Books that will take your breath away
Discover the most breathtaking books that will leave you spellbound. Explore our curated list of captivating reads to ignite your imagination and emotions.
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Dreams from My Father
by Barack Obama
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • ONE OF ESSENCE’S 50 MOST IMPACTFUL BLACK BOOKS OF THE PAST 50 YEARS In this iconic memoir of his early days, Barack Obama “guides us straight to the intersection of the most serious questions of identity, class, and race” (The Washington Post Book World). “Quite extraordinary.”—Toni Morrison In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American. It begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his father—a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man—has been killed in a car accident. This sudden death inspires an emotional odyssey—first to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mother’s family to Hawaii, and then to Kenya, where he meets the African side of his family, confronts the bitter truth of his father’s life, and at last reconciles his divided inheritance. Praise for Dreams from My Father “Beautifully crafted . . . moving and candid . . . This book belongs on the shelf beside works like James McBride’s The Color of Water and Gregory Howard Williams’s Life on the Color Line as a tale of living astride America’s racial categories.”—Scott Turow “Provocative . . . Persuasively describes the phenomenon of belonging to two different worlds, and thus belonging to neither.”—The New York Times Book Review “Obama’s writing is incisive yet forgiving. This is a book worth savoring.”—Alex Kotlowitz, author of There Are No Children Here “One of the most powerful books of self-discovery I’ve ever read, all the more so for its illuminating insights into the problems not only of race, class, and color, but of culture and ethnicity. It is also beautifully written, skillfully layered, and paced like a good novel.”—Charlayne Hunter-Gault, author of In My Place “Dreams from My Father is an exquisite, sensitive study of this wonderful young author’s journey into adulthood, his search for community and his place in it, his quest for an understanding of his roots, and his discovery of the poetry of human life. Perceptive and wise, this book will tell you something about yourself whether you are black or white.”—Marian Wright Edelman
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72 Hour Hold
by Bebe Moore Campbell
Fed up with the mental health community and desperate to save her daughter, who is suffering from bipolar disorder, Keri enlists the assistance of the Program, an illegal group of radicals who have rejected the established psychiatric system.
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When Somebody Loves You Back
by Mary B. Morrison
Former playboy Darius Jones is back on top of his game. He's got a great career ahead of him in the NBA, he's finally engaged to his soul mate Fancy Taylor and things only seem to be getting better. But when a long-hidden secret and a family tragedy threaten to ruin it all can Darius, Fancy and those closest to them weather the unexpected storm?
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Red Light Wives
by Mary Monroe
- Red Light Wires is an Essence bestseller and a Main Selection of the Black Expressions Book Club.
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She Ain't the One
by Carl Weber
In this exciting collaboration, "New York Times" bestselling author Weber and "Essence" bestselling author Morrison combine their powerful talents to deliver a gripping novel about the ultimate player who finally runs into the wrong woman.
