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BLK Bestsellers List — May 2024

America’s Bestselling Books by Black Writers and Illustrators

Adult Fiction (Hardcover) — May 2024
#1
Months on List: 2
by Percival Everett
Doubleday Books (March 19, 2024), Hardcover
A reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn told from the enslaved Jim’s point of view.
#2
Months on List: 4
by James Mcbride
Riverhead Books (August 8, 2023), Hardcover
A novel about small-town secrets and the people who keep them.
#3
Months on List: 3
by Tia Williams
Grand Central Publishing (February 6, 2024), Hardcover
A free-spirited florist and a mysterious musician discover a deep connection amidst the magic and history of modern Harlem.
#4
Months on List: 4
by Kiley Reid
G.p. Putnam's Sons (January 30, 2024), Hardcover
In the highly anticipated novel <em>Come and Get It</em> by award-winning author Kiley Reid, a senior resident assistant at the University of Arkansas becomes entangled in a web of deceit and chaos when an unusual opportunity offered by a visiting professor leads her into a world of dubious friendships, hostile dorm pranks, and illicit intrigue.
#5
Months on List: 3
by Analeigh Sbrana
Harper Voy (February 27, 2024), Hardcover
A young woman bargains with a Fae lord to enter a deadly enchanted library, seeking magic while navigating treacherous alliances and forbidden desires with two dangerous Fae.
#5
Months on List: 4
by Marie Benedict And Victoria Christopher Murray
Berkley Books (June 27, 2023), Hardcover
In the backdrop of a racially divided America, this historical novel explores the unlikely, formidable friendship between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune, illuminating how their shared commitment to justice and equality helped shape the modern civil rights movement.
#7
Months on List: 2
by Tamron Hall
William Morrow & Company (March 12, 2024), Hardcover
When a mother of two goes missing, award-winning journalist Jordan Manning dives into a dangerous scandalous web of secrets to uncover the truth, risking her own life in the process.
#7
Months on List: 4
by Saara El-arifi
Del Rey Books (January 23, 2024), Hardcover
Two elven sisters are exiled from their homeland and thrust into the dangerous, alluring world of the unseen for a millennium fae, where they must reconcile their loyalties to each other, their homeland, and their hearts.
#7
Months on List: 4
by S. A. Cosby
Flatiron Books (June 6, 2023), Hardcover
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.
#7
Months on List: 4
by Jesmyn Ward
Scribner Book Company (October 24, 2023), Hardcover
This narrative explores a voyage from Southern American rice fields, through slave markets in New Orleans, and into the depth of a brutal Louisiana sugar plantation.
#7
Months on List: 4
by Tananarive Due
S&s/saga Press (October 31, 2023), Hardcover
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.
#12
Months on List: 4
by Stacey Abrams Aka Selena Montgomery
Doubleday Books (May 23, 2023), Hardcover
In this riveting sequel by Stacey Abrams, Supreme Court clerk Avery Keene uncovers a potential national crisis involving the blackmail of federal judges, a sinister pattern in high-stakes cases, and a conspiracy that could take down the US government.
#13
Months on List: 2
by Vinson Cunningham
Hogarth Press (March 12, 2024), Hardcover
In the midst of a historic presidential campaign, a young Black man named David grapples with questions of identity, race, and fatherhood as his work for the campaign forces him to reassess his life and beliefs.
#14
Months on List: 3
by Diane Oliver
Grove Press (February 13, 2024), Hardcover
<em>Neighbors</em> is a poignant collection of stories by the overlooked literary force Diane Oliver, examining the daily struggles and existential crises faced by African American families navigating the unrelenting racism of Jim Crow era America.
#15
Months on List: 1
by Mary Monroe
Dafina Books (March 26, 2024), Hardcover
The book narrates the tale of identical twin sisters in Depression-era South, known for swapping lives and concealing the scandalous consequences, but a reckless gamble alters their game permanently.
#16
Months on List: 1
by Ashton Lattimore
Ballantine Books (April 2, 2024), Hardcover
In pre-Civil War Philadelphia, a housemaid hiding a hazardous family secret joins forces with a wealthy abolitionist ally to rescue an enslaved girl from her troubled past, navigating race riots and danger to their own lives in this thrilling story of sacrifice, deception, and the fight for freedom.
#17
Months on List: 4
by Jordan Peele
Random House (October 3, 2023), Hardcover
<em>Out There Screaming</em> is a groundbreaking anthology curated by visionary filmmaker Jordan Peele, featuring all-new horror stories from Black writers that delve into the terrors of the supernatural and the chilling realities of racial injustice.
#18
Months on List: 3
by Maurice Carlos Ruffin
One World (February 27, 2024), Hardcover
In the tumultuous backdrop of the Confederacy, a young enslaved girl discovers purpose and the path to liberation by joining the Daughters, a secret society of spies, after a heartbreaking separation from her mother.
#19
Months on List: 3
by Phillip B. Williams
Viking (February 20, 2024), Hardcover
In mid-nineteenth-century America, a powerful conjuror named Saint liberates slaves and builds a hidden town as a refuge, but as her powers and memories falter, the safety she provides for her community may become their own form of imprisonment.
#20
Months on List: 3
by Colson Whitehead
Doubleday Books (July 18, 2023), Hardcover
In the seedy underbelly of 1970s New York, a reformed crook is pulled back into his criminal past while trying to navigate his family through the city's chaos, resulting in a darkly humorous yet poignant exploration of survival and family in <em>Crook Manifesto.</em>

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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