Cesaria Evora: La voix du Cap-Vert by Veronique Mortaigne tells the story of Cape Verde's most famous daughter, the barefoot diva who brought morna music to the world stage. Even if you read it in translation, it is a window into the islands' musical soul and the complicated relationship between Cape Verde and the wider world.
Atlantic Peaks: An Ethnographic Guide to the Portuguese-Speaking Islands by Jen E. Ludtke covers Cape Verde alongside the Azores and other Lusophone islands. It is more academic than most travel reading, but useful for understanding how Portuguese colonialism shaped island cultures across the Atlantic.
Race, Culture, and Portuguese Colonialism in Cabo Verde by Deirdre Meintel examines how racial identity and Creole culture developed under colonial rule. Dense but rewarding if you want to understand why Cape Verdean society looks and feels the way it does.
Fire: Six Writers from Angola, Mozambique, and Cape Verde edited by Donald Burness collects fiction and poetry from Lusophone Africa. The Cape Verdean selections capture the themes of isolation, migration, and longing that run through island literature.
Chiquinho by Baltasar Lopes da Silva is considered the first Cape Verdean novel, published in 1947. It follows a boy growing up on Sao Nicolau island, dreaming of education and escape. It is beautifully written and captures rural island life with affection and honesty. Look for the English translation if you can find it.