Deep Divide
As special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation continues to generate headlines, two books with very different perspectives on Russia’s role in the 2016 election debut on our list.
The #1 book in the country is Russian Roulette by Michael Isikoff, chief investigative correspondent for Yahoo! News, and David Corn, Washington bureau chief for Mother Jones and an analyst for MSNBC. Isikoff and Corn offer, the subtitle says, “the inside story of Putin’s war on America and the election of Donald Trump.”
Killing the Deep State by Jerome R. Corsi, a writer for several conservative websites, debuts at #8 in hardcover nonfiction. Corsi calls the Russia investigation part of “the deep state’s plans to remove Trump from office” and proposes strategies for, in the subtitle’s words, “the fight to save President Trump.”
(See all of this week's bestselling books.)
Knock Wood
Australian author-illustrator team Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton launched their middle grade Treehouse series with 2013’s The 13-Story Treehouse, and every year for the past five years they’ve released a book that adds 13 stories to the structure. The 78-Story Treehouse debuts in children’s frontlist fiction at #13, and the contractors are busier than usual: the next installment, The 91-Story Treehouse, pubs in just four months.
Escapes Artist
Picture book author-illustrator Peter Brown, a 2013 Caldecott Honoree for Creepy Carrots!, written by Aaron Reynolds, published his first middle grade novel, The Wild Robot, in 2016. It’s since sold 136K print copies. Now comes the sequel, The Wild Robot Escapes, debuting at #3 in children’s frontlist fiction with strong sales out of the gate.
Shoot for the Stars
Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking died March 14, prompting a galaxy of appreciative essays and renewed interest in 1988’s A Brief History of Time, which Hawking reportedly agreed was probably the least-read, most-bought book ever. The week after his death, print unit sales of the 1998 trade paper edition shot up 683% from the week before, to 4,234 print units.
Top 10 Overall
| Rank | Title | Author | Imprint | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russian Roulette | Isikoff/Corn | Twelve | 43,781 |
| 2 | A Wrinkle in Time Madeleine | L’Engle | Square Fish | 43,106 |
| 3 | Camino Island John | Grisham | Dell | 27,251 |
| 4 | Dog Man and Cat Kid (Dog Man #4) | Dav Pilkey | Graphix | 23,107 |
| 5 | I’ve Loved You Since Forever | Kotb/Mason | HarperCollins | 20,849 |
| 6 | A Wrinkle in Time (movie tie-in) | Madeleine L’Engle | FSG | 19,180 |
| 7 | Green Eggs and Ham | Dr. Seuss | Random House | 19,153 |
| 8 | Little Blue Truck’s Springtime | Schertle/McElmurry | HMH | 18,837 |
| 9 | The Rising Sea | Cussler/Brown | Putnam | 16,680 |
| 10 | The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi | Kathie Lee Gifford | W | 16,492 |
All unit sales per Nielsen BookScan except where noted.
