This Week's Bestsellers: October 6, 2014

Bringing a Lost Friend to Life

The Tourists, Jeff Hobbs’s 2007 novel, explored issues of wealth and class among a cohort of Yale alums in what PW’s review called a “Gatsby-meets-McInerney debut.” His follow-up work, The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League, debuts at #21 on our list with just over 3,500 units sold. It, too, addresses the gulf between the advantaged and the disadvantaged—and how sometimes, that gap is unbridgeable. Robert Peace was born just outside Newark, N.J., to an impoverished single mother and a father who went to prison for murder. The intellectually gifted and hardworking Peace, thanks in large part to the tireless sacrifices of his mother, eventually enrolled at Yale, where he and Hobbs were roommates. Peace excelled academically and socially, but as the book details, he proved unable to escape a path that led to his being gunned down at age 30. PW calls Hobbs’s portrait of Peace “indelible” in its starred review; positive attention in major news outlets, and a debut week on our Nonfiction Hardcover list, indicates that others feel the same way.—Carolyn Juris

Take It Easy

Cookbooks looking to make life a little easier in the kitchen fared well on our Paperback Trade list this week. The Big Book of Easy Baking with Refrigerated Dough, which collects 200 recipes using Pillsbury’s various ready-to-use doughs, moved up eight spots to #4, selling more than 14K copies. The book has sold close to 22K copies since its September 16 release. Debuting at #5 was the latest from Martha Stewart, who also offered up a collection of “easy” meals with One Pot: 120+ Easy Meals from Your Skillet, Slow Cooker, Stockpot, and More. The book sold just shy of 13,000 copies in its first week on sale.—Clare Swanson

A ‘Killing’ Spree

The latest entry in Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly history series, cowritten with Martin Dugard, debuts at the top of our Hardcover Nonfiction list. Killing Patton is also the top-selling book in the country, with more than 160K print units sold according to outlets reporting to Nielsen BookScan. Here's how first-week sales for the new book stack up against the debut weeks for the duo's three previous titles.

Other Notable Debuts

Skink–No Surrender is the first YA novel by Carl Hiaasen, who has written a few middle-grade novels including the Newbery Honor–winning Hoot, plus numerous works for adults. Many of the latter feature eccentric former Florida governor Clinton Tyree, aka Skink; in No Surrender, Hiassen introduces the popular character to younger readers.

Also on the Children’s Fiction list: Newly retired New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter may have quit his day job, but the bestseller list debut of The Contract, the first title from S&S/Wiseman venture Jeter Publishing, could bode well for his career change. It’s at #12 with more than 7K sold—a solid showing for the starting lineup.

Top 10 Overall