The new Millennium, the Great Recession,The first biracial president, marvel movies, blacklivesmatter, the bailout, the tea party, the Ebola outbreak, the 2016 election, the rise of trump, the death of Prince, Michael Jackson & Whitney Houston, the rising #ADOS movement. These are just a few of the major defining moments of the last twenty years that effected African-Americans, for better or worse, and these novels reflect and interpret this era of extremes.

1. Heads of the Colored People by Nafissa Thompson-Spires
2. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
3. A Lucky Man by Jamel Brinkley
4. The Wide Circumference of Love by Marita Golden
5. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid