Unit sales of print books fell about 5% last week compared to the week ended June 19, 2021, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. (Because of a technical glitch, last week’s sales were slightly overcounted, by no more than 0.5%).
The adult fiction segment was the only category to post an increase over 2021. Its 8% gain was led by Elin Hilderbrand’s The Hotel Nantucket, which sold more than 70,000 copies in its first week on sale. Colleen Hoover had five books among the segment’s top 10 titles, which sold nearly 200,000 combined copies.
Sales of adult nonfiction fell by about 8%. As has been true for much of the year, the decline was due to weakness throughout the list, not because of a blockbuster seller a year ago. In fact, sales of the #1 title in the category last week, Battle for the American Mind by Pete Hegseth, topped 65,000 copies in its first week on sale, more than double the sales of the #1 title last year, Killing the Mob by Bill O’Reilly. Another new release to get a solid start was I’d Like to Play Alone, Please by Tom Segura, which sold nearly 22,000 copies, putting it in fourth place on the category list.
Juvenile nonfiction sales dropped 11.4% despite a series of Summer Bridge Activities books selling better than a year ago. Eight books in the series sold approximately 77,000 copies last week, compared to about 45,000 copies last year.
Sales of juvenile fiction declined 8.6%. Why a Daughter Needs a Dad by Gregory E, Lang was the top seller in the category, selling more than 34,000 copies. The bestselling new book was Stanley the Dog: The First Day of School, which sold over 14,000 copies, landing it in fourth place on the category list.
