Le Geek, C’est Chic
Debuting at #1 in hardcover nonfiction, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything—the first major expansion of the fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons, which pubbed in 2014 with three core rulebooks—enjoyed stronger first-week sales than its predecessors. Outlets including Forbes and the Washington Post have noted D&D’s resurgence in recent years, and the role-playing game has figured prominently in the ’80s pop culture lovefest and Netflix hit Stranger Things.
(See all of this week's bestselling books.)
Stage to Page
Thanksgiving week was big for Broadway, with record-breaking box office takes for shows including the 2017 Tony Award winner for best musical, Dear Evan Hansen. A behind-the-scenes look at the show, Dear Evan Hansen: Through the Window, by Steven Levenson, the playwright, and Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who wrote the music and lyrics, debuts at #19 in hardcover nonfiction. In 2016, the book’s publisher, Grand Central, released a similar making-of book, Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter, which has sold almost 534K print copies since its release.
New & Notable
Tribe of Mentors
Timothy Ferriss
#3 Hardcover Nonfiction
The author of The 4-Hour Workweek and Tools of Titans imparts life lessons gleaned from a diverse roster of interviewees, among them Arianna Huffington, Patton Oswalt, and Dita von Teese.
Collusion
Luke Harding
#6 Trade Paperback
A reporter and former Moscow bureau chief for the Guardian writes that Russia appears to have begun cultivating Donald Trump in 1987, drawing on original reporting as well as Christopher Steele’s dossier.
Ramses the Damned
Anne Rice and Christopher Rice|
#7 Trade Paperback
In what our review called “an entertaining soap opera,” the mother-and-son team, writing together for the first time, revisit the subject of Rice’s The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned 28 years after its publication.[strong]
The Magic Misfits
Neil Patrick Harris, illus. by Lissy Marlin
#13 Children’s Frontlist Fiction
The Emmy- and Tony-winning actor’s debut middle grade novel, about a young street magician, is a “fast-paced and clever series opener” that’s “a good choice for fans of Lemony Snicket and Pseudonymous Bosch,” according to our review.
Top 10 Overall
| Rank | Title | Author | Imprint | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Getaway (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #12) | Jeff Kinney | Amulet | 139,423 |
| 2 | 5-Minute Pete the Cat Stories | James Dean | HarperFestival | 104,902 |
| 3 | 5-Minute Disney Snuggle Stories (special ed.) | – | Disney Press | 96,713 |
| 4 | 5-Minute Disney Princess Stories (special ed.) | – | Disney Press | 96,583 |
| 5 | Five-Minute Peppa Stories | Neville Astley | Scholastic | 96,331 |
| 6 | 5-Minute Disney*Pixar Stories (special ed.) | – | Disney Press | 88,317 |
| 7 | 5-Minute Avengers Stories (special ed.) | – | Disney Press | 80,932 |
| 8 | Wonder | R.J. Palacio | Knopf | 79,514 |
| 9 | 5-Minute Little Critter Stories | Mercer Mayer | HarperFestival | 77,247 |
| 10 | Curious George’s 5-Minute Stories | H.A. and Margret Rey | HMH | 73,106 |
All unit sales per Nielsen BookScan except where noted.
