Look what’s back! It feels like a lifetime ago since the last time I made a “Books in Hand” post. It can’t be helped since mid-March, the world closed down, and I couldn’t go back to work. Things did change in April that allowed me to go back to work at my bookstore without the presence of customers, which was very nice. Because there were no customers from April-mid June, it’s difficult to put together this type of post. Not anymore! I’m back, baby! So without further ago, you ever want to know what people are buying in bookstores? Well, it so happens that I work at one! During the last week of February 2018, I pondered about what type of post to make for “Books in Hand.” At first, I planned to discuss all the books customers came in asking for or buying, but that’s a bit too much because everybody came in asking for different books, and I didn’t remember all of them. My boss showed me a way to check our store’s best selling books, and I found out what we sold a lot of! And that’s what this post is—seeing the top selling books of July 2020!

FICTION

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett | The Order by Daniel Silva | My Hero Academia Vol. 24 | Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan | Street Rap by Shaun Sinclair

The Lost Vintage by Ann Mah | Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng | The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski | Circe by Madeline Miller | The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

KIDS + TEENS

Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl | I Like Myself! by Karen Beaumont | The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins | I Believe I Can by Grace Byers | When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson & Omar Mohamed

The Shadow of Kyoshi (Avatar: Kyoshi #2) by F.C. Yee | Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall | Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi | Pajama Time! by Sandra Boynton | Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

NONFICTION

White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo | Too Much and Never Enough by Mary L. Trump | How to Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi | Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi | The Room Where It Happened by John Bolton

Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own by Eddie S. Glaude Jr. | The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene | Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall | The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom | The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz | The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told by Alex Haley | Born A Crime by Trevor Noah | So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo | Defining Moments in Black History by Dick Gregory

NOTES:

• Every bookstore’s top-selling books will be different from each other. This list is just for my store.
• A lot antiracism books are being sold, and considering what has been going on, it’s great to see people educating themselves.
• These books seem to be forever on the top-selling list: The Alchemist, anything Dog Man or Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck, You Are A Badass, The Four Agreements, the 5 Love Languages, and Milk and Honey. (Don’t be surprise if you see these books here or in future “Books in Hand” posts. People love these books.)

Were there any surprises? What did you think would be a top-selling book? What books from this list have you read?