Unit sales of print books fell 0.9% in the week ended Mar. 4, 2023, from the comparable week in 2022, at outlets that report to Circana BookScan. The small decline came despite a 6.7% increase in adult fiction sales and a good showing for The Courage to Be Free by Florida governor Ron DeSantis, which sold more than 94,000 copies in its first week, making it the #1 book for the week. Even with the strong debut by DeSantis, unit sales in the adult nonfiction category fell 2.1% from 2022. A second new title, Drama Free by Nedra Glover Tawwab, hit the category list, selling nearly 13,000 copies and putting it in fifth place. The increase in adult fiction was due in part to the success of three new titles. Colleen Hoover’s latest novel, Never Never (written with Taryn Fisher), was #1, selling more than 68,000 copies in its first week. Storm Watch by C.J. Box was #3 on the category list, selling more than 33,000 copies, and A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon hit the category list in the 10th spot, selling almost 20,000 copies. Young adult fiction sales fell 6.8%, despite good debuts by three new titles: The Island by Natasha Preston sold more than 9,000 copies, putting it in second place on the list; Kill Joy by Holly Jackson sold almost 7,000 copies; and Immortality by Dana Schwartz just over 6,000 copies.

Editor’s note: BookScan’s parent company has changed its name from NPD Group to Circana.