Even Better Sales
Louise Penny has the #2 book in the country with A Better Man, the 15th entry in her Chief Inspector Gamache mysteries and a “wrenching” story, our starred review said, that “explores the depths of human emotion, both horrifying and sublime.” First-week print unit sales have been generally improving since Still Life kicked off the series in 2005, with the new book surpassing her previous best, 2017’s Glass Houses.
(See all of this week's bestselling books.)
V-J Day
Ob-gyn and New York Times columnist Jen Gunter garnered a fair bit of attention for a 2017 blog post titled “Dear Gwyneth Paltrow, I’m a GYN and your vaginal jade eggs are a bad idea.” In The Vagina Bible, which debuts at #12 in trade paper, she continues along similar lines with what our starred review called a “comprehensive, pseudoscience-bashing discussion” of women’s sexual and reproductive health. Gunter set out to create “an accessible textbook for women,” she told PW in August. “If I am going to change the patriarchy, information is the way to do it.”
All the Colors
Best known for the YA novels Eleanor & Park and Fangirl, Rainbow Rowell also wrote the recent resurrection of Marvel’s popular Runaways franchise, illustrated by Kris Anka. Now she debuts at #7 in children’s frontlist fiction with the original graphic novel Pumpkinheads, illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks. “The pacing is assured, driving along in short bursts that leave room for key scenes to stretch, but it’s the primary characters’ authentic friendship,” our starred review said, “and the variously inclusive cast that really bring this funny last-day story home.”
New & Notable
Radicals, Resistance, and Revenge
Jeanine Pirro
#1 Hardcover Nonfiction, #4 overall
Pirro follows the road she paved with 2018’s Liars, Leakers, and Liberals, defending President Trump against “unprecedented maligning by the mainstream media, high-level Obama administration officials, and disappointed, disgruntled, and deranged Democrats.”
The Girl Who Lived Twice
David Lagercrantz
#2 Hardcover Fiction, #5 overall
With the latest Lisbeth Salander thriller, Lagercrantz has written as many novels in the series as Stieg Larsson, who created the original trilogy, did. Book six finds vengeful superhacker Salander teaming up once more with journalist Mikael Blomkvist.
Top 10 Overall
| Rank | Title | Author | Imprint | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | For Whom the Ball Rolls (Dog Man #7) | Dav Pilkey | Graphix | 75,317 |
| 2 | A Better Man | Louise Penny | Minotaur | 53,738 |
| 3 | Where the Crawdads Sing | Delia Owens | Putnam | 42,113 |
| 4 | Radicals, Resistance, and Revenge | Jeanine Pirro | Center Street | 26,950 |
| 5 | The Girl Who Lived Twice | David Lagercrantz | Knopf | 23,901 |
| 6 | Educated | Tara Westover | Random House | 20,547 |
| 7 | The Dark Side | Danielle Steel | Delacorte | 19,065 |
| 8 | We Don’t Eat Our Classmates | Ryan T. Higgins | Disney-Hyperion | 18,903 |
| 9 | The Goldfinch | Donna Tartt | Back Bay | 15,664 |
| 10 | The Inn | Patterson/Fox | Little, Brown | 13,719 |
All unit sales per NPD BookScan except where noted.
