You’re Hired
Two books on the 45th president of the United States debut this week in hardcover nonfiction. At #15, Big Agenda by David Horowitz has garnered praise from Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Peter Schweizer, Dinesh D’Souza, and Milo Yiannopoulis. Two notches below: The Making of the President 2016 by Roger Stone. Breitbart has called Stone “one of the best known—and best dressed—political insiders in New York.” President Trump has described him this way: “Roger’s a good guy. He is a patriot and believes in a strong nation, and a lot of the things that I believe in.”
(See all of this week's bestselling books.)
Proof of Concept
The week’s biggest hardcover nonfiction debut, at #7, is the faith-based Nothing to Prove by Jennie Allen. It’s her first new trade title since launching If:Gathering, a Christian women’s conference, in 2014, and her strongest first-week showing yet. More than a million women in more than 120 countries viewed the live webcast of the 2016 If:Gathering, according to her publisher; this year’s conference was held February 3 and 4, the weekend after her new book published.
Staying Psyched
The reading public’s appetite for books with keep-’em-guessing plots à la Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train remains unsated, with two such titles debuting on our hardcover fiction list. At #18, British author Jane Corry’s U.S. debut, My Husband’s Wife, is “devilishly devious,” according to our review. We also praised Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough, #22, calling it a “twisty psychological thriller.” These follow The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney, which in its second week on our list is up 21% and one position, to #4.
Under Her Spell
BEA 2016 YA buzz pick Caraval by Stephanie Garber, which our starred review called “magnificent,” lands at #8 in children’s frontlist fiction; 20th Century Fox nabbed film rights to the fantasy novel in 2015. It’s the debut list appearance for the author and for Flatiron’s YA program, which launched last year with two titles.
The Book That’s Sweeping Oceania
For the second week in a row, George Orwell’s 1984 is the #1 book in the country. Print unit sales for the mass market edition are up 34% from the previous week, and the book not only claims the top spot nationwide but was also the bestselling title in each of BookScan’s eight geographic regions.
Top 10 Overall
| Rank | Title | Author | Imprint | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1984 | George Orwell | Signet Classics | 34,793 |
| 2 | Hidden Figures (movie tie-in) | Margot Lee Shetterly | Morrow | 22,738 |
| 3 | A Man Called Ove | Fredrik Backman | Washington Square | 21,463 |
| 4 | The Apartment | Danielle Steel | Dell | 19,363 |
| 5 | A Dog’s Purpose (movie tie-in) | W. Bruce Cameron | Forge | 19,163 |
| 6 | Hillbilly Elegy | J.D. Vance | Harper | 18,786 |
| 7 | Double Down (Wimpy Kid #11) | Jeff Kinney | Amulet | 17,139 |
| 8 | Killing the Rising Sun | O’Reilly/Dugard | Holt | 16,153 |
| 9 | Milk and Honey | Rupi Kaur | Andrews McMeel | 15,760 |
| 10 | Never Never | Patterson/Fox | Little, Brown | 14,841 |
All unit sales per Nielsen BookScan except where noted.
