Leading the Pack
Brené Brown has the #1 book in the country with Dare to Lead. A research professor at University of Houston, Brown specializes in studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy, and her books routinely sell in the hundreds of thousands of print copies. Her latest is her strongest debut week to date.
(See all of this week's bestselling books.)
The French Connection
Tana French’s The Witch Elm has drawn attention for its plot’s real-life resonance; our starred review called it “a chilling interrogation of privilege and the transformative effects of trauma.” Her debut, In the Woods, received several first-novel awards and kicked off the Dublin Murder Squad series. The new book, her first standalone thriller, bested all previous first week print unit sales and debuts at #5 in hardcover fiction.
Stage to Page, Page to Screen
Dear Evan Hansen opened on Broadway in 2016 and has become a bona fide phenomenon, nabbing six Tony Awards including best musical and earning widespread fan affection. The show began a national tour October 5, just ahead of the release of a YA novelization by Val Emmerich with show creators Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, and Steven Levenson. It debuts at #2 in children’s frontlist fiction.
The film Beautiful Boy, adapted from David Sheff’s 2007 chronicle of his teenage son’s meth addiction, opened October 12 and stars Steve Carrell and Timothée Chalamet as father and son. The tie-in edition pubbed Sept. 4 and cracks our list for the first time at #20 in trade paper.
New & Notable
Bridge of Clay
Markus Zusak
#5 Children’s Frontlist Fiction
Our starred review called the author’s first novel since 2006’s The Book Thief an “exquisitely written multigenerational family saga.” Two editions of the book, signed and unsigned, debut at #5 and #16 in children’s fiction.
The Next Person You Meet in Heaven
Mitch Albom
#1 Hardcover Fiction, #8 overall
“Newcomers to Albom might find his goodness cloying,” our review said, but fans of 2003’s The Five People You Meet in Heaven “will have plenty to appreciate here.”
Killing Commendatore
Haruki Murakami
#6 Hardcover Fiction
In Murakami’s “meticulous yet gripping” latest, our review said, a painter embarks on a road trip after discovering his wife’s affair and finds “a magical realm that includes impish physical manifestations of ideas and metaphors.”
Top 10 Overall
| Rank | Title | Author | Imprint | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dare to Lead | Brene Brown | Random House | 63,823 |
| 2 | Ship of Fools | Tucker Carlson | Free Press | 57,941 |
| 3 | The Wonky Donkey | Craig Smith | Scholastic | 57,415 |
| 4 | Killing the SS | O’Reilly/Dugard | Holt | 54,714 |
| 5 | Girl, Wash Your Face | Rachel Hollis | Nelson | 41,488 |
| 6 | Skinnytaste One and Done | Gina Homolka | Clarkson Potter | 40,524 |
| 7 | Presidents of War | Michael Beschloss | Crown | 30,845 |
| 8 | The Next Person You Meet in Heaven | Mitch Albom | Harper | 30,761 |
| 9 | Holy Ghost | John Sandford | Putnam | 30,336 |
| 10 | Ambush | Patterson/Born | Little, Brown | 29,679 |
All unit sales per Nielsen BookScan except where noted.
