Hunter Gathers Sales
Outdoorsman Steven Rinella has hosted the Netflix series MeatEater since 2012 and the MeatEater podcast since 2015, and he’s also the author of several books on wildlife, hunting, fishing, and wild-game cooking. We starred his latest, The MeatEater Fish and Game Cookbook, which debuts at #11 in hardcover nonfiction. Sales were strongest in the north and west of the country.
(See all of this week's bestselling books.)
Game Face
Among the Black Friday winners: a trio of hardcover nonfiction titles associated with popular gaming worlds. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: Creating a Champion is a companion to the newest iteration of the longrunning Legend of Zelda series, the bestselling game in the series to date. Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica and Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage are both supplemental guides to Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition, the roleplaying game’s latest.
Home Cooking for the Holidays
Several new and backlist cookbooks got a significant Black Friday boost, including a trio of multicooker titles: Laurel Randolph’s 2016 blockbuster, The Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook (616K print copies sold since its 2016 release); 2017’s Instant Pot Miracle by the editors at HMH (415K sold since release); and a sequel, October’s Instant Pot Miracle 6 Ingredients or Less by Ivy Manning (up seven spots to #8 in trade paper). Also of note: Samin Nosrat’s Salt Fat Acid Heat, which pubbed in 2017, had its best week of sales since shortly after her Netflix miniseries began airing, more than a month ago.
New & Notable
Fire & Blood
George R.R. Martin
#1 Hardcover Fiction, #5 overall
Fans awaiting the next Song of Ice and Fire installment are not likely to be satisfied by this prequel, our review said: “Martin’s evocative storytelling style and gift for gripping narrative are mostly absent from this dry history of the blood-drenched Targaryens, one of the central dynasties of the land of Westeros.”
Top 10 Overall
| Rank | Title | Author | Imprint | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Becoming | Michelle Obama | Crown | 424,794 |
| 2 | The Meltdown (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #13) | Jeff Kinney | Amulet | 148,317 |
| 3 | Paw Patrol 5 Minute Stories (premium) | Random House | Random House | 124,047 |
| 4 | Trolls 5 Minute Stories (premium) | Random House | Random House | 93,717 |
| 5 | Fire & Blood | George R.R. Martin | Bantam | 70,878 |
| 6 | Homebody | Joanna Gaines | Harper Design | 54,461 |
| 7 | The Wonky Donkey | Smith/Cowley | Scholastic | 49,465 |
| 8 | Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald | J.K. Rowling | Scholastic/Levine | 45,585 |
| 9 | Target: Alex Cross | James Patterson | Little, Brown | 45,480 |
| 10 | Girl, Wash Your Face | Rachel Hollis | Nelson | 42,063 |
All unit sales per NPD BookScan except where noted.
