Unit sales of print books pulled off a rare feat last week: sales were flat with the week ended August 28, 2021 at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. The achievement was due to another week of solid increases in adult and young adult fiction and only a small decrease in sales of adult nonfiction.
Adult fiction sales rose 16.1% over 2021 helped by a good week of sales by two new titles. Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood sold almost 49,000 copies in its first week, good enough for third place on the category bestseller list, while Babel by R.F. Kuang sold more than 17,000 copies, landing it in ninth place on the adult fiction list. Colleen Hoover’s It Ends with Us remained #1, selling more than 74,000 copies.
Young adult fiction sales were up 6.1%, given a boost by the release of Lightlark by Alex Aster, which sold more than 24,000 copies in its first week on sale. Long Live the Pumpkin Queen by Shea Ernshaw slipped to #2, selling more than 17,000 copies
Good sales by four new books helped to limit the sales decline in adult nonfiction to 2.6%. The top-seller in the category was Jared Kushner’s Breaking History, which sold more than 46,000 copies. We Never Die by Matt Fraser sold nearly 19,000 copies, putting it in fourth place on the category list. In the seventh spot was School Year Scrapbook, which sold more than 12,000 copies, while Global Class by Aaron McDaniel was #10, selling nearly 10,000 copies.
Juvenile fiction sales slid 6.6% despite a new #1 category seller. Creepy Crayon! by Aaron Reynolds sold almost 14,000 copies in its first week, edging out The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle for the top spot.
