Well Read Black Girl was such an inspiring collection of stories and I found myself smiling often as I read these original essays. Curated by the founder of the book club / online community by the same name, it includes various voices of Black writers and creatives stressing the importance of representation in stories.

From Jacqueline Woodson to Gabourey Sidibe I enjoyed every single one of these essays, in particular the tales of childhood reading, where these incredible women each found themselves in literature. When they first encountered a character who seemed to be written just for them, and discovered their favorite authors in the process.

It's eye-opening as well, as I've never felt like I didn't see myself in books when I was younger, and shows the importance to making sure books are accessible that everyone can connect with, no matter your age, race, gender, etc.

A must read for any book lover, that shows the powers of stories and those that share them. It also includes a hugely extensive list of books by Black female authors that is reason to get this book alone.

Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves is the perfect book to show us how important it is that every child is able to see themselves on the page, the screen, and the stage. It shines a light on how seeing oneself gives one agency and a sense of belonging, and why the arts must realistically mirror reality (in its diversity). The love of books expressed in these stories made me want to devour every one in the lists of recommendations.

Thanks to the editor, the writers, the publisher, and to NetGalley for a copy of the ARC.

The essays that Glory Edim compiled in Well-Read Black Girl illustrates the need for diverse stories to speak to the multiplicity of readers. In Edim’s introduction, she describes hollowing out a place of her own in the world that she filled with books. In the first essay entitled Magic Mirrors, Jesmyn Ward describes seeking and almost finding a mirror in literature that would reflect her childhood experiences and yet not finding a perfect one until she wrote her own stories; and Veronica Chambers recalls being inspired by an author who she felt had entered her private space and written down her thoughts, so concrete was the connection she made with Jamaica Kincaid’s short story, Girl.
Well-Read Black Girl is Black women acknowledging the writers and writings that have helped make them. 
So in this compendium of brilliant writing by the authors who tell the stories of our generation, we get the spectrum of meaning that is literature - the expression of soul, the medium of connection, the bridge between producer and consumer that offers, accepts and transforms. 
Included here is a statement from the daughter of Alice Walker, who describes what literature meant to someone who witnessed her mother making history with words; a gay writer who describes being impacted by the freedom and sophistication that James Baldwin channeled through his writing into her life at a time when she didn’t feel that freedom anywhere else in her life; Gabourey Side's story of feeling unwanted in her family and reading the memoir of someone who was valued even lower in her childhood and yet found enough power in forgiveness to inspire the actress as well.
Well Read Black Girl is a tear jerking collection because it's impossible to read about the moments when the world seemed to stand still or spun faster or just made sense for someone else, and not be affected by their telling of it, especially if you can relate to where they were before that experience. This is a book about literature as a mirror for life and any reader, but likely any black girl reader, can find herself in these pages as well. 
At just over 270 pages, this volume will make a great addition to a reference library as these essays are such that one can return to them for inspiration or affirmation. Having contributors with such a range of experiences and ages will almost guarantee that one of your favorite black women author's words are included. And in addition to the content, the book itself is also a treasure for a bookworm as Edim includes lists curated to delight the black book lover who yearns for a canon that reflects her interests. With captions such as "Well-Read Black Girl Selections 2015-2018", one can find popular as well as lesser-known but just as important titles of books that deserve more attention, all books by black women authors.

Note: I received a free electronic download of Well-Read Black Girl from the publishers Penguin Random House, as part of their influencer program. I was not otherwise compensated for this review and the above reflects my honest opinion about the book.

I loved how this book featured so many different essays from authors on the importance of recognizing yourself in literature. Plus there’s a ton of recommendations for every type of reader! I’d also recommend checking out @wellreadblackgirl’s Instagram and website! Their book club is dedicated to Black women writers and I’ve already added quite a few new books to my tbr just from looking at their last book club picks.

Thank you Random House for gifting this book.
As many I have been trying to incorporate more books by black creators and especially, black female authors. This book of essays on being black and having a love of reading was a wonderful expression of both and exposed me to many new to me titles. This book was not made for just black women to read and I feel like everyone can find joy in reading this title and connecting with their various stories of loneliness, oppression, love and all the other things that connect us as humans. However it also shows us how being a young black woman in America is often times looked down on and treated different.

The best part of this book is the recommendations by all the writers of what they think is a great book from various genres including classic novels, books about black girlhood and friendship, science fiction and fantasy, plays and even poetry by black women. I am ashamed to admit there were many I had never heard of but now want to seek out and read. This list alone is makes this book worth reading but added to that are stories that many can relate to by authors of various experiences and ages. We dive into their brains and peer into their hearts as they discover books that revolutionize their worlds. I highly recommend this book for all to read.

What a brilliant collection of essays by black women. I love books about books, readers and writers and Well-Read Black Girl covered all three. I admire so many of the writers who contributed to this collection, it is no wonder I devoured this book because I wanted to know more about them and who influenced their writing. So many of the things they made references to I felt:
1. Growing up and reading books where the main character didn't look like them.
2. Being readers, to the point where their parents forced them to go out and play
3. I love how each could remember how fond they are of reading and when they first discovered a character that spoke to their soul.

Glory Edim did an exceptional job of pulling together strong black women who are crushing it in their field. I loved reading about some of my favorite writer's background and the women who influenced them.

How do I start reviewing this book? 😭😍 So beautiful, so inspiring.

Reading the personal stories of intelligent, fierce, black women I admire (and others I discovered thanks to this book) has been incredible.

When I read it, it felt like a friend was telling me a story. A story about belonging, about falling in love with a book for the first time, about being different.

This memorable collection of stories is the perfect example of why representation matters, in literature and in life.

Get a copy and enjoy. You will remember this book.

PS: Perfect pick for a bookclub 😊

I value this collection because I understand the importance of seeing, hearing, connecting, and identifying with characters, in novels, because at an early age, as an avid reader, I didn’t have that in literature. So, I felt, as if I didn’t belong. It wasn’t until my 20s that I discovered me, if you will, in books! With that said, because it took me so long to find my rhythm, my Cultura, my Song, and my Dance, through characters in books, I Vowed never to allow my children and/or students to feel that way. Therefore, I make a conscious effort, to have a wealth of material, with characters, that mirror my students/children, at their reach!!

I loved this little book. There were quite a few stories I could relate to. Such as Jesmyn Ward's "Magic Mirrors" I completely understood her voracious reading appetite and recalled reading some of those stories she devoured. And I also recall feeling that those stories I enjoyed so much were not my stories and that I felt like an encroacher.

I received a reviewer copy of Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves by Glory Edim from the publisher Ballatine Books from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: This is a collection of essays from black women (mostly authors) talking about how black literature influenced, touched them, or made them feel seen.

What I Loved: As a reader this book made me smile because there is passion for literature throughout and the feeling of being seen in your books. This book is especially powerful because these women have had to deal with feeling isolated by society and treated like garbage because of the color of their skin. And there were less books for them to be seen and finding these books was especially important. Also loved all the books recommended.

What I didn’t like so much: Like any essay collection there were some that I didn't love and sometimes I just kind of dragged through.

Who Should Read It: People who are readers. People who want to see the power of literature on shaping someones identities. People who love collections.

General Summary: An essay collection about seeing seen in literature when you don't feel seen anywhere else.

Wonderfully curated, I recommend this constantly to people looking to expand their reading. The lists are diverse and though the essays can get a touch repetitive, they are extremely intelligent. A great coffee table book.

While I won't order this as a text for a class, it is a book I've frequently recommended to students and will continue to recommend. Working with first-year, first-generation college students, I am always looking for titles that can both inspire and demystify participation in the great discussion that is the world of books.

Though I am a white woman, I really enjoyed Well Read Black Girl. I try to read diversely so I can better understand those who are not like me and don’t have the same experiences I do. This book gave me a peek into the way black women feel and helped me understand them a little more and the struggles they experience. At the same time though, I felt that so many of the themes discussed could be applied to so many other people, not just black women. I even saw myself in many essays. This book has a ton of fiction, essays and poetry suggestions written by black women.

A book that shows Black Woman are important, intelligent and can write their butts off. The authors such as Jesmyn Ward (Sing, Jacqueline Woodson, Gabourey Sidibe, Tayari Jones and Barbara Smith who gave Black Women a huge platform of complex and intelligent account of what is looks and feel like to to read about yourself in a book and the very importance of books. It is an awesome book and it still sells well in my store.

I need all brown bookworms to read this anthology. You won’t regret it at all. This anthology reminded me of my younger book worm self and I found myself nodding along as I read. This book also gives you plenty of recommendations for several genres written by black authors which I loved as well. Some of the authors in this anthology I have read before and some are new to me. I did like some stories more than others but overall I enjoyed this anthology very much.

Enlightening to read how literature sparked a fire in many of the black women who are trailblazers and pathfinders in literature today.

It's nice to witness how the WRBG platform has evolved and this is a solid collection of essays that I would buy.

This is a wonderful collection of stories of bookish black women applying their love of reading to their lives. As a longtime black female bookworm myself, this book resonated with me. I loved hearing everyone’s perspective on how a certain author or book changed their outlook on life. I live how they weren’t shy on acknowledging their blackness and how it relates to world of books and life. I love that there were many book recommendations of so many books written by black authors. Black folks especially women deserve to have their story told!

I received a copy of Well Read Black Girl from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. I have since purchased a copy. Glory Edim’s essay anthology, Well Read Black Girl, is guaranteed to be on my top favorites of 2019. Authors, playwrights, poets, artists, actors speak about when they first saw themselves represented as black women in books and how that went on to impact their lives. This essay anthology left me with a list of new texts to discover and with many wise words from familiar favorites. Most of all these essays remind me that the publishing industry needs to continue to do better and publish black women with the same vigor and breadth of genre as white folks.

Reading this anthology of short essays from so many incredible authors was such a pleasure. Authors whose works I have read before and loved, I now have a greater understanding and appreciation of. As an aspiring writer, I have found motivation, inspiration, and great depths of emotion in these pages.



This book gave me a glimpse into a culture that I have never really gotten to experience in my life. I can see how these essays will give young black people - young black girls, especially - a tremendous sense of community, belonging, and acceptance. This book is not just for that specific audience, though. I got so much out of this book. I took so many notes - for myself, not this review - and found myself writing page after page, without conscious effort.



While reading "Well-Read Black Girl," I added dozens of books to my To-Be-Read list, and I am excited to get to know these authors better through works of theirs that I'd sometimes not heard of before. I've happily added this wonderful work of literature to my library and will be returning to it again and again.