This Week's Reads: New Releases by Black Authors

Hello bookies!

Instead of our usual email roundup, I wanted to give this week's picks a little more room to breathe. Here's what's releasing this week—but first, a quick thought.

Currently writing this post on a high-speed train from Paris to Nice, France. A smooth seven hours on this train gives me plenty of time to check in with you all.

The first day of summer was yesterday, Juneteenth weekend has wrapped, and we have a week and some change left of Pride month. I hope you've had some interest in reading books that fall into those last two categories—you'll see some of those themes reflected in this week's picks.

Expanding your reading palate is very similar to being a world traveler: your perspective changes because of the more you know. I'm traveling through France right now with three years of high school French that I haven't touched in over ten years. It's a whole different culture from the U.S., and I honestly didn't know what to expect. It reminds me of when I first started picking up novels and nonfiction set outside of the United States—stories set in West Africa, the Caribbean, London, Paris. The settings, the customs, the cultural nuances were all unfamiliar at first. But that unfamiliarity is what made them so valuable. The more I read, the more my understanding of the world expanded—and I didn't even have to leave my couch.

Being here in person now, experiencing a different culture firsthand, it's the same feeling. Some things are familiar, some things require you to slow down and pay attention. Reading does that too when you pick up stories outside of what you normally reach for—different settings, different lived experiences, different ways of moving through the world.

The diversity of our stories requires us to be open to experiencing different perspectives than our own. And the hope is that what we take away from them is additive—something we carry with us moving forward. With that, here are a diverse set of books by Black authors set to release this week (and a couple from last week). I hope you pick one up.

List of New Releases for the Week of June 22 — June 28, 2026:

• Doe by Rebecca Barrow — Young Adult Horror (Jun 23, 2026)

  • Maris Larsen is the captain of her high school cheer team, using the power and status to escape her dead-end town, depressed mother, and absent father. When a bitter rivalry threatens everything she's built, she turns to an ancient supernatural creature for help—not realizing she's made a deal with a devil that could cost her everything, including her girlfriend and her life. Queer horror with teeth? Yes, please. Fans of Tiffany Jackson will tear through this one, and if you've ever felt like you'd do anything to hold onto the one thing that makes you feel powerful, Maris's story will haunt you.

• All This Want (And I Can't Get None): Stories by T Clark — Young Adult LGBTQIA+ Fiction (Jun 23, 2026)

  • This short story collection explores the feverish hunger and dizzying pleasure of girlhood and queer coming-of-age in a small working-class town outside New York City. T Clark's stories center young Black girls, women, and nonbinary characters navigating the hazy line between adolescence and adulthood with all its desire, friendship, and necessary masks. This is an ode to Black girlhood that Leila Mottley calls 'a short story collection for the ages.' If you've been craving literary fiction that sees you—messy, hilarious, profound, and whole—this is your book.

• The Lovers, the Liars, and Me by DeAndrea Davis — Young Adult Coming-of-Age (Jun 23, 2026)

  • Jaliya Powell has spent her life fading into the background—valedictorian, yes, but never kissed, never adventurous, never bold. This summer she travels to Jamaica to visit family, secretly hoping to uncover the truth about her absent mother, but instead discovers far more about her own identity and finds herself caught in an unexpected love triangle. DeAndra Davis delivers a coming-of-age that's lush, layered, and deeply Caribbean. For every reader who's ever searched for answers about where they come from and who they're becoming—this one's yours.

• The Broken Hearts Agency by Clarence A. Haynes — Contemporary Fantasy (Jun 23, 2026)

  • Evelyn Kendricks is having the worst day—freshly dumped by her toxic boyfriend while the world reels from a ghost invasion. She's mysteriously summoned to a townhouse where she meets Linda Villaneuva, a private investigator who runs a secret mystical detective agency and can sense others' heartache. When people start losing their memories and wandering DC streets with demon-red eyes, Evelyn is pulled into something far darker than her breakup. This is supernatural noir with a whole lot of heart, set in a Black DC that feels lived-in and real.

• Keepers of a Movement: Black Collectors Who Preserve Art, Stories, and Legacies That Define Black Life by Myrah Brown Green — Art (Jun 28, 2026)

  • This stunning volume features 30 Black art collectors who have spent decades preserving works by Black artists across multiple mediums—safeguarding rare books, heirlooms, art, and ephemera that might otherwise be lost. Myrah Brown Green centers the often-invisible labor of those who ensure future generations can access the full breadth of our cultural legacy. Coming right after Juneteenth, this book is a meditation on what it means to keep our history alive. For the art lovers, the archivists at heart, and anyone who's ever understood that collecting is an act of love and resistance.

New Release from the Week of June 15 — June 21, 2026:

• Never Tell a Black Girl How to Black Girl: Essays by Amena Brown — Nonfiction (Jun 16, 2026)

  • Amena Brown delivers a hilarious and heartwarming essay collection about growing up in the South, the chaos of date night, natural hair physics, and why Black women deserve to Black Girl however we want. Published by Tiny Reparations Books, this feels like a living room conversation with your funniest friend. For Black women who need to laugh, exhale, and feel seen—and for anyone who loves them—this is pure joy on the page. Treat yourself or gift it to your group chat immediately.

Happy Reading!