This Week's Bestsellers: December 22, 2014

An ‘Unbroken’ Streak

In the run-up to the Christmas Day release of the movie version of Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken, the nonfiction title continues to perform well in various formats. For the second week in a row, it takes the top two spots on PW’s Trade Paper list, in conventional and movie tie-in versions, for combined print sales of more than 130K units. A YA adaptation pubbed November 11 and makes its best showing to date this week, selling 21,780 units in hardcover. Another November release, Don’t Give Up, Don’t Give In, is a posthumously published collection of life lessons coauthored by Louis Zamperini, whose WWII survival story Hillenbrand relates in her book; that title is at #23 on our Hardcover Nonfiction list with 11,016 units sold. Unbroken originally pubbed in hardcover in 2010, and this week it makes its strongest showing in that format since the July paperback release, with 12,263 units sold.

Sales Up for ‘Tidying Up’

Returning to our Hardcover Nonfiction list for the first time since its November 10 debut week, Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing is at #22 this week with 11,193 units sold, representing a 48% jump over the previous week and more than a quarter of total print sales for the book since its release. Kondo’s message—keep items that “spark joy” and discard the rest—has already struck a chord internationally, with sales of her book topping two million copies worldwide. In the U.S., media coverage has been steady since publication, from a New York Times profile and an excerpt on BoingBoing to a recent NPR interview.

Signs of ‘Life’

PW’s review of April 2014’s The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, about a curmudgeonly indie bookseller, said that author Gabrielle Zevin’s “affection for the book business is obvious.” It seems that the book business returns that affection: the novel has sold 36,553 units in hardcover, according to Nielsen BookScan, and publisher Algonquin credits bookseller and librarian enthusiasm for steady sales. The paperback debuted on our Paperback Trade list last week at #23, and moves up two spots this week, with total paperback sales of 10,637 units to date. Buzz around the title is growing: Target selected A.J. Fikry as a Book Club Pick for December. The novel is also making a strong showing on regional indie bestseller lists, and Mother Jones just named it a best book of 2014. A paperback tour is planned for the spring.

Top 10 Overall