Power Up
Naomi Alderman won the U.K.’s Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction in June 2017 with The Power, a work of speculative fiction in which young women discover the ability to release powerful electrical currents from their fingers. The premise resonated with U.S. readers when the title pubbed here in October (our review praised its “stirring and mind-bending vision”) and the book has seen steady sales, boosted by its inclusion on numerous best-of-2017 lists. The week before Christmas, the Washington Post noted that demand had exceeded supply, which led to a sales dip, but a subsequent reprint helped the title debut on our fiction list at #21.
(See all of this week's bestselling books.)
Movie Watch
Publicity preceding the November 2017 big-screen release of Call Me by Your Name, adapted from André Aciman’s novel, boosted sales of the conventional trade paper edition of the book throughout the year: it sold 21K print copies in 2017, or about 42% of total sales since its 2008 release. The movie tie-in edition pubbed in October, and print unit sales continued to climb in the weeks after the movie opened; it debuts on our trade paper list at #17.
Relax and Reassess
The last week of 2017 saw two “new year, new you” books—one aimed at soothing the spirit and the other at taking financial control—debut on our hardcover nonfiction list. At #16, Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics is, our review said, an “entertaining and useful guide” by ABC News correspondent Dan Harris and meditation teacher Jeff Warren. Harris’s 2014 memoir, 10% Happier, has sold 308K print copies.
Former CPA Jesse Mecham, founder of the budgeting software company YNAB, lands at #22 with You Need a Budget. “Mecham makes it seem simple and his tone is encouraging,” our review said, citing the “especially helpful” cheat sheet reminders that close each chapter.
New & Notable
The Last Black Unicorn
Tiffany Haddish
#23 Hardcover Nonfiction
Essays by the actress-comedian give a warts-and-all (literally) view of her route from a troubled childhood in South Central Los Angeles to success in Hollywood. Haddish starred alongside Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, and Jada Pinkett Smith in 2017’s Girls Trip and in November became the first African-American female standup comic to host Saturday Night Live.
Pillow Thoughts
Courtney Peppernell
#18 Trade Paper
Australian writer Peppernell’s collection of poetry and prose, divided into themes including “If you are missing someone” and “If you are soul-searching,” could sit comfortably on a shelf alongside the works of Rupi Kaur (#2 and #4 in the U.S.), with whom she shares a publisher.
Top 10 Overall
| Rank | Title | Author | Imprint | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dog Man and Cat Kid (Dog Man #4) | Dav Pilkey | Graphix | 71,460 |
| 2 | The Sun and Her Flowers | Rupi Kaur | Andrews McMeel | 35,002 |
| 3 | The Getaway | Jeff Kinney | Amulet | 29,085 |
| 4 | Milk and Honey | Rupi Kaur | Andrews McMeel | 25,722 |
| 5 | Origin | Dan Brown | Doubleday | 24,496 |
| 6 | The Rooster Bar | John Grisham | Doubleday | 21,167 |
| 7 | Darker | E.L. James | Vintage | 20,033 |
| 8 | Wonder | R.J. Palacio | Knopf | 19,926 |
| 9 | Turtles All the Way Down | John Green | Dutton | 16,732 |
| 10 | Leonardo da Vinci | Walter Isaacson | Simon & Schuster | 16,688 |
All unit sales per Nielsen BookScan except where noted.
