Toni Morrison became my favorite author the moment I read the first page of the first book of hers I ever picked up: The Bluest Eye. And yet, even then, I knew I was in for a challenge. Morrison spoke openly about the work she expected from her readers, once saying, “My writing expects, demands participatory reading.” I, for one, love pieces of art that require your undivided attention. So I’ve made myself go down the beautiful rabbit hole that is Toni Morrison’s canon.
Whenever I tell someone she’s my favorite author, they say, “I plan to read her one day,” followed by a sentence about how “difficult” her books are to get through. I want more people to read her, because her books are incredibly important, critical readings! So here’s where to get started.
1. Start short, but not with her shortest books
Most people start with Beloved because it’s her most famous work, and it was adapted into a 1998 film directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Oprah Winfrey. But Beloved is incredibly difficult if you aren’t used to reading Toni’s work yet. It’s fragmented, nonlinear, and purposely disorienting.
I also wouldn’t suggest her shortest novels, like Home and God Help the Child. They’re pretty slender books, but they were also written later in her career which means they’re built on themes she spent decades developing. Without that foundation, a lot of what she packs into so few pages can slip right past you!
I’d instead start with Sula. Sula, in my opinion, felt closest to a traditional, linear novel, with metaphors and language that were easier to follow, while still giving you the full force of what makes her writing so singular.
2. Allow yourself to get confused, but don’t stop reading
Be ready to study. I think it’s safe to say that all Toni Morrison books should be read more than once. So whichever one you pick up, read it first to grasp the story, and then again to research the things you didn’t get.
I made the mistake of stopping too much to research the first novel of hers I read, The Bluest Eye, and it took me out of the story. I realize now that if I had just kept reading, the shifting narrators, the recurring images, and the moments I was confused about just pages prior would have begun to make sense. Keep a pad of sticky notes nearby and tag the things you want to return to after your first go-around!
P.S. BUY THE PHYSICAL COPIES OF THE BOOKS IF YOU’RE A BIG NOTE TAKER! YOU’LL UNDERLINE A LOT!
3. Try the audiobooks she narrated herself
This isn’t an exhaustive list at all, but you can find unabridged versions recorded by Toni Morrison for these books (listed in the order they were published).
- The Bluest Eye (1970), 7 hours, 15 minutes
- Sula (1973), 6 hours, 1 minute
- Song of Solomon (1977), 15 hours, 41 minutes
- Beloved (1987), 12 hours, 33 minutes
- Love (2003), 7 hours, 56 minutes
- A Mercy (2008), 6 hours, 26 minutes
- Home (2012), 4 hours, 29 minutes
- God Help the Child (2015), 5 hours, 45 minutes
What I love most is that at the end of these audiobooks, Toni Morrison answers questions about her artistic choices, literary devices, research, and more. She also does this in various editions of her books, but hearing how the author wants her work to be read is (at least for this author) crucial.
4. Get as much context as you can
Speaking of her author interviews: get context, as much as possible. Toni Morrison is the only author whose firsthand essays, interviews, and anecdotes I research before I read, because I know they’ll come in handy when I need to understand why a story moves a certain way, or how she wanted me to feel while reading it. Everything is purposeful. And if something feels jarring, I’ve learned to push through it, because I know she meant for it to feel that way.
Here are two firsthand Morrison sources that talk about Sula!
- Studs Terkel radio interview (1974). Terkel interviews Morrison in a broadcast from April 16, 1974, about 30 minutes long. She reads excerpts from Sula and talks about her writing. It might be the closest you’ll get to her talking about the book right when it came out. Listen here.
- “Unspeakable Things Unspoken” (1988 lecture). She gave this speech as a lecture at the University of Michigan on October 7, 1988, and it was printed in the Winter 1989 issue of Michigan Quarterly Review. In the last part, she goes through the opening pages of her own novels, including Sula, and explains her choices line by line. Read it here.
5. Read aloud and join a reading group
Sometimes you just have to stand in the middle of your bedroom, aggressively rubbing your forehead, and read Toni Morrison’s words aloud like you’re reciting Shakespeare! Eventually, when you say things a few times out loud, they click. That’s also why I suggest reading groups: when you’re discussing these ideas with other people, new ideas and critical thoughts begin to form.
Let’s keep the conversation going!
- The first question is simple! If you haven’t read Morrison’s work yet, why?!
- If you have, which book did you start with and would you recommend it to beginners?
- Has an interview or essay completely changed how you understood one of her books… if so, LINK IT!! haha
- Which Morrison book is next on your list?! Up next for me is Home.
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Join the conversation (25 thoughts)
25 thoughts on “We Should All Be Reading Toni Morrison! A Beginner’s Guide on Where to Start & How to Keep Going.”
It would be cool if you started the reading club for her books and authors alike! Thank you I’ll be picking up Sula as a birthday gift to myself. I have always love Toni and always wanted to read her books. I think your message was a nudge from God to remember my love for her. She gave me courage in a time I didn’t have it for myself.
Wow!! This is SUCH confirmation!! I planned to make an announcement this afternoon that our reading group highlighting Black woman authors is now starting!! I have the message all typed up to and the date locked in, but couldn’t decide between Sula & Black Cake!! Let’s go with Sula!🥳♥️
Wow! God will do it like only he can! Where can I join the book club. I HAVE to be apart of it.
I’ll send the link out the day before!
https://www.amillionlittledelights.com/p/book-club
Also, I feel the same!! Toni Morrison have given me permission to be me, fully!! Just through her work alone!!
Yes! I’ve only seen her interviews and that was enough to plant a seed of courage to be me.
I started with The Bluest Eye and gave up lololol. I will try again with Sula soon
LOL!!!!! There was NO reason for me to start with the bluest eye other than it being short 😭🤣 I felt so dumb! There’s one sentence where she says something like “black and white keys” and I was so used to her writing things I didn’t understand that I googled it — it turns out she was just talking about piano keys🎹 😂 I felt like I was playing a guessing game of what supposed to be symbolic and what not!! Definitely give Sula a go! I’m going to make it our Book Club book for next month!
Thank you for this. I’ve been wanting to read her work but wasn’t sure where to start. Hers and Octavia Butler
My pleasure! This was a fun one to write!! I’ve been wanting to read more Octavia Butler, too! I started with Fledgling and the Pedophilia was both shocking and triggering—it made me pause on reading her work! Though, I overall liked the writing & story! I have Parable of the Sower on my upcoming TBR!!
I read Beloved in college, and the experience transformed the way I thought about fiction. I never knew the deep levels of the soul a story could reach–and I’m still so blown away that any writer has the ability make me feel the way Toni Morrison does when I read her work. I’m thankful I read it with the guidance of a great professor and classroom community, because I think you’re absolutely right that Beloved in particular is complex to read in isolation.
This an incredible experience! Ugh! If I could go back and beg my favorite professor to assign Toni Morrison I would! He kept assigning his own books 🤣 thanks for sharing, Jo!!
Haha it takes a special kind of confidence to assign one’s own books!
It was a great class, and I was fortunate to have taken it as an undergraduate. That said, though, unsurprisingly, the course title was “Women’s Literature,” and it was an elective (I bet you can guess how many men signed up), and it was the only course in my whole English major curriculum that assigned Morrison, which is insane to me.
I’ve lowkey been reading YA and Romance trash for so long I need something nourishing for my soul!!
The hugest coincidence of me randomly checking Sula, Paradise, and Jazz out from the library. Thank you for the order recommendation! I’m definitely going to start over using this guide lol.
Hahaha, yes! Please do!! Our November book club will be Sula, as well!♥️
My first Toni Morrison read was also The Bluest Eye! Have you read On Morrison by Namwali Serpell? It’s a beautiful ode to Morrison’s genius and it offers context to the content of her writing as well as her writing style. It’s a wonderful companion to reading her work!
Look at us! The Bluest Eye Twins! Haha. — I start it and never completed it! Not for the lack of greatness! I loved it! But it was gifted to me when it was first realized and I wasn’t reading Morrison at the time! Thank you for the reminder / push to pick it back up!
I tried to read The Bluest Eye & nearly half a page in, I realized that my brain needed a moment to sit with it ..& I didn’t have time to sit lol. I’ll try again with Sula soon! ☺️
Hahah! It’s challenging, but also such an informative story!! I hope you’re able to join our Sula Bookclub on Nov 20?
loved this! my first from her was sula and that solidified her being my favorite author of all time. I’ve read sula countless times, and a few others. currently reading jazz now!
I read The Bluest Eye as a teenager. I remembered feeling like I read something profound, but not having the words to explain how it touched my heart. I hadn’t touched a Toni Morrison novel for the subsequent 15 years. At 31, I’m just now tackling Sula. My plan is to revisit The Bluest Eye after I finish Sula and then move forward from there. Thanks for the tips for diving into her writing!
I’ve just started Song of Solomon for the first time and even within the first two chapters there’s numerous paragraphs worth quoting on their own for their beauty, brilliance, humour, wisdom.
This is my 5th novel of hers (I’ve read Beloved three times) and by now I know to expect a challenging read, but my god it’s worth it.
The last one I read was Paradise and was awe of the skill in constructing the story and just how wonderful her prose is, even while I have to admit by the end I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. She sure as hell isn’t going to feed you a simple moral take away.
I totally understand why people find her hard, but I would absolutely recommend people don’t give up. If there’s any author of the last 50years who deserves to sit at the absolute top table with all the usual suspects of great writers it’s Toni Morrison.
Tell me why I was just thinking about starting her catalogue and come across this!