Who’s That Girl?

Jessica Knoll’s debut thriller, Luckiest Girl Alive, lands at #19 on our Hardcover Fiction list with 3,585 print units sold; it’s also the second-highest-selling title in the Apple iBook store this week, behind The Girl on the Train. But it has a lot more in common with another “girl” thriller. Here’s why:

Local Heroes

Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez played for the Boston Red Sox for seven seasons, leading the team to its 2004 World Series victory. Catcher Jorge Posada is a 17-season New York Yankees veteran and was on the roster for four World Series championships. Both players published memoirs this month, and when we looked at designated market area (DMA) first-week unit sales for each book, we weren’t surprised to see where the biggest fans were.

% of First-Week Unit Sales

Pedro
47% Boston

After Boston, the next-best market for Martinez was N.Y.C., which has 15% of units sales. Data do not show whether those buyers are Mets followers—after his contract with the Sox was up in 2004, Martinez signed with the Queens team for four seasons—or Yankees partisans eager for a glimpse of their rival.

The Journey Home
63% New York City

Posada fans outside of the Yankees’ home base are far more scattered, with the next-best DMA, Hartford–New Haven, Conn., only accounting for 6% of units sales.

Other Notable Debuts

The Familiar, Vol. 1
by Mark Z. Danielewski
#19 Trade Paperback
4,904 units

The House of Leaves author begins his new novel by asking the reader to turn the volume sideways, and things continue in that experimental vein.


A Lucky Life Interrupted
by Tom Brokaw
#6 Hardcover Nonfiction
13,782 units

The longtime NBC newsman recounts the year following his diagnosis with a treatable but incurable blood cancer.

My Fight/Your Fight
by Ronda Rousey, with Maria Burns Ortiz
#11 Hardcover Nonfiction
9,647 units

Undefeated UFC bantamweight champion, Olympic medalist in judo, and New Yorker profile subject Rousey tells her story with the assistance of journalist Ortiz, her sister.

Hold Still
by Sally Mann
#16 Hardcover Nonfiction
7,053 units

This memoir delves into the acclaimed and controversial photographer’s family history and, according to our review, reads “like a crime thriller.”


Top 10 Overall

Rank Title Author Imprint Units
1 Oh, the Places You’ll Go! Dr. Seuss Random 38,697
2 The Wright Brothers David McCullough Simon & Schuster 36,016
3 14th Deadly Sin Patterson/Paetro Little, Brown 35,162
4 Personal Lee Child Dell 25,976
5 The Girl on the Train Paula Hawkins Riverhead 25,121
6 Paper Towns John Green Penguin/Speak 20,555
7 All the Light We Cannot See Anthony Doerr Scribner 20,003
8 The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up Marie Kondo Ten Speed 19,699
9 Memory Man David Baldacci Grand Central 17,389
10 And the Good News Is... Dana Perino Hachette/Twelve 16,042