Here are 100 books that Black Girl Magic Sprinkles fans have personally recommended if you like Black Girl Magic Sprinkles. Book DNA is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of A Is for Ancestors: My Black College ABCs

Cynthia Sanders Author Of Mia, the Monster of Fear and the Fairy of Courage

From my list on Black education, dreams, and self-love.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been passionate about Black authors and Black children being writers and writing about their experiences or their children’s experiences since I was a young adult. Ever since the Trayvon Martin incident years ago, these Black history stories and books have been so meaningful to the Black community. I used to read just Urban fiction AA books back in high school, but ever since I became a writer/author I have taken a liking to reading children's books about self-love, fear, and going to college, especially for young black children. I read these books to remind me that we are strong-minded people. That no one can take our light from us.

Cynthia's book list on Black education, dreams, and self-love

Cynthia Sanders Why Cynthia loves this book

It shows Black graduates graduating from an HBCU and inspiring younger Black children to follow their dreams. This is to educate young Black children to attend college. I feel this can help a parent get their kids into a Black college to be great and well educated. I personally loved this book because it showed encouragement and empowerment. It taught me to never give up.

By Erica White , Cami Vollmer (illustrator) ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Is for Ancestors as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

Have you always dreamed of your child attending an HBCU? In Erica Stovall White’s debut children’s book, your child can have a glimpse into the joys of an HBCU. This fun and interactive ABC book uses rhyme and vibrant pictures to showcase the best that HBCUs offer, including lifelong friendships, caring professors, new social activities, and preparation for exciting careers. A Is for Ancestors includes engaging questions for younger readers and a resource guide for families and older children to explore the history and value of an HBCU education.


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Book cover of Pedal Pusher: How One Woman's Bicycle Adventure Helped Change the World

Pedal Pusher by Mary Boone,

In 1894, Annie Cohen Kopchovsky set out to ride her bicycle. Not to the market. Not around the block. Not across town. Annie was going to ride her bike all the way around the world—because two men bet no woman could do it. Ha!

This picture book, with watercolor illustrations…

Book cover of My Ancestors' Wildest Dreams

Cynthia Sanders Author Of Mia, the Monster of Fear and the Fairy of Courage

From my list on Black education, dreams, and self-love.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been passionate about Black authors and Black children being writers and writing about their experiences or their children’s experiences since I was a young adult. Ever since the Trayvon Martin incident years ago, these Black history stories and books have been so meaningful to the Black community. I used to read just Urban fiction AA books back in high school, but ever since I became a writer/author I have taken a liking to reading children's books about self-love, fear, and going to college, especially for young black children. I read these books to remind me that we are strong-minded people. That no one can take our light from us.

Cynthia's book list on Black education, dreams, and self-love

Cynthia Sanders Why Cynthia loves this book

This book shows young girls, especially young Black girls, that you can be a ballerina and that you can be anything you set your mind/heart to. I personally enjoyed it because it showcased young Black ballerinas having fun. It taught me that we can be just about anything in life. I would prefer this book to a friend or a parent to give to their young daughter(s) and teach them that being a ballerina is beautiful.

By Ava Corinne Holloway , Amanda Loraine Lynch , Bonnie Lemaine (illustrator)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked My Ancestors' Wildest Dreams as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 6, 7, and 8.

What is this book about?

This book was inspired by Ava Holloway and Kennedy George, two ballerinas. Their photos were taken by Marcus Ingram and Julia Rendleman in front of the monument of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, in Richmond, Virginia. Ultimately, those photographs went viral, and this moment propelled the duo into a summer of activism and dance. Posed in traditional ballet attire, the friends had no idea that a chance encounter at the Lee Monument would catapult them into the spotlight while serving as a beacon of hope for millions of young activists around the world.


Book cover of I Think I Need Speech Therapy

Cynthia Sanders Author Of Mia, the Monster of Fear and the Fairy of Courage

From my list on Black education, dreams, and self-love.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been passionate about Black authors and Black children being writers and writing about their experiences or their children’s experiences since I was a young adult. Ever since the Trayvon Martin incident years ago, these Black history stories and books have been so meaningful to the Black community. I used to read just Urban fiction AA books back in high school, but ever since I became a writer/author I have taken a liking to reading children's books about self-love, fear, and going to college, especially for young black children. I read these books to remind me that we are strong-minded people. That no one can take our light from us.

Cynthia's book list on Black education, dreams, and self-love

Cynthia Sanders Why Cynthia loves this book

This book is about her daughter's personal experience with her speech, and this was a way to help other parents with children how to help their children feel confident about their condition and let other children know that they are beautiful just the way they are. It shows them that nothing is wrong with them, even though they are a little different from the other children, they are still perfect in every way.

By Nina M. Southern ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked I Think I Need Speech Therapy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Meet Niya, a seven-year-old with a problem that many kids face. Her struggle with speech makes her feel out of place. Read a story so short and so true. See if Niya will know what to do.


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Book cover of Scout and the Rescue Dogs

Scout and the Rescue Dogs by Dianne Wolfer,

The summer holidays have finally arrived and Scout can’t wait for her adventure in the big rig with Dad. They’re on a mission to deliver donations of dog food to animal rescue shelters right across the state. There’ll be dad-jokes, rock-collecting, and a brilliant plan that will make sure everyone’s…

Book cover of The Rules of a Little Boss: A book of self-love

Cynthia Sanders Author Of Mia, the Monster of Fear and the Fairy of Courage

From my list on Black education, dreams, and self-love.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been passionate about Black authors and Black children being writers and writing about their experiences or their children’s experiences since I was a young adult. Ever since the Trayvon Martin incident years ago, these Black history stories and books have been so meaningful to the Black community. I used to read just Urban fiction AA books back in high school, but ever since I became a writer/author I have taken a liking to reading children's books about self-love, fear, and going to college, especially for young black children. I read these books to remind me that we are strong-minded people. That no one can take our light from us.

Cynthia's book list on Black education, dreams, and self-love

Cynthia Sanders Why Cynthia loves this book

This book is such a powerful book for all young boys and girls to read. It's about how to truly love yourself because if you don't love yourself no one else will. It shows that you can be your true self and that self-love is the best love. It's about the author's personal experience as to what she endured growing up as a kid, but this book can also relate to what most teens or young kids go through with bullying, abuse, and more.

By Haelee P Moone , Arsalan Khan (illustrator) ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Rules of a Little Boss as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This colorfully illustrated book is published by The Rules of a Big Boss LLC. It helps elementary school aged children gain and improve their self-esteem through the eyes of an 8 year old orator. It was a finalist in the 2021 Independent Author Network Book of the Year of the contest. It is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook format. While it will help, it won't help them achieve higher self-esteem by itself. They must be willing to do the work expressed within to achieve higher self-esteem. The things contained within are what helped the author when she was…


Book cover of Designing Your New Work Life: How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness--and a New Freedom--at Work

Tessa White Author Of The Unspoken Truths for Career Success: Navigating Pay, Promotions, and Power at Work

From my list on curating a well rounded life.

Why am I passionate about this?

My own rise through the workplace didn’t come without roadblocks. I was a divorced single mom with 3 children and no education. Yet I found myself taking a career journey where I made a lot of the same mistakes so many individuals make. I realized after about 20 years leading human resources for fast-growth companies, that I had a unique view to help others shortcut their own mistakes. I finally left my corporate desk to work the other side of the desk–helping the individual. The Job Doctor was born in late 2020, and one million followers later, I feel like I’ve found my own career calling in helping individuals navigate their own career journeys. 

Tessa's book list on curating a well rounded life

Tessa White Why Tessa loves this book

I love this book because not only does it give great advice, but it shares numerous practical tools and reframes on how to build a work life that is meaningful and joyful for you!

In addition, the book has stayed very current—includes how to handle life disruptions (such as the pandemic) and how to thrive despite the circumstances. As a career navigation coach myself, I’ve recommended this book hundreds of times to my clients.

It’s practical. It’s easy to read. And I find the exercises extraordinarily useful in setting boundaries at work that help one thrive.

By Bill Burnett , Dave Evans ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Designing Your New Work Life as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the authors of the #1 New York Times bestseller Designing Your Life comes a revised, fully up-to-date edition of Designing Your New Work Life,a timely, urgently needed book that shows us how to transform our new uncharted work life into a meaningful dream job or company. With practical, useful tools, tips, and design ideas that show us how to navigate disruption (global, regional, or personal) and create new possibilities for our post-COVID work world and beyond.

Bill Burnett and Dave Evans successfully taught graduate and undergraduate students at Stanford University and readers of their best-selling book, Designing Your Life…


Book cover of Their Eyes Were Watching God

Suzannah Weiss Author Of Eve's Blessing

From my list on romance novels with a deeper meaning.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a romantic; I live to love. My books Eve’s Blessing and Subjectified both help women build great sex and love lives. As a therapist and sex educator, I help people connect with their partners and build the relationships of their dreams. I am currently working on a romance novel with spiritual and psychedelic themes. I love books that introduce us to new worlds as we explore the inner world of each character.

Suzannah's book list on romance novels with a deeper meaning

Suzannah Weiss Why Suzannah loves this book

This 1937 novel centers on a Black woman in the contemporary American South seeking to find freedom and love as she leaves her grandmother's farm to explore three romances.

In the process, she finds herself—and recovers it as a dark, shocking twist at the end creates a stumbling block she triumphantly surmounts.

By Zora Neale Hurston ,

Why should I read it?

21 authors picked Their Eyes Were Watching God as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Cover design by Harlem renaissance artist Lois Mailou Jones

When Janie, at sixteen, is caught kissing shiftless Johnny Taylor, her grandmother swiftly marries her off to an old man with sixty acres. Janie endures two stifling marriages before meeting the man of her dreams, who offers not diamonds, but a packet of flowering seeds ...

'For me, THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD is one of the very greatest American novels of the 20th century. It is so lyrical it should be sentimental; it is so passionate it should be overwrought, but it is instead a rigorous, convincing and dazzling piece…


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Book cover of Hotel Oscar Mike Echo

Hotel Oscar Mike Echo by Linda MacKillop,

Home isn’t always what we dream it will be.

Eleven-year-old Sierra just wants a normal life. After her military mother returns from the war overseas, the two hop from home to homelessness while Sierra tries to help her mom through the throes of PTSD.

When they end up at a…

Book cover of Weightless: Making Space for My Resilient Body and Soul

Clarkisha Kent Author Of Fat Off, Fat On: A Big Bitch Manifesto

From my list on to help you kill your inner fatphobe.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a queer, fat disabled Black woman in America, I am all too familiar with the experiences and history that these 5 aforementioned authors detail when it comes how deep fatphobia is embedded in this country. And how it harms us everyday—even if you’re not fat. I remain passionate about the eradication of fatphobia in our society because too much is at stake in terms of housing discrimination, employment discrimination, disability discrimination, healthcare discrimination and etc. for one not to care. - Clarkisha Kent, author and culture critic.

Clarkisha's book list on to help you kill your inner fatphobe

Clarkisha Kent Why Clarkisha loves this book

Dionne digs deep on what exactly one means by “surveillance and control” levied at fat women (especially where “health” is concerned, or rather concern trolls).

And she does it with love, care, and humor!

By Evette Dionne ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Weightless as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A poignant and ruthlessly honest journey through cultural expectations of size, race, and gender—and toward a brighter future—from National Book Award nominee Evette Dionne

My body has not betrayed me; it has continued rebounding against all odds. It is a body that others map their expectations on, but it has never let me down.

In this insightful, funny, and whip-smart book, acclaimed writer Evette Dionne explores the minefields fat Black woman are forced to navigate in the course of everyday life. From her early experiences of harassment to adolescent self-discovery in internet chatrooms to diagnosis with heart failure at age…


Book cover of The Paris Novel

Ann Claire Author Of A Cyclist's Guide to Crime & Croissants

From my list on reading trip to France.

Why am I passionate about this?

Until recently, my lovely in-laws kept a home in southern France near where my father-in-law grew up. Their hilltop village was everything my summer-in-France fantasies could imagine: red-tile roofs, overflowing flower boxes, croissants on every corner (or at least four), bustling markets, and palm trees framing a snowcapped peak. Downsizing in their eighties meant selling the house, but some of my fondest memories will always reside there. This summer most of my travels will take place from my garden in Colorado. I plan to trek the world through books. These are some of my favorite reads for an armchair trip to France through romance, mysteries, exploration, and cooking.  

Ann's book list on reading trip to France

Ann Claire Why Ann loves this book

I’m already revealing a pattern, aren’t I? I adore books that plunge their protagonist into a new life abroad. When Stella’s estranged mother dies, Stella receives an unusual inheritance: a one-way ticket to Paris.

Alone in a foreign city, Stella falls back into her cautious, frugal ways. I can relate! However, an impulsive purchase propels her on a path to new discoveries—of Paris and herself. Stella plunges into the culinary scene. She lives as a “tumbleweed” at the famous Shakespear and Company Bookshop.

What a dream! I loved traveling along with her. 

By Ruth Reichl ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Paris Novel as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'No one writes about food like Ruth Reichl... I consider her essential nourishment.' NIGELLA LAWSON

Ripping open the envelope, she read Celia's last words to her. There was just one line written on the paper: 'Go to Paris.'

The last word anyone would use to describe Stella St. Vincent is adventurous. She's perfectly comfortable with the familiar, strict routines of her life as a copyeditor in New York. Or at least, she is until she receives a mysterious note from her late mother and a one-way plane ticket to Paris.

Alone and overwhelmed in a foreign city, Stella avoids new…


Book cover of Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life

Tissa Richards Author Of Rethinking Resilience

From my list on reimagining resilience for modern leaders.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve founded companies, shut them down (then rebuilt my life), and coached hundreds of executives and founders through their own turning points. Those experiences taught me that resilience isn’t about bouncing back after hard things happen to you. It’s about being open to what can happen through you, including growth, clarity, curiosity, and conviction. That’s why I wrote Rethinking Resilience and why I return to these books often. Each one has helped me see strength, adaptability, and curiosity as intentional and sustainable traits—not something we summon only after crisis. I’m passionate about helping leaders move from reaction to intention and turn pressure into power, and I think this list captures that shift perfectly.

Tissa's book list on reimagining resilience for modern leaders

Tissa Richards Why Tissa loves this book

I love this book because it reframes emotional strength as flexibility, not control.

Susan David reminds us that emotions aren’t weaknesses to manage; they’re data points to understand. The research and stories in the book make it feel practical, not preachy.

Every time I read it, I’m reminded that clarity starts with self-honesty: you can’t lead others intentionally if you’re disconnected from what’s really going on inside yourself—and you need to get honest about your emotions and stay agile within them.

This is one of the most actionable books I’ve ever read on this aspect of inner resilience.

By Susan David ,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Emotional Agility as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Perfect for lovers of Quiet and The Power of Now, Emotional Agility shares a new way of relating to yourself and the world around you

Every day we speak around 16,000 words - but inside minds we create tens of thousands more.

Thoughts such as 'I'm not spending enough time with my children' or 'I'm not good enough to present my work' can seem to be unshakeable facts. In reality, they're the judgemental opinions of our inner voice.

Drawing on more than twenty years of academic research and her own experiences, Susan David PhD, a psychologist and faculty member at…


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Book cover of Zara the Zebu

Zara the Zebu by Adelaide Bauman,

Zeni lives in the Flint Hills of Southeast Kansas. This tale begins with her dream of befriending a miniature zebu calf coming true and follows Zeni as she works to befriend Zara. Enjoy full-color illustrations and a story filled with whimsy and plenty of opportunity for discussions around the perspectives…

Book cover of Still Missing

Rachael Tamayo Author Of Crazy Love

From my list on psychological thrillers to turn your head inside out.

Why am I passionate about this?

When it comes to dark and twisted books with jaw dropping twists, I can’t get enough. I love them. I crave darkly creative books that make you think. Anything but your standard, everyday domestic thriller with the traumatized alcoholic main character. As a child I watched Law and Order and Masterpiece Theater mysteries with my mother. I loved a good British thriller. I suppose I got it from her, it was always something we shared. I veered clear of darker reading growing up, you don’t want to freak your parents out, of course. But now as an adult, I love it. No gore, no graphic shock horror for me. Psychological thrillers all the way. 

Rachael's book list on psychological thrillers to turn your head inside out

Rachael Tamayo Why Rachael loves this book

This is the first book that I grabbed after seeing a BookTok recommendation for it. The premise was intriguing and what the reviewer said about it left me searching to see if there was an audiobook version. 

The only thing that stopped me from listening to this book in one sitting was life. Talk about a book that will leave you aching with the character, angry, and desperate for answers. Holy hot damn! I was in tears, I was gasping, I was listening with my mouth hanging open, grimacing in horror and I loved every bit of it. 

Trigger warnings throughout this book. I won't lie, this book is dark and horrible (in a good way) but it also left me feeling down. It's haunting and the narrative pulls you so far in you feel like you are there with her, held captive right by her side. Not to mention…

By Chevy Stevens ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Still Missing as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

On the day she was abducted, Annie O'Sullivan, a thirty-two year old realtor, had three goals—sell a house, forget about a recent argument with her mother, and be on time for dinner with her ever- patient boyfriend.

The open house is slow, but when her last visitor pulls up in a van as she's about to leave, Annie thinks it just might be her lucky day after all. Interwoven with the story of the year Annie spent as the captive of psychopath in a remote mountain cabin, which unfolds through sessions with her psychiatrist, is a second narrative recounting events…


Book cover of A Is for Ancestors: My Black College ABCs
Book cover of My Ancestors' Wildest Dreams
Book cover of I Think I Need Speech Therapy

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