Heated Discussion

In the week leading up to Independence Day, a trio of new releases took the temperature of the nation and found it somewhat feverish. In Rediscovering Americanism, the #1 book in the country, Mark R. Levin, a broadcaster and the Landmark Legal Foundation president, expresses concern for the future of the United States, because, as he writes, of “a century or so of progressive governance and schemes, targeting the uniqueness of America, including its founding principles and republican system.”

The #8 book in the country, The Swamp, by Fox News Channel host Eric Bolling, decries, in the words of the subtitle, “Washington’s murky pool of corruption and cronyism and how Trump can drain it.” And in The Smear by Sharyl Attkisson, #18 in Hardcover Nonfiction, the investigative journalist and host of Sinclair Broadcast Group’s Full Measure makes the case that “shady political operatives and fake news control what you see, what you think, and how you vote.”

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

Dream Big

Imbolo Mbue’s 2016 debut, Behold the Dreamers, earned positive notice from many outlets (PW’s review praised its “sharp-eyed focus on issues of immigration, race, and class”) and a PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. It sold almost 18K harcover copies. On June 26, Oprah Winfrey named it her latest book club pick, and that day Random House released the paperback edition complete with Oprah’s Book Club stamp. It debuts at #5 on our Trade Paperback list.

E.T. Tweet Home

With a hefty résumé that includes credentials as a designer, engineer, and playwright, for starters, Jonathan Sun didn’t need to create an illustrated space alien alter ego given to sweet, often creatively spelled pronouncements, e.g., “i want to fill a museum with every smile youve ever made.” But 481K Twitter followers later, a graphic novel telling the character’s story, Everyone’s a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too, debuts at #18 on our Hardcover Fiction list. Sun, the subject of a recent New York Times Magazine profile, counts Lin-Manuel Miranda, Patton Oswalt, and Joss Whedon among his fans.

Movie Watch

In Dunkirk, #20 on our Trade Paperback list, historian Joshua Levine delves into the real-life history behind the film of the same name, which hits theaters July 21. Directed by Christopher Nolan and with a cast that includes Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy, and Mark Rylance, the movie fictionalizes a major evacuation of Allied troops in the early days of WWII. Advance buzz includes a trailer that’s been viewed more than 21 million times since its December 2016 release.

Top 10 Overall

Rank Title Author Imprint Units
1 Rediscovering Americanism Mark R. Levin Threshold 55,320
2 Camino Island John Grisham Doubleday 47,494
3 Murder Games Patterson/Roughan Little, Brown 32,288
4 Use of Force Brad Thor Atria 26,202
5 The Duchess Danielle Steel Delacorte 25,600
6 The Woman in Cabin 10 Ruth Ware Scout 24,551
7 Wonder R.J. Palacio Knopf 23,117
8 The Swamp Eric Bolling St. Martin’s 20,257
9 Milk and Honey Rupi Kaur Andrews McMeel 20,190
10 Hillbilly Elegy J.D. Vance Harper 20,076

All unit sales per Nielsen BookScan except where noted.