|
AALBC.com's
Best Selling Books for September and October 2005
 |
The Zane Effect 53% of
the top 10 fiction titles sold
(trending downward but still amazingly high)
|
 |
Fiction to Non fiction ratio 51% to 49% (highest ever for non-fiction)
|
 |
Top Selling Book (most number of copies sold): Confessions of a Video
Vixen
|
 |
Highest Conversion Ratio: Vivid - 71% of people who clicked link actually
purchased book (Ratio for all books on AALBC.com = 6.28%)
|
 |
Sleeper Title: Bourbon Street (look for this title to continue to slowly
grow in popularity)
|
|
Fiction |
Nonfiction |
| #1
The
Interruption of Everything
Click to order via
Amazon or
Barnes and Noble
by
Terry McMillan
ISBN: 0670031445
Format: Hardcover, 384pp
Pub. Date: July 19, 2005
Publisher: Viking Adult
Since Terry McMillan's breakout novel Waiting To Exhale
surged onto the bestseller lists, critics and readers alike have been
captivated by her irreverent, often-hilarious take on the issues faced by
contemporary women. With The Interruption of Everything she picks up,
pitch-perfect, the dilemmas of midlife: an empty nest. Hormones gone wild.
Too many irrelevant demands and too little room to breathe.
Marilyn Grimes is about ready to jump out of her skin. She's the
consummate wife and mother of three grown kids. She's got a
no-great-shakes-but-a-good-provider of a husband, Leon; and a live-in
mother-in-law, Arthurine, who comes with a bingo-playing beau, Prezell, and
an elderly pooch, Snuffy. Marilyn's two best friends, Paulette and Bunny,
are the quintessential take-no-prisoners, vintage McMillan girlfriends who
will be there when Marilyn jumps, but . . . she's just not sure exactly
where that will be . . . or when. First, she needs to remember what she used
to love and call back some of her own postponed dreams. But just as
Marilyn's plans for making changes are taking shape, life comes up with a
few twists of its own. Suddenly Marilyn must reinvent just about everything:
marriage, friendship, family-and not least of all, herself.
The Interruption of Everything is a triumphant testament to the
fact that the detour is the path, and living life "by the numbers" never
quite adds up.
|
#1
Confessions
of a Video Vixen
Click to order via
Amazon or
Barnes and Noble
by Karrine Steffans
ISBN: 0060842423
Format: Hardcover, 205pp
Pub. Date: June 2005
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Read an AALBC.com Book Review by
Kam Williams
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. |
| #2
The
Sex Chronicles: Shattering the Myth
Click to order via
Amazon or
Barnes and Noble
by
Zane
Format: Paperback, 2nd ed., 304pp.
ISBN: 0967460182
Publisher: Strebor Books International, LLC
Pub. Date: February 2001
Edition Desc: 2 ED
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. |
#2
Countering
the Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys
Click to order via
Amazon or
Barnes and Noble
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. |
| #3
Devil
In The Mist
Click to order via Amazon or Barnes and Noble by
Diane Dorce
ISBN: 0971201951
Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: November 2004
Publisher: Door of Kush
Diane Dorce evokes true terror in this sexy, suspenseful,
thriller from Door of Kush.
Atlanta, years after the Olympics, decades after Jim Crow,
forges ahead and becomes the number one city in the nation, for murder. In
the heart of Atlanta, the city too busy to hate, the powers that be
converge, murder is a blurb and death is sold to the highest bidder.
Detective Zack Monstar is put in charge of a bizarre murder case involving
two local men. To every one including Zack, it was obvious they were shot,
that was his first deduction, until Medical Examiner Bobby Semien produced
other evidence that proved at least one of the men may have been exposed or
injected with a deadly virus, the same virus that is sweeping the nations of
Africa, killing thousands daily. |
#3
 Race
Matters
Click to order via
Amazon or
Barnes and Noble
by
Dr. Cornel West
Format: Hardcover, 112pp.
ISBN: 0807009180
Publisher: Beacon Press
Pub. Date: March 1993
Read an AALBC.com review
The scholar, theologian, and activist who has
been acclaimed as one of the most eloquent voices in our ongoing racial
debate now bridges the gulf between black and white America in a work of
enormous resonance and moral authority. West takes on the questions of
politics, economics, ethics, and spirituality and addresses the crisis in
black leadership.
Race Matters contains West's most powerful essays on the
issues relevant to black Americans today: despair, black conservatism,
black-Jewish relations, myths about black sexuality, the crisis in
leadership in the black community, and the legacy of Malcolm X. And the
insights that he brings to these complicated problems remain fresh,
exciting, creative, and compassionate. Now more than ever, Race Matters is a
book for all Americans, as it helps us to build a genuine multiracial
democracy in the new millennium. |
| #4
The
Sisters of APF: The Indoctrination of Soror Ride Dick
Click to order via Amazon or Barnes and Noble
by
Zane
ISBN: 0743466985
Format: Hardcover, 304pp
Pub. Date: April 2003
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
The Sisters of APF
is Zane's first book based on one of her most popular short story subjects,
the sexy escapades of a sorority like no other.
APF stands for Alpha Phi Fuckem,
a sorority dedicated to sexual freedom and the fulfillment of its members.
Zane's APF stories have appeared in her earlier collections, including The
Sex Chronicles: Shattering the Myth, and are favorites among her readers.
Many readers have written to Zane
and asked to join the sorority or to launch a new chapter in their region.
APF is fantasy, but the enthusiasm of Zane's fans is real. So now, with The
Sisters of APF, she's offering readers what they want, a book-length story
chronicling the adventures -- and recruitment process -- of the fearlessly
sexy women of APF.
Mary Ann is
the daughter of a chicken farmer from South Dakota. She has never been more
than fifty miles from home and has led a sheltered life. By the time she
goes off to college in Washington, D.C., she has been intimate with only one
man -- her high school sweetheart. The resident manager of Mary Ann's
dormitory, Patricia, befriends the country bumpkin. She finds Mary Ann
amusing, but also senses something intriguing about her, hidden under the
surface. After Mary Ann becomes smitten with Trevor, the campus playboy,
Patricia is determined to show Mary Ann how not to be a victim, but rather
how to outdo the players and heartbreakers. She indoctrinates Mary Ann into
the ranks of the sexiest secret society ever: the sisters of APF. |
#4
Satan,
I'm Taking Back My Health!
Click to order via
Amazon or
Barnes and Noble
by
Jawanza Kunjufu
ISBN:
0913543675
Format: Paperback, 200pp
Pub. Date: March 2000
Publisher: African American Images
This unique look at health care interprets scriptures of the Bible and
adapts and applies the wisdom found there to modern ways of life. These
scriptures teach that the prevention of diseases is not in the hands of
doctors, but rather in what individuals eat and how they live. Health-minded
Americans will learn how to avoid the disease-causing preservatives, growth
hormones, and pesticides of the meat and dairy industries that pollute the
once-fresh foods that the public consumes. Also included is an in-depth
discussion of Satan's influence on the advertising industry and how it is
linked to drug, cigarette, and alcohol addictions among the American
people. |
| #5
Vivid
Click to order via
Amazon
or
Barnes and Noble
by
Beverly E.
Jenkins
Format: Paperback, 391pp.
ISBN: 0595162029
Publisher: iUniverse.com, Incorporated
Pub. Date: December 2000
An AALBC Best Selling Book
April 2001
It's 1786 and Dr. Viveca Lancaster is
frustrated by the limits placed upon female physicians of color. When she is
offered the chance to set up a practice in the small all Black community of
Grayson Grove, Michigan she leaves her California home and heads east. The
very determined Viveca is one of the few nineteenth century Black women to
graduate from the prestigious Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania but
she needs more than determination to facedown handsome Nate Grayson, the
Grove's bull-headed mayor. Nate Grayson goes to the train station expecting
Dr. V. Lancaster to be a man. When the lovely dark-skinned Viveca introduces
herself he is speechless, then wants her back on the train and out of his
town. It's 1876 and women aren't supposed to be doctors, men are. However he
isn't prepared for her stubbornness and fire, nor for the vivid way she
heals, then steals his heart. |
#5
Keeping
Black Boys out of Special Education
Click to order via
Amazon
or
Barnes and Noble
Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu
ISBN: 0974900028
Format: Paperback, 200pp
Pub. Date: August 2005
Publisher: African American Images
This critical analysis looks at the disproportionate
number of African American males in special education. Arguing that the
problem is race and gender driven, questions covered include Why does
Europe send more females to special education? Why does America lead the
world in giving children Ritalin? Is there a relationship between sugar,
Ritalin, and cocaine? and Is there a relationship between special
education and prison? More than 100 strategies to help teachers and
parents keep black boys in the regular classroom, such as revising teacher
expectations, increasing parental involvement, changing teaching styles from
a left-brain abstract approach to a right brain hands-on approach, redoing
the curriculum, understanding the impact of mass media, and fostering
healthy eating habits. |
| #6
Afterburn
Click to order via
Amazon or
Barnes and Noble
by
Zane
ISBN: 0743470974
Format: Hardcover, 320pp
Pub. Date: January 2005
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
In the latest romantic romp from New York Times
bestselling author Zane, two hapless lovers get lost in a dating game gone
awry.
When Washington, D.C., chiropractor Yardley Brown goes to
his local bank, it isn't only to make deposits into his account. He has long
since accrued some interest in Rayne Waters, a bank employee who's too
beautiful to be true -- and too beautiful to be single. At least that's what
Yardley believes, which is why he has never approached her.
Little does he know that Rayne is anything but taken. Not
for want of trying, of course. But after barely surviving a dating disaster
with her hairdresser's brother and then falling for a member of her church
band who, it turns out, is celibate, she's on the verge of giving up. That
is, until Yardley -- discouraged by his own slew of dead-end romances --
finally works up the courage to give her a try.
The true craziness, however, is just beginning, thanks to
a cast of characters who seem bent on botching the young couple's
relationship.
There's Rayne's erratic mother, who constantly boasts
about being a "good whore"; Yardley's playboy buddies, always trolling for
sex; and, worst of all, past lovers who make a habit of popping up and
ruining things as only old flames (or previous mistakes) can. Weaving the
carnal and the comical in true Zane fashion, Rayne and Yardley's struggle to
find love in a world gone mad is a timeless talk about everything that can
go wrong in the dating game -- and a few things that can go right. |
#6
100
Amazing Facts about the Negro with Complete Proof
Click to
order via
Amazon or
Barnes and Noble
by
Joel Augustus
Rogers
ISBN: 0960229477
Format: Paperback, 71pp
Pub. Date: January 1989 (originally published in 1934)
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.
|
| #7
Bourbon
Street
Click to order via
Amazon
or
Barnes and Noble
by
Leonce Gaiter
ISBN: 0786714328
Format: Hardcover, 169pp
Pub. Date: December 2004
Publisher: Avalon Publishing Group
Read an AALBC.com
Book Review by
Thumper
"With a stranger's eye and a Texan's gait, Deke
Watley makes his way through the riot of color and noise on Bourbon Street
to the wrought-iron gates of the hotel Moreau. He is expected; he's come for
August Moreau's private game. Deke is a gambler, and he's toted up some good
winnings at poker, only the stakes he'll be playing for in New Orleans could
cost him his life." "Like decadent, dangerous, lush New Orleans itself, this
first novel set in 1958 entangles the wary yet unsuspecting Deke in coils of
deceit and revenge. For everywhere, whether he's brooding over a drink at
the Ten Spot Bar or hobbling through the house of horrors at a deserted
amusement park or jousting with Mardi Gras revelers in the sleepless city's
raucous streets, Deke's destiny is stalking him; and often it does not wear
a mask." "From the moment Deke enters the plush world of the blinded but
still powerful white business magnate August Moreau and his mulatto son -
the mercurial, angry, wildly inventive Alexander - no one that Deke
encounters is quite what he seems. Not the desk clerk, who hides half his
face in a black silk sheath; not the well-spoken bellhop, who carries a
loaded pistol in his expensive tailored suits. Not the smart and slutty
Stacy or her timid husband, Pritchett. And certainly not the elusive,
beautiful Hannah: She once killed a man, although that was some years after
the time Deke knew, and abandoned, her in a small town back in Texas."
Destiny may have stacked its deck against him, yet Deke has got no choice.
He's a gambler, and no matter how perilous his alliances, how deadly the
consequences, he can only play out the hand he's been dealt. |
#7
Democracy
Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism
Click to order via
Amazon or
Barnes and Noble
by
Cornel West
ISBN: 1594200297
Format: Hardcover, 256pp
Pub. Date: September 2004
Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The
In Democracy Matters, West returns to the analysis
of the arrested development of democracy-both in America and in the
crisis-ridden Middle East. In a strikingly original diagnosis, he argues
that if America is to become a better steward of democratization around the
world, we must first wake up to the long history of imperialist corruption
that has plagued our own democracy. Both our failure to foster peace in the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the crisis of Islamist anti-Americanism
stem largely from hypocrisies in our dealings with the world. Racism and
imperial expansionism have gone hand in hand in our country's inexorable
drive toward hegemony, and our current militarism is only the latest
expression of that drive. Even as we are shocked by Islamic fundamentalism,
our own brand of fundamentalism, which West dubs Constantinian Christianity,
has joined forces with imperialist corporate and political elites in an
unholy alliance, and four decades after the murder of Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr., insidious racism still inflicts debilitating psychic pain on so
many of our citizens.
But there is a deep democratic tradition in America of
impassioned commitment to the fight against imperialist corruptions-the last
great expression of which was the civil rights movement led by Dr. King-and
West brings forth the powerful voices of that great democratizing tradition
in a brilliant and deeply moving call for the revival of our better
democratic nature. His impassioned and provocative argument for the
revitalization of America's democracy will reshape the terms of the raging
national debate about America's role in today's troubled world. |
| #8
Breaking
the Cycle
Click to order via
Amazon or
Barnes and Noble
Zane (Editor)
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Strebor Books
Pub. Date:
March 29, 2005
ISBN: 1593090218
Breaking the Cycle is a stunning and moving anthology of
stories, each of which focuses on an aspect of domestic abuse. This powerful
collection is sure to serve as a wake-up call for people either dealing with
a domestic abuse situation, or those watching someone else endure it.
In the title story, Zane describes the turmoil that a
young girl suffers at the hands of her stepfather. The girl and her mother
plan their escape, but at the last minute the mother falters—causing her to
break down and tell her daughter the long history of domestic abuse in her
own family. In D.V. Bernard’s “The Lonely Echoes of My Youth,” readers are
introduced to a young boy who witnesses an alluring young girl who
encourages the boys around her to physically fight one another until they
become violent by nature. And Nane Quartay’s provocative story “The
Grindstone,” a tale based on the author’s own experience, describes a boy
who witnesses a brutal murder, in which a woman decapitates her abusive
husband with a machete. The boy’s mother is a victim of abuse herself, and
as her son relates the story over and over, she starts speculating about the
benefits of sharpening knives on a grindstone.
These stories capture the dangerous realities of domestic
abuse, while also pointing toward the steps that need to be taken to break
the cycle that perpetuates it. It is sure to serve as a rallying cry for all
those who desire victory over their own victimization, and a guide for
understanding the complex undercurrents that make such patterns possible. |
#8
Never
Satisfied : How & Why Men Cheat
Click to order via
Amazon or
Barnes and Noble
by Michael
Baisden
Format: Paperback, 3rd ed., 254pp.
ISBN: 0964367580
Publisher: Legacy Publishing
Pub. Date: January 1995
The book is a collection of interviews of men who have cheated. It
examines how men are raised from childhood to be unfaithful and how parents
play a large part in creating cheaters. It also takes a hard look at the
role of the other woman as well as the tolerant wives and girlfriends. Never
before has a book dealt with infidelity on such a realistic level. This is a
book every woman and man should read
|
| #9
Gettin' Buck Wild : Sex Chronicles II (Zane Does Incredible, Erotic
Things)
Click to order via
Amazon or
Barnes and Noble
Zane (Editor)
ISBN: 0743457021
Format: Papervback 304pp
Pub. Date: November 2003
Publisher: Atria Books
Zane is back with Gettin' Buck Wild: Sex Chronicles II,
more stories for the legion of readers that made The Sex Chronicles a
bestseller.
Zane's erotic short stories have captivated the minds of
both sexes and all races. The Sex Chronicles: Shattering the Myth did
exactly what its title implies -- exploded 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 cultures.
|
#9
Zero
Debt: The Ultimate Guide to Financial Freedom
Click to order via
Amazon or
Barnes and Noble
by
Lynnette Khalfani
ISBN: 1932450750
Format: Paperback, 208pp
Pub. Date: September 2004
Publisher: Advantage World Press
Would you like to be free from financial worries, rest at
night knowing your bills are paid, and have peace of mind when it comes to
money matters? Then you need Zero Debt - a 30-day action plan to fix your
finances.
In Zero Debt, you'll discover:
- How to get annoying creditors off your back
- Insider secrets to reduce interest rates or eliminate credit card late
fees
- Your legal rights – and what bill collectors can and can not do under
the law
- The best strategies to clean up your credit report or fix errors in
your credit file
- How to make lifestyle changes that will save you money for decades to
come!
If you want to be debt-free and achieve financial freedom, you need an
action plan to guide you. This book is your step-by-step plan. It’s simple.
It’s easy to understand. And it works.
The author, Lynnette Khalfani, has personally conquered more than
$100,000 in credit card debt. And she did it WITHOUT filing for bankruptcy
protection, enrolling in a debt management program or getting credit
counseling. If Lynnette could tackle her bills and achieve ZERO DEBT status,
so can you! |
| #10
Nervous
Click to order via
Amazon or
Barnes and Noble
by
Zane
ISBN: 0743476239
Format: Hardcover, 304pp
Pub. Date: September 2003
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
Zane's legion of fans can't get enough of her way of
telling a juicy, sexy story. Now, the New York Times bestselling queen of
erotica brings us a tale of a woman with a split personality -- one highly
sexed and one sexually repressed.
Jonquinette Pierce has always been nervous when it comes to men. She took
a job dealing with mostly women so she could avoid men. She goes to work and
comes straight home during the week, but on the weekends her other self,
Jude, takes over and goes on intense sexual escapades.
Jonquinette recognizes that her alter ego is a problem and seeks to
resolve it with the help of Dr. Marcella Spencer, the psychiatrist Zane
originated in her bestselling novel Addicted. Jude's response is to get
angry and go on a sexual rampage. In the meantime, Jonquinette becomes
interested in her new neighbor, Mason, after having a conversation with him
at a mutual friend's wedding. Jude has no intention of letting Jonquinette
fall in love and find happiness at her expense. Jude is having way too much
fun using the body she shares with Jonquinette. This "two faces of Eve"
scenario is a fun fantasy for women who have imagined their own alter ego
behaving badly in a sexual way. But for the leading lady of Nervous, this is
a nightmare. Based on a short story of the same title from her bestselling
collection, The Sex Chronicles, Nervous is classic Zane with an edge. So,
relax, sit back. You're in for a nerve-tingling read. |
#10
Black
Students, Middle Class Teachers
Click to order via
Amazon or
Barnes and Noble
by
Jawanza
Kunjufu
ISBN: 0913543810
Format: Paperback, 200pp
Pub. Date: September 2002
Publisher: African American Images
This compelling look at the relationship between the
majority of African American students and their teachers provides answers
and solutions to the hard-hitting questions facing education in today's
black and mixed-race communities. Are teachers prepared by their college
education departments to teach African American children? Are schools
designed for middle-class children and, if so, what are the implications for
the 50 percent of African Americans who live below the poverty line? Is the
major issue between teachers and students class or racial difference? Why do
some of the lowest test scores come from classrooms where black educators
are teaching black students? How can parents negotiate with schools to
prevent having their children placed in special education programs? Also
included are teaching techniques and a list of exemplary schools that are
successfully educating African Americans. |
AALBC.com generates book sales directly and through a number of affiliate
programs. Our bestsellers list reflects sales generated via Amazon.com.
This ranks book sales from September 1st through October 21st.
For permission to reproduce this bestseller list, please
contact
troy@aalbc.com
|
|