At outlets that report to NPD BookScan, unit sales of print books were 2% higher in the week ended July 30, 2017, than in the similar week in 2016. Books aimed at helping students prepare for the upcoming school year continued to do well, lifting unit sales in the juvenile nonfiction category 12% higher than in the week ended July 31, 2016. The top seller in the category was

Everything You Need to Ace Math in One Big Fat Notebook, which sold more than 6,000 copies. Everything You Need to Ace Science in One Big Fat Notebook jumped to fifth place on the category list, selling more than 5,000 copies. Unit sales in the juvenile fiction category were 8% higher than in the similar week in 2016. Darkness of Dragons by Tui Sutherland landed in the top spot in its first week, selling more than 26,000 copies. The category also received a boost from the release of the paperback edition of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which hit the fourth spot on the bestseller list with nearly 12,000 copies sold. Unit sales of print books were up 2% in the adult nonfiction segment, despite the lack of a major new release. The book that had the biggest sales gain in the week in adult nonfiction was The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson, which sold more than 12,000 copies, moving it into second place on the category list; it trailed only the summer’s hot nonfiction book, Rupi Kaur’s Milk and Honey, which stayed #1 with almost 21,000 copies sold. Adult fiction had another soft week, with print units down 4%. Despite the release of some new titles, Michael Connelly’s The Late Show remained in first place, with more than 30,000 copies sold.

Unit Sales of Print Books by Channel

(in thousands)

Jul. 31, 2016 Jul. 30, 2017 Chge Week Chge YTD
Total 11,550 11,837 2% 3%
Retail & Club 9,936 10,294 4% 5%
Mass Merch./Others 1,614 1,542 -4% -7%

Unit Sales of Print Books by Category

(in thousands)

Jul. 31, 2016 Jul. 30, 2017 Chge Week Chge YTD
Adult Nonfiction 4,447 4,567 2% 3%
Adult Fiction 2,951 2,839 -4% 0.2%
Juvenile Nonfiction 930 1,045 12% 6%
Juvenile Fiction 2,830 3,055 8% 5%

Unit Sales of Print Books by Format

(in thousands)

Jul. 31, 2016 Jul. 30, 2017 Chge Week Chge YTD
Hardcover 2,661 2,864 7% 7%
Trade Paperback 6,824 6,948 2% 2%
Mass Market Paperback 1,292 1,167 -10% -8%
Board Books 459 543 18% 11%
Audio 73 60 -18% -8%