#1
Months on List: 11
A reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn told from the enslaved Jim’s point of view.
James: A Novel
by Percival Everett • Doubleday Books (March 19, 2024) • 11 Months on List
#2
Months on List: 13
A novel about small-town secrets and the people who keep them.
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
by James Mcbride • Riverhead Books (August 8, 2023) • 13 Months on List
#3
Months on List: 1
A Nigerian American writer grapples with fame, family, and creative control after her speculative novel about AI and humanity becomes a cultural phenomenon, blurring the lines between author and story.
Death Of The Author
by Nnedi Okorafor • William Morrow & Company (January 14, 2025) • 1 Months on List
#4
Months on List: 1
A woman haunted by her brother’s unsolved death and a shattered family heirloom uncovers buried truths that tie her personal heartbreak to a deeper ancestral legacy.
Good Dirt
by Charmaine Wilkerson • Ballantine Books (January 28, 2025) • 1 Months on List
#5
Months on List: 1
A pioneering editor and writer navigates love, ambition, and scandal as she helps launch the <a href="https://aalbc.com/content.php?title=The+Harlem+Renaissance">Harlem Renaissance</a> and elevates a generation of Black literary voices.
Harlem Rhapsody
by Victoria Christopher Murray • Berkley Books (February 4, 2025) • 1 Months on List
#6
Months on List: 5
In this dark comedy, aspiring novelist Jane navigates reinvention and the racial identity-industrial complex with Hollywood ambitions, enticing a hot-shot producer with the promise of the <em>Jackie Robinson of biracial comedies,</em> striving for success while grappling with unexpected setbacks.
Colored Television
by Danzy Senna • Riverhead Books (September 3, 2024) • 5 Months on List
#7
Months on List: 1
In this posthumously published novel, a reimagined Herod the Great emerges not as a biblical villain but as a visionary leader navigating power, politics, and faith in a turbulent first-century Judea.
The Life Of Herod The Great
by Zora Neale Hurston • Amistad Press (January 7, 2025) • 1 Months on List
#8
Months on List: 4
Winter Santiaga navigates the aftermath of a near-death experience, balancing spiritual reckoning with her unrelenting desires for love, revenge, and success in a vivid, hip-hop-infused narrative.
Love After Midnight
by Sister Souljah • Atria Books (October 8, 2024) • 4 Months on List
#9
Months on List: 12
A free-spirited florist and a mysterious musician discover a deep connection amidst the magic and history of modern Harlem.
A Love Song For Ricki Wilde
by Tia Williams • Grand Central Publishing (February 6, 2024) • 12 Months on List
#10
Months on List: 1
In Walter Mosley's latest mystery novel, terminally-ill P.I. Joe King Oliver embarks on a personal quest to locate his estranged father, while navigating the moral complexities of a new case that challenges his professional ethics and personal principles.
Been Wrong So Long It Feels Like Right: A King Oliver Novel
by Walter Mosley • Mulholland Books (January 28, 2025) • 1 Months on List
#11
Months on List: 1
In 1980s Chicago, a young, queer Black man named Isaac navigates personal reinvention and social unrest, rediscovering his past and artistic voice amidst the AIDS crisis and racial violence, all while a surprising discovery threatens to upend the life he's painstakingly built.
Isaac’s Song: A Novel
by Daniel Black • Hanover Sq (January 14, 2025) • 1 Months on List
#12
Months on List: 13
In 1950s Jim Crow Florida, 12-year-old Robbie Stephens is unjustly sent to a racially segregated reform school, where he uses his ability to see ghosts to uncover the grisly secrets behind the boys' disappearances and fight for survival.
The Reformatory
by Tananarive Due • S&s/saga Press (October 31, 2023) • 13 Months on List
#13
Months on List: 1
A young enslaved girl haunted by her sister’s ghost confronts forbidden love, buried secrets, and the cost of freedom as she dares to challenge the world that has kept her captive.
Junie
by Erin Crosby Eckstine • Ballantine Books (February 4, 2025) • 1 Months on List
#14
Months on List: 8
Diamond Newberry navigates family secrets and self-discovery while uncovering her father’s hidden past during the summer of 1987.
Swift River
by Essie Chambers • Simon & Schuster (June 4, 2024) • 8 Months on List
#15
Months on List: 6
In the racially charged era of Jim Crow's Florida, two unjustly sentenced boys navigate the horrors of a brutal reform school, their contrasting perspectives on survival fuelling a tension that culminates in a life-altering decision, in this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel inspired by true events.
The Nickel Boys: A Novel
by Colson Whitehead • Doubleday Books (July 16, 2019) • 6 Months on List
#16
Months on List: 1
This novel explores the lives of four generations of Black women grappling with mother-daughter relationships, generational trauma, and division, as they seek personal happiness and healing.
Grown Women
by Sarai Johnson • Harper (July 9, 2024) • 1 Months on List
#17
Months on List: 8
Jasmyn Williams uncovers a disturbing secret about the planned utopia of Liberty, California, challenging her family's ideals and unity.
One Of Our Kind
by Nicola Yoon • Knopf Publishing Group (June 11, 2024) • 8 Months on List
#18
Months on List: 12
In a twisted manifestation of the American prison system, two star-crossed women gladiators battle for their freedom in the deadly, corporatized arena of the Criminal Action Penal Entertainment, while challenging the unholy trio of systemic racism, capitalism, and mass incarceration.
Chain Gang All Stars
by Nana Kwame Adjei-brenyah • Pantheon Books (May 2, 2023) • 12 Months on List
#19
Months on List: 2
In a dystopian near-future, a hyperempathic young woman navigates a dehumanized world, journeys through war-ravaged lands, and battles a far-right regime, told through two award-winning novels that intertwine personal journals and generational narratives, exploring themes of alienation, transcendence, and the resilience of the human spirit.
Parable Of The Sower & Parable Of The Talents Boxed Set
by Octavia E. Butler • Seven Stories Press (October 29, 2019) • 2 Months on List
#20
Months on List: 12
When the first Black sheriff of a small southern town investigates a shocking murder, he uncovers a hidden serial killer, faces community secrets, and combats systemic racism while fighting to protect his hometown from impending darkness.
All The Sinners Bleed
by S. A. Cosby • Flatiron Books (June 6, 2023) • 12 Months on List
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Sales Data Source: Circana BookScan. Represents U.S. print sales from thousands of retailers.
Methodology: Books are categorized and filtered for Black Authors by the African American Literature Book Club. This list is a sneak peek into the Black Book Accelerator initiative.
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