Reese’s Reach
One Day in December by Josie Silver, which our review called a “lovely debut,” saw its fortunes change, well, one day in December, when Reese Witherspoon named it her latest book club pick. Two months after publication, it debuts at #3 on our trade paperback list. Witherspoon, whose lifestyle guide Whiskey in a Teacup is currently #16 in hardcover nonfiction, launched her book club with the June 2017 selection of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, currently #5 in trade paper.
(See all of this week's bestselling books.)
The Milkman Cometh
Anna Burns took home the Booker Prize in October for Milkman, a novel set amid the Troubles in Northern Ireland in the 1970s. Our starred review said the novel “gives an acute, chilling, and often wry portrait of a young woman—and a district—under siege.” The book pubbed in the U.K. in May, and Graywolf just released the first U.S. edition; it debuts at #8 in trade paper.
Life, the Universe, and Everything
The #4 book in the country, The Point of It All, gathers writings by Pulitzer Prize–winning conservative political pundit Charles Krauthammer, who died in June. His son, Daniel, edited the collection, which includes previously unpublished work as well as essays published in the Washington Post, where Krauthammer was a columnist for 33 years; the New Republic; and elsewhere. Not all of the writing is political: a half-dozen essays appear under the chapter heading “Cosmos,” and the collection opens with “Reveries of a Newborn Father,” published shortly after Daniel was born.
New & Notable
Of Blood and Bone
Nora Roberts
#2 Hardcover Fiction
“Though it’s the middle book in a planned trilogy,” our review said of this follow-up to 2017’s Year One, “this can be read on its own and will appeal to fans of fast-paced dystopian tales with a strong heroine.”
Queen of Air and Darkness
Cassandra Clare
#2 Children’s Fiction, #6 overall
The release of the final book in Clare’s Dark Artifices trilogy also boosted trade paper sales of the first two titles: print unit sales of 2016’s Lady Midnight are up 43% compared to the previous week, and sales of 2017’s Lord of Shadows are up 29%.
Top 10 Overall
| Rank | Title | Author | Imprint | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Becoming | Michelle Obama | Crown | 440,766 |
| 2 | The Meltdown (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #13) | Jeff Kinney | Amulet | 98,032 |
| 3 | The Wonky Donkey | Smith/Cowley | Scholastic | 91,317 |
| 4 | The Point of It All | Charles Krauthammer | Crown Forum | 72,732 |
| 5 | Homebody | Joanna Gaines | Harper Design | 56,514 |
| 6 | Queen of Air and Darkness (The Dark Artifices) | Cassandra Clare | S&S/McElderry | 48,055 |
| 7 | Girl, Wash Your Face | Rachel Hollis | Nelson | 47,962 |
| 8 | Whose Boat Is This Boat? | The Late Show | Simon & Schuster | 43,749 |
| 9 | The Reckoning | John Grisham | Doubleday | 42,196 |
| 10 | Magnolia Table | Joanna Gaines | Morrow | 42,066 |
All unit sales per Nielsen BookScan except where noted.
