Murder, He Wrote

Anthony Horowitz is known to YA readers as the creator of the Alex Rider series, and he’s also written several mystery and suspense novels for adults. His latest, Moonflower Murders, lands at #8 in hardcover fiction and is the sequel to 2017’s Magpie Murders; both books received starred reviews from PW. “Horowitz, who matches a baffling puzzle with a sympathetic, flawed lead, has never been better at surprising the reader and playing fair,” we said of the new book, which sold about twice as many print copies in its debut week as its predecessor did. “This is a flawless update of classic golden age whodunits.”

Real Talk

Former NFL linebacker and Fox Sports analyst Emmanuel Acho debuts at #5 in hardcover nonfiction with Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man, which shares a name with the YouTube series he launched June 3. “In the midst of all this chaos in the world, so many of y’all have reached out to me, and by ‘y’all,’ I mean, white people have reached out to me asking ‘How can I help?’ ” he explained in the first video. “So I created this for you, because in order to stand with us, and people who look like me, you have to be educated on issues that pertain to people that look like me.” Celebrity guests have included Matthew McConaughey, and Joanna and Chip Gaines, and their children. One recent discussion, with members of the Petaluma, Calif., police department, has garnered 1.4 million views since it launched November 1.

The Kids on the Mall

Ruby Bridges, whose 1960 desegregation of her New Orleans elementary school was the subject of Norman Rockwell’s The Problem We All Live With, debuts at #21 on the picture book list with This Is Your Time, a pictorial history of the civil rights movement. It’s one of several books on the list meant to inspire kids toward political and social activism; the others, which published several months or a few years ago, all saw an uptick in sales this week.

#13 Superheroes Are Everywhere
Kamala Harris, illus. by Mechal Renee Roe
Up 2,160%

#17 Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea
Meena Harris, illus. by Ana Ramírez González
Up 939%

#23 I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark
Debbie Levy, illus. by Elizabeth Baddeley
Up 30%

NEW & NOTABLE

THE LAW OF INNOCENCE
Michael Connelly
#1 Hardcover Fiction, #5 overall
“L.A. defense attorney Mickey Haller takes on the hardest case of his career in bestseller Connelly’s superlative sixth Lincoln Lawyer novel,” our starred review said. “This is a supremely intelligent, well-paced courtroom thriller by a modern master.”

FIRST PRINCIPLES
Thomas E. Ricks
#6 Hardcover Nonfiction
“Pulitzer Prize winner Ricks delivers an immersive and enlightening look at how the classical educations of the first four U.S. presidents influenced their thinking and the shape of American democracy,” our starred review said, calling the book “lucid and entertaining.”

PAPPYLAND
Wright Thompson
#9 Hardcover Nonfiction
We’ll drink to this starred PW review: “Sportswriter Thompson uncorks a fast-paced and colorful history of 20th-century Southern culture, told through the story of charismatic cult-bourbon maker Julian P. Van Winkle III.”