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Tayari Jones

Goodreads Author

Born

in Atlanta, Georgia, The United States

Website

http://www.tayarijones.com/

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Contemporary, Fiction

Member Since

May 2010

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/tayari

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Tayari Jones is the author of the novels Leaving Atlanta, The Untelling, Silver Sparrow, and An American Marriage (Algonquin Books, February 2018). Her writing has appeared in Tin House, The Believer, The New York Times, and Callaloo. A member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, she has also been a recipient of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, Lifetime Achievement Award in Fine Arts from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, United States Artist Fellowship, NEA Fellowship and Radcliffe Institute Bunting Fellowship. Silver Sparrow was named a #1 Indie Next Pick by booksellers in 2011, and the NEA added it to its Big Read Library of classics in 2016. Jones is a graduate of Spelman College, University of Iowa, and Arizona State Univers ...more

470 posts
Tayari Jones's Blog

President Obama’s Summer Favorites

President Obama chooses KIN as one of his Summer 2026 favorites. “Spanning genres, President Obama’s summer reads include moving stories from diverse voices, non-fiction titles grappling with life in 2026, and reflections on what connects us all.”

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31 likes · Like • 6 comments • flag

Published on July 30, 2026 22:44

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Tayari Jones’s books

Average rating: 3.98 · 565,783 ratings · 52,311 reviews · 24 distinct works • Similar authors

	An American Marriage 3.93 avg rating — 399,934 ratings — published 2018	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Kin 4.22 avg rating — 89,864 ratings — published 2026	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Silver Sparrow 3.91 avg rating — 49,019 ratings — published 2011 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Leaving Atlanta 4.06 avg rating — 7,729 ratings — published 2002 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Untelling 3.72 avg rating — 5,239 ratings — published 2005 — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Half Light by Tayari Jones (Goodreads Author), Bahni Turpin (Narrator) 3.71 avg rating — 2,629 ratings — published 2020 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dispossession by Tayari Jones (Goodreads Author), Gabrielle Union (Narrator) 3.85 avg rating — 2,003 ratings — published 2021 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Atlanta Noir (Akashic Noir) 3.54 avg rating — 438 ratings — published 2017 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	An American Marriage & Silver Sparrow By Tayari Jones 2 Books Collection Set by Tayari Jones (Goodreads Author) 4.02 avg rating — 85 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tayari Jones Collection 3 Books Set really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Tayari Jones…

Back-to-school season has arrived! To mark the occasion, we’ve put together the following collection of new and forthcoming books this...

Tayari is Currently Reading

Tayari Jones is currently reading

Never Caught, the Story of Ona Judge: George and Martha Washington's Courageous Slave Who Dared to Run Away; Young Readers Edition

by Erica Armstrong Dunbar

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May 13, 2019 03:32PM

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Tayari’s Recent Updates

Tayari Jones wrote a new blog post President Obama’s Summer Favorites President Obama chooses KIN as one of his Summer 2026 favorites. “Spanning genres, President Obama’s summer reads include moving stories from diverse Read more of this blog post »
Jul 31, 2026 12:13AM · 31 likes · like

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Quotes by Tayari Jones (?)

“But home isn't where you land; home is where you launch. You can't pick your home any more than you can choose your family. In poker, you get five cards. Three of them you can swap out, but two are yours to keep: family and native land.”
― Tayari Jones, An American Marriage

184 likes

“Much of life is timing and circumstance, I see that now.”
― Tayari Jones, An American Marriage

119 likes

“There should be a word for this, the way it feels to steal something that’s already yours.”
― Tayari Jones, An American Marriage

76 likes

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Polls

February BoTM (African American Author) Theme!! 1st Poll.

Top 5 books move onto the second poll!!!

Beloved

by Toni Morrison

12 votes, 19.7%

The Bluest Eye

by Toni Morrison

8 votes, 13.1%

An Untamed State

by Roxane Gay

7 votes, 11.5%

The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother

by James McBride

6 votes, 9.8%

Ruthless People

by J.J. McAvoy

6 votes, 9.8%

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration

by Isabel Wilkerson

5 votes, 8.2%

How Stella Got Her Groove Back

by Terry McMillan

5 votes, 8.2%

Men We Reaped: A Memoir

by Jesmyn Ward

4 votes, 6.6%

Orange Mint and Honey

by Carleen Brice

3 votes, 4.9%

Leaving Atlanta

by Tayari Jones

2 votes, 3.3%

Go Tell It on the Mountain

by James Baldwin

2 votes, 3.3%

Redemption Song

by Bertice Berry

1 vote, 1.6%

Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self

by Danielle Evans

0 votes, 0.0%

61 total votes

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