In 2020 the Bocas Caribbean Literary Festival polled readers to suggest Caribbean books they grew up reading and loved, and published its 100 Caribbean Books That Made Us listing. In June 2022 for Caribbean American Heritage month and Read Caribbean month on Instagram, I decided to spend the month listing the 100 Caribbean books that made me as a reader and lover of Caribbean literature. These books are titles I grew up reading in Trinidad, by Caribbean authors that are legendary and instrumental to Caribbean literature. Below is my list of Caribbean books that made me grateful of my heritage.

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1. The Wine of Astonishment by Earl LoveLace | Trinidad and Tobago
   
   
2. Summer Lightning by Olive Senior | Jamaica
   
   
3. Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid | Antigua
   
   
4. Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat | Haiti
   
   
5. Capitalism and Slavery by Eric Williams | Trinidad and Tobago
   
   
6. Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid | Antigua
   
   
7. In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez | The Dominican Republic
   
   
8. No Pain Like This Body by Harold Sonny Ladoo | Trinidad and Tobago
   
   
9. The Year in San Fernando by Michael Anthony | Trinidad and Tobago
   
   
10. The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat | Haiti
    
    
11. The Island of Forgetting by Jasmine Sealy | Barbados
    
    
12. In the Name of Salomé by Julia Alvarez | The Dominican Republic
    
    
13. Krik! Krak! by Edwidge Danticat | Haiti
    
    
14. These Ghosts Are Family by Maisy Card | Jamaica
    
    
15. The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat | Haiti
    
    
16. No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull | The U.S. Virgin Islands
    
    
17. Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud | Trinidad and Tobago
    
    
18. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez | The Dominican Republic
    
    
19. Everything Inside by Edwidge Danticat | Haiti
    
    
20. The Pain Tree by Olive Senior | Jamaica
    

21. My Brother by Jamaica Kincaid | Antigua

22. The Garden of Broken Things by Francesca Momplaisir | Haiti

23. Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn | Jamaica

24. The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull | The U.S. Virgin Islands

25. In the Castle of My Skin By George Lamming | Barbados

26. Book of the Little Axe by Lauren Francis-Sharma | Trinidad and Tobago

27. The Burning Bush Women by Cherie Jones | Barbados

28. Letters from Cuba by Ruth Behar | Cuba

29. The Bone Readers by Jacob Ross | Grenada

30. The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey | Trinidad and Tobago

31. Musical Youth by Joanne C. Hillhouse | Antigua

32. What Storm, What Thunder by Myriam J. A. Chancy | Haiti

33. Segu by Maryse Condé | Martinique

34. Til the Well Runs Dry by Lauren Francis-Sharma | Trinidad and Tobago

35. With the Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevedo | The Dominican Republic

36. Minty Alley by C. L. R. James | Trinidad and Tobago

37. How to Escape a Leper Colony by Tiphanie Yanique | The U.S. Virgin Islands

38. Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton | Cuba

39. Augustown by Kei Miller | Jamaica

40. When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd-Banwo | Trinidad and Tobago

41. Black Rain Falling by Jacob Ross | Grenada

42. When the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House By Cherie Jones | Barbados

43. The Taste of Sugar by Marisel Vera | Puerto Rico

44. Where There Are Monsters by Breanna Mc Ivor | Trinidad and Tobago

45. Haiti Noir by Various Haitian Authors | Haiti

46. Daughters of the Stone by Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa | Puerto Rico

47. Fear of Stones by Kei Miller | Jamaica

48. The Lonely Londoners By Sam Selvon | Trinidad and Tobago

49. The Book of Night Women by Marlon James | Jamaica

50. The Schoolmaster by Earl Lovelace | Trinidad and Tobago

51. The Immortals by Makenzy Orcel | Haiti

52. Pleasantview by Celeste Mohammed | Trinidad and Tobago

53. This Is How You Loose Her by Junot Diaz | The Dominican Republic

54. Things I Have Withheld by Kei Miller | Jamaica

55. The Bread the Devil Knead by Lisa Allen-Agostini | Trinidad and Tobago

56. Blue by Emmelie Prophéte | Haiti

57. Coolie Woman by Gaiutra Bahadur | Guyana

58. Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn |Jamaica

59. This One Sky Day by Leone Ross | Jamaica

60. Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez | Puerto Rico

61. One of the Good Ones by Maika and Maritza Moulite | Haiti

62. Fortune by Amanda Smyth | Trinidad and Tobago

63. A Woman of Endurance by Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa | Puerto Rico

64. The Land of Love and Drowning by Tiphanie Yanique | The U.S. Virgin Islands

65. The Black Jacobins by C. L. R. James | Trinidad and Tobago

66. Brother I’m Dying by Edwidge Danticat | Haiti

67. Come Let Us Sing Anyway by Leone Ross | Jamaica

68. The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton | Cuba

69. Daylight Come by Diana McCaulay | Jamaica

70. Island Queen by Vanessa Riley | Trinidad and Tobago

71. Framing Silence by Myriam J. A. Chancy | Haiti

72. The Star Side of Bird Hill by Naomi Jackson | Barbados

73. Love War Stories by Ivelisse Rodriguez | Puerto Rico

74. Cane Warriors by Alex Wheatley | Jamaica

75. The Girl with the Hazel Eyes by Callie Browning | Barbados

76. A House for Mr Biswas by V. S. Naipaul | Trinidad and Tobago

77. Two Times Removed by Various Authors of Guyanese descent | Guyana

78. Drown by Junot Diaz | The Dominican Republic

79. Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson | Jamaica

80. A Million Aunties by Alecia McKenzie | Jamaica

81. Off Track by Tamika Gibson | Trinidad and Tobago

82. The Dragon Can’t Dance by Earl Lovelace | Trinidad and Tobago

83. Tea By the Sea by Donna Hemans | Jamaica

84. From Harvey River by Lorna Goodison | Jamaica

85. Tabanca and Other Stories by Tricia Chin | Trinidad and Tobago

86. How to Love a Jamaican by Alexia Arthurs | Jamaica

87. Miguel Street by V. S. Naipaul | Trinidad

88. It Begins with Tears by Opal Palmer Adisa | Jamaica

89. The Undiscovered Contry by Andre Bagoo | Trinidad and Tobago

90. Neruda on the Park by Cleyvis Natera | The Dominican Republic

91. The Same Earth by Kei Miller | Jamaica

92. Trinidad Noir edited by Earl Lovelace | Trinidad and Tobago

93. Even in Paradise by Elizabeth Nunez | Trinidad and Tobago

94. Frying Plantain by Zalika Reid-Benta | Jamaica

95. The True History of Paradise by Margaret Cezair-Thompson | Jamaica

96. In the Heat of the Day by Michael Anthony | Trinidad and Tobago

97. The Last Warner Woman by Kei Miller | Jamaica

98. The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins | Jamaica/Bahamas

99. A Tall History of Sugar by Crudella Forbes | Jamaica

100. Lest We Find Gold by Melania Schwapp | Jamaica

Be sure to check out the Center for Fiction’s Caribbean Fiction Collection curated by the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival.