Spotlight: Caitlyn’s Most Anticipated February Releases by Black Authors

One of my favorite things about starting a new month are the new book releases. There are some truly amazing books coming out this year, my TBR seems to grow every day. As February is Black History Month, I will be prioritizing reads by Black authors. There are lots of great books by Black authors being released in February, and I thought I’d highlight 5 that I’m especially looking forward to!

Yesterday is History by Kosoko Jackson (Feb 2)

I was fortunate enough to read an ARC of Yesterday is History and I absolutely fell in love with it! Once I started it I could not put it down. I loved Andre and following him on his beautiful journey of self-discovery. Kosoko Jackson has a beautiful writing style that allows the reader to fully immerse themselves into the story. I was so sad when the story ended because I just wanted to stay in this world. I’m so excited for Yesterday is History to be released and for everyone to read this beautiful story.

Weeks ago, Andre Cobb received a much-needed liver transplant.

He’s ready for his life to finally begin, until one night, when he passes out and wakes up somewhere totally unexpected…in 1969, where he connects with a magnetic boy named Michael.

And then, just as suddenly as he arrived, he slips back to present-day Boston, where the family of his donor is waiting to explain that his new liver came with a side effect—the ability to time travel. And they’ve tasked their youngest son, Blake, with teaching Andre how to use his unexpected new gift.

Andre splits his time bouncing between the past and future. Between Michael and Blake. Michael is everything Andre wishes he could be, and Blake, still reeling from the death of his brother, Andre’s donor, keeps him at arm’s length despite their obvious attraction to each other.

Torn between two boys, one in the past and one in the present, Andre has to figure out where he belongs—and more importantly who he wants to be—before the consequences of jumping in time catch up to him and change his future for good.

Links for Yesterday is History: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | Indie Bound

Love Is a Revolution by Renée Watson (Feb 2)

The second I read the words, “In Love Is a Revolution, plus size girls are beautiful and get the attention of the hot guys” I said, “Great! Adding this to my TBR right now”. Unfortunately, it is still a rarity to see plus size girls not only as the main character, but as a character that gets to fall in love and be seen as beautiful. While insta-love isn’t my favorite, I’m really excited to see how this all plays out between Nala and Tye. 

When Nala Robertson reluctantly agrees to attend an open mic night for her cousin-sister-friend Imani’s birthday, she finds herself falling in instant love with Tye Brown, the MC. He’s perfect, except . . . Tye is an activist and is spending the summer putting on events for the community when Nala would rather watch movies and try out the new seasonal flavors at the local creamery. In order to impress Tye, Nala tells a few tiny lies to have enough in common with him. As they spend more time together, sharing more of themselves, some of those lies get harder to keep up. As Nala falls deeper into keeping up her lies and into love, she’ll learn all the ways love is hard, and how self-love is revolutionary.

In Love Is a Revolution, plus size girls are beautiful and get the attention of the hot guys, the popular girl clique is not shallow but has strong convictions and substance, and the ultimate love story is not only about romance but about how to show radical love to the people in your life, including to yourself.

Links for Love Is a Revolution: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | Indie Bound

Some Other Now by Sara Everett (Feb 23)

As most of you know, found family and fake dating are two of my favorite tropes and when I saw that Some Other Now has both, I knew I had to read it. The summary alone as me totally hooked.I can’t wait to find out what happened between Jessi and the Cohen boys that makes them lose touch for a whole year, and what happens once she and Luke begin a fake relationship. Some Other Now seems to tick off all the boxes for me, and sounds like it’ll be a real tearjerker.

Before she kissed one of the Cohen boys, seventeen-year-old Jessi Rumfield knew what it was like to have a family—even if, technically, that family didn’t belong to her. She’d spent her childhood in the house next door, challenging Rowan Cohen to tennis matches while his older brother, Luke, studied in the background and Mel watched over the three like the mother Jessi always wished she had.

But then everything changed. It’s been almost a year since Jessi last visited the Cohen house. Rowan is gone. Mel is in remission and Luke hates Jessi for the role she played in breaking his family apart. Now Jessi spends her days at a dead-end summer job avoiding her real mother, who suddenly wants to play a role in Jessi’s life after being absent for so long. But when Luke comes home from college, it’s hard to ignore the past. And when he asks Jessi to pretend to be his girlfriend for the final months of Mel’s life, Jessi finds herself drawn back into the world of the Cohens. Everything’s changed, but Jessi can’t help wanting to be a Cohen, even if it means playing pretend for one final summer.

Links for Some Other Now: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | Indie Bound

Like Home by Louisa Onomé (Feb 23)

With Like Home being described as perfect for fans of In the Heights and Elizabeth Acevedo, Like Home sounds right up my alley. Like Home sounds like a story that’s all about how the place we’re from shapes us, self-discovery and growth. I can’t wait to read about these characters and their homes in Ginger East.

Chinelo, or Nelo as her best friend Kate calls her, is all about her neighborhood Ginger East. She loves its chill vibe, ride-or-die sense of community, and her memories of growing up there. Ginger East isn’t what it used to be, though. After a deadly incident at the local arcade, all her closest friends moved away, except for Kate. But as long as they have each other, Nelo’s good.

Only, Kate’s parents’ corner store is vandalized, leaving Nelo shaken to her core. The police and the media are quick to point fingers, and soon more of the outside world descends on Ginger East with promises to “fix” it. Suddenly, Nelo finds herself in the middle of a drama unfolding on a national scale.

Worse yet, Kate is acting strange. She’s pushing Nelo away at the exact moment they need each other most. Nelo’s entire world is morphing into something she hates, and she must figure out how to get things back on track or risk losing everything⁠—and everyone⁠—she loves.

Links for Like Home: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | Indie Bound

Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers (Feb 23)

Honey Girl sounds like the book equivalent of Last Name by Carrie Underwood but with lesbians and I am HERE FOR IT. This sounds like a great story of self discovery for Grace, and I’m really excited to see how her relationship with Yuki is going to develop. 

With her newly completed PhD in astronomy in hand, twenty-eight-year-old Grace Porter goes on a girls’ trip to Vegas to celebrate. She’s a straight A, work-through-the-summer certified high achiever. She is not the kind of person who goes to Vegas and gets drunkenly married to a woman whose name she doesn’t know…until she does exactly that.

This one moment of departure from her stern ex-military father’s plans for her life has Grace wondering why she doesn’t feel more fulfilled from completing her degree. Staggering under the weight of her father’s expectations, a struggling job market and feelings of burnout, Grace flees her home in Portland for a summer in New York with the wife she barely knows.

In New York, she’s able to ignore all the annoying questions about her future plans and falls hard for her creative and beautiful wife, Yuki Yamamoto. But when reality comes crashing in, Grace must face what she’s been running from all along—the fears that make us human, the family scars that need to heal and the longing for connection, especially when navigating the messiness of adulthood.

Links for Honey Girl: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | Indie Bound

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Are any of these on your TBR? What books by Black authors are you looking forward to reading in February? Let me know in the comments!