Gains in adult and young adult fiction were not enough to keep a two-week holiday winning streak from ending last week, as unit sales of print books dipped 1.1% from the comparable week a year ago at outlets that report to Circana BookScan.
The top-selling book last week was Liz Cheney’s Oath and Honor, which sold more than 77,000 copies in its first week on sale. That was not enough to top Michelle Obama’s The Light We Carry, which sold almost 91,000 copies in the comparable period last year, and adult nonfiction sales slipped 3.2%. How Not to Age by Michael Greger sold over 20,000 copies in its first week, putting it in ninth place on the category list.
Adult fiction sales rose 3.2%, led by the now familiar combination of Rebecca Yarros’ one-two combination of Iron Flame, which sold more than 52,000 copies, and Fourth Wing, which sold just under 51,000 copies. The 13th volume in Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Chainsaw Man series sold almost 30,000 copies in its first week, landing it in sixth place on the category list.
The young adult fiction category had the strongest week, with sales up 16%, led by Hunger Games–related titles by Suzanne Collins. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the basis for the new movie of the same name, was the category bestseller, selling nearly 34,000 copies and a tie-in edition sold over 14,000 copies. Last year, Holly Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder was number one, selling about 13,500 copies.
Juvenile fiction sales fell 1.2%. Books by Jeff Kinney (No Brainer) and Dav Pilkey (Influencers) were one-two on the category list, selling about 61,000 copies and 58,000 copies, respectively. But those numbers trailed last year’s category top-sellers, Kinney’s Diper Överlöde and Pilkey’s Collaborations, which each sold about 72,000 copies in the comparable week.
