20 Bestselling Fiction Books for May/June - 2023

AALBC’s Bestselling Book SealOur bestsellers list has been published continuously since 1998 and is the most visible list focused on Black Books in existence. More ▶

Fiction:
Kimberla Lawson Roby describes our #1 bestselling novel, The Thing about Home by Rhonda McKnight, as “…a beautifully written story about family, self-discovery, secrets, and forgiveness.” Rhonda McKnight, first made our bestsellers list eight years ago with her novel Live A Little.

Nonfiction:
Nonfiction books dominated sales this period. A Black History Reader: 101 Questions You Never Thought to Ask by Claud Anderson outsold all nonfiction titles this period.

Children’s Books:
Repeat After Me: Big Things to Say Every Day written by Jazmyn Simon and Dulé Hill with illustrations by Shamar Knight-Justice was not only the top selling chidlren’s book, it was the top selling of all books across all genres this period.

Poetry:
Call Us What We Carry: Poems by Amanda Gorman, has topped the poetry list three times, and has been an AALBC bestseller six times.

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

#3

Book cover of Running to Fall: A Novel by Kalisha Buckhanon

Running to Fall

by Kalisha Buckhanon

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#4

Book cover of Black Candle Women by Diane Marie Brown

Black Candle Women

by Diane Marie Brown

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#6

Book cover of Gone Like Yesterday by Janelle M. Williams

Gone Like Yesterday

by Janelle M. Williams

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#9

Book cover of The Talk by Darrin Bell

The Talk

by Darrin Bell

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#10

Book cover of Alice in Dreamland by Roland S. Jefferson

Alice in Dreamland

by Roland S. Jefferson

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#12

Book cover of 
Coleman Hill: A Biomythography by Kim Coleman Foote

Coleman Hill

by Kim Coleman Foote

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#15

Book cover of The Book of Harlan by Bernice L. McFadden

The Book of Harlan

by Bernice L. McFadden

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#17

Book cover of Jubilee by Margaret Walker

Jubilee

by Margaret Walker

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#18

Book cover of Eldorado Red by Donald Goines

Eldorado Red

by Donald Goines

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#19

Book cover of The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson

The House of Eve

by Sadeqa Johnson

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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 pull our bestselling books from all our sales channels. The majority of our sales come from this website and 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, 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