Game On

The #1 book in the country is The Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts, covering three decades of the influential video game franchise. A limited-run slipcased edition, which retails for $80 (twice what the conventional edition costs), is #20 in hardcover nonfiction. Comics publisher Dark Horse has seen a fair bit of success with video game art books, notably this book’s predecessor, The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, which has sold 383K hardcover copies.

(See all of this week's bestselling books.)

V.E.’s Day

Fantasy author V.E. Schwab concludes her Shades of Magic trilogy with A Conjuring of Light, which debuts at #11 in hardcover fiction. The first two books in the series, 2015’s A Darker Shade of Magic and 2016’s A Gathering of Shadows, have sold a combined 75K copies in hardcover and trade paper. Based on first-week print unit sales for all three books, her fan base appears to be brightening. Here’s a look.

Shades of Magic Series First Week Print Unit Sales

A Darker Shade of Magic 1,204
A Gathering of Shadows 2,292
A Conjuring of Light 5,917

To Live Divine

Homo Deus, by Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari, appears at #6 in hardcover nonfiction; it was also a top-three nonfiction book in Spain in December. Our review calls it a “deeply troubling book” that “provocatively explores what the future may have in store for humans.” It’s a sequel of sorts to Harari’s 2015 hit Sapiens, which was translated into more than 30 languages and has sold 140K copies in hardcover in the U.S. That book saw its best print unit sales since the 2016 holiday season this week, with a 172% boost over the week before.

New & Notable

Star Wars: Empire’s End

Chuck Wendig

#4 Hardcover Fiction

Wendig closes out his Aftermath trilogy, which bridges the gap between the events of Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens.

Humans, Bow Down

James Patterson and Emily Raymond

#5 Hardcover Fiction

Patterson makes a rare foray into adult SF with this novel of a machine-ruled world, coauthored by Raymond, his collaborator on book five of the Witches & Wizard YA fantasy series.

A Piece of the World

Christina Baker Kline

#8 Hardcover Fiction

The author of 2013’s Orphan Train, which has sold well over a million copies in trade paper, fictionalizes the life of the woman who inspired Andrew Wyeth’s Christina’s World. Our review called Kline’s prose “evocative” and “insightful.”

Stealing Fire

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal

#10 Hardcover Nonfiction

Kotler, a journalist, and Wheal, an expert on high performance, look to Silicon Valley executives, scientists, Navy SEALS, and the Burning Man festival for clues into how people can lead more fulfilling and more productive lives.

Top 10 Overall

Rank Title Author Imprint Units
1 The Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts – Dark Horse 28,827
2 A Man Called Ove Fredrik Backman Washington Square 21,329
3 Hidden Figures (movie tie-in) Margot Lee Shetterly Morrow 21,003
4 Green Eggs and Ham Dr. Seuss Random House 20,972
5 Milk and Honey Rupi Kaur Andrews McMeel 17,383
6 Double Down (Wimpy Kid #11) Jeff Kinney Amulet 17,323
7 Devil in Spring Lisa Kleypas Avon 17,236
8 Lincoln in the Bardo George Saunders Random House 16,619
9 1984 George Orwell Signet Classics 16,248
10 The Shack Wm. Paul Young Windblown 16,117

All unit sales per Nielsen BookScan except where noted.