20 Bestselling Nonfiction Books

Period: March/April - 2021

AALBC Bestseller Seal

The African American Literature Book Club’s Bestsellers List has been published continuously since 1998. It celebrates the bestselling titles from our curated selection of books written by or about Black people. Learn More below.

★ New: The BLK Bestsellers: America’s Bestselling Books

Fiction: Richard Wright’s previously unpublished novel, The Man Who Lived Underground, is our bestselling fiction title. The Man Who Lived Underground was written between his landmark books Native Son (1940) and Black Boy (1945), at the height of Wright’s creative powers.

Nonfiction: Black Power, Black Lawyer: My Audacious Quest for Justice, Nkechi Taifa’s powerful memoir, outsold all other books this period and was given a rave review by AALBC.

Children’s Books: The 11-time AALBC bestseller, Whose Knees Are These?, by Jabari Asim led a very crowded field of popular children’s books. We cap our bestsellers list at 20 books, and our children’s list could have easily included 40 titles.

Poetry: The Tradition by Jericho Brown debuts on our bestsellers list at #1. The critically acclaimed work received many honors including winning a Pulitzer Prize.

2
Cover for The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together

The Sum of Us

by Heather McGhee
Add to Cart
3
Cover for White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism

White Fragility

by Robin DiAngelo
Add to Cart
5
Cover for The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto

The Devil You Know

by Charles M. Blow
Add to Cart
7
Cover for The ISIS Papers: The Keys to the Colors

The ISIS Papers

by Frances Cress Welsing
Add to Cart
8
Cover for The Man-Not: Race, Class, Genre, and the Dilemmas of Black Manhood

The Man-Not

by Tommy J. Curry
Add to Cart
9
Cover for Pillars in Ethiopian History: African History Notebook Vol I

Pillars in Ethiopian History

by William Leo Hansberry and Joseph E. Harris (editor)
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10
Cover for When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir

When They Call You a Terrorist

by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele
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11
Cover for The Sisters Are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Women in America

The Sisters Are Alright

by Tamara Winfrey Harris
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12
Cover for Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019

Four Hundred Souls

by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain
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13
Cover for Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own

Begin Again

by Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
Add to Cart
14
Cover for Pimp: The Story of My Life

Pimp

by Iceberg Slim
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16
Cover for The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

The New Jim Crow

by Michelle Alexander
Add to Cart

More About our Bestsellers List

View a printer-friendly version or a collage of the book covers.

You will learn about books selling well in the Black community that may never show up on lists published by corporate entities. Spread the word about our list; don’t let one or two lists, which we don’t control, determine which books are important.

We collect our bestselling titles from all our sales channels. The majority of our sales come from this website and our in-person events. We also include sales generated through our affiliate relationships, including Bookshop.org, Libro.fm (audiobooks), and Amazon.com*.

*For a few years, we actively boycotted Amazon but have discontinued this practice to ensure we do not exclude authors who are exclusive to that platform. We still discourage exclusivity but support all Black authors.