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- Toni Morrison (1913-2019) was an influential author, professor, and Nobel Prize winner.
- We used Goodreads to rank her most popular novels, essays, and children's books.
- Toni Morrison's most popular books are "Beloved" and "The Bluest Eye."
Toni Morrison was a distinguished novelist and essayist who highlighted the generational consequences of racism in the United States through her fictional works and literary criticisms.
Celebrated for her profound work towards equality in literature, Toni Morrison wrote 11 novels, 10 children's books, and dozens of essays that earned her numerous awards and accolades (including the 1993 Nobel Prize in Literature) as she explored the experiences of Black women in America.
To rank Toni Morrison's essay collections, novels, and other works by popularity, we turned to Goodreads members. On Goodreads, over 125 million users rate and review their favorite books and share how Toni Morrison's legacy continues to impact them.
Whether you're looking to experience Toni Morrison's poetic fiction or explore a searing literary criticism, here are the most popular Toni Morrison books, as ranked by Goodreads members.
The 20 best Toni Morrison books, ranked by Goodreads members:
20. "The Nobel Lecture In Literature, 1993"
This short read is the speech Toni Morrison gave in 1993 as she received the Nobel Prize in Literature for her ability to "give life to an essential aspect of American reality" "in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import." For an even more powerful experience, you can listen to Toni Morrison deliver her speech here.
19. "Burn This Book: PEN Writers Speak Out on the Power of the Word"
Available at Amazon and Bookshop from $10.35
"Burn This Book" is an anthology edited by Toni Morrison that also includes a short but brilliant essay about the power of writing and the threat of censorship. Each writer in this collection is a "PEN" writer or a poet, essayist, or novelist who defends the freedom of expression through literature as a human right.
18. "Desdemona"
This play by Toni Morrison recreates the story of Desdemona, the heroine from Shakespeare's "Othello." Morrison brings the female characters from "Othello" to life in a stunning literary and dramatic form, including the previously silenced voice of Desdemona's African nurse, Barbary.
17. "The Big Box"
"The Big Box" was Toni Morrison's first picture book written with her son, Slade Morrison. It is about three children who don't fit adults' expectations and are sent to live in big boxes with locks on the door when the adults decide they can't handle their own freedom.
16. "Remember: The Journey to School Integration"
Available at Amazon and Bookshop, $19.99
Combined with historical photographs that captured school desegregation in America, Toni Morrison tells a fictional story about the emotions and dialogue of the children in the pictures. Published on the 50th anniversary of the "Brown vs. Board of Education" trial, this historical read paired with Morrison's emotional touch is a powerful revival of history.
15. "Recitatif"
Preorder available at Amazon and Bookshop from $14.72
"Recitatif" was Toni Morrison's first published short story which premiered in the now out-of-circulation "Confirmation: An Anthology of African American Women" in 1983. This emotional story is about Twyla and Roberta, two young girls who meet at an orphanage and bond over their unique situation.
14. "The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations"
Available at Amazon and Bookshop from $15.29
This collection comprises some of Toni Morrison's essays, speeches, and prayers over 40 eventful and transformative years. From the emotional eulogy she delivered at James Baldwin's funeral to a meditative commentary about her early publications, "The Source of Self-Regard" is a necessary read for any Toni Morrison reader looking to understand the author in a deeper and more profound way.
13. "The Origin of Others"
Available at Amazon and Bookshop from $17.30
"The Origin of Others" is a collection of Toni Morrison's reflections upon the themes of race, belonging, and identity through her work. Seeking answers to complex questions about racial "othering" in society, Morrison turns to great works of literature as well as her own in these extremely personal and meditative essays.
12. "Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination"
Available at Amazon and Bookshop from $11.99
These essays serve as a focused literary criticism of "Africanist" presence within American literature. By analyzing some of the most revered writers in American literature, Toni Morrison demonstrates how whiteness and major themes of freedom depend upon the Black population while simultaneously silencing the Black narrative.
11. "Love"
Available at Amazon and Bookshop from $13.49
"Love" is the non-linear story of several Black women over three generations and their relationships to the late Bill Cosey. As the women — from Bill's daughter to his mistress — tell their stories, a larger image emerges to explain the hatred between them.
10. "Tar Baby"
Available at Amazon and Bookshop from $11.99
"Tar Baby" is about the tempestuous love affair between Jadine and Son, two Black Americans from very different worlds who meet in the Caribbean and return to the US, struggling to find a safe home together. Full of complicated relationships, beautifully descriptive settings, and an abundance of striking lyricism, Toni Morrison continues to captivate readers with her memorable writing in this novel.
9. "Home"
Available at Amazon and Bookshop from $9.17
Frank Money is a Black man returning home from the Korean War, searching for a new sense of identity after a series of traumatic experiences in the Army. Thrust back into a racist and segregated community, Frank must relive early memories and overcome mental challenges n order to find himself and his home.
8. "Paradise"
Available at Amazon and Bookshop from $12.76
The final book of the "Beloved" trilogy opens with a scene of horrific violence in a small, all-Black town in Oklahoma called Ruby. Grand and tragic, this novel chronicles the creation of Ruby and the strife with another town that lies 17 miles away.
7. "God Help the Child"
Available at Amazon and Bookshop from $9.97
"God Help the Child" was Toni Morrison's final published novel before her passing in 2019 and her only novel to be set in the present. The story follows a Black woman who calls herself Bride and examines the brutal ways in which childhood trauma can shape the life of an adult.
6. "Jazz"
Available at Amazon and Bookshop from $12.99
"Jazz" is a historical fiction novel that takes place mostly in 1920s Harlem where Joe Trace is a middle-aged beauty product salesman. When Joe shoots his teenage lover to death and his wife attacks the girl's corpse, a story of love and obsession develops in this lyrical novel enriched with the perspectives of multiple narrators.
5. "A Mercy"
Available at Amazon and Bookshop from $14.54
Set during the slave trade in the 1680s, this historical fiction novel is about a young girl named Florens who is given to a man in Maryland to pay off a debt. Rejected by her own mother, Florens seeks motherly and romantic love in this story that reveals the roots of racism through a glimpse at early slavery.
4. "Sula"
Available at Amazon and Bookshop from $12.59
In this 1975 National Book Award finalist, Nel and Sula are two women whose complex relationship both brings them together and pushes them apart over the course of 20 years. Nel chose to stay in her hometown to raise a family, while Sula escaped to the city for college. "Sula" is an intense read as the women experience racism, explore their sexuality, and grow up in very different ways.
3. "Song of Solomon"
Available at Amazon and Bookshop from $13.99
"Song of Solomon" is a historical fiction novel that follows Macon "Milkman" Dead III through his life, beginning with a traumatic event that spurred his birth. In this profound and complex work, readers are introduced to Macon's life through a full cast of unique characters and Macon's tumultuous coming-of-age experiences.
2. "The Bluest Eye"
Available at Amazon and Bookshop from $9.43
"The Bluest Eye" was Toni Morrison's first novel, a historical fiction story first published in 1970. It is about a young African-American girl named Pecola growing up during the Great Depression who prays for her eyes to turn blue so she will be loved like the blond, blue-eyed children in America.
1. "Beloved"
Available at Amazon and Bookshop from $9.29
With over 355,000 ratings, this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is the most popular Toni Morrison book, according to Goodreads reviewers. The story follows Sethe, who escaped slavery 18 years ago yet cannot escape the horrible memories of her early life as she's haunted by the past and the ghost of her baby.
Katherine Fiorillo Katherine Fiorillo is a freelance content writer specializing in books, lifestyle, and e-commerce.Katherine has a B.A. in Journalism from Marist College and previously wrote for BuzzFeed's Shopping and Products beat. She is an Army veteran, an avid reader, and designs book-themed stickers for her Etsy shop.Say hi to Katherine at katherinemfiorillo@gmail.com. Read more Read lessncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o8HSoqWeq6Oeu7S1w56pZ5ufonyowcidnKxnnJqus7rIp55orJ%2Bjtm65zqupoqufo3qju86kqg%3D%3D