Pressing Concern
Fox News host and syndicated radio personality Mark R. Levin has the #1 book in the country with Unfreedom of the Press, which calls the news media “a profession whose members form a class or aristocracy of strident, pretentious, arrogant, and self-righteously superior individuals, rarely capable of circumspection or improvement.” President Trump is a fan, tweeting, “Word is out that book is GREAT!”
(See all of this week's bestselling books.)
Sea, Worthy
Retired U.S. Navy admiral William H. McRaven has the #8 book in the country with the memoir Sea Stories, in which he recounts his time as commander of the Special Operations Forces. “McRaven’s war stories,” our review said, “deliver remarkable insight into the life of a wartime leader.” It debuts with 24K print copies sold; his first book, the 2017 motivational title Make Your Bed, moved 7,916 copies in its debut week and has gone on to sell 811K print copies.
Swan Song
In the run-up to the May 19 airing of the Game of Thrones finale, several editions of George R.R. Martin titles each got a boost. The 2018 prequel Fire & Blood, up 32% compared with the previous week, climbs two notches to #7 in hardcover fiction. The 2002 trade paperback edition of A Game of Thrones, aka A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1, is up 44%; year-to-date sales are better than those for the entirety of 2018. Plus, two boxed sets—one mass market and one leather-bound—are up 68% and 59% respectively.
New & Notable
No Crumbs Left
Teri Turner
#8 Hardcover Nonfiction
Sporting an endorsement by Whole30 cofounder Melissa Urban, this cookbook offers guidance on what to eat after completing the program’s initial month.
Vegetables Unleashed
José Andrés and Matt Goulding
#13 Hardcover Nonfiction
In the last cookbook from Ecco’s Anthony Bourdain imprint, Andrés, a Michelin-starred chef, and Goulding, a James Beard Award–winning writer, give veggies their due in recipes such as grilled spring onions with black garlic romesco, and Catalan-style spinach.
Cari Mora
Thomas Harris
#3 Hardcover Fiction
The Silence of the Lambs author’s first novel since 2006’s Hannibal Rising suffers from “the absence of Harris’s usual superior storytelling,” our review said, and a new villain “who doesn’t come close to matching Lecter as a memorable monster.”
Top 10 Overall
| Rank | Title | Author | Imprint | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unfreedom of the Press | Mark R. Levin | Threshold | 120,679 |
| 2 | Oh, the Places You’ll Go! | Dr. Seuss | Random House | 53,889 |
| 3 | Medical Medium Celery Juice | Anthony William | Hay House | 44,850 |
| 4 | Where the Crawdads Sing | Delia Owens | Putnam | 39,628 |
| 5 | Howard Stern Comes Again | Howard Stern | Simon & Schuster | 36,418 |
| 6 | Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid | Jeff Kinney | Amulet | 28,119 |
| 7 | The Pioneers | David McCullough | Simon & Schuster | 25,042 |
| 8 | Sea Stories | William H. McRaven | Grand Central | 23,871 |
| 9 | The Mueller Report | – | Scribner | 20,443 |
| 10 | Educated | Tara Westover | Random House | 18,596 |
All unit sales per NPD BookScan except where noted.
