Helped by an extra Saturday of sales compared to 2021, unit sales of print books rose 10% last week over the week ended December 25, 2021, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. All six major categories posted increases in the week.
The adult fiction segment had the largest increase, with sales up 21.5%. Colleen Hoover’s It Starts with Us and It Ends with Us remained in first and second place on the category chart, selling about 110,000 and 86,000 copies, respectively. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus moved into third place on the chart, selling more than 61,000 copies.
Young adult and children's fiction both had double-digit increases last week. Young adult sales rose 13.3%. Holly Jackson and Adam Silvera each had three books among the category’s top-10 sellers. Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder was #1 in the category, selling over 20,000 copies. Meanwhile, children's fiction sales were up 11.4%, led by the duo of Jeff Kinney and Dav Pilkey. Kinney’s Diper Överlöde nabbed the top spot on the category chart, selling over 80,000 copies, followed by Pilkey's Cat Kid Comic Club: Collaborations, which sold nearly 58,000 copies.
Even adult nonfiction, which will likely finish 2022 with almost a 10% sales decline, had an increase last week, with sales up 3.4%. The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama was #1 in the category, selling more than 150,000 copies. The Simple Happy Cookbook by Steve Doocy had a big gain last week and sold almost 32,000 copies, moving it into ninth place on the category list.
With one sales week left in the 2022, unit sales of print books were down 5.9% from 2021.
