The last week before Easter gave another boost to unit sales of print books for what is likely the last time for many months. Print unit sales rose 13.7% in the week ended April 11 over the week ended April 4 at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Sales were up in all four major categories.
As has been the usual case since the new coronavirus upended the book market, the juvenile categories posted the strongest results. Print unit sales of juvenile fiction titles rose 26.2% in the week, led by a 38.3% jump in the animals category and a 31.9% gain in the holidays/festivals/religion segment. The juvenile nonfiction category had a 15.9% increase in the week, led by a 62% jump in sales in the holidays/festivals/religion segment.
Adult nonfiction sales increased 6.8% driven by a 93% jump in sales in the cooking/entertaining segment, which benefited from the release of Magnolia Table, Volume 2 by Joanna Gaines, which sold more than 130,000 copies in its first week on sale—approximately 93,000 more print copies than second place My First Learn-To-Write Workbook by Crystal Radke sold last week. The humor and home/gardening segments had unit sales gains of 26% and 24%, respectively.
Adult fiction sales inched up 1.8% last week, led by an 18% rise in sales in the horror/occult/psychological segment and a 13.6% increase in sales of fantasy books. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng was the top-selling print title in the adult fiction segment, selling more than 34,000 copies.
