This Week's Bestsellers: October 17, 2016

Clash of the Titans

It’s a big week for a pair of children’s authors who are well accustomed to big weeks: J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan. The #1 book in the country is Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second of the new hardcover editions of Rowling’s series, with color illustrations by Jim Kay. Its first-week print unit sales eclipsed those for the first revamped title, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, which pubbed this week last year and debuted at #5 in the country overall.

So what was #1 that week? The Sword of Summer, first in Riordan’s Magnus Chase series. The follow up, The Hammer of Thor, debuts this week at #2 in children’s fiction, and #5 in the country overall.

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

A Semple Plan

Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple, the story of one woman’s catastrophically bad day and a “sharp, funny read” according to our review, lands at #7 in Hardcover Fiction. It’s the author’s first novel since 2012’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette?, a book whose popularity (502K print copies sold) has not only stoked interest in her new book but is also influencing Semple’s brand.

The familiar sunglasses-wearing face from the Bernadette cover appears as an icon on the Today Will Be Different jacket. On December 20, Little, Brown is releasing a mass market edition of Semple’s first novel, 2008’s This One Is Mine, with Bernadette branding.

First-Week Print-Unit Sales

Religion Roundup

Three faith-based titles enjoyed strong debuts on our Hardcover Nonfiction list this week, and a fourth got a boost in its second week on sale.

After a relatively modest debut last week at #12 in nonfiction, Sarah Young’s Jesus Always is up nine notches this week and is the #8 book in the country overall. At #5 in nonfiction, Is This the End? by David Jeremiah, founder of the Turning Point ministry, examines current events through a biblical lens.

In Divine Dance, at #6, Franciscan friar Richard Rohr considers the concept of the Trinity, proposing a more accessible deity than the one who, according to his publisher, dominates popular imagination: “an angry, distant, moral scorekeeper or a supernatural Santa Claus.” One position below, Think Better, Live Better is the latest inspirational title from pastor and televangelist Joel Osteen, whose most recent book, 2015’s The Power of I Am, has sold 235K print copies.

New & Notable

Two by Two

Nicholas Sparks

#1 Hardcover Fiction, #3 overall

In his latest novel, Sparks, who in 2015 announced an amicable separation from his wife, writes of a man navigating single parenthood.

Love Your Life, Not Theirs

Rachel Cruze

#4 Hardcover Nonfiction

Cruze, who is coauthor with her father, Dave Ramsey, of 2014’s Smart Money Smart Kids, explains the financial perils of comparing oneself to others.

Top 10 Overall

All unit sales per Nielsen BookScan except where noted.