12 Bestselling Nonfiction Books for July/August - 2019

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

Fiction: Bestselling fiction is led by the short story collection Evil Never Sleeps: Tales of Light and Darkness by Robert Fleming an accomplished yet under recognized talent and the new novel from Kalisha Buckhanon, Speaking of Summer.

Nonfiction: Always a good mix of interesting titles this period’s list reveals a theme of overcoming struggle with grace and dignity as illustrated by Fifty-Five Unemployed and Faking Normal: Your Guide to a Better Retirement Life and After Life: My Journey from Incarceration to Freedom.

Children’s Books: Children’s books outsold all other genres this period. Sales were led by books on our “Top 150 Recommended African-American Children’s Books” list.

Poetry: One book made our list this period, Rock And Fire - Love Poetry From The Core by Marc Lacy.

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

#1

Book cover of The Teachings of Ptahhotep: The Oldest Book in the World by Asa G. Hilliard III, Larry Williams, and Nia Damali

The Teachings of Ptahhotep

by Asa G. Hilliard III, et al.

Add to Cart

#4

Book cover of Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurston and Deborah G. Plant

Barracoon

by Zora Neale Hurston and Deborah G. Plant

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#5

Book cover of The Tithing Hoax: Exposing The Lies, Misinterpretations & False Teachings About Tithing by R. Renee and Cynthia Harper

The Tithing Hoax

by R. Renee and Cynthia Harper

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#6

Book cover of Stolen Legacy: Greek Philosophy Is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy by George G. M. James

Stolen Legacy

by George G. M. James

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#7

Book cover of The American Slave Coast: A History of the Slave – Breeding Industry by Ned Sublette and Constance Sublette

The American Slave Coast

by Ned Sublette and Constance Sublette

Add to Cart

#11

Book cover of After Life: My Journey from Incarceration to Freedom by Alice Marie Johnson

After Life

by Alice Marie Johnson

Add to Cart

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