Chain Reaction
The buzz around director Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, released July 21, has reignited interest in the source material, the 2005 biography American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. At the time, our starred review said the authors “[restore] human complexity to a man who had been both elevated and demonized”; this week, the bio is the #5 book in the country.
Mmm Mmm Good
Baking Yesteryear by B. Dylan Hollis is the #1 book in the country. Like many, Hollis took up baking in 2020—but his affinity for vintage 20th-century cookbooks turned into a TikTok account with 10 million followers. Unlikely sounding recipes include 1940s Chocolate Sauerkraut Cake (“a grand chocolate cake with a wonderful tang”) and 1950s Tomato Soup Cake (“when paired with a cream cheese frosting, it is unusually and uncomfortably good”).
The Story of Us
Karen M. McManus takes the #2 spot on our children’s fiction list with One of Us Is Back. “Bombshell reveals unfurl alongside reflections on honesty, empathy, and cycles of violence,” according to our starred review, “resulting in a soulful, high-stakes thrill ride.” It’s the final installment in her One of Us Is Lying trilogy, which is credited with kicking off a renewed enthusiasm for YA thrillers.
NEW & NOTABLE
LIGHT BRINGER
Pierce Brown
#2 Hardcover Fiction, #5 overall
Brown’s first new novel since 2019 continues the science fiction action adventure series he began with 2014’s Red Rising; to date, the six books in the Red Rising Saga have sold 938K print copies.
SOMEBODY'S FOOL
Richard Russo
#13 Hardcover Fiction
“Russo concludes his North Bath trilogy with a wise and witty drama of small-town life,” according to our review. He “gets a slow start, laying on a bit too much backstory at the outset, but the novel soon picks up speed, delivering the generous humor, keen ear for dialogue, and deep appreciation for humanity’s foibles that have endeared the author to his readers for decades.”
