This Week's Bestsellers: February 1, 2016

The Rag (to Riches) Trade

The Power of Broke by Daymond John, founder of the FUBU apparel brand and a costar on Shark Tank, debuts at #4 on our Hardcover Nonfiction list with 13K print units sold. His first book, 2007’s Display of Power, has sold almost 3,000 print units for Thomas Nelson. He self-published his second, The Brand Within, in 2010, eight months after his Shark Tank debut; that book has sold almost 4,000 print units. Crown Business picked him up for the new title, which shows budding entrepreneurs, as the subtitle says, “how empty pockets, a tight budget, and a hunger for success can become your greatest competitive advantage.” John writes from experience: he went from sewing hats and selling them at $10 a pop to running a multibillion-dollar global brand.

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

The Curse of Success

If sales figures are to be believed, millions of people are coloring images of serene gardens and meditative mandalas for relaxation. But what about those souls who find therapeutic power in a good expletive? For us—er, them—there are profanity-laden books such as Swear Word, which puts the adult in adult coloring books. It debuts on our trade paperback list this week at #12 with 7,391 print units sold. The book is only one among several potty-mouthed coloring books released in the last couple of weeks by self-publishing outfits promising “stress-relieving fancy swear words” and “filthy swear words to color.”

Movie Watch

Like several YA trilogy adaptations before it, the third volume in Veronica Roth’s Divergent series, 2013’s Allegiant, is being split into two films. The first, also called Allegiant, hits theaters March 18. Tie-in editions pub February 16, but this week, a conventional trade paperback edition debuts at #9 in Children’s Frontlist Fiction with 5,430 print units sold. Allegiant has sold more than two million units in hardcover.

In other movie news, the big-screen adaptation of 2007’s The Choice by Nicholas Sparks hits theaters February 5. The mass market and trade paper tie-in pubbed in December; each is #2 in its respective category on our list, and the books are at #8 and #9 on the overall list. Together, the tie-in editions have sold more than 173K print units since their release.

New & Notable

Blue

Danielle Steel
#1 Hardcover Fiction; #1 overall
28.7K print units

According to Random House, this is the first of six new novels fans can expect from Steel this year. The mass market edition of 2015’s Prodigal Son, released this week, debuts at #1 in its format; it’s the first of six mass market reprints this year for the author.

Dark Money

Jane Mayer
#10 Hardcover Nonfiction
7,985 print units

Mayer, an investigative journalist for the New Yorker, follows up 2008’s The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals, with this look at how Charles and David Koch have influenced U.S. politics.

Last Stop on Market Street

Matt de la Peña, illus. by Christian Robinson
#16 Children’s Picture Books
4,818 print units

The second picture book ever to win the Newbery Medal makes its list debut two weeks after the award announcement—and over a year after its publication—selling twice as many print units as it sold the week before.

Top 10 Overall

All unit sales per Nielsen BookScan except where noted.