12 Bestselling Fiction Books for January/February - 2020

AALBC’s Bestselling Book SealOur bestsellers list has been published continuously since 1998. Learn More ▶

Fiction: Fiction sales were led by the two-time AALBC bestseller The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins, which was also a Go On Girl! Book Club selection for January 2020. Read what the ladies had to say about this book.

Nonfiction: The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations by Toni Morrison topped all sales in the Nonfiction category. In addition to being a two-time AALBC Bestseller, Morrison’s book is the winner of a 2020 NAACP Image Award for Nonfiction.

Children’s Books: Children’s Books dominated sales of all genres this period. Sales were led by Epoca: The Tree of Ecrof by Ivy Claire, which was created by Kobe Bryant and his publishing company Granity Studios.

Poetry: We did not sell enough poetry books to compile a list this period. However editor choices include, A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing: The Incarceration of African American Women from Harriet Tubman to Sandra Bland by Damaris B. Hill and Mistress by Chet’la Sebree

View a printer-friendly version and a collage of the book covers. Also, check out links to more great books. Enjoy

#2

Book cover of The Nickel Boys: A Novel by Colson Whitehead

The Nickel Boys

by Colson Whitehead

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#3

Book cover of They All Fall Down: A Thriller by Rachel Howzell Hall

They All Fall Down

by Rachel Howzell Hall

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#4

Book cover of Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

Red at the Bone

by Jacqueline Woodson

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#5

Book cover of Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Friday Black

by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

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#6

Book cover of A Chance at Love by Beverly Jenkins

A Chance at Love

by Beverly Jenkins

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#12

Book cover of Stay with Me: A novel by Ayobami Adebayo

Stay with Me

by Ayobami Adebayo

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More About our Bestsellers List


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), Black History 365 Education, and Amazon.com*.

We aggregate all formats of a book sold (print, ebook, and audio) into one format, usually the most popular print format

*For a few years, we actively boycotted Amazon but have discontinued this practice, as many of our authors have made their books exclusively available from Amazon. While we discourage giving Amazon the exclusive right to sell a book, we do not want this to be a reason to exclude an author from our site. Amazon also has an effective monopoly on eBooks and out-of-print books, which we highlight on this site.


The Most Critically Acclaimed Books

Bestselling Books By Year May be Found Here

Our All-Time Bestselling Books May be Found Here