Books like How the Word Is Passed

How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith III reads as reflective, investigative. These 12 books share its genome — matched by how they actually read, not just their shelf label.

Caste

Isabel Wilkerson · 2020

Shares the history thread

83% genome match

Wake

Rebecca Hall · 2021

Shares the history thread

69% genome match

Born a Crime

Trevor Noah · 2016

Shares the history thread

69% genome match

All That She Carried

Tiya Miles · 2021

Shares the history thread

69% genome match

They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us

Hanif Abdurraqib · 2017

Both explore race & memory

66% genome match

We Were Eight Years in Power

Ta-Nehisi Coates · 2017

Both explore race

59% genome match

Survival Math

Mitchell Jackson · 2019

Both explore race

69% genome match

Three Girls from Bronzeville

Dawn Turner · 2021

Both explore race & memory

70% genome match

The Russian album

Michael Ignatieff · 1987

Shares the history thread

69% genome match

They Called Us Enemy

George Takei · 2019

Shares the history thread

69% genome match

How to Be an Antiracist

Ibram X. Kendi · 2019

Both explore race

48% genome match

The 1619 Project

Nikole Hannah-Jones · 2021

Both explore slavery & american history

83% genome match