Never Out of the Fight

Jocko Willink hits #10 on the hardcover fiction list this week with Final Spin. The former Navy SEAL has written five adult nonfiction books with an emphasis on leadership, and four children’s books—including a series, The Way of the Warrior Kid—but this is his adult fiction debut. Our review called the novel a “downbeat and gripping story of a group of characters abandoned by the American Dream,” marked by “dialogue reminiscent of early David Mamet” and “told with a gritty simplicity.”

Ghost of Bookselling Present

Author and bookseller Louise Erdrich, fresh off a Pulitzer Prize win for 2020’s The Night Watchman, lands at #11 on our hardcover fiction list with her latest, The Sentence. The novel’s first-week sales continue a pretty consistent upward trend over her past five big books, with a 5,500-copy jump over her previous book likely helped by the prize and by the novel’s setting: a haunted Minneapolis bookstore in 2020. Our starred review called The Sentence “a scintillating story about a motley group of Native American booksellers haunted by the spirit of a customer.”

The Prince Stays Fresh

He may be from West Philadelphia, born and raised, but now it’s the bestseller list where Will Smith is spending his days. Will, the Academy Award–nominated actor and Grammy-winning rapper’s memoir, isn’t Smith’s literary debut—that would be the 2001 children’s book adaptation of his song “Just the Two of Us”—but it is an instant success. The book sold nearly 87,000 copies in its first week.

NEW & NOTABLE

THE DARK HOURS
Michael Connelly
#3 Hardcover Fiction, #6 overall
Perennial bestseller Connelly’s fourth novel to feature LAPD Det. Renée Ballard had a big first week. The book is “a masterpiece,” our starred review said.

MY BODY
Emily Ratajkowski
#14 Hardcover Nonfiction
Model and actor Ratajkowski’s literary debut, an essay collection, hit the top 20 in its first week on sale. Our starred review called the book “an intimate and accomplished essay collection that tackles big questions about internalized misogyny, the male gaze, female empowerment, and the commodification of sexuality.”