This Week's Bestsellers: November 14, 2016

Double Downer

Double Down, the latest installment in Jeff Kinney’s bestselling Wimpy Kid series, landed last week and is the #1 book in the country, selling 236K copies in print. And while most authors would kill for sales like that, this is a bit of a comedown for the series. Sales of Double Down are down 25% compared to last year’s Wimpy Kid release, Old School. Publisher Abrams, however, is upbeat. In a statement, CEO Michael Jacobs noted that “both consumer confidence and retail sales in general have been affected by anxiety surrounding the run-up to the U.S. presidential election” and hailed the book’s spot on top of the charts. “Double Down is #1 by a wide margin,” he said, “and our goal is to keep it at the top of the lists for as long as possible.”

(See all of this week's bestselling books.)

I, Mr. Robot

The official tie-in book to the USA Network’s popular Mr. Robot series, written by show creator Sam Esmail and show writer Courtney Looney, is set up as the journal of series protagonist Elliot, who chronicles events leading up to and coinciding with the show’s second season.

A New Direction

The photo-heavy memoir from One Direction–star-turned-solo-artist Zayn Malik lands at #13 on our Hardcover Nonfiction list. He’s no stranger to charting: his first solo album, Mind of Mine, debuted at #1 in the U.S. and the U.K. earlier this year. Malik, who has 20.3 million Twitter followers and another 16.2 million Instagram followers, promoted the book heavily on his social feeds, and Twitter created a special set of stickers (including the one at left) to celebrate the book and author.

Killer Combo

Two titles from James Patterson’s BookShots imprint debut on our Trade Paperback list: Killer Chef, written with Jeffrey J. Keyes, and Taking the Titanic, written with Scott Slaven. The BookShots imprint at Hachette launched earlier this year and features books shorter than 150 pages that are priced under $5. To date, BookShots titles that Patterson has cowritten have sold more than 500K print copies combined.

New & Notable

The Wrong Side of Goodbye

Michael Connelly

#2 Hardcover

Fiction, #3 Overall

Series hero Harry Bosch returns with a new job as a reserve police officer/private detective and a new case: to find out what happened to a woman last seen 65 years ago.

The Award

Danielle Steel

#4 Hardcover

Fiction, #9

Overall

Steel begins her latest in 1940 France as Germany invades. There, 16-year-old Gaëlle joins the Resistance, only to later be erroneously labeled a collaborator.

Hopping Over the Rabbit Hole

Anthony Scaramucci

#19 Hardcover

Nonfiction

The latest title from the author of Goodbye Gordon Gecko: How to Find Your Fortune Without Losing Your Soul offers what may end up being rather timely tips on “how to thrive in an unpredictable business environment.”

Top 10 Overall

All unit sales per Nielsen BookScan except where noted.