What we’re about
Black Girls Read Book Club (also known as Black Girls Read Chicago) is a monthly Chicago-based book club that celebrates Black women writers. This is a book club for Black women interested in reading and discussing books written by Black women from the United States and around the world. We read fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, and our book discussions take place at various locations in the city. By collectively elevating and celebrating the work of Black women writers, we affirm that our stories matter.
Upcoming events
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#111: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Build Coffee, 6100 South Blackstone Avenue, Chicago, IL, USOur first book selection of 2026 is Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston! We will meet at Build Coffee & Books, a Black woman-owned coffee shop and bookstore based in the Woodlawn community.
About the book: One of the most important works of twentieth-century American literature, Zora Neale Hurston's beloved 1937 classic, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is an enduring Southern love story sparkling with wit, beauty, and heartfelt wisdom. Told in the captivating voice of a woman who refuses to live in sorrow, bitterness, fear, or foolish romantic dreams, it is the story of fair-skinned, fiercely independent Janie Crawford, and her evolving selfhood through three marriages and a life marked by poverty, trials, and purpose. A true literary wonder, Hurston's masterwork remains as relevant and affecting today as when it was first published—perhaps the most widely read and highly regarded novel in the entire canon of African American literature.
PurchaseTheir Eyes Were Watching God from Build Coffee & Books on Bookshop (paperback or ebook) or Librofm (audiobook).
The Build Coffee team will have coffee, drinks, and pastries available for purchase during our meeting, and you'll get 15% off any books other retail items (not food or drinks) you purchase!40 attendees
Auther Event: Nikesha Elise Williams at Da Book Joint
Da Book Joint, 6900 S Stony Island Ave, Chicago, IL, USNikesha Elise Williams, the author of our March book selection The Seven Daughters of Dupree, will be at Da Book Joint for a book talk and signing. She will be in conversation with Dawn Turner, author of past Black Girls Read Book Club selection Three Girls From Bronzeville. Sign up directly with Da Book Joint on Eventbrite.
Details: Da Book Joint invites you to an unforgettable evening celebrating the launch of Nikesha Elise Williams’ powerful new novel, The Seven Daughters of Dupree. Williams will be joined in conversation by award-winning journalist and author Dawn Turner for a rich discussion on legacy, memory, and the women who shape our histories.
📅 Thursday, January 29
⏰ 6:00–8:00 PM
📍 Da Book Joint (6900 S Stony Island Ave)
🎟️ Books available for purchase and signing
Sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-seven-daughters-of-dupree-book-signing-with-nikesha-elise-williams-tickets-197800738633916 attendees
#112: Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
Chicago Bee Library, 3647 S State St, Chicago, IL, USOur February book selection is Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde!
About the book: In this charged collection of fifteen essays and speeches, Lorde takes on sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia, and class, and propounds social difference as a vehicle for action and change. Her prose is incisive, unflinching, and lyrical, reflecting struggle but ultimately offering messages of hope. These landmark writings are, in Lorde's own words, a call to “never close our eyes to the terror, to the chaos which is Black which is creative which is female which is dark which is rejected which is messy which is . . . ”
Support Black Girls Read Chicago by purchasing Sister Outsider on Bookshop (affiliate link).19 attendees
#113: The Seven Daughters of Dupree by Nikesha Elise Williams
Zora's Place, 2223 Washington Street, Evanston, IL, USOur March book selection is The Seven Daughters of Dupree by Chicago native Nikesha Elise Williams! We will meet at Zora's Place, Evanston's only Black woman-owned bookshop.
About the book: It’s 1995, and fourteen-year-old Tati is determined to uncover the identity of her father. But her mother, Nadia, keeps her secrets close, while her grandmother Gladys remains silent about the family’s past, including why she left Land’s End, Alabama, in 1953. As Tati digs deeper, she uncovers a legacy of family secrets, where every generation of Dupree women has posed more questions than answers.
From Jubi in 1917, whose attempt to pass for white ends when she gives birth to Ruby; to Ruby’s fiery lust for Sampson in 1934 that leads to a baby of her own; to the night in 1980 that changed Nadia’s future forever, the Dupree women carry the weight of their heritage. Bound by a mysterious malediction that means they will only give birth to daughters, the Dupree women confront a legacy of pain, resilience, and survival that began with an enslaved ancestor who risked everything for freedom.
The Seven Daughters of Dupree masterfully weaves together themes of generational trauma, Black women’s resilience, and unbreakable familial bonds. Nikesha Elise Williams delivers a feminist literary fiction that explores the ripple effects of actions, secrets, and love through seven generations of Black women.
The Seven Daughters of Dupree will be released in January 2026 and is available for pre-order now. Support Zora's Place by purchasing your book at their brick-and-mortar storefront or their online storefront on Bookshop.19 attendees
Past events
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