Songs of Themselves
A trio of memoirs debuting on our Hardcover Nonfiction list explore issues of personal and cultural identity. In Hunger, at #11, Bad Feminist author Roxane Gay “boldly confronts society’s cruelty toward and denigration of larger individuals (particularly women),” our starred review said.
Comedian Eddie Izzard “writes about coming to terms with his gender identity and recognizing that he was transgender at a young age” in Believe Me, at #13, a book our review calls “funny and painful, and ultimately uplifting.”
And in You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me, at #20, novelist and poet Sherman Alexie “remembers his complicated mother, Lillian, who kept the family together despite dire poverty on the Spokane Reservation,” our review said, in “a fine homage to the vexed process of growing up.”
(See all of this week's bestselling books.)
Both Sides Now
Two new books take opposing views of Donald Trump’s presidency. Understanding Trump by Newt Gingrich, with a foreword by Eric Trump, debuts at #1 in Hardcover Nonfiction and #2 in the country overall. Gingrich calls the 45th president “one of the most remarkable individuals to ever occupy the White House,” praising his “familiarity and comfortableness with everyday Americans.”
No Is Not Enough by Naomi Klein, subtitled Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need, debuts at #15 on our Trade Paperback list. Klein writes that “Trump’s cabinet of billionaires and multimillionaires tells us a great deal about the administration’s underlying goals,” calling the changes in Washington “a naked corporate takeover, one many decades in the making.”
Feel the Heat
Samin Nosrat’s debut cookbook, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, with illustrations by Wendy MacNaughton, returns to our Hardcover Nonfiction list for the first time since its pub week, at #21. The book, which is in its fifth printing after eight weeks on sale, continues to garner coverage from outlets including the New York Times, Bon Appetit, and NPR.
New & Notable
Mike Maden
#2 Hardcover Fiction, #6 overall
Maden’s Clancy universe debut is a “taut, exciting thriller” that should reassure fans that “the state of the franchise is strong.”
Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland
#18 Hardcover Fiction
This collaboration between speculative fiction author Stephenson and historical novelist Galland, our review said, is “a fascinating experiment in speculation and metafiction that never loses sight of the human foibles and affections of its cast.”
The Little French Bistro
Nina George
#20 Hardcover Fiction
The author of the international blockbuster The Little Paris Bookstore returns with a novel of self-discovery set on the coast of Brittany.
Top 10 Overall
| Rank | Title | Author | Imprint | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Camino Island | John Grisham | Doubleday | 95,986 |
| 2 | Understanding Trump | Newt Gingrich | Center Street | 37,553 |
| 3 | Al Franken, Giant of the Senate | Al Franken | Twelve | 26,625 |
| 4 | Astrophysics for People in a Hurry | Neil deGrasse Tyson | Norton | 24,216 |
| 5 | Make Your Bed | William H. McRaven | Grand Central | 23,460 |
| 6 | Tom Clancy: Point of Contact | Mike Maden | Putnam | 22,080 |
| 7 | The Woman in Cabin 10 | Ruth Ware | Scout | 21,718 |
| 8 | Oh, the Places You’ll Go! | Dr. Seuss | Random House | 21,279 |
| 9 | Bill O’Reilly’s Legends and Lies: The Civil War | David Fisher | Holt | 19,700 |
| 10 | Milk and Honey | Rupi Kaur | Andrews McMeel | 19,176 |
All unit sales per Nielsen BookScan except where noted.
