I'm Asian-American and I appreciate this anthology for its wealth of recommendations, its A-list roster of essay submitters, and the recognition of the awesome strength and power of global sisterhood. I loved reading about how Marita Golden's audience in Turkey so related to Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes were Watching God. Great book lists for readers of all ages, creatively crafted and excellently edited.

Initially, when I learned of this book I thought it was a gathering of fiction by some of today's most prolific African-American women writers. To my surprise, the book instead consisted of prolific women writers of color writing about the books that influenced them early in their careers and beyond. Although all of the essays were wonderful and include some of today's most touted writers including Jesmyn Ward, Tayari Jones, and Jaqueline Woodson, a few stood out to me. Veronica Chambers story of encountering Jamaica Kincaid's work in college was poignant. Rebecca Walker recalling reading her mother (Alice Walker's) first children's book and discussing how it made her understand her mother more as a writer was heart warming. Marita Golden's musings about her discovering Zora Neale Hurston's work and her legacy as a writer was touching. As a writer, it made me think of the books and writers that shaped my writing sensibilities. As a kid it was Brenda Wilkinson who wrote the Ludell series and later on J. California Cooper. Edim's book is necessary. I remember reading I Know What the Red Clay Looks Like: The Voice and Vision of Black American Women Writers by Rebecca Carroll. Like Carroll's book the essay's in Edim's anthology are poignant, powerful, and well done. People will be talking about this collection for a long time.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read it.

This review is posted on Goodreads

Thanks to #netgalley and #randomhousepublishing for giving me my first ARC, Well-Read Black Girl! This book is the epitome of why representation matters. Well-Read Black Girl is an anthology of essays by black women writers. All of the women represented in the book share a common love for reading at an early age, and the lack of representation in books with girls who look like them. Well-Read Black girl is very timely and necessary. Thanks to the wonderful women who contributed to this book and to the editor Glory Edim, girls and women today can relate to the characters created through all of their voices.

-Review posted on Instagram and Goodreads
- Posted on 8/25/2018

This collection of essays was a wonderful look into literature written by (and in many cases for) black women. I plan to use several of the titles discussed in this book on our #WeNeedDiverseBooks display coming up & my reading list grew longer and longer with every essay in this book.