List of 100 Novels

The list below comprises the books that make up the “100 Novels Project.” The list of books ranges from Southern, Protest, Feminist, Neo-Slave Narratives, and Street literature.

1. Go Tell It on The Mountain                           James Baldwin                       1953
2. The Salt Eaters                                              Toni Cade Bambara               1980
3. The White Boy Shuffle                                  Paul Beatty                               1996
4. The Chaneysville Incident                           David Bradley                          1981
5. Maud Martha                                                   Gwendolyn Brooks                 1993
6. Clotel: or, the President’s Daughter           William Wells Brown               1853
7. Kindred                                                           Octavia Butler                            1979
8. Parable of the Sower                                    Octavia Butler                           1993
9. Parable of the Talents                                  Octavia Butler                            1998
10. Patternmaster                                                Octavia Butler                            1976
11. Brothers and Sisters                                    Bebe Moore Campbell             1994
12. House Behind the Cedars                          Charles Waddell Chesnutt     1900
13. The Marrow of Tradition                               Charles Waddell Chesnutt     1901
14. Breath, Eyes, Memory                                  Edwidge Danticat                     1994
15. Blake; Or, The Huts of America                  Martin R. Delany                       1859
16. Dhalgren                                                         Samuel Delany                        1975
17. The Heroic Slave                                           Frederick Douglass                1852
18. The Quest of the Silver Fleece                    W.E.B. DuBois                          1911
19. The Fanatics                                                   Paul Laurence Dunbar           1901
20. The Sport of the Gods                                   Paul Laurence Dunbar          1902
21. Invisible Man                                                 Ralph Ellison                            1952
22. Erasure                                                           Percival Everett                         2001
23. The Walls of Jericho                                     Rudolph Fisher                       1928
24. Hope’s Highway                                             Sarah Lee Brown Fleming     1918
25. There is a Tree More Ancient Than Eden     Leon Forrest                          1973
26. Two Wings to Veil My Face                               Leon Forrest                         1983
27. The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman     Ernest Gaines                       1971
28. A Lesson Before Dying                                     Ernest Gaines                       1993
29. The Hindered Hand or, The Reign of the Repressionist   Sutton E. Griggs.     1905
30. Imperium in Imperio                                    Sutton E. Griggs.                      1899
31. Roots                                                               Alex Haley                                  1976
32. If He Hollers Let Him Go                              Chester Himes                        1945
33. Contending Forces                                        Pauline E. Hopkins                 1900
34. Not Without Laughter                                    Langston Hughes                   1930
35. Their Eyes Were Watching God                   Zora Neale Hurston                1937
36. Middle Passage                                             Charles Johnson                     1990
37. Oxherding Tale                                               Charles Johnson                     1982
38. The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man   James Weldon Johnson    1912/1927
39. The Known World                                           Edward P. Jones                    2003
40. Corregidora                                                    Gayl Jones                              1975
41. Eva's Man                                                        Gayl Jones                             1976
42. The Healing                                                    Gayl Jones                             1998
43. Mosquito                                                         Gayl Jones                              1999
44. Leaving Atlanta                                              Tayari Jones                           2002
45. And Then We Heard the Thunder              John Oliver Killens               1962
46. The Cotillion: or, One Good Bull Is Half the Herd   John Oliver Killens    1971
47. Annie John                                                     Jamaica Kincaid         1985
48. Quicksand                                                       Nella Larsen               1928
49. Black Water Rising                                        Attica Locke                 2009
50. Painted Turtle: Woman with Guitar             Clarence Major           1988
51. Brown Girl, Brownstones                               Paule Marshall           1959
52. Home to Harlem                                             Claude McKay            1928
53. Getting to Happy                                            Terry McMillan              2010
54. How Stella Got Her Groove Back                Terry McMillan             1996
55. Waiting to Exhale                                           Terry McMillan             1992
56. Conquest: The Story of A Negro Pioneer  Oscar Micheaux          1913
57. Beloved                                                           Toni Morrison               1987
58. The Bluest Eye                                               Toni Morrison               1970
59. Jazz                                                                 Toni Morrison                1992
60. Love                                                                Toni Morrison                  2003
61. A Mercy                                                           Toni Morrison                  2008
62. Paradise                                                         Toni Morrison                  1997
63. Song of Solomon                                          Toni Morrison                  1977
64. Sula                                                                 Toni Morrison                   1973
65. Tar Baby                                                         Toni Morrison                    1981
66. Devil in a Blue Dress                                    Walter Mosley                   1990
67. Mama Day                                                      Gloria Naylor                      1988
68. The Women of Brewster Place                    Gloria Naylor                     1982
69. Getting Mother's Body                                   Suzan-Lori Parks              2003
70. The Street                                                       Ann Petry                             1946
71. Flight to Canada                                            Ishmael Reed                    1976
72. Mumbo Jumbo                                              Ishmael Reed                    1972
73. Black No More                                               George Schuyler                1931
74. Caucasia                                                         Danzy Senna                      1998
75. Some Sing, Some Cry                                 Ntozake Shange                 2010
76. Mama Black Widow                                       Iceberg Slim                       1969
77. Trick Baby                                                      Iceberg Slim                        1967
78. The Coldest Winter Ever                                Sister Souljah                    2000
79. A Charleston Love Story of Hortense Vancross   Theophilus Gould Steward     1899
80. Cane                                                                Jean Toomer                         1923
81. The Color Purple                                            Alice Walker                         1982
82. Meridian                                                           Alice Walker                          1976
83. The Third Life of Grange Copeland           Alice Walker                          1970
84. Jubilee                                                            Margaret Walker                    1966
85. The Living Is Easy                                        Dorothy West                         1948
86. Apex Hides the Hurt                                     Colson Whitehead                 2007
87. The Intuitionist                                               Colson Whitehead                1999
88. John Henry Days                                          Colson Whitehead                 2001
89. Sag Harbor                                                   Colson Whitehead                  2009
90. A Glance Away                                             John Edgar Wideman            1967
91. Philadelphia Fire                                         John Edgar Wideman            1990
92. Sent for You Yesterday                               John Edgar Wideman             1983
93. Dessa Rose                                                  Sherley Anne Williams           1986
94. The Man Who Cried I Am                           John A. Williams                      1967
95. Our Nig                                                           Harriet E. Wilson                     1859
96. A Father's Law                                               Richard Wright                        2008
97. Lawd Today                                                    Richard Wright                       1963
98. Native Son                                                      Richard Wright                      1940
99. The Outsider                                                   Richard Wright                      1953