant pressure she feels from her family and friends. Though she believes she will find love when the time is right, she's still determined to find a safe for her cousin's wedding in this feel-good new romance.

Publication date: January 18, 2022

"Admissions: A Memoir of Surviving Boarding School" by Kendra James

Available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $26.10

Kendra James was the first African American legacy student to attend the predominately white Taft School and now works as an admissions officer, specializing in diversity recruitment for prep schools, using her own story to encourage others. In this memoir, Kendra examines the three years she spent at Taft including the prejudices and injustices she witnessed and experienced and how these still influence her life and career today.

Publication date: January 18, 2022

"Manifesto: On Never Giving Up" by Bernardine Evaristo

Available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $23.92

Bernardine Evaristo is perhaps best known for her bestselling novel "Girl, Woman, Other", which led her to be the first Black woman and first Black British person to win the Booker Prize. This memoir is a contemporary conversation about social topics and a powerful testament to her life and career as she fought to be the inspirational and successful woman she is now. 

Publication date: January 18, 2022

"This Boy We Made" by Taylor Harris

Available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $23.92

When Taylor Harris's nearly two-year-old son woke up one morning listless and unresponsive, she rushed him to the doctor for answers to his increasing symptoms. Through a challenging search for answers, Taylor Harris copes with her anxiety disorder, an inequitable healthcare system, and revelations about her own health in this gripping memoir about motherhood.

Publication date: January 18, 2022

"South to America" by Imani Perry

Available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $19.20

With meticulous research and a personal narrative, Dr. Imani Perry retraces the landscape of the American South and demonstrates how Southern history is inextricably linked to America's present and therefore must be deeply understood in order to understand America. This nonfiction history book is an essential guide to the complex Southern history and culture that weaves together countless stories and offers hope for a more humane future than seen in our Southern past.

Publication date: January 25, 2022

"Goliath" by Tochi Onyebuchi

Available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $21.58

"Goliath" is a dystopian sci-fi novel set in the 2050s as the most privileged relocate from Earth to space colonies, leaving the less fortunate behind to forge an existence in the ruins of what's left. Told through multiple unique narratives including lovers separated by space and a journalist trying to capture the growing violence, this is a rich and detailed story about race, class, and gentrification.

Publication date: January 25, 2022

"Black Cake" by Charmaine Wilkerson

Available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $18.76

When Byron and Benny's mother passes away, she leaves them with a recipe, a voice recording, and a long history surrounding the traditional Caribbean black cake. As the two children unravel the previously unheard story of their mother, they navigate their shared history, lineage, and memories in this story of family and a powerful matriarch.

Publication date: February 1, 2022

"The Violin Conspiracy" by Brendan Slocumb

Available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $18.76

Ray McMillian dreams of becoming a professional classical musician despite the negativity and racism he faces from every direction, including his family. As Ray prepares for the most prestigious classical music competition in the world, his prized, family heirloom violin is stolen and it seems everyone, including the descendants of those who once enslaved his great-grandfather, are claiming the violin as their own.

Publication date: February 1, 2022

"What the Fireflies Knew" by Kai Harris

Available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $18.20

In the wake of their father's overdose, KB and Nia are sent to live with their estranged grandfather and must make sense of everything in their lives that's just been turned on its head. This stunning coming-of-age novel captures all the challenging emotions KB faces on the cusp of adolescence after just having lost her father, feeling a great distance from her sister, and navigating what feels like an entirely new life.

Publication date: February 1, 2022

"Don't Cry for Me" by Daniel Black

Available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $24.29

As Jacob lies on his deathbed, he begins to write a letter to his estranged, gay son, Isaac, feeling there are many stories and secrets he must know, including the truth in his heart. Full of empathy and insight, "Don't Cry for Me" is an emotional voice to familial trauma that creates a space for both Jacob and Isaac to find peace.

Publication date: February 1, 2022

"Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration" by Tracey Michae'l-Giggetts

Available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $18.90

In this essay collection, Tracey Michae'l-Giggetts celebrates Black joy as a tool for resilience, a weapon of resistance, and a challenge to the narrative that being Black is solely a life of trauma and challenges. Beginning from a single essay she wrote for "The Washington Post," Michae'l-Giggetts' message of the evolution of Black joy through trauma is one that uplifts and resonates with readers. 

Publication date: February 1, 2022

"Moon Witch, Spider King" by Marlon James

Available for pre-order on Amazon and Bookshop, from $26.99

"Moon Witch, Spider King" is the highly anticipated sequel to the award-winning "Black Leopard, Red Wolf," both part of an epic African fantasy trilogy. In this sequel, Sogolon the Moon Witch gives her version of events from how she plotted and fought to track down the missing boy, intertwined with the story of her century-long feud with the Aesi, making it a fascinating read for anyone who loved the first fantastical novel.

Publication date: February 15, 2022

"Like a Sister" by Kellye Garrett

Available for pre-order on Amazon and Bookshop, from $25.76

When Desiree Pierce's body is found on a playground the morning after her 25th birthday, everyone including the police dismisses the disgraced reality TV star's death as an overdose. Though she hasn't spoken to her half-sister in two years, Lena Scott is beyond certain that her sister's death was a crime and is determined to find justice in this dark upcoming thriller.

Publication date: March 8, 2022

"The Last Suspicious Holdout: Stories" by Ladee Hubbard

Available for pre-order on Amazon and Bookshop, from $22.99

"The Last Suspicious Holdout" is a collection of 12 short stories that capture different moments of African American lives from the beginning of the Clinton presidency through the eve of Obama's inauguration. They touch on societal inequities from the criminal justice system to healthcare and the resilience, bravery, and hope that remains despite it all. 

Publication date: March 8, 2022

"When We Were Birds" by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo

Available for pre-order on Amazon and Bookshop, from $21.99

"When We Were Birds" is a mythical fantasy romance set in Trinidad and Tobago where Yejide and Darwin meet inside the gates of Port Angeles's largest and oldest cemetery. Yejide, mourning her mother and their complicated relationship, and Darwin, providing for his mother by digging graves, are drawn together by fate and shared burdens of inheritance and loss.

Publication date: March 15, 2022

"Memphis" by Tara M. Stringfellow

Available for pre-order on Amazon and Bookshop, from $22.95

In 1995, Joan, her mother, and her sister flee their father's abuse and settle into her mother's family home in Memphis, where she begins to sketch the women she sees to deal with her grief and anger. "Memphis" is a multi-generation historical fiction novel that follows 70 years of Joan's family, marked by violence and matriarchal healing, as Joan uses a paintbrush to understand her family's history, legacy, and lineage.

Publication date: April 5, 2022

"Take My Hand" by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Available for pre-order on Amazon and Bookshop, from $24.30

"Take My Hand" is a devastating historical fiction novel inspired by a true event that follows Civil Townsend, who has just graduated nursing school in 1973 and is determined to make a difference in her community by working at the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic. When her first week leads her to two new patients just 11 and 13 years old, she makes a terrible discovery that changes the course of all of their lives forever.

Publication date: April 12, 2022

"The Trayvon Generation" by Elizabeth Alexander

Available for pre-order on Amazon and Bookshop, from $20.24

"The Trayvon Generation" is a nonfiction expansion of Elizabeth Alexander's viral essay first published in the "New Yorker" about the challenges facing the youth of Black America who could not be protected from brutality and abuse. These essays reflect upon the effects of emotional stress and political unrest on Black youth as well as the hope for change.

Publication date: April 15, 2022

"Finding Me: A Memoir" by Viola Davis

Available for pre-order on Amazon and Bookshop, from $24.99

Viola Davis is an award-winning actress and producer whose upcoming memoir "Finding Me" stretches her life from childhood to the present as she learned to stop running from her past. In this introspective and reflective book, Viola Davis teaches readers to search for self-love, live their truths, and discover who they were before the world told them who to be.

Publication date: April 26, 2022

"By the Book" by Jasmine Guillory

Available for pre-order on Amazon and Bookshop, from $14.39

Isabelle is overworked, still living at home, and just lost at her job as an editorial assistant in her publishing house. When a high-profile author named Beau fails to deliver his manuscript on time, Isabelle sees it as an opportunity to prove herself worthy of a promotion and travels to the author's mansion in the hopes of giving him a pep talk, but quickly finds herself in over her head. As the two begin to bond, his story begins to flow and Isabelle and Beau find they have far more in common than they thought in this reimaged "Beauty and the Beast" fairytale romance.

Publication date: May 3, 2022

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