PBS Books

- Hello, PBS Books Readers Club.

February is Black History Month and in 2026 it also marks a really meaningful milestone.

This year recognizes 100 years of national black history commemorations, a tradition that began when Dr.

Carter G. Woodson helped launch the first organized observances a century ago.

Since then, those commemorations have grown into an annual moment to reflect, learn, and celebrate black history, culture and contributions.

And at PBS Books, our favorite way to do that is through reading.

So today we are sharing some of our favorite books that help us honor Black History Month, through the Power of Storytelling.

I'm Lauren Smith, and joining me today is award-winning writer and essayist, Princess Weekes.

Hi Princess.

- Hi love, I miss you, I love you Lauren.

- I miss you too.

I love you too.

Okay, so Princess, when you were putting together your picks, what were you looking for?

- For me, I was really looking for contemporary stories that focused on black Americans in the modern day.

I think so often black literature is used for like educational or sociological purposes and that's great, but we have rich narratives outside of that.

So I was looking for stories about black people being complicated, messy, and trying to find love because you know, I love a romance.

- Yes, you do.

So, okay, take us through.

What are some of your picks?

- So the first thing I really loved is Ryan Kennedy.

She's an amazing romance author and she has a third installment in her Skyland series called "Can't Get Enough," even though it's the third book, you don't have to read them in order.

They're very episodic.

And it's about this woman named Hendrix Barry, a woman who already has everything.

Her mood board is stacked.

And despite being told often that she's too much, she has built a beautiful successful life for herself.

And then an amazing man walks into her life and she has to risk letting something new into her life.

And I'm just like, it's an amazing love story.

Very sexy.

And I think it's a really great character study in allowing love into your life, but also not settling because the right person will support your career and tell you, yeah girl, move up that ladder, I'll be right here to help you cook.

(both laughing) - Yes, love that.

- It was really lovely.

And then another one that I really enjoyed was "The Wilderness" by Angela Flournoy.

It is this contemporary epic story of friendship, about five black women over the course of 25 years, going through the highs and lows of friendship, career and love together.

And it really is epic.

That's definitely the key word here.

It's beautifully written and it's only just over 300 pages.

But despite that, it takes you on this really deep emotional journey with these friends trying to hold on to that sisterhood over so much time.

And I just love friendship.

I just love seeing a group of women stick together over just 20 plus years.

That's amazing.

- It is amazing.

And I love the idea of a story being told in an epic way, like a story of women as friends, as an epic novel.

- Yes.

- That's just, I love that concept.

That's so cool.

Can't wait to read it.

- It's so good.

And then finally, I wanted to pick something that would be good for our mystery fans out here.

'cause we love a mystery here.

And so I picked "King of Ashes" by S.A.

Cosby.

He is like the master of the Southern Noir, and "King of Ashes" is his latest book, and it's about our main character, Roman.

He is summoned home after his father is put into a coma following a mysterious car accident.

And he's forced to take up the family business funeral home, of course, and is put in the middle of all of this family drama.

He was trying to escape with all these gangsters and money issues and including all of that, trying to figure out what happened to his mother many years ago.

I don't wanna say too much, but if you've loved all the previous mysteries that we've done here on the book club, then "King of Ashes" is a great follow up.

S.A.

Cosby is one of the best at what he does.

It's gripping, it's interesting, it's dynamic.

You will be on the edge of your seat.

God, that's a (indistinct) - I love that.

I can't wait.

I'm definitely adding that.

I'm gonna actually find my pen.

I'm gonna write that one down.

- Yes.

- Okay.

So Princess, there's a few books that we've read together.

- Yes.

We did.

- Over the past couple of years that have stayed with me.

One of those, of course is "James" by Percival Everett.

It retells the "Adventures of Huckleberry" Finn, but this time the story belongs to Jim or James.

And seeing the world through his voice completely transforms the narrative.

It made me think really differently about language, power, survival.

And Princess, you originally picked this book for the PBS Books readers Club.

What was it about "James" for you?

- You know, sometimes a book just has that magic, and from the first moment I saw the cover, I knew it was gonna be a big book.

And I talked about it with our other co-host, Heather Marie Montia.

And I just love that "James," despite being situated in this very dark time for Black Americans, retained a sense of humor and a sense of just wonder in all of it.

And I think it really gives this character a lot of dignity.

And I think talking with Percival Everett, one of my favorite interviews we've ever done.

We really just- - He was so sunny too.

- He was so good, he was so good.

And I think you just saw the love of literature and how a classic can be reborn over and over again, while still keeping what works about Huckleberry Finn, but also telling this new story they can live together.

And I think that's really beautiful and I think it's just a great way of expanding upon a classic.

- I totally agree with you.

That book will never leave me.

- Yes.

- It's one that will stick with you, and if you didn't catch that interview, you can see it on YouTube.

So go find our interview with Percival Everett on "James.

It's so good.

Princess we both also recently read a book that I feel like not enough people have heard about.

- I know.

- "The Great Mann" by Kyra Davis Lurie.

It's a re-imagining of the Great Gatsby, set among LA's Black Elite after World War II.

Like the Great Gatsby, it's a story about aspiration and illusion, but here the stakes are higher because the dream was never designed to include everyone.

Princess, I know you just finished the audio book, yeah?

- Yes, I did.

I got it on Libby and I was blown away.

The narrator, Ian Hackney managed to bring this kind of bittersweet beauty to every part of the story.

I was blown away from the moment you recommended it to me.

I was like, I have to read this book.

And it was so rich and challenging.

And even if you've read "The Great Gatsby," it's a great pairing, but if you never have, it still tells its own very specific kind of story.

And really it's about how the American Dream, as you said, was never meant to include everyone, but we still thrive for it.

I think as we've been talking about, you know, the anniversary of our, of our country's founding about how we are still trying so hard to make those inalienable rights still work.

And I think "The Great Mann" really encompasses that struggle and that bittersweetness of not giving up, but still having so much darkness behind you along the way.

- Yeah, I just thought like, I love "The Great Gatsby," - Mm-hmm.

- But there's something about this, it just had another really important layer of like texture to the story.

And I just, I think that if you love "The Great Gatsby," it's definitely worth a read.

And like you said, if you haven't read it, maybe read "The Great Mann" first, and then go back and read it.

It's kind of interesting to compare the two.

- Yeah.

- I also loved being part of our Reader's Club conversation around "Black Cake" and "Good Dirt" by Charmaine Wilkerson.

Both of these books explore family secrets and inheritance and how the past continues to shape the present.

"Black Cake" got a lot of accolades, but I thought "Good Dirt" was just as excellent.

"Good Dirt" tells the story of Ebby Freeman, a woman who unravels the connections between a childhood tragedy, a treasured family heirloom, and her ancestors enduring legacy.

Through multiple generations, Wilkerson masterfully explores themes of family identity and how the past shapes the future.

If you missed "Good Dirt," I highly recommend adding it to your TBR list, especially if you loved "Black Cake."

And catch the author interviews on the PBS Books, YouTube channel.

- She was a great interview.

And I also really love "Good Dirt."

I think that it is a more complicated story in the sense that you do have the kind of mystery, and I think the character Ebby is just really tragic and complicated and messy.

I really love that book.

- I did too.

And yeah, like you said earlier, I think the character of Ebby and how she's dealing with situations in her contemporary life as a black woman and how her family's history continues to still impact that.

I thought it was really rich and layered and I loved her as a character.

Another book that flew a bit under the radar in recent years is "ours" by Philip B. Williams.

But it was one of the most unforgettable books I've read in a long time.

It's set in a mythical town founded when formerly enslaved people mysteriously disappear and build a hidden community beyond the reach of the world that once claimed them.

The novel blends, folklore, fantasy, and history in a way that feels haunting and strangely beautiful.

I just love when history and fantasy are sort of blended.

I think it just makes for a really magical reading experience.

- Absolutely.

I was so excited when I saw that you put this on your list because I love this book.

I also think it went under the radar.

It's got a beautiful cover as well, like really rich, colorful, and I think, like you said, I love when we can use history to expand the world.

I think so often we think that we have to go further and further back like the middle ages to have like a fun fantasy, but there's so much in our immediate past that's so rich for exploration and I think "Ours" does that really phenomenally well.

- Yes, yes, I totally agree.

Now, for readers who love nonfiction, the work of Henry Lewis Gates Jr.

A professor, author, and PBS staple, through his documentaries and finding your root series is essential through genealogy and recovered archives, his books illuminate stories that were nearly lost connecting individual lives to the broader American story.

Honestly, they almost read like novels.

They're so fascinating.

Heather Marie Montia's Readers Club conversation with Henry Louis Gates Jr.

is available on our YouTube channel and it's well worth watching.

And be sure to catch his latest PBS documentary series, black and Jewish America in interwoven history with Henry Lewis Gates Jr.

on PBS.

You can catch up on previous episodes on the PBS app on your smart TV or pbs.org.

Now another PBS book's, favorite is "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store."

Set in a Pennsylvania town in the 1930s, the novel centers on a black and Jewish community that comes together to protect a vulnerable child.

It's warm, funny, and deeply humane.

Everybody loves this book.

Heather Marie Montia full interview with James McBride is also available on the PBS Books.

YouTube channel is part of our coverage of the Library of Congress National Book Festival.

And looking ahead, there are a number of books that I haven't read yet, but I can't wait to read.

One book at the top of my 2026 TBR is "Fire Sword & Sea by Vanessa Riley.

Inspired by the real history that many Caribbean pirates were black and many were women.

It follows one woman as she disguises herself as a man to survive at sea and ultimately chooses liberation over fortune.

I'm also really looking forward to the Seven Daughters of Dupree by Nikesha Elise Williams a sweeping, multi-generational novel following seven generations of Dupree women bound by Family Secrets and Legacy.

These are at the top of my reading list.

I'd love to hear what books you have been reading lately.

Please share your recommendations in the comments.

Any princess that are on your list that you haven't read yet that you're interested in.

- First of all, you totally got like two of my top two I love.

- Sorry.

- We have some good taste of the books.

I was very happy about that.

But the other two I'm looking most forward to are "The Great Disillusionment of Nick and Jay" by Ryan Douglas and Kin by Tayari Jones.

The Great Disillusionment is pulling from you.

It is another Gatsby reimagining.

It's a young adult Queer reimagining of the Great Gatsby, which plays on two of my favorite Gatsby head cannons.

That Gatsby is a black character and that he and Nick are in love.

And so it deals with the characters moving from Oklahoma to Harlem and going through a lot of the changes of that time period there.

And I'm excited to check this out.

We love books in the open domain.

I'm just excited to see how Harlem will play a role in this story.

I want the adaptation right now.

It just sounds so incredible.

And Tayari Jones is just an incredible writer.

She wrote "American Marriage," which came out a few years ago.

And with Kim, she's focusing on a story about two lifelong friends whose worlds converge after many years apart in the face of a devastating tragedy.

And as I said before, I love stories about complex female friendships, especially mixing in with stories about people whose class changes.

And that impacts the people that they have to leave behind, which this is supposed to be about.

And I think that anything that pairs women and the complicated nature of success, I'm always gonna be interested in.

So I'm so excited to read these upcoming books.

- Yes, those are great picks.

I could talk about books with you all day.

And I do think that we have similar taste in books.

So our TBR lists are always pretty similar, which is great for us.

So yeah, we'd love to hear from you what some of your most recommended books are.

What do you recommend reading during Black History Month and beyond?

These books remind us that Black History lives not only in the archives, as Princess said, but in imagination, memory, storytelling.

And right now we're living it right now.

Princess, any final words of inspiration for our book Clubbers?

- Just keep reading, keep being curious, and live in the present as well as the past.

- Thank you, Princess.

- It's beautiful.

- Oh, my God.

- Let us know in the comments what you are reading next.

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Happy reading.

- Happy reading.

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