Alone at the Top

Kristin Hannah’s The Great Alone, one of our top 10 literary fiction picks for spring, is the #1 book in the country. Hannah has written numerous novels, many of which have sold well; her big hit was her most recent book, 2015’s The Nightingale, which has sold 681K copies in hardcover and another 300K in trade paper. The new novel seems to be reaping the benefits of its predecessor’s popularity.

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

An American Success

Oprah Winfrey named her newest book club pick, An American Marriage, the fourth novel by Tayari Jones, on Feb. 6. The book pubbed in hardcover that day, and two editions—Oprah-annointed and conventional—appear on our hardcover fiction list, at #8 and #15 respectively. First-week sales beat those for the rest of Jones’s books.

Girl, You Know It’s True

Rachel Hollis, a former event planner in Los Angeles with a popular lifestyle blog—the Chic Site—and 729K Facebook followers, debuts at #4 in hardcover nonfiction with Girl, Wash Your Face, a faith-based self-help book. She’s equally at home quoting scripture and making just-us-girlfriends admissions: after she had children, she writes, cocktails “were like favorite cousins you only see on holidays.” Since 2014 Hollis has built up a bibliography that includes three novels (Party Girl, Sweet Girl, and Smart Girl) and the cookbook Upscale Downhome. A second cookbook, Real Life Dinners, pubs in May.

New & Notable

Directorate S
Steve Coll
#8 Hardcover Nonfiction
Coll “picks up where his Pulitzer Prize–winning Ghost Wars left off,” our starred review said, “offering what is perhaps the most comprehensive work to date on the U.S. war in Afghanistan.”

Tempests and Slaughter
Tamora Pierce
#3 Children’s & YA Frontlist Fiction
This series starter is set in the medieval fantasy world of the author’s Tortall books. “Pierce’s many fans,” our review said, “will thrill to discover the backstory behind one of their favorite characters.”

Top 10 Overall

Rank Title Author Imprint Units
1 The Great Alone Kristin Hannah St. Martin’s 41,289
2 12 Rules for Life Jordan B. Peterson Random House Canada 39,199
3 Fire and Fury Michael Wolff Holt 32,362
4 Llama Llama I Love You Anna Dewdney Viking 27,991
5 Dog Man and Cat Kid (Dog Man #4) Dav Pilkey Graphix 26,179
6 A Wrinkle in Time Madeleine L’Engle Square Fish 22,539
7 Happy Valentine’s Day, Mouse! Numeroff/Bond HC/Balzer + Bray 16,785
8 Obama Pete Souza Little, Brown 15,625
9 Live Fearless Sadie Robertson Tommy Nelson 14,648
10 Wonder R.J. Palacio Knopf 14,225

All unit sales per Nielsen BookScan except where noted.