Jane Mount’s 5 favorite books

“Men We Reaped” by Jesmyn Ward:

This memoir is an agonizing, powerful look at conditions in the deep South, where men, like crops, are mowed down by the circumstances of life in poverty. Ward writes about the five young men she knew, including her brother, who died from drugs, accidents, suicide and bad luck, and asks why.

“Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi: The legacy of slavery, woven through the decades and generations, is told through the lives of two half-sisters, one sold into slavery and sent to the United States, the other who married a British slaver. The story travels through 300 years of slavery and its consequences in this country and warfare and British colonization in Ghana.

“The Street” by Ann Petry:

A young Black woman in Harlem in World War II is trying to raise her son alone while dealing with poverty, racism, lack of opportunity and predatory men. Called a classic by book reviewers, (it reveals) sentiments and realities of its time that resonate today.

“The Fire Next Time” by James Baldwin:

Written in 1963 by the novelist, playwright, essayist, poet and activist, “The Fire Next Time” contains two essays: “My Dungeon Shook: Letter to my Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation” and “Down at the Cross: Letter from a Region of My Mind.” The title is this lyric taken from the Black spiritual, “Mary Don’t You Weep”: “God gave Noah the rainbow sign/No more water, the fire next time.”

“Bone” by Yrsa Daley-Ward: A visceral collection of poems that cut straight to bone on mental health, religion, sexuality, death, love, depression and life as a Black woman.

“Bibliophile: Diverse Spines” includes a number of beloved bookstores, so you’ll always have places to visit when traveling. But you don’t have to look far to find one in our own backyard:

Oakland’s Marcus Books, at 3900 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, is the oldest independent Black bookstore in the nation. It was founded by Raye and Julian Richardson in 1960 during the height of the Black power movement.

The store, named after political activist and author Marcus Garvey, is now owned and operated by the founders’ children, Blanche Richardson, Bill Richardson and Karen Johnson.

Other noted bookstores include Cafe Con Libros in Brooklyn, New York, a feminist book store, and Loyalty Bookstore in Silver Spring, Maryland, which specializes in LGBTQ and minority authors.