Blockbuster first-week sales of Colleen Hoover’s It Starts with Us was not enough to prevent unit sales of print books from falling 9.1% last week compared to the week ended October 23, 2021. The new Hoover novel sold more than 809,000 copies in its first week at outlets that report to NPD BookScan and Simon & Schuster reported it was fastest-selling fiction book in company history.
With the boost provided by Hoover, sales in the adult fiction category jumped 29.6%. A new John Grisham book also had a solid first week of sales, with The Boys from Biloxi, selling just over 91,000 copies.
Adult fiction was the lone bright spot last week. Sales of adult nonfiction fell 16.4%. Seven of the top 10 category bestsellers were new books, but all had modest opening week sales. Beyond the Wand by Tom Felton was #1 on the category chart, selling almost 34,000 copies. In third and fourth place on the list were And There was Light by Jon Meacham (about 22,000 copies sold) followed by Feed These People by Jen Hatmaker (nearly 19,000 copies sold). Last year at this time The Pioneer Woman Cooks-Super Easy! by Ree Drummond was #1 on the fiction list, selling just under 87,000 copies.
Juvenile fiction sales dropped 20.4% last week. The illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix took the top spot again, selling almost 29,000 copies. An Elephant & Piggie Biggie! Volume 5 by Mo Willems was the bestselling new release, selling over 10,000 copies. Last year, J.K. Rowling’s The Christmas Pig was the category’s top title, selling nearly 30,000 copies.
Juvenile nonfiction sales plunged 25.6% from last year. The Wise Men Who Found Christmas by Raymond Arroyo was #1, selling almost 7,000 copies. Super Extra Deluxe Essential Handbook (Pokemon) was #1 last year, selling more than 9,000 copies.
Young adult fiction sales fell 10.7% and nonfiction declined 13%.
