Our bestsellers list has been published continuously since 1998 and is the most visible list focused on Black Books in existence.
| We have 66 bestselling books this period. The top-selling books in each category are below. Visit our site to learn about all these terrific books. |
| Fiction: Voices of the Harlem Renaissance tops the fiction list due to the strength of sales at the Tulisoma South Dallas Book Fair. Nonfiction: In Spite of the Consequences: Prison Letters on Exoneration, Abolition, and Freedom by activist Latino Hamilton, who was wrongly jailed for 26 years. Children’s Books: Jelani’s Key by D. Amari Jackson debuts at #1 on the strength of presales. Published by AALBC Books for Young Readers Poetry: So to Speak, “a powerful, timely, dazzling new collection of poems from the National Book Award-winning author of Lighthead,” Terrance Hayes tops all poetry book sales. |
20 Bestselling Children’s Books
- Big by Vashti Harrison
- Cornrows (2023) by Camille Yarbrough
- American Street by Ibi Zoboi
- Think Big, Little One by Vashti Harrison
- Please, Baby, Please by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee
- Anna Carries Water by Olive Senior
- Letters to a Young Brother: Manifest Your Destiny by Hill Harper
- Repeat After Me: Big Things to Say Every Day by Jazmyn Simon and Dulé Hill
- I Want to Be Big! by Tiffany Golden
- Baby Bear Board Book by Kadir Nelson
- Follow Your Dreams, Little One by Vashti Harrison
- Peeny Butter Fudge by Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison
- One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes
- A is for Ayiti by Ibi Zoboi
- Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar: The Musical Story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Woman Who Invented Rock and Roll by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow
- Jelani’s Key by D. Amari Jackson
- Dream Big, Little Leader by Vashti Harrison
- Something Beautiful by Sharon Dennis Wyeth
- Sailing Commitment Around the World with Captain Bill Pinkney by Bill Pinkney
- AFRO-BETS ABC BOOK by Cheryl Willis Hudson
20 Bestselling Fiction
- Voices of the Harlem Renaissance: Originally Published as The New Negro an Interpretation by Alain Locke and Introduction by Troy Johnson
- Intermission by Phyllis R. Dixon
- Trinity by Zelda Lockhart
- Glorious by Bernice L. McFadden
- Alice in Dreamland by Roland S. Jefferson
- Dutchman and The Slave: Two Plays by Amiri Baraka
- The Man Who Lived Underground by Richard Wright
- Coleman Hill: A Biomythography by Kim Coleman Foote
- Running to Fall: A Novel by Kalisha Buckhanon
- River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer
- Mama Ruby by Mary Monroe
- Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb
- Every Day Is For The Thief: Fiction by Teju Cole
- Afrosf: Science Fiction by African Writers by Ivor W. Hartmann
- The Thing about Home by Rhonda McKnight
- Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
- Stories from the Tenants Downstairs by Sidik Fofana
- Rogue Justice: A Thriller by Stacey Abrams aka Selena Montgomery
- Gone Like Yesterday by Janelle M. Williams
- Sex Therapy by Shaun Sinclair
6 Bestselling Poetry Books
- So to Speak by Terrance Hayes
- Afrodisia;: New poems by Ted Joans
- Tisa: New-Generation African Poets, a Chapbook Box Set by Kwame Dawes and Chris Abani
- On The Imperial Highway: New And Selected Poems by Jayne Cortez
- Dream of a Word: The Tia Chucha Press Poetry Anthology by Quraysh Ali Lansana and Toni Asante Lightfoot
- The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South (Cave Canem Anthology) by Nikky Finney
20 Bestselling Nonfiction Books
- In Spite of the Consequences: Prison Letters on Exoneration, Abolition, and Freedom by Lacino Hamilton
- I Always Knew: A Memoir by Barbara Chase-Riboud
- Reparations on Fire: How and Why it’s Spreading Across America by Nkechi Taifa
- New Dimensions in African History by John Henrik Clarke
- Who Betrayed the African World Revolution?: And Other Speeches by John Henrik Clarke
- From The Browder File: 22 Essays On The African American Experience by Anthony Browder
- I Love My People by Kim Singleton
- Don’t Let Them Bury My Story: The Oldest Living Survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre in Her Own Words by Viola Ford Fletcher
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
- Police Brutality: An Anthology by Jill Nelson
- Africans at the Crossroads: African World Revolution by John Henrik Clarke
- Countering the Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys by Jawanza Kunjufu
- Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization by Anthony Browder
- The Last Holiday: A Memoir by Gil Scott-Heron
- How We Do It: Black Writers on Craft, Practice, and Skill by Jericho Brown
- The ISIS Papers: The Keys to the Colors by Frances Cress Welsing
- We Flew Over The Bridge: The Memoirs Of Faith Ringgold by Faith Ringgold
- The Destruction of Black Civilization: Great Issues of a Race from 4500 B.C. to 2000 A.D. by Chancellor Williams
- Motivating and Preparing Black Youth for Success by Jawanza Kunjufu
- Egypt On The Potomac by Anthony Browder
