If you are actively searching for good reads, the increase of black authors may have become more obvious depending on the source of your findings—it’s a wonderful thing. On the Houston scene, Style Magazine has had the opportunity to spot some brilliant authors from book launchings to festivals, and of course, sharing is caring. Check out 5 black authors you might want to consider adding to your reading list.

It’s Time To Uncover Your Original Blueprint (Sonyia Graham)

As an Author, publisher and entrepreneur, Sonyia Graham's eleven year journey, diverse background and relationship with God has given her this unique perspective, she has coined ‘passive assimilation’ which is a silent and unspoken epidemic in which a person gets lost in someone else's dreams, aspiration and purpose while sacrificing their own. Sonyia says, “This book is a must have. The earlier the better, to beat the odds of ever having to experience passive assimilation in your lifetime." It’s Time To Uncover The Original Blueprint is the first installation to The Original Blueprint series. Through the interactive exercises and tools provided, it is her goal to help readers move in a positive direction and be able to experience life with fulfillment and joy. “You have to do the work,” Graham says. Cool fact, Sonyia has a background in sports management, which lead to an opportunity of managing Silver Medalist Olympian Nia Abdallah, for whom she successfully secured the first NIKE Martial Arts endorsement for in 2004. As an entrepreneur, one of her companies, Mirror Perfect Marketing, Inc., was Compaq Computer Corporation’s first online promotional products provider nationwide.

Visit: www.originalblueprintseries.com

Colored Mirrors Publishing, LLC.

Social Media: Instagram- @sonyiasmileauthor, Facebook- Sonyia Baring Graham

God Made All Things Great (Michael David Harris, Illustrated by Tyrus Goshay)

Author, consultant and speaker Michael David Harrison is committed to spreading the news of God Made All Things Great. This book will take the entire family on a journey to the beginning, when God made a lot of great things. Take a trek with characters Alexis and Chandler as they discover some of God's greatest creations. God Made All Things Great has been spotted in the hands of five time Grammy Award Winner Lalah Hathaway, Stokley Williams (former Mint Condition frontman), Bobby Jones, Kirk Franklin and many other industry influencers.

Visit: www.michaelwroteit.com

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Social Media: Instagram- @michaelwroteit Facebook- God Made All Things Great

Land Of The Rising Sun Chronicles (Dr. Ngozi M. Obi)

Dr. Ngozi M. Obi is an author, pharmacist and speaker, of Nigerian Ibo descent, who has written over four books and has a mind-filled with amazing imagination. Her latest body of work, Land of the Rising Sun, chronicles the Biafran war through the eyes of a young nurse in a historical fiction tribute. She finds inspiration for her novels from the basic things in life and her books aim to inspire adults of all ages. Under Higgins Publishing, Dr. Obi is co-author alongside 30 other professional ladies in Women of Purpose, a collection of inspiring stories giving insight and direction to a reader's purpose in life.

Visit: www.ladyofdestiny.com

AuthorHouse Publishing Company

Social Media: Facebook-Author Ngozi Mobi

Skin Deep: The Skin I'm In (Ferrell Phelps, Jr.)

"Who are we to judge what HE has created?" Known for taking outstanding photos of Destiny's Child at the start of their famed careers, Dionne Warwick, Shaquille O'Neal and many other celebrities, A-list photographer, Ferrell Phelps, Jr., is taking the world by storm with his new photographic project, Skin Deep: The Skin I'm In. Some pictures are worth a-thousand words and Phelps is putting a new meaning to that phrase. The exhibit is a celebration of melanin to dispel prejudices as it offers education and uplifting narrative to various skin conditions such as vitiligo, albinism, nevus, N2 and ephelides, to name a few. This book has caught the attention of Discovery Channel and many vitiligo organizations from Houston, Africa, Boston to London, UK.

Visit: www.skiniminexhibit.com

Boss Lady Press Publishing (a new black-owned publisher)

Social Media: Instagram- @ferrellimages84 Facebook- Ferrells Photography

Love, Happiness, and All That Other Sh*t: A Girlfriend's Guide to living a life fulfilled (Brittany A. Daniel M. A. LPC)

With a background radiant in behavioral health, author and entrepreneur, Brittany A. Daniel M. A. LPC, is dedicated to providing awareness to all people in the community about mental health and solidifying strategies to get to victory. Brittany wants readers to know, "You are in control of your destiny... get out of your own way." Love, Happiness, and All That Other Sh*t, is an honest and liberating vessel of literature formulated for women to break down those, "mental barriers" that can keep you from living a life fulfilled.

Visit: www.voicecounseling.org

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Social Media: Instagram- @voice_counseling Facebook- 4 Voice Counseling

If you've read any one of these books, feel free to provide feedback in the comment section of what you thought. Happy reading!