Opening Up

A pair of celebrity memoirs debut this week, each offering a look at painful chapters in the authors’ lives.

The #1 book in the country is Open Book by fashion mogul and onetime pop singer and reality TV star Jessica Simpson. Drawing from journals she’s kept since she was 15, Simpson addresses her body image issues, relationship difficulties, and struggles with addiction. Before getting sober in 2017, she writes, she “needed a drink every morning because I had the shakes.”

Actor Diane Keaton lands at #14 in hardcover nonfiction with Brother & Sister, which discusses her relationship with her mentally ill younger sibling. “This slim but weighty book,” our review said, “stands as a haunting meditation on mortality, sibling love, mental illness, and regret.”

A Growing Faith

Beth Moore debuts at #5 in hardcover nonfiction with Chasing Vines. “Inspired by the picturesque grapevines of Tuscany,” our review said, “evangelical speaker and bible study leader Moore takes readers on a smart, engaging metaphorical exploration of the connection between Christianity and viticulture.” As Moore writes, “If you’re in Christ, He is your true Vine, whether you realize it or not.”

Two other new Christian titles on the hardcover nonfiction list focus on the power of prayer. Our review said of #7 Craig Groeschel’s Dangerous Prayers, “In this informative guide, Groeschel, founding and senior pastor of Life.Church in Edmond, Okla., shares his previous struggle of feeling inadequate about his prayer life.” And Bible teacher Sheila Walsh’s Praying Women, at #17, aims to help readers express themselves through prayer.

In Clubland

Erica Bauermeister’s latest novel, The Scent Keeper, pubbed in May and has sold modestly in the months since. Reese Witherspoon named it her February book club pick just before its paperback reissue. It debuts at #11 in trade paper, selling more in one week than the hardcover has sold to date.

February’s Read with Jenna selection is the new release The Girl with the Louding Voice, Abi Daré’s debut novel. It lands at #20 in hardcover fiction.

NEW & NOTABLE

SNUG
Catana Chetwynd
#5 Hardcover Fiction, #10 overall
This comics collection inspired by Chetwynd’s relationship with her fiancé follows her first book, 2018’s Little Moments in Love, which has sold 91K print copies and spawned a collection of calendars.

WHEN TIME STOPPED
Ariana Neumann
#15 Hardcover Nonfiction
Our review called this debut a “gripping, expertly researched narrative,” in which Neumann, a former foreign correspondent for Venezuela’s Daily Journal, delivers a “deeply moving account of her father’s life during the Holocaust.”