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LOOKING FOR BOOKS WITH BLACK COVERS?
Next up in our Rainbow Reads series is books with black covers. I thought this was going to be hard to get enough for but I was wrong.
I will say, there is a lot of mystery/thriller/horror/Nordic noir on here. Like, a lot. But I did manage to add some fantasy and memoirs, and even have a mix of adult and YA.
I’ve read quite a few of these and have a lot of the others on my TBR. If you’re doing a reading challenge where you need to find a book with a black cover, I’ve got you covered.
And if you are and choose one of these, I’d love to hear what you pick! There are plenty to choose from so I hope you can find one for you.
- Pango is my go-to for finding secondhand books affordably, sold by other readers! If you’re a new user, you can use HEYIMREADING at checkout for $5 off your first $10 purchase! Check out Pango Books here!
- Thrift Books is one of the places I check when I’m looking for a book and want it cheap. It’s great if you like buying used books. With this you can get a free book after spending $30!
- If you want to listen to some of these, consider trying Audible! You can get your first month free (one free book) plus tons of others they have for free. Get that Audible deal here.
- If you want to read more on your Kindle but don’t want to buy books, Kindle Unlimited is a good option. If you read a lot and like to read more than just new releases (especially romance), it could be worth it. Get Kindle Unlimited here!
- Shop my collection of bookish goodies on Etsy! These aren’t my shop items, but other shops I’ve curated into a book-themed collection. Shop my Etsy bookish goodies here!
- Shop my book lists here! You can find every book list I have on Bookshop.org (except my monthly round-ups) and I add everything I can but they occasionally won’t have some. I do occasionally add extras though. If any lists are empty, they’ll be filled in shortly! Shop my bookshop.org book lists here.
We Need to do Something
Author: Max Booth III
Genre: Horror
Series or Standalone: Standalone
The Secret Life of Plants
Author: Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird
Genre: Nonfiction science
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Dioramas
All She was Worth
Into the Drowning Deep
Survive the Night
The Venue
Author: T.J. Payne
Genre: Thriller
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Moon Over Marrakech
Author: Nazneen Sheikh
Genre: Memoir
Series or Standalone: Standalone
You can find more books set in Morocco here!
Thirteen
Author: Steve Cavanagh
Genre: Thriller
Series or Standalone: Series (#4, don’t need to be read in order)
Man, Fuck This House
Author:Brian Asman
Genre: Horror
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Unhinged
Author: Jorn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger
Genre: Nordic noir
Series or Standalone: Series (#3)
You can find more books set in Norway here!
Zombies on Kilimanjaro
Buried in the Sky
Author: Peter Zuckerman and Amanda Padoan
Genre: Nonfiction adventure
Series or Standalone: Standalone
You can find more books about the Himalayas here!
Where There’s a Will
Cruel is the Night
Dancing with the Devil in the City of God
Author: Juliana Barbassa
Genre: Non-fiction
Series or Standalone: Standalone
You can find more books set in Brazil here!
Dark Territory
Bad Blood
Author: John Carreyrou
Genre: Non-violent true crime
Series or Standalone: Standalone
The Project
Author: Courtney Summers
Genre: YA thriller
Series or Standalone: Standalone
The Hanging
Author: Lotte and Soren Hammer
Genre: Nordic noir
Series or Standalone: Series (#1)
You can find more books set in Denmark here!
The Devil’s Wedding Ring
Author: Vidar Sundstol
Genre: Nordic noir
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Faceless Killers
Author: Henning Mankell
Genre: Nordic noir
Series or Standalone: Series (#1)
The Forgotten Girls
Author: Sara Blaedel
Genre: Nordic noir
Series or Standalone: Series (#7, don’t need to be read in order)
Kingdom of the Wicked
Author: Kerri Maniscalco
Genre: YA fantasy
Series or Standalone: Kingdom of the Wicked
The Crow Girl
Author: Erik Axl Sund
Genre: Nordic noir
Series or Standalone: Standalone
The Golden Cage
Author: Camilla Lackberg
Genre: Nordic noir
Series or Standalone: Standalone
I’m Traveling Alone
Author: samuel Bjork
Genre: Nordic noir
Series or Standalone: Series (#1)
Pierced
Author: Thomas Enger
Genre: Nordic noir
Series or Standalone: Series (#2)
The Window
Author: Amelia Brunskill
Genre: YA thriller
Series or Standalone: Standalone
The Dragon Behind the Glass
No Exit
I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Author: Iain Reid
Genre: Thriller? If unsettling was a genre, it would be that
Series or Standalone: Standalone
The Chestnut Man
Author: Soren Sviestup
Genre: Nordic Noir
Series or Standalone: Standalone
The Shadows
Author: Alex North
Genre: Thriller
Series or Standalone: Standalone
The Only Good Indians
Author: Stephen Graham Jones
Genre: Horror
Series or Standalone: Standalone
The Other Black Girl
Author: Zakiya Dalila Harris
Genre: Thriller
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Ash
Author: Malinda Lo
Genre: YA fantasy
Series or Standalone: Series (#1)
The Similars
Author: Rebecca Hanover
Genre: YA sci-fi thriller
Series or Standalone: Series (#1)
Tiny Pretty Things
Author: Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton
Genre: YA mystery
Series or Standalone: Series (#1)
Mis(h)adra
Author: Iasmin Omar Ata
Genre: Graphic memoir
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Deep Dark Fears
Author: Fran Krause
Genre: Graphic novel
Series or Standalone: Standalone
A Thousand Moons on a Thousand Rivers
Author: Hsiao Li-Hung
Genre: Historical Fiction
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Heartless
Author: Marissa Meyer
Genre: YA fantasy retelling
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Pandemic
Author: Sonia Shah
Genre: Non-fiction
Series or Standalone: Standalone
The Passenger
Author: Lisa Lutz
Genre: Thriller
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Little Monsters
Spillover
Author: David Quammen
Genre: Non-fiction
Series or Standalone: Standalone
The Toll
Author: Cherie Priest
Genre: Horror
Series or Standalone: Standalone
The Fever in the Water
Author: Christoffer Petersen
Genre: Nordic noir novella
Series or Standalone: Series (doesn’t need to be read in order)
You can find more books set in Greenland here!
These Violent Delights
The Chrysalis
The Hazel Wood
Author: Melissa Albert
Genre: Fantasy
Series or Standalone: Series (#1)
Forest of a Thousand Lanterns
Author: Julie C. Dao
Genre: Fantasy
Series or Standalone: Series (#1)
Coraline
Author: Neil Faiman
Genre: Fantasy horror? Creepy fantasy?
Series or Standalone: Standalone
I Remember Beirut
Author: Zeina Abirached
Genre: Graphic memoir
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Trickster
Author: Matt Dembicki
Genre: Graphic novel
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Murder Road
Author: Simone St. James
Genre: Thriller
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Home is Where the Bodies Are
Author: Jeneva Rose
Genre: Thriller
Series or Standalone: Standalone
(I actually preordered this, which I never do. I’m SO excited for it!)
Aliens Bishop
Author: T.R. Napper
Genre: Sci-fi horror
Series or Standalone: Standalone
What Moves the Dead
Author: T. Kingfisher
Genre: Historical horror
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Mary
Author: Nat Cassidy
Genre: Horror
Series or Standalone: Standalone
The Final Girl Support Group
Author: Grady Hendrix
Genre: Horror
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Rouge
Author: Mona Awad
Genre: Horror
Series or Standalone: Standalone
What Lies Between Us
Author: John Marrs (not Freida McFadden)
Genre: Thriller
Series or Standalone: Standalone
The Seep
Author: Chana Porter
Genre: Sci-fi horror novella
Series or Standalone: Standalone
The Twisted Ones
Author: T. Kingfisher
Genre: Folk horror
Series or Standalone: Standalone
The Last Final Girl
Author: Stephen Graham Jones
Genre: Slasher horror
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Final thoughts on black cover books
While there are plenty more books with black covers out there to choose from, I hope you were able to find one here that you can enjoy and I’d love to hear which you pick!
Other posts you may like
Have you read any of these black cover books? Which ones? Are you going to check any of these out?
