AALBC’s Top 100 Bestsellers: 2019 – 2026

This list ranks the top 100 books purchased directly from AALBC.com between September 16, 1998, and June 7, 2026. These rankings were shaped by two major factors: (1) the extraordinary surge in sales during mid-2020, when readers sought out anti-racist books and intentionally supported Black-owned bookstores in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder; and (2) the books we have published ourselves or helped bring to market over the years.

For a more comprehensive look at bestselling books by Black writers across the United States, check out the BLK Bestsellers List.

#1

Voices of the Harlem Renaissance: Originally Published as The New Negro an Interpretation

Voices of the Harlem Renaissance: Originally Published as The New Negro an Interpretation

by Alain Locke and Introduction by Troy Johnson

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#2

A Committee of One: How Faith + Action = A Purposefull Life

A Committee of One: How Faith + Action = A Purposefull Life

by Opal Lee

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#3

How to Be an Antiracist

How to Be an Antiracist

by Ibram X. Kendi

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#4

So You Want to Talk About Race

So You Want to Talk About Race

by Ijeoma Oluo

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#5

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism

by Robin DiAngelo

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#6

Whose Knees Are These?

Whose Knees Are These?

by Jabari Asim

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#7

A Golden Legacy: Faith, Family, and a Life of Purpose—A Memoir

A Golden Legacy: Faith, Family, and a Life of Purpose—A Memoir

by Samuel P. Golden with Angie Ransome-Jones

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#8

Reparations on Fire: How and Why it’s Spreading Across America

Reparations on Fire: How and Why it’s Spreading Across America

by Nkechi Taifa

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#9

Sulwe

Sulwe

by Lupita Nyong’o

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#10

I Can Be Anything! Don’t Tell Me I Can’t

I Can Be Anything! Don’t Tell Me I Can’t

by Leo and Diane Dillon

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#11

Jelani’s Key

Jelani’s Key

by D. Amari Jackson

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#12

The Fire Next Time

The Fire Next Time

by James Baldwin

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#13

The Undefeated

The Undefeated

by Kwame Alexander

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#14

When We Free The World

When We Free The World

by Kevin Powell

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#15

A Black Woman Did That

A Black Woman Did That

by Malaika Adero

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#16

Karma’s Footsteps

Karma’s Footsteps

by Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie

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#17

Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race

Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race

by Margot Lee Shetterly

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#18

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

by Michelle Alexander

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#19

Between The World And Me

Between The World And Me

by Ta-Nehisi Coates

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#20

Layla’s Happiness

Layla’s Happiness

by Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie

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#21

Baby Says

Baby Says

by John Steptoe

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#22

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

by Isabel Wilkerson

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#23

I Am Loved

I Am Loved

by Nikki Giovanni

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#24

Running to Fall: A Novel

Running to Fall: A Novel

by Kalisha Buckhanon

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#25

Chasing Me to My Grave: An Artist’s Memoir of the Jim Crow South

Chasing Me to My Grave: An Artist’s Memoir of the Jim Crow South

by Winfred Rembert with Erin I. Kelly

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#26

Finding Me: A Memoir

Finding Me: A Memoir

by Viola Davis

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#27

His Truth Is Marching on: John Lewis and the Power of Hope

His Truth Is Marching on: John Lewis and the Power of Hope

by Jon Meacham

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#28

Born on the Water: The 1619 Project

Born on the Water: The 1619 Project

by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson

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#29

So You Want to Talk About Race (Hardcover)

So You Want to Talk About Race (Hardcover)

by Ijeoma Oluo

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#30

The Invisible Ache: Black Men Identifying Their Pain and Reclaiming Their Power

The Invisible Ache: Black Men Identifying Their Pain and Reclaiming Their Power

by Robin L. Smith and Courtney B. Vance

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#31

The Warmth of Other Suns (Paperback): The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration

The Warmth of Other Suns (Paperback): The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration

by Isabel Wilkerson

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#32

New Kid

New Kid

by Jerry Craft

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#33

Sailing Commitment Around the World with Captain Bill Pinkney

Sailing Commitment Around the World with Captain Bill Pinkney

by Bill Pinkney

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#34

Black, White, Just Right!

Black, White, Just Right!

by Marguerite W. Davol

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#35

Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization

Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization

by Anthony Browder

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#36

A Golden Legacy (paperback): Faith, Family, and a Life of Purpose—A Memoir

A Golden Legacy (paperback): Faith, Family, and a Life of Purpose—A Memoir

by Samuel P. Golden with Angie Ransome-Jones

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#37

Just As I Am

Just As I Am

by Cicely Tyson

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#38

Black Power, Black Lawyer (paperback): My Audacious Quest for Justice

Black Power, Black Lawyer (paperback): My Audacious Quest for Justice

by Nkechi Taifa

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#39

Bunheads

Bunheads

by Misty Copeland

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#40

The Awkward Black Man

The Awkward Black Man

by Walter Mosley

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#41

Coleman Hill (hardcover): A Biomythography

Coleman Hill (hardcover): A Biomythography

by Kim Coleman Foote

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#42

I Am Every Good Thing

I Am Every Good Thing

by Derrick Barnes

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#43

PowerNomics: The National Plan to Empower Black America

PowerNomics: The National Plan to Empower Black America

by Claud Anderson

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#44

The ISIS Papers: The Keys to the Colors

The ISIS Papers: The Keys to the Colors

by Frances Cress Welsing

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#45

Chocolate Me!

Chocolate Me!

by Taye Diggs

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#46

Across That Bridge

Across That Bridge

by John Lewis

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#47

Boonoonoonous Hair

Boonoonoonous Hair

by Olive Senior

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#48

Sing to the Moon

Sing to the Moon

by Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl

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#49

Juneteenth for Mazie

Juneteenth for Mazie

by Floyd Cooper

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#50

The Mis-Education of the Negro

The Mis-Education of the Negro

by Carter G. Woodson

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#51

The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story

The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story

by Nikole Hannah-Jones

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#52

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

by Deesha Philyaw

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#53

When I Wrap My Hair

When I Wrap My Hair

by Shauntay Grant

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#54

Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor

Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor

by Layla Saad

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#55

Whose Toes are Those?

Whose Toes are Those?

by Jabari Asim

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#56

Antiracist Baby

Antiracist Baby

by Ibram X. Kendi

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#57

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

by Maya Angelou

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#58

Parable of the Sower

Parable of the Sower

by Octavia E. Butler

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#59

A is for Activist

A is for Activist

by Innosanto Nagara

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#60

Black States of America: Real Black Power

Black States of America: Real Black Power

by d. E. Rogers

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#61

Different and the Same

Different and the Same

by Adijah & Atiya Brabham

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#62

Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America

Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America

by Joy-Ann Reid

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#63

The Vanishing Half

The Vanishing Half

by Brit Bennett

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#64

All Because You Matter

All Because You Matter

by Tami Charles

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#65

Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America

Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America

by Michael Harriot

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#66

Limitation of Life

Limitation of Life

by d. E. Rogers

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#67

My Vanishing Country

My Vanishing Country

by Bakari Sellers

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#68

Please, Baby, Please

Please, Baby, Please

by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee

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#69

Harlem Rhapsody

Harlem Rhapsody

by Victoria Christopher Murray

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#70

You Can Do It!

You Can Do It!

by Tony Dungy

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#71

A Black History Reader: 101 Questions You Never Thought to Ask

A Black History Reader: 101 Questions You Never Thought to Ask

by Claud Anderson

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#72

An American Story

An American Story

by Kwame Alexander

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#73

As Brave As You

As Brave As You

by Jason Reynolds

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#74

Black Mother Goose Book

Black Mother Goose Book

by Elizabeth Murphy Oliver

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#75

Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut

Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut

by Derrick Barnes

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#76

Mermaid Kenzie: Protector of the Deeps

Mermaid Kenzie: Protector of the Deeps

by Charlotte Watson Sherman

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#77

The Bluest Eye (paperback)

The Bluest Eye (paperback)

by Toni Morrison

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#78

The Water Dancer

The Water Dancer

by Ta-Nehisi Coates

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#79

Thunder Rose

Thunder Rose

by Jerdine Nolen

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#80

White Fear: How the Browning of America Is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds

White Fear: How the Browning of America Is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds

by Roland S. Martin with Leah Lakins

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#81

Beloved

Beloved

by Toni Morrison

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#82

Black Ballerinas: My Journey to Our Legacy

Black Ballerinas: My Journey to Our Legacy

by Misty Copeland

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#83

Deacon King Kong

Deacon King Kong

by James McBride

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#84

Genesis Begins Again

Genesis Begins Again

by Alicia D. Williams

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#85

Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick

Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick

by Zora Neale Hurston and M. Genevieve West

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#86

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot

by Mikki Kendall

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#87

Intermission

Intermission

by Phyllis R. Dixon

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#88

Red at the Bone

Red at the Bone

by Jacqueline Woodson

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#89

Sisters and Champions: The True Story of Venus and Serena Williams

Sisters and Champions: The True Story of Venus and Serena Williams

by Howard Bryant

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#90

Bedtime for Sweet Creatures

Bedtime for Sweet Creatures

by Nikki Grimes

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#91

Cool Cuts

Cool Cuts

by Mechal Renee Roe

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#92

Daddy Calls Me Man

Daddy Calls Me Man

by Angela Johnson

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#93

It’s Not All Downhill from Here

It’s Not All Downhill from Here

by Terry McMillan

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#94

Let the Children March

Let the Children March

by Monica Clark-Robinson

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#95

Max and the Tag-Along Moon

Max and the Tag-Along Moon

by Floyd Cooper

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#96

Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library

Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library

by Carole Boston Weatherford

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#97

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America

by Ibram X. Kendi

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#98

The Crossover

The Crossover

by Kwame Alexander

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#99

The Day You Begin

The Day You Begin

by Jacqueline Woodson

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#100

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

by Michelle Alexander

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