Golden Girl

Wendy Loggia and Elisa Chavarri’s Taylor Swift: A Little Golden Book Biography rocketed to the top of the charts—err, bestseller lists—last week, coming in as the #1 book in the country. Swifties were atwitter over online speculation last week that a mystery title, to be published in July by Flatiron, that has already hit the Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com bestseller lists on preorders alone might be a Swift memoir. Instead, it’s a book by K−Pop band BTS. Our own speculation: all that chatter, perhaps coupled with T-Swift’s ongoing sold-out tour, helped drive sales of this title far past those for the one on fellow pop star Beyoncé. (She even outdid the Queen.)

Hero’s Journey

The Sun and the Star, the latest book in middle grade phenom Rick Riordan’s Camp Half-Blood Chronicles universe—better known as the Percy Jackson books—hit #1 on our children’s fiction list this week and #4 overall. A sequel of sorts to Riordan’s Trials of Apollo series, the book follows Nico di Angelo, the son of Hades, and his boyfriend Will Solace, Apollo’s own son. Reflecting Riordan’s strong commitment to representation in middle grade literature, the book marks Riordan’s first collaboration with queer Latinx YA and middle grade author Mark Oshiro.

The Covenant of Oprah

It’s hard to believe The Covenant of Water is only Abraham Verghese’s second novel, let alone that it’s been 13 years since the release of Cutting for Stone. The book, which our review called “breathtaking” and a “grand and stunning tribute to 20th-century India,” lands at #4 on our adult fiction list, thanks in part to it being the 101st title to be an Oprah’s Book Club pick. Covenant has a ways to go if it hopes to match its predecessor, which has sold just shy of 1.5 million combined print copies to date.

NEW & NOTABLE

MAGNOLIA TABLE, VOLUME 3
Joanna Gaines
#1 Adult Nonfiction, #2 Overall
The third book in the cookbook author, entrepreneur, and influencer’s Magnolia Table series shares the recipes its author enjoys most.

THE 23RD MIDNIGHT
James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
#2 Adult Fiction, #7 Overall
The 23rd outing in the Women’s Murder Club series gets meta, with Det. Lindsay Boxer chasing down a murderer inspired by an in-universe true crime book based on a case from Boxer’s past.