Read Me
YA author Tahereh Mafi debuts at #4 in children’s frontlist fiction with Defy Me, the fifth novel in a dystopian series that launched with 2011’s Shatter Me. That book has sold 134K copies in trade paperback, and the series has picked up steam with each installment.
(See all of this week's bestselling books.)
Talking Therapy
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb is “a sparkling and sometimes moving account of her work as a psychotherapist,” our review said, “with the twist that she is in therapy herself.” It debuts at #9 in hardcover nonfiction with six times the first-week print unit sales of her previous book, 2010’s Marry Him. Gottlieb, who writes the “Dear Therapist” column for the Atlantic, is poised to bring her work to the small screen, with Eva Longoria developing Talk to Someone as a series for ABC.
Nice Shot
Historian Douglas Brinkley lands at #14 with American Moonshot, a look at President John F. Kennedy’s commitment to the space program. Brinkley draws on primary source material and interviews with many of the key figures of the space race, which culminated in the July 1969 lunar landing. His book is among several titles whose publications mark the event’s 50th anniversary; for our look at forthcoming and older notable space exploration titles, see “Books for the 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing.”
New & Notable
The Matriarch
Susan Page
#3 Hardcover Nonfiction, #5 overall
USA Today Washington bureau chief Page profiles Barbara Bush. In what our review called a “warmhearted biography,” Bush, wife of the 41st U.S. president and mother of the 43rd, “exemplifies an old-school style of feminine strength and influence.”
A Love Letter Life
Audrey and Jeremy Roloff
#6 Hardcover Nonfiction
The Roloffs, who first caught the public eye on Little People, Big World, the reality show that starred Jeremy’s parents, “share the story of their relationship and marriage,” our review said, “and provide advice for couples in their welcoming debut.”
Rumple Buttercup
Matthew Gray Gubler
#9 Children’s Picture Books
Gubler, who stars on the TV series Criminal Minds, wrote and illustrated what the subtitle calls “a story of bananas, belonging, and being yourself,” in which the titular monster learns that it’s okay to be weird.
Top 10 Overall
| Rank | Title | Author | Imprint | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Where the Crawdads Sing | Delia Owens | Putnam | 43,862 |
| 2 | Becoming | Michelle Obama | Crown | 32,624 |
| 3 | Girl, Stop Apologizing | Rachel Hollis | HarperCollins Leadership | 26,256 |
| 4 | Little Blue Truck’s Springtime | Schertle/McElmurry | HMH | 25,597 |
| 5 | The Matriarch | Susan Page | Twelve | 21,508 |
| 6 | Supermarket | Bobby Hall | Simon & Schuster | 20,151 |
| 7 | Girl, Wash Your Face | Rachel Hollis | Nelson | 19,249 |
| 8 | A Gentleman in Moscow | Amor Towles | Penguin Books | 19,123 |
| 9 | We Are the Gardeners | Gaines/Swaney | Tommy Nelson | 18,046 |
| 10 | Educated | Tara Westover | Random House | 17,799 |
All unit sales per NPD BookScan except where noted.
