Shooting Star
The #2 book in the country is Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium and a telegenic science advocate. He’s written numerous books that have sold well over the long haul, but first-week sales for the new book are by far his best to date.
(See all of this week's bestselling books.)
Kids’ Corner
It’s a big week for children’s titles, with new picture books, middle grade novels, and YA fiction all hitting our lists. Of these, four books topped 10K in print unit sales.
| The Dark Prophecy | Rick Riordan | #1 Children’s Frontlist Fiction, #1 overall |
| A Court of Wings and Ruin | Sarah J. Maas | #2 Children’s Frontlist Fiction, #2 overall |
| Dragons Love Tacos 2 | Rubin/Salmieri | #2 Children’s Picture Books |
| Way of the Warrior Kid | Willink/Bozak | #5 Children’s Frontlist Fiction |
Failing Up
Bunmi Laditan’s fiction debut, Confessions of a Domestic Failure, lands at #6 on our Trade Paperback list. She’s the adult behind the Honest Toddler Twitter account (326K followers), plus she’s got two nonfiction books of humor to her name: 2013’s The Honest Toddler (14K hardcover and trade paperback copies sold) and 2015’s Toddlers Are A**holes (68K hardcover copies sold). Our review said that her novel “will strike a hysterical and compassionate chord with new moms.” Next up: Laditan aims to entertain her adult fans’ children with a picture book, The Big Bed, illustrated by Tom Knight and scheduled for February 2018.
New & Notable
Into the Water
Paula Hawkins
#2 Hardcover Fiction, #6 overall
Our review said that in this follow-up to the 2015 blockbuster The Girl on the Train, “Hawkins may be juggling a few too many story lines for comfort, but the payoff packs a satisfying punch.”
Women Who Work
Ivanka Trump
#9 Hardcover Nonfiction
The first daughter releases a business book about, in the words of the subtitle, “Rewriting the Rules for Success.” For a preview of next season’s business titles, including several addressing women, check out our business-books feature in the May 22 issue.
Top 10 Overall
| Rank | Title | Author | Imprint | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Dark Prophecy (The Trials of Apollo #2) | Rick Riordan | Disney-Hyperion | 62,987 |
| 2 | Astrophysics for People in a Hurry | Neil deGrasse Tyson | Norton | 48,416 |
| 3 | 16th Seduction | Patterson/Paetro | Little, Brown | 47,119 |
| 4 | A Court of Wings and Ruin | Sarah J. Maas | Bloomsbury | 44,689 |
| 5 | Option B | Sandberg/Grant | Knopf | 40,965 |
| 6 | Into the Water | Paula Hawkins | Riverhead | 38,687 |
| 7 | Oh, the Places You’ll Go! | Dr. Seuss | Random House | 32,939 |
| 8 | Shattered | Allen/Parnes | Crown | 28,520 |
| 9 | Against All Odds | Danielle Steel | Delacorte | 26,464 |
| 10 | Everything, Everything | Nicola Yoon | Ember | 24,192 |
All unit sales per Nielsen BookScan except where noted.
