Bookworms, be aware — the Toronto Public Library (TPL) has released a list of recommendations for adult readers to consider during Black History Month.
The list, which features the works of Black authors, contains a mix of fiction and non-fiction reads, with something sure to appeal to every type of book borrower.
TPL recommended a total of 20 books in honour of February's Black History Month.
The following are a select few titles from TPL's roundup:
The Beautiful Dream: A Memoir by Atiba Hutchinson
This Brampton-based true story follows soccer player Atiba Hutchinson on his rise to international sports success. The memoir, written by Hutchinson with Dan Robson, details the little-known aspects of his personal life and struggles throughout his childhood and into Hutchinson's prolific soccer career.
"Atiba's journey mirrors the progression of Canadian soccer, and the story of Canada itself: dreams that may begin as outsized but as we work towards them, our world changes with us," reads a description of the memoir.
The Beautiful Dream: A Memoir is a tale that will appeal to readers in the sports world and beyond.
Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People by Imani Perry
This book by National Book Award winner Imani Perry examines race and Blackness through a lens that transcends politics or ideology. Perry details the experiences of Black people to the earliest known roots in history while also drawing from experiences in her own life.
"Poignant, spellbinding, and utterly original, Black in Blues is a brilliant new work that could only have come from the mind of one of our greatest writers and thinkers," wrote publisher Harper Collins.
Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People is one of the most anticipated books to be released so far in 2025.
Masquerade by O. O. Sangoyomi
Set in re-imagined 15th century West Africa, Masquerade tells the story of a woman's fight for freedom and self-discovery. Òdòdó of Timbuktu is abducted after her village is conquered and she is whisked across the Sahara to the capital city of Sàngótee to meet her captor.
Loosely based on the myth of Persephone, Masquerade is story of power, wealth, culture and a fight for one's future.
A Nurse's Tale by Ola Awonubi
Though she is Nigerian royalty, Princess Adenrele Ademola trained as a nurse in London, England. Tasked with helping British citizens during The Blitz in the Second World War, Adenrele encounters both devastation and discrimination — and sets up a mystery for a future generation of her family.
A Nurse's Tale will reveal whether Adenrele's great-niece Yemi can uncover the secret history of her ancestor's diaries.
Someone Like Us by Dinaw Mengestu
In this story of family history, Mamush, the son of Ethiopian immigrants to the United States, revisits the stories and past traumas of his relatives after the collapse of his own marriage. Only, when Mamush returns home to visit his parents in Washington, he finds his father dead in the garage.
Someone Like Us sees Mamush embark on a life-changing journey for answers, both about his father's death, his family's history and about himself.
Sweetness in the Skin by Ishi Robinson
For anyone looking for a good coming-of-age story, Sweetness in the Skin is for you.
Set in Jamaica, 13-year-old Pumkin Patterson is under pressure to raise money for a new, better future after the death of her grandmother and depature of her aunt to France. Pumpkin must turn her passion for baking into a money making operation to raise funds to pay a fee for her French language exam, which her aunt said will guarantee her a new start in Paris.
Any reader who has felt a struggle to belong is sure to see a bit of themselves in this novel's main character.
