Warm Reception

The Cold Millions by Jess Walter debuts at #11 in hardcover fiction. “This could well be Walter’s best work yet,” our starred review said of the novel, a “superb tale of orphaned, train-hopping brothers Gig and Rye Dolan” in early-20th-century Spokane, Wash., and the free speech riots that took place there. “Being a former journalist I discovered early on that fiction is a terrible way to break news,” Walter told PW in a prepub interview. “I think it’s also a hard way to practice politics. What fiction can do is more important than that: it’s such a shot of empathy.” Millions is his first novel since 2012’s Beautiful Ruins, which has sold 677K print copies since its release.

In Clubland

November book club selections are in, several of which land on our lists.

Good Morning America chose Bryan Washington’s Memorial, which lands at #19 in hardcover fiction. “In Washington’s debut novel, the fractures in a couple’s relationship span from Houston, Tex., to Osaka, Japan,” our starred review said. “Tender, funny, and heartbreaking, this tale of family, food, and growing apart feels intimate and expansive at the same time.”

At #18 in hardcover nonfiction, the Reese’s Book Club selection is Group by Christie Tate. Our starred review said the author “delivers a no-holds-barred account of her five-plus years in group therapy in this dazzling debut memoir.”

With The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop, the Costco Pennie’s Pick and #7 in hardcover fiction, Fannie Flagg returns to the Alabama town made famous by Fried Green Tomatoes. “Flagg’s multitude of fans will enjoy reminiscing and learning more secrets from her well-known protagonists,” according to our review.

Better Living Through Cabinetry

Two books by interior designers debut on our hardcover nonfiction list. At #5, Make Life Beautiful is a memoir by husband-wife team Syd and Shea McGee (1.8 million Instagram followers), whose Dream Home Makeover launched on Netflix in October. “Long before climbing a ladder to design bookshelves,” Shea writes in the first chapter, “Syd and I were designing our lives together.”

The photo-packed decor primer Made for Living lands at #9 and spotlights the aesthetic author Amber Lewis promotes to her 1.1 million Instagram followers. “My kind of elusive, laid-back California cool can be had anywhere,” she writes, “whether you live in a Manhattan apartment or in the middle of suburbia.”

NEW & NOTABLE

THE DEEP END
Jeff Kinney
#1 Children’s Fiction, #1 overall
In his 15th outing, hapless Greg Heffley and his family take a cross-country road trip.

5 MORE SLEEPS 'TILL CHRISTMAS
Jimmy Fallon, illus. by Rich Deas
#2 Picture Books, #10 overall
A pair of bespectacled siblings and their faithful dog count down to December 25.

MILK BAR: KIDS ONLY
Christina Tosi
#7 Trade Paperback
The two-time James Beard Award–winning chef offers 85-plus recipes aimed toward young bakers, such as Rocky Road Cereal Squares and Grasshopper Cupcakes.