This Week's Bestsellers: September 19, 2016

Warrior’s Victory

Glennon Doyle Melton gained an ample online readership through her highly confessional blog, Momastery, on which she’s written about her struggles with alcoholism and bulimia, as well as her marital difficulties. Her first book, 2013’s Carry On, Warrior, sold 30K copies in hardcover and another 101K copies in trade paper. Her new book, Love Warrior, had an announced first printing of 150K copies—and that was before the September 6 announcement that it was the next Oprah’s Book Club pick. As is typical with an Oprah selection, Flatiron had an early heads-up, so at the same time that members of the sales force were selling Love Warrior by name, they were also selling an anonymous Oprah’s Book Club pick with a generic ISBN and no indication of title, author, or imprint. This week, the conventional and Oprah-stickered editions debut, respectively, at #1 and #2 on our Hardcover Nonfiction list, and #3 and #7 in the country overall.

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

Do the Math

Ada Twist, Scientist, the third STEM-themed title from author-illustrator team Andrea Beaty and David Roberts, debuts at #2 on our Children’s Picture Books list with almost 19K print copies sold. The pair began their collaboration in 2007 with Iggy Peck, Architect, which has incrementally racked up release-to-date sales totalling 142K print copies. The follow-up, 2013’s Rosie Revere, Engineer, debuted with a little more than 1,000 print copies sold, and it typically moves about 1,600 print units a week, for release-to-date sales of 236K. Both of those books had better-than-usual sales this week, perhaps buoyed by Ada Twist’s strong showing.

Election Countdown

The Conservative Case for Trump, #15 on our Hardcover Nonfiction list, was coauthored by Phyllis Schlafly, who in 1972 founded the Eagle Forum in order to defeat the Equal Rights Amendment; Ed Martin, current president of the Eagle Forum; and Brett M. Decker, a former editor at the Wall Street Journal and Washington Times. Schlafly died on September 5; the next day, the book’s pub date, Donald Trump tweeted, “As a tribute to the late, great Phyllis Schlafly, I hope everybody can go out and get her latest book, The Conservative Case for Trump.” He delivered her eulogy that weekend.

Out of Hiding

At #10 in Hardcover Nonfiction, Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly tells of a group of mathematicians, all African-American women, who worked for NASA in the Jim Crow South and who were instrumental in the country’s greatest successes in the space race. Our starred review said the author “crafts a narrative that is crucial to understanding subsequent movements for civil rights.” Expect the book’s profile to continue to rise: the film adaptation, starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monáe, will be out in limited release December 25 and in wide release January 13. A hardcover young readers’ edition arrives November 29, and a trade paper movie tie-in pubs December 6.

Florida Men

A pair of titles centered on the Sunshine State land on our lists this week. Razor Girl, at #3 in Hardcover Fiction, is the latest comedic thriller from Carl Hiaasen; our review said that upon finishing the book, whose escapades include a reality-TV-star-incited riot at a Key West bar, readers will hope that the “quirky denizens of Hiaasen’s Florida will soon be back for another screwball adventure.”

Humorist and Miami resident Dave Barry’s tongue-in-cheek defense of his adopted home, Best. State. Ever., is #23 on our Hardcover Nonfiction list; in the book’s introduction, he explains that the book is something of a response to the questions he gets about the state, which carry, he says, a very specific tone: “What the hell is wrong with Florida?"

Top 10 Overall

All unit sales per Nielsen BookScan except where noted.