February, like other months, has many observances including Black History Month, Library Lovers Month, and Valentine's Day. Since I love libraries, storytelling, and romance all year round, here are books I can always recommend, plus a few I look forward to reading this February.

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
A 2018 winner of our New York City Book Award! Available as a print book, e-book, and e-audiobook.

The African Trilogy: Things Fall Apart; No Longer At Ease; Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe, with an introduction by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Love In Color: Mythical Tales From Around The World retold by Bolu Babalola

Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood
Available as an e-audiobook.

The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton
Available in print and as an e-audiobook.

Parker Looks Up: An Extraordinary Moment by Parker Curry & Jessica Curry, illustrated by Brittany Jackson

The Black Cloth: A Collection Of African Folktales by Bernard Binlin Dadié; foreword by Es'kia Mphahlele; translated by Karen C. Hatch

The Legendborn Cycle by Tracy Deonn
Legendborn (Book 1) print book and e-audiobook | Bloodmarked (Book 2) print book and e-audiobook | Oathbound (Book 3) is coming…early 2025!

The Annotated African American Folktales edited with a foreword, introduction, and notes by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Maria Tatar

Talk That Talk: An Anthology Of African-American Storytelling edited by Linda Goss & Marian E. Barnes

The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales told by Virginia Hamilton; illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon

Folklore, Memoirs, And Other Writings by Zora Neale Hurston; edited by Cheryl A. Wall

 Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
Available as an e-book and e-audiobook.

The Broken Earth series by N.K. Jemisin: The Fifth Season | The Obelisk Gate | The Stone Sky

 A Girl Is a Body of Water by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia

 She Would Be King by Wayétu Moore

Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor

The Famished Road by Ben Okri

A Girl’s Guide to Love & Magic by Debbie Rigaud

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson; illustrated by Rafael López