Fantastic anthology of essays from Black female authors, each sharing what made them readers for pleasure, and ultimately made them writers of their own works.

So many classic texts are mentioned, along with lots of authors and works I had never heard of.

2019 will be my year of reading every book mentioned in this anthology, if it's available through my local library. Not every author mentioned as an inspiration is Black and/or female, but the vast majority were. Representation is critical to young readers, especially when you are raised in a society that renders you invisible unless something goes wrong (which is always your fault, of course).

Recommended for hard core readers and book geeks.

Glory Edim is the founder of Well-Read Black Girl, Brooklyn-based book club and digital platform that celebrates the uniqueness of Black Lit and sisterhood. Further expanding her platform to produce a book highlighting all it means to be a well-read black girl was everything I didn’t know I needed.

In this anthology of essays, each author answers an important question posed by THE Well-Read Black Girl Glory Edim herself: when did you first find yourself in the books you read?

Reading Well-Read Black Girl was a beautiful experience that gave me all the nostalgic feels. Thoughts resurfaced of the first times I connected with heroines in books I read. Other thoughts of how often those heroines looked like me soon followed. Essays by black female writers sharing that magic moment in which they saw themselves within a book made me realize just how importance representation in literature is. It is through the books that we read in which our experiences are magnified and made familiar. We realize we aren’t alone in the world. We realize that the heroic women we read about can be us. We feel connected to the world when we read characters that not only reflect our experiences and dreams, but our faces.

I enjoyed each essay, feeling particularly moved by Dhonielle Clayton's essay about Coffee Will Make You Black, Mahogany Brown's essay about The Bluest Eye, and Gabby Sidibe's essay. Each essay shared a unique voice and an experience I felt the author shared with just me, as if I were thumbing through her personal diary. I love that this anthology allowed Glory Edim the opportunity to bring these distinct voices together to collectively share the importance of seeing ourselves in the books we read. I devoured the essays, made notes in my phone, and created the longest list of to-be-read books, thanks to the suggestions in Well-Read Black Girl.

I have bought a physical copy and always suggest this read to my fellow book-loving friends, as I feel this is an important read, especially for black women. Our stories matter. They need to be shared. They need to be celebrated. And I believe this book and the Well-Read Black Girl movement is a great vehicle to get a many conversation started about our voices and these stories.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Well-Read Black Girl in exchange for an honest review.

This is a collection of essays from the founder of the book club Well-Read Black Girl which focuses on the importance of exploring reflections of the black experience in literature. Edim's choice of essays from some of the best black female writers serves as a balm- the topics range from sexuality to religion, race, and a multitude of other topics. If you have a book club and would like to examine the black experience, check this out.

A must-have edition to any bookshelf! The key aspect in reading this book involves seeing one's self represented in literature and how the opportunity molds lives. Great essays by wonderful writers and authors in their own right.

I wish a collection of essays written by prominent African American authors existed when I was younger. Representation matters. To be able to see people who look like you who , who have the same thoughts and feelings and interests as you is important and I'm grateful for Random House for breathing this book into existence and letting it reach the masses.

I definitely savored this book. Such sage advise. Such honest candid writing. Inspiration to return to over and over again.

Well put together anthology of stories. Well chosen authors and well worded and poignant stories to coincide. Definitely made me think and feel uncomfortable which means I have personal work to do with regards to race and prejudice.

My Takeaway

I absolutely loved and enjoyed each and every story in this magical book! Reading these beautiful essays, made me think about the first book where I recognized myself. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez immediately came to mind. I read this book in the ’90s and instantly saw me, my culture and family background. You see, although I was born in D.C., I did not speak or understand English until the second grade. My family came from the Dominican Republic and I was raised with their traditions, language, and music. I learned at a young age my friends and I were very different. For instance, many of them ate tortillas, tamales, and refried beans, while we ate “La Bandera” which consisted of rice, beans, and stewed meat. My grandmother cooked every single day and I honestly did not know what a hamburger or McDonald’s was until I was probably 8 years old (my younger brother was actually scared of Ronald McDonald).

Also, every summer I would visit the Dominican Republic with my grandmother. Our family lived in a small town where everyone knew one another (Cotui in the Cibao region). My cousins and I were allowed and able to run around and explore our surroundings without adult supervision. Those summers were some of my favorite childhood memories. Without a doubt, those trips enriched my life and shaped me into the person I am today.

It’s important we see ourselves in books. Individuals of all backgrounds and cultures have valuable experiences and universal ideas to share, and we all stand to gain when those voices are heard. I cannot recommend Well-Read Black Girl enough. The downside? Be prepared to add lots of books to your to be read pile. 🙂

A huge thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. You already know I purchased my very own copy!

A moving and thoughtful collection of tributes to life-changing books, and a call for more diverse and inclusive representation in all areas of literature.

There were a few that resonated with me, but my favorite essay was from N.K. Jemisin. In fact, N.K. is not a writer I'm familiar, which is really the benefit of this collection in introducing me to new names and voices.

However, this took me a long time to get through. I started and stopped repeatedly. After a while, the essays said the same thing, referenced the same books and authors. Some of these messages were longer than others (example: when I was a child... then I was a student/reader/college kid... then I wrote/published/acted... now for my children...). It just got repetitive.

I totally get it would be hard to edit much of these stories, though. I agree all folks of color have been silenced for too long.

Glory Edim was promoting works of black women on social media and used her growing platform to create this book project.

In Well-Read Black Girl, Edim reached out to women of color connected to the publishing industry in some way, be it as an author, playwright, poet, publicist, and so on, and invited them to reflect on what books spoke to them as children and made them feel noticed and recognized and made an impact in their vocation.

Throughout the book sections, Edim offers reading recommendations and thoughtfully gathers all the titles that are referenced in the essays into a complete list at the close.

As someone who loves books and recognizes the various impacts specific ones have made in my life in different seasons, I loved digging into this text and discovering both new and familiar titles. It is a valuable contribution, and I've added some of the authors or their referenced titles to my reading list.

(I received a digital ARC from NetGalley and Ballantine Books in exchange for my honest review.)

As I read this, I marveled at the contents - poetry, classics, sci-fi + fantasy, plays, as well as serious thoughts on black feminist theory and "sister-girl” friendships. Being a typical bookworm, I don't get much time to share my thoughts or hear those of other black women. So I jumped at the chance to peek inside the minds of queens like Jesmyn Ward and Morgan Jerkins.

It was to my joy and amazement that each of the essays possessed some of the same thoughts and asked the name questions as I do. I was over the top with excitement as I read and embraced the words of Tayari Jones.

As an African-American woman who loves the art of literature, I received immense comfort in knowing that I was not alone in my approach to reading and internalizing the written word.

Hat tip and graceful applause to Glory!

Read this book with a notebook nearby. So many new authors for me! I loved the way each writer talked about when and how these books had an influence. Well done, and a huge variety.

Well-Read Black Girl is a collection of essays compiled by Glory Edim, founder of the online community baring the same name. These essays, written by black women writers, explore the influence that literature has had on them as writers and women discovering themselves.

Each women’s voice brings out that importance of representation. Specific novels are addressed as having more notable influence. There are an array of backgrounds, cultures, and time periods that have impacted these women. It’s a lovely read.

*I received an eARC of this via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. *

This was fine. Most of these didn't wow me or anything, and not gonna lie sometimes I got a little bored, but I'm not sure if that's the fault of the book really, or maybe I had different expectations. A lot of the essays focused on how the books they read formed them as writers, not so much as people, and since I'm not a writer I'm not sure I could relate as much as I wanted to.

That said it was nice to read this and the essays were intriguing and well written. I liked seeing the different stories the various writers saw themselves in and will definitely be taking some book recommendations from this book. If you needed to convince someone that representation matters I think this would be a good book to hand them.

Magic Mirrors by Jesmyn Ward - 4 stars
Why I keep coming back to Jamaica by Veronica Chambers - 3 stars
Her own best thing by Tayari Smith - 3.5 stars
Go tell it by Barbara Smith - 4 stars
Legacy: A Conversation with Rebecca Walker - 4 stars
Zora & Me by Marita Golden - 4 stars, Their Eyes were watching God was already on my TBR but it's now been bumped up
Space To Move Around In by Renee Watson - 4.5 stars
Gal: A Hard Row To Hoe by Gabourey Sidibe - 4 stars, I hope she doesn't talk to her parents
The Need For Kisses by Dhonielle Clayton - 4 stars
Witnessing Hope by Stephanie Powell Watts - 4 stars
Dear Beloved by Nicole Dennis-Benn - 4 stars
Dreaming Awake by N.K. Jemisin - 4.5 stars
To Be A Citizen by Morgan Jenkins - 4 stars
Two New Yorks by Zinzi Clemmons - 4 stars
Putting Women Center Stage: A Conversation with Lynn Nottage - 4.5 stars
Finding My Family by Bsrat Mezghebe - 4.5 stars
Complex Citizen by Mahogany L. Browne - 4 stars
Living a "Soft Black Song" by Jamia Wilson - 4 stars
Amazing Grace by Carla Bruce-Eddings - 4 stars
Continue to Rise: A Conversation with Jacqueline Woodson - 4 stars
Books for a Black Girl's Soul by Kaitlyn Greenwidge - 3.5 stars

After reading another book having to deal with race and color, I am making an effort to purposely read some writing from a different perspective than I might have. Also, I'm a teacher and a few of my students have talked to me about feeling disconnected to the community they do to school in because they are colored and "just different." I thought I might expand my horizons and read what other black women have felt. Well-Read Black Girl is a series of essays compiled by Glory Edim. All of the essays are written by black women and tell of times where they have discovered themselves in literature (or sought to find themselves in literary works.) I don't know if I think "this character is just like me" a lot, but this book really made me think about what it would be like if I never had characters that represented me. There are also various lists throughout the book- recommendations of poetry, essays, books, etc. written by black women. The end of the book has a list of all of the literature that had been mentioned in the book.

This book was wonderful. I was nodding and smiling throughout it. This is a book that I hope to incorporate in my literature. Each author's story provides a different aspect to focus on.

I couldn't love this book more if I tried. The stories were honest, real, inspiring and captivating. Reading about how books played a pertinent role in each writer's life was everything to me and I connected with these writers possibly more than I've ever connected with a writer before. I felt like I was getting a deep dig into their life-and I'm so grateful for that. Oh and the book list at the end-this literally made me day. Excellent book-all the stars!

A wonderful collection that every library should own (I already bought it for mine). The essays are diverse and inspiring.

I have heard so much about Well-Read Black Girl, as well as Glory Edim, founder of Well-Read Black Girl Book Club, I knew I had to read it. The collection of essays are incredible and inspiring. Some of my favorites includes Tayari Jones, Rebecca Walker and Barbara Smith.

Edim is an incredible person whom I've never met, but hope to one day. I also want to attend her literary festival in the near future. I am indeed a Well-Read Black Girl and people like Edim are needed to encourage Black girls everywhere to be culturally fed and celebrate their creativity.