The lack of a new blockbuster bestseller did not hinder unit sales of print books from jumping 17.3% last week over the week ended November 7, 2020 at outlets the report to NPD BookScan. With the exception of juvenile nonfiction, all major categories had double digit increases over last year. It was the third consecutive week sales rose by more than 7% over 2020.
Adult nonfiction had its best performance in months, with units up 17.1%. Though David Venable’s Half Homemade, Fully Delicious stayed #1 on the category bestseller list with more than 64,000 copies sold, four new titles were among the top six category bestsellers. Philipp Dettmer’s Immune was in second place on the category list with over 38,000 copies sold followed by Paul McCartney’s Lyrics, which sold nearly 37,000 copies. The President and the Freedom Fighter by Brian Kilmeade sold over 28,000 copies in its first week on sale and was followed by Gary Larson’s Far Side 2022 Off-the-Wall Calendar, which sold more than 25,000 copies.
Unit sales in adult fiction jumped 29.4% for the period over 2020, with five new books among the top-10 bestsellers in the category. Mitch Albom’s The Stranger in the Lifeboat was #1, selling more than 52,000 copies. Lore Olympus: Volume One by Rachel Smythe sold nearly 45,000 copies followed by Janet Evanovich’s Game On, 28, which sold over 44,000 copies.
Unit sales increased 28.8% in young adult fiction. Marissa Meyer’s Gilded sold more than 9,000 copies in its first week on sale, making it the top seller in the category. Juvenile fiction sales increased 14%. Jeff Kinney’s newest Wimpy Kid title, Big Shot, stayed #1 in the category, selling just over 124,000 copies. In second place on the category list was Aaron Blabey’s The Bad Guys in the Bee-Hind You!, which sold over 30,000 copies, followed by Aaron Slater, Illustrator by Andrea Beaty, which sold about 27,000 copies.
Juvenile nonfiction sales rose 9.7% last week, its strongest showing in months. Dan Green’s How to Draw 101 Animals was #1 in the category, selling about 8,400 copies.
Young adult nonfiction sales increased 35.8% over last year. Part of that increase is due to the ongoing listing of Johanna Basford’s adult coloring books in the young adult nonfiction category. Two Basford titles topped the category bestseller list and a third was in ninth place and altogether than sold approximately 5,500 copies.
