Class Pet
Mo Willems has the #5 book in the country with The Pigeon Has to Go to School!, his first book starring the avian antihero in five years and the 10th since the series began with 2003’s Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! A bronze statue of another Willems creation, Knuffle Bunny, was recently unveiled at the Park Slope Library, in Willems’s former Brooklyn neighborhood.
(See all of this week's bestselling books.)
Movers & Shakers
Some recently released adult books got a boost around the July 4 holiday:
Up 262%:
Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes, the latest Read with Jenna pick (June 25).
Debuts in hardcover fiction at #5.
Up 189%:
Shortest Way Home by Pete Buttigieg, the presidential hopeful’s memoir (Feb. 12).
Returns to hardcover nonfiction at #18.
Up 51%:
The British Are Coming by Rick Atkinson, a revolutionary war history (May 14).
Returns to hardcover nonfiction at #16.
Up 51%
Songs of America by Jon Meacham and Tim McGraw, a musical celebration (June 11).
Up three spots in hardcover nonfiction to #3.
New & Notable
Whisper Network
Chandler Baker
#10 Hardcover Nonfiction
The latest Reese’s Book Club pick is “an engrossing, bracingly funny thriller,” our review said, by a YA author making her adult debut. “This empowering novel is sure to resonate with many readers in the #MeToo era.”
Pan’s Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun
Guillermo del Toro and Cornelia Funke, illus. by Allen Williams
#18 Children’s Frontlist Fiction
Funke, best known for her middle grade Inkheart trilogy, revisits del Toro’s 2006 film. Fans of the movie “will enjoy this in-depth exploration and reimagining of the source material, while newcomers will have no trouble getting into the story,” our review said, “though its dark themes and occasional gruesome scenes aren’t for the fainthearted.”
Top 10 Overall
| Rank | Title | Author | Imprint | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Where the Crawdads Sing | Delia Owens | Putnam | 43,121 |
| 2 | The Reckoning | John Grisham | Dell | 25,931 |
| 3 | Summer of ’69 | Elin Hilderbrand | Little, Brown | 17,621 |
| 4 | Educated | Tara Westover | Random House | 17,597 |
| 5 | The Pigeon Has to Go to School! | Mo Willems | Hyperion | 17,541 |
| 6 | Cottage by the Sea | Debbie Macomber | Ballantine | 17,221 |
| 7 | Before We Were Yours | Lisa Wingate | Ballantine | 16,307 |
| 8 | The Pioneers | David McCullough | Simon & Schuster | 15,925 |
| 9 | Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid | Jeff Kinney | Amulet | 15,174 |
| 10 | Backlash | Brad Thor | Atria/Bestler | 15,043 |
All unit sales per NPD BookScan except where noted.
