At the Movies

The top science fiction title in December was Andy Weir’s The Martian. In fact, the book took the top three spots on our monthly list, with two movie tie-in editions and a conventional trade paper edition. (The hardcover is #10).) SF continues to ride high this month, not only with Star Wars: The Force Awakens (and its associated publishing machine), but also with the film adaptation of The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey, in theaters January 22. The tie-in edition is the #6 book overall, and the conventional trade paper is at #10, with 18.9K and 16K print units respectively. The second book in the series pubbed in November and is at #6 in children’s frontlist fiction.

The Revenant was optioned for film before its 2002 publication and finally hit theaters on Christmas. The buzz around the Leonardo DiCaprio vehicle stirred up plenty of enthusiasm for Michael Punke’s historical novel: the book’s review was the most-read one on our site in 2015, and the conventional trade paper sold more than 39K print units this year. The movie tie-in edition debuts this week on our trade paper list this week at #6, with almost 10K print units sold.

Other movies to watch for include The Choice, based on the 2007 novel by Nicholas Sparks, opening February 5. Two tie-in editions are in their second week on our lists. The mass market tie-in debuted last week at #2, and this week takes the top spot, with 22K print units sold; it’s the #5 book overall. The trade paper tie-in moves up six notches this week to #2, with 16K print units sold.

The film 13 Hours, based on Mitchell Zuckoff’s 2014 account of the attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, opens January 15; the movie tie-in edition debuts this week at #23 in trade paper.

In all, nine tie-in editions of seven movies appear on our mass market and trade paper lists, and another two are on the children’s fiction list. If “Netflix and chill” was the euphemism of 2015, perhaps 2016 will be the year of “read the book and chill.”

(See all of this week's bestselling books.)

Best Intentions

The new year brings a raft of releases aimed at the resolution-making crowd. Ann Cuddy’s Presence, which offers readers confidence-building techniques, moves up in its second week on our list, from #11 to #6 with 9,874 print units sold. Debuting at #8 with 7,705 print units sold, Joel Osteen’s Fresh Start, an evangelical title, promises readers that “the new you begins today.”

Selfie-concious makeovers are found in The Shred Power Cleanse by Ian K. Smith, landing at #14 with 6,412 print units sold, and Become a Fat-Burning Machine by Mike Berland, at #24 with 4,395 print units sold. And at least one older title had a big week: The Whole 30, which pubbed in April 2015, is up 66% over last week, returning to our hardcover nonfiction list (at #5, 10K print units sold) for the first time in months.

Of Note

Engagement season, which is said to last from Thanksgiving to Valentine’s Day, is in full swing, as a quick glance at your Facebook and Instagram feeds will confirm. At least one book is reaping the benefits: The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planner & Organizer by Carley Roney, which is up 22% this week compared to last week. With sales of 4,113 print units, the nuptial binder had its best week since its 2013 release.

Top 10 Overall

Rank Title Author Imprint Units
1 The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up Marie Kondo Ten Speed 32,576
2 Old School (Wimpy Kid #10) Jeff Kinney Abrams/Amulet 32,058
3 Lost Ocean Johanna Basford Penguin 27,033
4 Enchanted Forest Johanna Basford Laurence King 23,252
5 The Choice (movie tie-in) Nicholas Sparks Grand Central 22,123
6 The 5th Wave (movie tie-in) Rick Yancey Penguin/Speak 18,900
7 Last One Home Debbie Macomber Ballantine 18,692
8 Secret Garden Johanna Basford Laurence King 17,914
9 Star Wars: The Force Awakens Visual Dictionary Pablo Hidalgo DK 16,687
10 The 5th Wave Rick Yancey Penguin/Speak 16,250

All unit sales per Nielsen BookScan except where noted.