Reading List – Hart House Literary and Library

Black History Month Reading List

on February 21, 2022February 21, 2022 By hhlitlib

February 2022

Jacob Lawrence, *This Harlem,* 1943, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

The Third Life of Grange Copeland by Alice Walker

Sula by Toni Morrison

The Tradition by Jericho Brown

Cantos by George Elliott Clarke

Zong! by M. NourbeSe Philip

Selected Poems of Gwendolyn Brooks

Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks

March Trilogy by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin

A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School by Carlotta Walls Lanier and Lisa Frazier Page

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs

Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurston Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Riotous Black Girls, Troublesome Women, and Queer Radicals by Sadiya Hartman

Pride Reading List

on June 19, 2021June 19, 2021 By hhlitlib

June 2021

Fiction Novels

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown

The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

Lyric Sexology by Trish Salah

Love After the End edited by Joshua Whitehead

All My Mother’s Lover by Ilana Masad

Romance in Marseille by Claude Mckay

Non-Fiction Novels

Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde

A History of My Brief Body by Billy-Ray Belcourt

Care Of by Ivan Coyote

Tomorrow Will Be Different by Sarah McBride

We Have Always Been Here by Samra Habib

Alternative Mediums

Full-metal Indigiqueer: Poems by Joshua Whitehead

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (graphic novel)

Asian Heritage Month Reading List

on May 1, 2021August 21, 2021 By hhlitlib

May 2021

Fiction

How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa

For Today I am a Boy by Kim Fu

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Mysterious Fragrance of the Yellow Mountains by Yasuko Thanh

An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

Non-Fiction

Chop Suey Nation by Ann Hui

Being Chinese in Canada by William Ging Wee Dere

Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related by Jenny Heijun Wills

Runaway: Diary of a Street Kid by Evelyn Lau

Everything Here is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee

Two Trees Make a Forest by Jessica J. Lee

Poetry

Pineapple Express by Evelyn Lau

Burning Province by Michael Prior

Mythical Man by David Ly

Flow by Roy Miki

Hybrida by Tina Chang

February Reading Roundup

on March 5, 2021March 5, 2021 By hhlitlib

Looking for some books to add to your to read list? Interested in getting into new genres, authors, or topics? Check out what we’ve been reading and talking about this month at the HHL&LC! Keep an eye on our Instagram for weekly book recommendations and don’t miss the Endnote podcast, where we discuss these titles and more with writers, readers, and academics.

Black No More by George Schuyler

Fledgling by Octavia Butler

The Prophet by Khalil Gibran

Prufrock and Other Observations by T.S. Eliot

There Will Come Soft Rains, in Flame and Shadow by Sara Teasdale

Aimless Love by Billy Collins

Reproduction by Ian Williams

Black History Month

on February 16, 2021February 16, 2021 By hhlitlib

non-Fiction Novels on black history and black futures

Women, Race, and Class by Angela Davis
Where Do We Go From Here by Martin Luther King Jr.
The Black Jacobins by C.L.R. James
Policing Black Lives by Robyn Maynard
The Hanging of Angelique by Afua Cooper

black writers based in Canada

Esi Edugyan
George Elliott Clarke
Whitney French
Dionne Brand
Nalo Hopkinson
Evan Winter
Bertrand Bickersteth
Francesca Ekwuyasi
Austin Clarke
Lawrence Hill

Fiction Novels and Poetry by black writers

How She Read by Chantal Gibson
Kindred by Octavia Butler
The Gospel of Breaking by Jillian Christmas
Black Leopard Red Wolf by Marlon James
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delaney
Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn
Everything Inside by Edwidge Danticat
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Nine Men Who Laughed by Austin Clarke

essays and anthologies on black history and culture

Blank by M. NourbeSe Philip
Black Writers Matter edited by Whitney French
Well-Read Black Girl by Glory Edim
Queer Returns by Rinaldo Walcott
Until We Are Free edited by Rodney Diverlus, Sandy Hudson, and Syrus Marcus Ware

Children’s Literature about Black history, social justice, and Anti-Racism

Runaway by Ray Anthony Shepard and Keith Mallett
I Promise by Lebron James
The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson
I Am Enough by Grace Byers
Lift as you Climb by Patricia Hruby Powell and R. Gregory Christie

Movies by Black creatives (2020-2021)

Judas and the Black Messiah dir. Shaka King
One Night in Miami dir. Regina King
Da 5 Bloods dir. Spike Lee
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottoms dir. George C. Wolfe
The United States vs. Billie Holiday dir. Lee Daniels
Respect dir. Liesl Thomas
Forty-Year Old Version dir. Radha Black
The Photograph dir. Stella Meghie
Miss Juneteenth dir. Channing Godfry Peoples
Premature dir. Rashaad Ernesto Green

Television by Black Creatives

Lovecraft Country
I May Destroy You
Insecure
Atlanta
Watchmen
Pose
Dear White People
Black Girl Comedy Sketch
When They See Us
Black Monday

January Reading Roundup

on February 5, 2021February 5, 2021 By hhlitlib

Happy New Year! If your New Year’s resolution was to read more books in 2021, look no further- here’s a list of all the books the Lit and Lib Committee has been talking about over the past month. Keep an eye on our Instagram for weekly book recommendations and don’t miss the Endnote podcast, where we discuss these titles and more with writers, readers, and academics.

In the Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

The President by Miguel Ángel Asturias

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis

The White Album by Joan Didion

A Promised Land by Barack Obama

Dubliners by James Joyce

Happy if You Know It, pub. With/out Pretend Press

Seven to Eternity by Rick Reminder and Jerome Opeñas

Holiday Reading List

on December 17, 2020February 5, 2021 By hhlitlib

Winter 2020

Ages 13-17

View the interactive reading list here.

Online Library Instructions

The Classics

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

The Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Homes by Arthur Conan Doyle

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien

A Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Ariel by Sylvia Plath

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

The Telltale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe

And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Dubliners by James Joyce

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin

New Classics

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Almost American Girl by Robin Ha

Dumplin by Julie Murphy

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds

What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Tales of the Feathered Serpent by David Bowles

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Check out this document for an expanded list of titles!

November Reading Roundup

on December 11, 2020August 21, 2021 By hhlitlib

Happy holidays! If you’re looking for something to read over the winter break, explore this list of everything the HHL&LC read and chatted about over the past month. Visit our Instagram for weekly book recommendations or catch up on the Endnote Podcast to hear discussions about some of these amazing titles!

What We All Long For- Dionne Brand

Lives of the Saints- Nino Ricci

She Tries Her Tongue, the Silence Softly Breaks- M. NourbeSe Philip

A Journal of the Plague Year- Daniel Defoe

And the Band Played On- Randy Schultz

Whylah Falls- George Elliot Clarke

Frying Plantain- Zalika Reid-Benta

The Ward- John Lorinc, Tatum Taylor, Michael McCelland, and Ellen Scheinberg

Riot- Andrew Moodie

The Stowaway Debutante- Rebecca Diem

October Reading Roundup

on November 2, 2020August 21, 2021 By hhlitlib

We can’t believe it’s already November! Just in time for reading week, we’re bringing you a list of everything we read and chatted about reading at the HHL&LC in the month of October. Visit our Instagram for weekly book recommendations or catch up on the Endnote Podcast to hear discussions about some of these amazing titles!

States of Separation- Laura Robson

Born a Crime- Trevor Noah

Family Happiness and Other Stories- Leo Tolstoy

What is Not Yours is Not Yours- Helen Oyeyemi

The Color Purple- Alice Walker

The Geography of Hope- Chris Turner

Shake Hands with the Devil– Roméo Dallaire

New Index for Predicting Catastrophes- Madhur Anand

The Break– Katherine Vermette

September Reading Roundup

on October 1, 2020February 5, 2021 By hhlitlib

Happy September! We hope you’re enjoying the new semester. In between readings and assignments (and maybe sometimes while procrastinating readings and assignments) here’s what we’ve been taking a break from the screen to read this month. Visit our Instagram for weekly book recommendations and check out the Endnote Podcast to hear discussions about some of these amazing works!