Child’s Play
July 31 is not only the birthday of Harry Potter (the character), but it was also the release day for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts 1 and 2 by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne, the script of the sold-out West End play. Scholastic estimates that more than two million copies of the book were sold in North America in its first two days; Nielsen BookScan print-sales figures will be available next week, so look for them in our August 15 issue. In the meantime, here’s how the latest outbreak of Potter fever has affected print sales of the seven original novels in the series.
(See all of this week's bestselling books.)
Dear Diary
If, as in many households, you have at least one screen permanently set to Disney XD, you’re probably aware of Gravity Falls, an animated series set in a fictional Oregon town teeming with paranormal activity. Series creator Alex Hirsch is also the author, with Rob Renzetti, of Journal 3, a replica of a major plot point in the show, illustrated by Andy Gonsalves and Stephanie Ramirez. It debuts this week at #1 in Children’s Frontlist Fiction, and #3 in the country overall.
New & Notable
Hillbilly Elegy
J.D. Vance
#12 Hardcover Nonfiction
Vance, a former Marine and Yale Law School grad, uses his upbringing in the hills of Jackson, Ky., and suburban Middletown, Ohio, as a lens through which to view how working-class people navigate the middle-class world, in a memoir our review calls “dynamic.”
Heroes of the Frontier
Dave Eggers
#9 Hardcover Fiction
Our review says the “shaggy plot” of this novel, which follows a woman and her two children into the Alaskan wilderness, “may not be to all tastes, but [Eggers’s] writing is fresh and full of empathy, his observations on modern society apt and insightful.”
Dark Matter
Blake Crouch
#14 Hardcover Fiction
“Excellent characterization and well-crafted tension do much to redeem the outlandish plot of this SF thriller,” says our review of this novel of quantum physics and infinite universes.
Top 10 Overall
| Rank | Title | Author | Imprint | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Girl on the Train | Paula Hawkins | Riverhead | 50,687 |
| 2 | Truly Madly Guilty | Liane Moriarty | Flatiron | 34,309 |
| 3 | Journal 3 (Gravity Falls) | Alex Hirsch et al. | Disney Press | 33,384 |
| 4 | Rogue Lawyer | John Grisham | Dell | 28,256 |
| 5 | After You | Jojo Moyes | Penguin | 27,883 |
| 6 | Crisis of Character | Gary J. Byrne | Center Street | 21,780 |
| 7 | Hillary’s America | Dinesh D’Souza | Regnery | 21,465 |
| 8 | The Black Widow | Daniel Silva | Harper | 16,787 |
| 9 | A Man Called Ove | Fredrik Backman | Washington Square | 15,491 |
| 10 | Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children | Ransom Riggs | Quirk | 15,366 |
All unit sales per Nielsen BookScan except where noted.
