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AALBC.com's Best Selling Books for September and October 2006
Fiction | Nonfiction |
#1
Addicted Format: Paperback, 336pp. Addicted is the story of Zoe, an African-American female arts dealer. It traces her life from the time she first meets her husband, Jason, in the fifth grade, falls in love with him over a game of Twister in the eighth grade, loses her virginity to him in high school and eventually marries him. Everything seems perfect in Zoe’s life to her friends and family as she secretly deals with serious problems in her marriage. After failing to get Jason to open up to her sexually, Zoe becomes involved in not one, not two but three extramarital affairs. By the time she seeks the aid of a prominent female African-American therapist, the walls of her picture perfect life have already started to crumble. The book shifts into high gear as Zoe finds out that everyone from her lovers to her husband to her own mother are hiding secrets of their own. Her best friend, Brina, is physically abused by her alcoholic boyfriend, Dempsey. Zoe discovers under hypnosis that her fascination with sex stems from two incidents in her early childhood she had buried deeply into the crevices of her mind. She is stalked and attacked. The book comes to a head on a cold, dark mountain following a trail of murders and the true murderer is anyone’s guess. Addicted does for women what Fatal Attraction did for men. It will make a woman think twice before risking it all. |
#1
The
Ditchdigger's Daughters: A Black Family's Astonishing Success Story Yvonne S. Thornton, M.D as told to Jo Coudert, Format: Hardcover, 272pp. The remarkable power of family values as articulated by an uneducated black man and his wife is played out in this loving memoir. Thornton is one of five daughters born to a laborer in a New Jersey shore town who was almost obsessed with the importance of education for his children and the nurturance of their talents. He strictly monitored their musical training, scrimping and wheedling where necessary to pay for their lessons. Eventually the Thornton Sisters Band was formed A family enterprise whose financial success became the source of the daughters' college tuition. Although only two of the girls fulfilled their father's dream that they become doctors, all of them have successful careers. This picture by Thornton and Coudert (Advice from a Failure) of a black man's single-minded devotion to his family is a tribute to an extraordinary father who transcended racial prejudice to raise appreciative daughters to be independent women. �Publishers Weekly |
#2
Getting
Buck Wild: Sex Chronicles 2, Vol. 2 Zane (Editor) ISBN: 0743457013 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. |
#2
Confessions
of a Video Vixen ISBN: 0060842423 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. |
#3
Wild Stars
Seeking Midnight Suns:
Stories ISBN: 0385511337 In stories that are simple yet elegant, hard-hitting yet poignant, J. California Cooper writes about the search for fulfillment that propels people’s dreams and desires. In �As Time Goes By� a young woman named Futila Ways grows up focusing her dream of a better future on material wealth, only to discover that having everything she ever wanted cannot compensate for the emptiness in her heart. �The Eye of the Beholder� recounts the story of an unattractive young girl, Lily Bea, whose search for love leads her to embrace her own brand of freedom. And in �Catch a Falling Heart� a woman mildly crippled in a fall endures loneliness and solitude until she finds a man and provides a resting place for his love. Each story beautifully conveys the profound human need to seek some sort of satisfaction, just as a wild star seeks a midnight sun. J. California Cooper’s insights into the hearts and souls of ordinary people and her irresistible storytelling voice have endeared her to fans and critics. As Ms. magazine wrote, �Cooper’s stories beckon. It is as if she is patting the seat next to us, enticing us to come sit and listen.� |
#3
The
Covenant with Black America
Tavis Smiley (Editor) ISBN: 0883782774 Six years' worth of symposiums come together in this rich collection of essays that plot a course for African Americans, explaining how individuals and households can make changes that will immediately improve their circumstances in areas ranging from health and education to crime reduction and financial well-being. Each chapter outlines one key issue and provides a list of resources, suggestions for action, and a checklist for what concerned citizens can do to keep their communities progressing socially, politically, and economically. Though the African American community faces devastating social disparities�in which more than 8 million people live in poverty�this celebration of possibility, hope, and strength will help leaders and citizens keep Black America moving forward. |
#4
Chocolate
Flava: The Eroticanoir.com Anthology Zane (Editor) ISBN: 0743482387 As a best-selling author and successful publisher of Strebor Books, Zane's name is synonymous with popular fiction -- especially erotica. Her website, Eroticanoir.com, gets over a million hits a year from around the world, and her fans look forward to every one of her publishing ventures with eager anticipation. Chocolate Flava is the first in a series of collections of great erotic fiction edited by Zane, the reigning queen of erotica. Based on the Featured Erotica section of her website, Chocolate Flava gathers twenty-five sizzling tales from some of the most talented -- and dedicated -- writers of erotica working today. This is a his-and-her collection. There are stories specifically written with female readers in mind, and others written expressly for men. Among the contributors are names already familiar to readers of erotica, such as Reginald Harris, Robert Edison Sandiford, Jonathan Luckett and, of course, Zane -- as well as emerging voices, such as Geneva Barnes and Robert Scott Adams. What they all have in common is that they are great at what they do, and have been handpicked by Zane -- an editor who knows a hot story when she sees it. Zane wanted stories "that took risks, that explored unique situations, that were creative beyond compare." She wanted to show that men and women can equally express themselves through the medium of erotic fiction. She wanted stories that would turn her on. This collection of selected sexy short stories will turn you on, too. |
#4
Enough: The
Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are
Undermining Black America--and What We Can Do About It ISBN: 0307338231 Half a century after brave Americans took to the streets to raise the bar
of opportunity for all races, Juan Williams writes that too many black
Americans are in crisis-caught in a twisted hip-hop culture, dropping out of
school, ending up in jail, having babies when they are not ready to be
parents, and falling to the bottom in twenty-first-century global economic
competition. |
#5
Shame On It All Format: Paperback, 320pp. Can you say WILD? Can you say FREAKY DEAKY? Can you say in your best Shananae imitation, "Oh my goodness! No she didn't even go there!" If you can say all of that, then you can probably handle reading this book. However, the only thing you will be able to say after you finish it is "Shame on it all!" Thus, the title. Harmony, Bryce and Lucinda aka Lucky Whitfield are sisters in the truest sense of the word. They argue and they get on each other's nerves but when it comes down to the wire, they are extremely protective of one another. One brotha in particular has to find out the hard way that if you mess with one of the Whitfield sisters, you mess with the whole family. Shame On It All is a dramady about their adventures, their friendships, their love lives and their outlooks on situations facing most African-American women in today's society. Harmony, the oldest, is the conservative type. A successful business owner who often puts in long hours to make extra money to help support her younger sisters. She is often torn between doing what's right and doing what feels good but there is one thing she doesn't sway her opinion on and that's the physical and emotional welfare of Bryce and Lucky. Bryce, the middle sister, is fascinated with two things; hair weaves and hellified sex in that order. She is by far the wildest of the Whitfield crew. While she often talks trash about Harmony to her face, she simply will not tolerate it from anyone else. Sometimes rowdy and always uninhibited, Bryce takes no prisoners when it comes to getting what she wants out of life. Lucky, the baby of the bunch, is a thriving medical school student and as Afrocentric as they come. She brings a degree of balance to the often volatile conversations between her two older siblings but sometimes she lacks good judgment when it comes to relationships with men. Fatima, Harmony's best friend, wants out of a troubled marriage to a wealthy businessman. She is willing to do just about anything to get him out of her life and with the aid of a few trusted friends, she does just that in the most unique way. Colette, Bryce's best friend, puts the H in hoochie. She spends the majority of her time macking men. That is, until she meets her match in the form of a male stripper sporting a 2 x 4 between his legs. Jam-packed with unpredictable, unbelievable and just downright crazy situations with a few surprising twists thrown in for good measure, Shame On It All is as wild as they come. The five sections of Shame On It All are separated by four commercials, adding to the uniqueness the book. All of the people featured in the commercials end up as minor characters in the book. |
#5
From Niggas to Gods, Part
One ISBN: 1564110648 From the Publisher |
#6
Some
People, Some Other Place ISBN: 0385496826 J. California Cooper returns with a sweeping novel about love and heartbreak, perseverance and luck, telling her tale with an insight and grace that reaffirms Alice Walker's words of praise for her previous works: "Her style is deceptively simple and direct and the vale of tears in which her characters reside is never so deep that a rich chuckle at a person's foolishness cannot be heard." In her acclaimed novels and short stories, J. California Cooper has created moving portraits of people striving to make their way in a hard, often unjust world. Whether it explores the blatant racial and class biases of nineteenth-century America or the more subtle forms of discrimination that exist today, "It is the universality of her themes that has made Ms. Cooper's work popular," as the Dallas Morning News has written. Some People, Some Other Place is Cooper's biggest, most far-reaching novel to date. A multigenerational tale, it is set in a town called "Place," on a street named "Dream Street." In the words of the novel's narrator, "the block surely had about it a feeling of long accumulation of history, of life, of many lives intertwined." As she chronicles the interlocking lives of the residents of Dream Street, Cooper places the stories of the individuals and their families within the wider context of America's social and economic history. We meet the narrator's great grandparents, who left the poverty of the Deep South in 1895 and made their way to a farm in Oklahoma; her grandparents, who continued the northward journey with their eyes on the promised jobs of the industrial Midwest but were forced to settle without reaching their goal; and her mother, who finishes the journey and discovers that life at 903 Dream Street carries new burdens as well as rewards. The neighbors on the block are people of all colors, all striving to overcome personal troubles and disappointments, and all holding fast to their dreams of a better life. |
#6
A Heckuva Job: More of the Bush Administration in Rhyme ISBN: 1400065569 From the Publisher |
#7
Birth
of a Nation : A Comic Novel Aaron McGruder, Reginald Hudlin, Kyle Baker (Illustrator) ISBN: 1400048591 This scathingly hilarious political satire--produced from
a collaboration of three of our funniest humorists--answers the burning
question: Would anyone care if East St. Louis seceded from the Union? |
#7
Countering
the Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys ISBN: 0913543004 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. |
#8
Caramel Flava: The Eroticanoir.com Anthology Zane (Editor)
ISBN: 074329727X
Zane, the queen of
erotic fiction and publisher of Strebor Books, an imprint of Atria
Books/Simon & Schuster, presents the second in a series of collections of
great erotic fiction. Based on the Featured Erotica section of her website,
Eroticanoir.com, which gets more than three million hits a year from around
the world, these sensual tales, handpicked by Zane, are sure to please her
fans. |
#8
Developing
Positive Self-Images & Discipline in Black Children
ISBN: 0913543012 This book discusses what's the relationship between self esteem and student achievement? Find the answers to this and other questions in this book. |
#9
Dirty Red ISBN: 0743493486 In a scorching tale of love, lies, loss, and the indomitable spirit of a woman scorned, we meet Red in the midst of her game -- on the toilet of her boyfriend's apartment, faking a pregnancy. An eighteen-year-old expert at deception with a provocative femininity, Red employs her dirty ways to win a closet full of Gucci bags, a deluxe condominium full of baby accessories, a new car, and a book deal. But when Red's scams backfire and she winds up truly pregnant by her inmate ex-boyfriend, Bacon, Red finds herself in more trouble than she's ever known. The drama unravels when Red's picture-perfect cons fall apart due to the power of -- surprisingly -- love. |
#9
Forty
Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete
ISBN: 0609601202
Read an AALBC.com Book Review
From Jackie Robinson to Muhammad Ali and Arthur Ashe, African American
athletes have been at the center of modern culture, their on-the-field
heroics admired and stratospheric earnings envied. But for all their money,
fame, and achievement, says New York Times columnist William C. Rhoden,
black athletes still find themselves on the periphery of true power in the
multibillion-dollar industry their talent built. |
#10
Invisible
Life: Fifth Anniversary Edition Format:
Hardcover, 5th ed., 262pp. Available at last, E. Lynn Harris's beloved first novel in a hardcover edition. Just a few years ago, E. Lynn Harris was
selling his self-published novel Invisible Life out of the back of
his car. Today he is a best-selling publishing sensation, with more than one
million copies of his four novels sold. To celebrate Harris's incredible
success, and offer his fans the opportunity to own, at last, a hardcover
version of Invisible Life, Doubleday is proud to announce a special
edition of the book so many have cherished. |
#10
Satan,
I'm Taking Back My Health! ISBN: 0913543675 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. |
Interesting Stats:
The Zane Effect: In the top 10, Zane's titles account for 72% of all book sold |
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Fiction to Non fiction ratio: Fiction 28% to Nonfiction 72% (Highest ratio for nonfiction titles ever) |
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The Best Selling Book: The Ditchdigger's Daughters |
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Highly Touted New Comer: Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America--and What We Can Do About It |
AALBC.com generates book sales directly and through a number of affiliate programs. Our bestsellers list reflects sales generated via Amazon.com. This list ranks book sales from September 1st through October 20th 2006.
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