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AALBC.com's 25 Bestselling Books
March 1st through April 30th 2009
Bestsellers list compiled from online sales via Amazon.

Also check out the bestselling Fiction and Nonfiction books for all of 2008

Fiction Nonfiction
#1

Purple Panties: An Eroticanoir.com Anthology
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by Zane (Editor)

ISBN: 1593091656
Number Of Pages: 320
Publication Date: May 06, 2008
Publisher: Strebor Books

Zane, the New York Times bestselling author and Queen of Erotic Fiction, brings a new collection of lesbian erotica that will blow the sheets off beds everywhere.

What happens when "The Finest Man" you have ever laid eyes on is a woman? What happens when a woman comes home to her man after a hard day's work with "Lipstick on Her Collar?" What happens when a married woman runs across the love of her life -- another woman -- who insists that "It's All or Nothing?" Is there such a thing as playing too "Hard to Get?" What happens when "Mom's Night Out" turns into group sex? What happens when you discover your true sexuality "At Last?" All of these questions and more are answered within the pages of Purple Panties.

Written by women from all over the world, here is a new level of lesbian erotica, compiled by Zane, that promises the most exciting and steamy reading experience possible. These stories move beyond race, age, and all walks of life, including long-hidden passions, secret rendezvous with strangers, and May-December romances.

With Zane's ever-growing popularity, and the need for increasingly quality erotica, Purple Panties will satisfy a long-standing demand for African-American lesbian literature.

In the tradition of such successful erotica anthologies as Chocolate Flava and Caramel Flava, Purple Panties uncovers a new world of evocative risk-taking that has never been explored before from a lesbian perspective. The adventures in these stories are beyond everyone's wildest imaginations.

#1

Barack Obama Presidential Vault
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by Avery Krut

Hardcover: 144 pages
Publisher: Whitman Publishing Publication Date:  Jan 8, 2009
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0794828515
ISBN-13: 978-0794828516
Product Dimensions: 12.6 x 10.9 x 1.7 inches

On the night of November 4, 2008, Barack Obama addressed the nation as the first African American to be elected president of the United States. It was the end of a race that had gripped the country more than any other. Every likely candidate would be a first in the White House, whether by race (Obama) or gender (Senator Hillary Clinton, Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin). This detailed scrapbook recreates one of the most inspiring presidential races in U.S. history.

Tucked among the pages is a treasure trove of memorabilia: souvenir replicas such as buttons, press passes, bumper stickers, posters, tickets, and more are set against a vivid narrative, historical photographs, and images from the campaign trail. You ll read the full text of Senator Obama s electrifying keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, and his American Promise speech from 2008, when he accepted the Democratic nomination.
#2

Missionary No More: Purple Panties 2
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by Zane (Editor)

Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Strebor Books (January 6, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1593092113
ISBN-13: 978-1593092115
Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches

Steamy, sensual and poetically hypnotic, Missionary No More: Purple Panties 2 is the follow-up to the bestseller Purple Panties.

No one can debate the fact that Zane knows sex. The Queen of Erotic Fiction has hit home run after home run in the literary arena with her literary offerings. Now comes the latest, a collection of lesbian erotica that will have readers squirming on the edge of their seats, curling up beneath the sheets, and fantasizing about the possibilities.

Including such stories as "The Namma's Nectar," "Coast to Coast" and "She Loved a Girl," Missionary No More gives an insight into a world where love and lust have no boundaries. Come take a journey through the eyes of several women who have one thing in common: an appreciation for female sensuality.

 #2

Faith in the Valley: Lessons for Women on the Journey to Peace
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by Iyanla Vanzant

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Fireside; 1 edition (May 8, 1996)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0684801132
ISBN-13: 978-0684801131
Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 3.8 x 0.2 inches

A companion volume to the best-selling Acts of Faith discusses the eight "valleys" that cause stress and imbalance for women of color and explains how women can cleanse their minds and promote a healthy foundation for living in the modern world. 125,000 first printing.

#3

Life Is Short But Wide
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by J. California Cooper

Hardcover: 256 pages 
Publisher: Doubleday (March 24, 2009) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 0385511345 
ISBN-13: 978-0385511346

Beloved writer J. California Cooper has won a legion of loyal fans and much critical acclaim for her powerful storytelling gifts. In language both spare and direct yet wondrously lyrical, LIFE IS SHORT BUT WIDE is an irresistible story of family that proves no matter who you are or what you do, you are never too old to chase your dreams.

Like the small towns J. California Cooper has so vividly portrayed in her previous novels and story collections, Wideland, Oklahoma, is home to ordinary Americans struggling to raise families, eke out a living, and fulfill their dreams. In the early twentieth century, Irene and Val fall in love in Wideland. While carving out a home for themselves, they also allow neighbors Bertha and Joseph to build a house and live on their land. The next generation brings two girls for Irene and Val, and a daughter for Bertha and Joseph. As the families cope with the hardships that come with changing times and fortunes, and people are born and pass away, the characters learn the importance of living one's life boldly and squeezing out every possible moment of joy.

Cooper brilliantly captures the cadences of the South and draws a picture of American life at once down-to-earth and heartwarming in this-as her wise narrator will tell you-’strange, sad, kind�a beautiful, life story.� It is a story about love that leads to the ultimate realization that whoever you are, and whatever you do, life is short, but it is also wide.

 #3

The Black Male Handbook: A Blueprint for Life
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by Kevin Powell (Author), Hill Harper (Foreword)

Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Atria (September 9, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416592245
ISBN-13: 978-1416592242

"This book may save your life." �Michael Eric Dyson

The Black Male Handbook is a collection of essays for Black males on surviving, living, and winning. Kevin Powell taps into the social and political climate rising in the Black community, particularly as it relates to Black males. This is a must-have book, not only for Black male readers, but the women who befriend, parent, partner, and love them.

The Black Male Handbook answers a collective hunger for new direction, fresh solutions to old problems, and a different kind of conversation -- man-to-man and with Black male voices, all of the hiphop generation. The book tackles issues related to political, practical, cultural, and spiritual matters, and ending violence against women and girls.

The book also features an appendix filled with useful readings, advice, and resources. The Black Male Handbook is a blueprint for those aspiring to thrive against the odds in America today.
#4

Queen Bitch: Part 4 (Bitch Series)
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by Deja King

Paperback: 231 pages
Publisher: A King Production (November 28, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0975581155
ISBN-13: 978-0975581155
Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches

In Queen Bitch, Precious has lost it all, her daughter, Aaliyah, the love of her life, Supreme, and the luxurious lifestyle she s grown accustomed to. The perpetrator of her demise is the very person she called family Maya. Precious learns the hard way, it s true what they say, blood is thicker than water, as Maya aligns herself with her brother, Pretty Boy Mike.

As Precious fights to escape the death sentence that awaits her, Maya is plotting to steal the life she believes is rightfully hers. But Precious has no plans of relinquishing her crown. She is willing to do anything, to make sure Maya pays for the deceit and devastation she has caused her family.

With the cards stacked against her, Precious has to gamble it all and use the only weapon she has left her street savvy brains to outwit the most dangerous enemies she s encountered yet. In this game where the winner takes all, who will come out on top the mentor or the prot�g�? Because there can only be one Queen Bitch.

 #4

I Played MONOPOLY With My Daddy: Financial Education For All Ages
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by Faith Scriven (Author)

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Paperback: 60 pages
Publisher: IUniverse (March 24, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0595497756

With the help of her Daddy, Faith shares with us how she went from playing the popular board game to playing a real-life Monopoly game and buying her first investment house. She teaches us the difference between assets and liabilities, and tells all about how she came to own her first business, DFS Enterprises with her sister, Destini (age 8), and her brother Sam (age 5). Faith also explains the importance of making good decisions and being responsible with money.From the Introduction by Dr. Tricia Edwards Scriven 

About the Author
Faith Scriven is 7 years old and is in 2nd Grade at Creek View Elementary School in Alpharetta, Georgia. She enjoys jumping rope, hula hooping, writing, and making money. Besides being a straight ?A? student, Faith owns real estate, a thriving business, and is a published author. She is a sought after empowerment speaker and would love to speak to your youth group about business, writing, or doing their best in life. Faith can be reached at www.enrichyourfamily.org.

#5

Head Bangers: An APF Sexcapade
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by Zane

ISBN: 1593092393
Label: Strebor Books
Manufacturer: Strebor Books
Number Of Pages: 128
Publication Date: June 09, 2009

Hope and Faith: two things that everyone needs to survive. But the words take on a different meaning in the form of a set of twins who attend Crockett University in Washington, D.C. As seniors, they are looking forward to a bright future in corporate America. Meanwhile, they have decided to relieve some of the stress involved in getting a higher education by being members of APF.

Soror Ride 'em High and Soror Lick 'em Low, originally hail from Atlanta and, like most twins, they share a connection. In fact, their physical bond is so strong, that one can often feel a pounding in her vagina while the other is engaged in sexual activity. But everything is not perfect when it comes to being a twin. Sometimes animosity and jealousy can creep in; especially when Hope and Faith find themselves both attracted to the same man on campus. Is blood really thicker than water? Or, in this case, thicker than basic carnal desires?

In this long-anticipated second volume in the APF series, a follow-up to The Sisters of APF: The Indoctrination of Soror Ride Dick, New York Times Bestselling Author Zane, once again proves why she is "The Queen of Erotic Fiction." Over the years many have tried to emulate her but Zane's imagination is not to be replicated any time in the near future. The freak nights of APF are some of the most artistic, exhilarating, erotic experiences that have ever graced the pages of a book; evidenced by the thousands of emails Zane has received over the years from women yearning to join the sorority.

The sexual revolution continues...within the pages of Head Bangers: An APF Sexcapade. 

 #5

100 Amazing Facts About the Negro With Complete Proof
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by J. A. Rogers

ISBN: 0960229477
Format: Paperback, 71pp
Pub. Date: January 1989
Publisher: Helga Rogers
Edition Description: REVISED

Written in the 1940's and published in 1957.

BLACK FACT:  White American slave-holders used to induce white women to marry Negro slaves in order to hold the women slaves for life.

PROOF: In Sept. 1664, Maryland passed a law that any white woman who married a 'Negro' should serve the master of such slave "for life." Slave-holders took advantage of this law to induce the white women, some of whom were recent arrivals, to marry the "Negroes." MacCormac says, "Instead of preventing such marriages this law enabled avaricious and unprincipled masters to convert many of their (white) servants into slaves." In 1681, the Legislature was forced to issue the following law: "Divers freeborn English or white women sometimes by the instigation, procurement, and connivance of their master.... and always to the satisfaction of their lascivious and lustful desires....do intermarry with 'Negroes' and other slaves, be it enacted that if any master....having any freeborn English or white woman servant in their possession or property, shall by any instigation, procurement, knowledge, permission or contrivance," cause her to marry a slave she should be free at once and the master should pay a fine of "10,000 lbs. of tobacco." (Archives of Maryland, Vol. I, pp. 433-34; and Vol. III, pp. 203-04, also Johns Hopkins University Studies in Hist. & Pol. Science, No. 3 & 4.) What is true of Maryland was true of other states.

#6

True to the Game II 
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by Teri Woods

Paperback: 304 pages 
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (November 1, 2007) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 0446581666

This is the sequel to Teri's amazing first novel True to the Game. Fans have been awaiting this story for over five years. TRUE TO THE GAME II will pick up where True to the Game left off-- with one difference, Gena is now seeing a new guy named Jay. Little does Gena know that the man she has fallen in love with, so soon after Quadir's death, is his archrival, Jerrell Jackson. Unfortunately, Jerrell is determined to get his revenge against Quadir's crew and he'll start with Gena.

 #6 

The Vixen Diaries
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by Karrine Steffans

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Grand Central
Pub. Date:  (Sept. 25, 2007)
ISBN-10: 0446582263

Watch a video of Karrine Steffans with AALBC.com founder.  Also read Karrine's interview with Kam Williams

This titillating expos� chronicles the personal and professional adventures of this tabloid-laden socialite, dispelling some rumors, while confirming others. Diaries unveils the heavily shrouded Hollywood backrooms and its coveted secrets. Offering her ardent fans answers to burning questions and presenting lessons learned, this book will surely not disappoint.

Karrine Steffans continues to dish out juicy gossip and the much sought after details of her star studded lifestyle and the celebrity men that helped her get where she needed to be.

Karrine draws you in to get an up-close and personal look at the Hollywood life of fast money and sex; all the things that make for a great movie. She discusses her interactions with people after the release of Confessions of a Video Vixen and how she copes with it all.

#7 

Succulent: Chocolate Flava II
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by Zane

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Atria (February 5, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416548831

Succulent: Chocolate Flava II is a collection of buck-wild and choco-holic erotica presented in a series of mind-blowing tales handpicked by Zane that also includes three original stories by the queen of erotica herself.

Succulent features twenty-seven tantalizing short stories to tease and please both him and her. For couples who want to heat things up or for singles who want to spark a fire, there are stories written especially for women, and others are penned expressly for men. From a psychic aficionado who finds more than tarot cards to spread or a m�nage � trois with a fifty-year-old woman, her husband, and his new girlfriend, to a lucky bachelor who finds himself with plenty of sexy presents on Christmas -- from a promiscuous mother and daughter -- the authors in this anthology take risks, pushing the envelope as they explore unique situations sure to set fire to your fantasies. These sensual stories turn Zane on and are sure to turn you on, too.

 #7

Five Negro Presidents
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by J. A. Rogers

Paperback: 19 pages
Publisher: Helga M. Rogers (May 1, 1965)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0960229485
ISBN-13: 978-0960229482
Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.1 inches

#8 

Dutch 3: The Finale
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by Kwame Teague (Teri Woods)

Paperback
Publisher: Teri Woods Publishing (2007)
ASIN: B001IW5XLA

The battle of supremacy between Rahman and Angel is over as Dutch has reclaimed his position. Bernard James, aka Dutch, is very much alive, doing well and is ready to take the world by storm, by any means necessary. Does Nina get her man? Will Goldilocks succeed? Is Dutch reunited with his father? Roc is a soul divided. Will he stay on his deen or be down with the team? What role does Angel play? All those questions and many more are answered in the final book of the long-awaited "Dutch" Trilogy. Street fiction's most highly anticipated novel is here! Author KWAME TEAGUE brings closure to the infamous trilogy. Enriched with colorful, unforgettable characters and full of drama, this trilogy is one of the best to date. He has carved a formidable niche in street fiction. Though I'm sad to see it come to an end, I look forward to Kwame's future endeavors. -OOSA Online Book Club

#8

Confessions of a Video Vixen
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by Karrine Steffans

ISBN: 0060842423
Format: Hardcover, 205pp
Pub. Date: June 2005
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Watch an AALBC.com Interview with Karrine Steffans

Glass vases filled with marbles crashed all around us as he began tossing linens from the bed. As the marbles scattered, we laughed in unison ... I remember the exact moment that I first laid on my back for him ... My legs were wrapped around his waist and just before his body was to merge with mine, I noticed his upper right chest. On it was a tattoo with the words "Pain is Love."

Confessions of a Video Vixen is the widely anticipated memoir of Karrine Steffans, the once sought-after sexy siren who appeared in the music videos of multiplatinum hip-hop artists such as Jay-Z, R. Kelly, and LL Cool J. A top-paid video dancer, Karrine transitioned to film when acclaimed director F. Gary Gray picked her to costar in his film A Man Apart, starring Vin Diesel. But the movie and music video sets, swanky Miami and New York restaurants, and trysts with the celebrities featured in the pages of People and In Touch magazines only skims the surface of Karrine's life.

This memoir -- part tell-all, part cautionary tale -- shows how Karrinne came to be the confidante of so many, why she kept their secrets, and how she found herself in Hollywood after a life marked by physical abuse, rape, and drugs -- all before she was twenty-six. By sharing her emotionally charged story, she hopes to shed light on an otherwise romanticized industry.
#9

Deadly Reigns II
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by Teri Woods

ISBN: 0977323412
Pub. Date: June 2006
Format: Paperback, 298pp
Publisher: Woods, Teri Publishing, LLC

Damian, Dante and Princess Reigns, America's most notoriously violent crime family is back. Except this time, they�re not at war with each other. they�re at war with an enemy they can�t see; an enemy who has more political power than they and is backed by an even more powerful secret entity.

Can they stand united and survive a war waged against them by El Jeffe, the commission, and the FBI? the family's only hope is in the hands of the brother that despised them all, Dajon Reigns. Deeply inexperienced and totally out of his depth, dajon takes on the treacherous waters of the narcotics underworld as well as the high and mighty world of international politics to save his family from complete and total destruction.

The stakes are high as the Reigns Empire is on the verge of collapse and the Reigns family is on the verge of demise. Will the reigns family survive this deadly storm?

 #9

Countering the Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys
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by Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu

ISBN: 0913543004
Format: Paperback, 77pp
Pub. Date: March 1987 
Publisher: African American Images

Advice for parents, educators, community, and church members is provided in this guide for ensuring that African American boys grow up to be strong, committed, and responsible African American men. This book answers such questions as Why are there more black boys in remedial and special education classes than girls? Why are more girls on the honor roll? When do African American boys see a positive black male role model? Is the future of black boys in the hands of their mothers and white female teachers? and When does a boy become a man? The significance of rite of passage activities, including mentoring, male bonding, and spirituality, are all described.
#10

The Sex Chronicles: Shattering the Myth
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by Zane

Format: Paperback, 2nd ed., 304pp.
ISBN: 0967460182
Publisher: Strebor Books International, LLC
Pub. Date: February  2001

After more than two years of entertaining tens of thousands of loyal readers on the Internet with her vivid imagination, a large collection of Zane's erotica is finally available in a published format. Zane has captivated the minds of both sexes and all races. She has completely shattered the myth that men are more sexual in nature than women and that African-American women in particular are inhibited compared to their female counterparts of other races.

The erotica collection is divided into three sections: Wild, Wilder and Off Da Damn Hook. Her characters run the gamut from the sensual housewife that wants her husband to experiment more to the secret underground sorority of women that let it all hang out literally.

 #10

Dear G-Spot: Straight Talk About Sex and Love
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by Zane

ISBN: 0743457056
Pub. Date: July 10, 2007
Format: Hardcover, 256pp
Publisher: Atria Books

Dear G-Spot includes real letters from real people, both women and men, who have sought Zane's advice over the years -- the preacher's wife worrying about being judged, the virgin, the guy next door, the gay man next door, the woman with low self-esteem, and the other woman with a sex drive over the moon.

In her own uniquely can-did and humorous way, Zane answers all your questions -- even questions you never thought to ask -- about making whoopee.

#11 - Imagine This
by Vickie Stringer
Click to order via Amazon

#12 -  Love Is Never Painless: Three Novellas
 Zane, Eileen M. Johnson & V. Anthony Rivers
Click to order via Amazon

#13 - True to the Game: A Teri Woods Fable
 by Teri Woods
Click to order via Amazon

#14 - True to the Game III
 by Teri Woods
Click to order via Amazon

#15 - One in a Million 
 by Kimberla Lawson Roby
Click to order via Amazon

#16 - The Bitch is Back
by Deja King
 Click to order via Amazon

#17 - The Best Way to Play: A Little Bill Book for Beginning Readers, Level 3 (Oprah's Book Club)
by Bill Cosby
Click to order via Amazon

#18 - A Man Most Worthy
by Marcus Major
 Click to order via Amazon

Read an AALBC.com Book Review

#19 - Death Before Dishonor
 by 50 Cent, Nikki Turner
Click to order via Amazon

#20 - Wild Stars Seeking Midnight Suns: Stories
by J. California Cooper
 Click to order via Amazon

#21 - Stackin' Paper
by Deja King
Click to order via Amazon

#22 - Pimp: The Story of My Life 
 by Iceberg Slim (aka Robert Beck)
 Click to order via Amazon

#23 - Deadly Reigns II
 by Teri Woods
Click to order via Amazon

#24 - Another Time, Another Place: Five Novellas
by Zane, Rique Johnson, Shawan Lewis, Dywane Birch, Janice Adams
Click to order via Amazon

#25 - The Last Prejudice
by David Rivera Jr.
Click to order via Amazon

 #11 - Keeping Black Boys out of Special Education
 by Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu
 Click to order via Amazon

#12 - Motivating and Preparing Black Youth for Success
by Jawanza Kunjufu
Click to order via Amazon

#13 - Age Ain't Nothing but a Number: Black Women Explore Midlife
 Carleen Brice Editor & Contributor
Click to order via Amazon

#14 - Raising Black Boys
by Jawanza Kunjufu
Click to order via Amazon

#15 - The Black Dancing Body: A Geography from Coon to Cool
by Brenda Dixon Gottschild
 Click to order via Amazon

Read an AALBC.com Book Review

#16 - The Next American Century: How the U.S. Can Thrive as Other Powers Rise
by Nina Hachigian & Mona Sutphen 
 Click to order via Amazon

#17 - World's Great Men of Color, Vol. 1
by Joel Augustus Rogers, John Henrik Clarke (Editor)
Click to order via Amazon

#18 - Africa's Gift to America: The Afro-American in the Making and Saving of the United States: With New Supplement, Africa and Its Potentialities
 by Joel Augustus Rogers
 Click to order via Amazon

#19 - The Mis-Education of the Negro
by Carter G. Woodson
Click to order via Amazon

#20 - Answered Prayer: Guaranteed!
by Frederick K. C. Price
 Click to order via Amazon

#21 - Generations in Black & White: Photographs by Carl Van Vechten from the James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection
by Carl Van Vechten (Author), Rudolph P. Byrd (Editor)
Click to order via Amazon

#22 - This Year You Write Your Novel
by Walter Mosley
Click to order via Amazon

#23 - To Be Popular or Smart: The Black Peer Group
by Jawanza Kunjufu
Click to order via Amazon

#24 - Just Like Martin
by Ossie Davis 
Click to order via Amazon

#25 - Crisis of the Black Intellectual
 by W.D. Wright
Click to order via Amazon

Read an AALBC.com Book Review

Our bestsellers list reflects sales generated via Amazon.com.  This list ranks book sales from March 1st through April 30th 2009.

For permission to reproduce this bestseller list, please contact troy@aalbc.com