15 Bestselling Nonfiction Books for November/December - 2021

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

Fiction: The Zora Neale Hurston Boxed Set was an AALBC bestseller even before its publication date. The 10-book boxed set features the best of Hurston’s fiction and nonfiction in one impressive package.

Nonfiction: Nikole Hannah-Jones’ The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story was the #1 bestselling book across all genres this period. This does not include the many copies of the book sold as a result of our collaboration with Bookshop.org to support the New York based not-for-profit organization, The Literary Freedom Project.

Children’s Books: Born on the Water, which is also part of The 1619 Project was our top selling children’s book. Illustrated by Nikkolas Smith and written by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson, Born on the Water was one also of our most popular books of the year.

Poetry: Amanda Gorman’ Call Us What We Carry: Poems helps make Gorman one of AALBC’s all-time bestselling authors.

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 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones

The 1619 Project

by Nikole Hannah-Jones

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#2

Book cover of Unbound: My Story of Liberation and the Birth of the Me Too Movement by Tarana Burke

Unbound

by Tarana Burke

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#3

Book cover of Reclamation: Sally Hemings, Thomas Jefferson, and a Descendant’s Search for Her Family’s Lasting Legacy by Gayle Jessup White

Reclamation

by Gayle Jessup White

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#4

Book cover of Black Stats: African Americans by the Numbers in the Twenty-first Century by Monique W. Morris

Black Stats

by Monique W. Morris

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#6

Book cover of Spike by Spike Lee

Spike

by Spike Lee

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#7

Book cover of Sometimes Farmgirls Become Revolutionaries: Florence Tate on Black Power, Black Politics and the FBI by Florence L. Tate and Jake-Ann Jones

Sometimes Farmgirls Become Revolutionaries

by Florence L. Tate and Jake-Ann Jones

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#8

Book cover of Sacred Nile by Chester Higgins, Jr.

Sacred Nile

by Chester Higgins, et al.

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#10

Book cover of The Man-Not: Race, Class, Genre, and the Dilemmas of Black Manhood by Tommy J. Curry

The Man-Not

by Tommy J. Curry

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#11

Book cover of Entertaining Race: Performing Blackness in America by Michael Eric Dyson

Entertaining Race

by Michael Eric Dyson

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#12

Book cover of Unseen: Unpublished Black History from the New York Times Photo Archives by Dana Canedy, Darcy Eveleigh, Damien Cave, and Rachel L. Swarns

Unseen

by Dana Canedy, et al.

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#13

Book cover of The 5th Little Girl: Soul Survivor of the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing by Tracy Snipe with Sarah Collins Rudolph

The 5th Little Girl

by Tracy Snipe with Sarah Collins Rudolph

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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