Most of this week is keeping the same course: the usual Colleen Hoover domination, the new titles are just the most recent books in long-running series, and this list continues to be mostly (entirely?) by white authors. The only new addition this week that isn’t part of a series is a Christian self help title. For new releases that deserve a lot more attention, also check out The Lies We Tell by Katie Zhao and Making Love with the Land: Essays by Joshua Whitehead. Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover (NYT #7, USA Today #10) Stellarlune (Keeper of the Lost Cities #9) by Shannon Messenger (USA Today #4, Publishers Weekly #4) Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
title: “The Bestselling Books Of The Week According To All The Lists” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-04” author: “Sarah Hertel”
As we finish out November and close in on December, fewer new releases are coming out, and holiday book buying is ramping up. It will be interesting to see how this list shifts in the next few weeks, as people starting buying less for themselves and more for gifting purposes. While there are fewer new releases right now, we do have one of the biggest books of the year out this month: Michelle Obama’s newest, The Light We Carry. There’s also a new Brandon Sanderson novel, as well as the sequel to A Shadow in the Ember. Other than Michelle Obama, this is still a bestseller list almost entirely made up of white authors. For some new releases that deserve a lot more attention, check out The World Record Book of Racist Stories by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar as well as The Red Scholar’s Wake by Aliette de Bodard. Go beyond the bestseller lists with made-for-you book recommendations from TBR, our book recommendation service! Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Diper Överlöde by Jeff Kinney (USA Today #6, Publishers Weekly #3) Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
title: “The Bestselling Books Of The Week According To All The Lists” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-11” author: “Murray Morrow”
November and December are slow publishing months, since publishers usually would like to give a book a chance to build up some interest and word of mouth recommendations before the holiday gift buying season. This list reflects that: the only new additions are books from the reigning queens of romance, Nora Roberts and Danielle Steel. With the exception of Michelle Obama’s new book, this continues to be a list of almost entirely white authors, which shows how far publishing has to go: while more authors of color may be getting published, they aren’t necessarily getting the kind of marketing budget to get on the bestseller list. For some new releases that deserve a lot more attention, check out A Coastline Is an Immeasurable Thing: A Memoir Across Three Continents by Mary-Alice Daniel and Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales. Go beyond the bestseller lists with made-for-you book recommendations from TBR, our book recommendation service! Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover (NYT #7, USA Today #7, Publishers Weekly #7) Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
title: “The Bestselling Books Of The Week According To All The Lists” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-15” author: “Russell Oldenkamp”
USA Today laid off about 200 employees, including the editor who put together the USA Today bestseller list, and since then, their bestseller list has been “on hiatus.” They will be sharing an update some time in 2023. Many authors have expressed their concern about the disappearance of this list, because it’s considered to be more sales-based that other bestseller lists, and the long full list allows more chances for titles to be considered bestsellers. Three lists or four, this continues to be a very white bestseller list, with the exception of Michelle Obama’s new book. It’s a good reminder that publishing has a long way to go, especially when it comes to the kinds of books that get big marketing budgets. Hopefully BookTok will shine its light on some authors other than Colleen Hoover soon! For some new releases that deserve a lot more attention, check out Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion by Bushra Rehman and How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler. Go beyond the bestseller lists with made-for-you book recommendations from TBR, our book recommendation service! Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
title: “The Bestselling Books Of The Week According To All The Lists” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-10” author: “Tiffany Pucci”
We’re officially into publishing’s hibernation season, and for the first time, there are zero new additions to this list from last week’s, though some have fallen off the list and some have changed positions. As usual, this a very white bestseller list, with the exception of Michelle Obama’s new book. For some new releases that deserve a lot more attention, check out A Million to One by Adiba Jaigirdar and A Death in Tokyo by Keigo Higashino, translated by Giles Murray. Go beyond the bestseller lists with made-for-you book recommendations from TBR, our book recommendation service! Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
title: “The Bestselling Books Of The Week According To All The Lists” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-10” author: “Mary Musgrove”
Unlike last week, there are two new additions to the bestseller list this time, though neither of them came out in December. Colleen Hoover continues to hold onto several spots, and as usual, this a very white list, with the exception of Michelle Obama’s new book. Publishing still has a long way to go until the bestseller list even remotely represents the demographics of the USA — never mind the larger reading population. For some new releases that deserve a lot more attention, check out A Million to One by Adiba Jaigirdar and A Death in Tokyo by Keigo Higashino, translated by Giles Murray. Go beyond the bestseller lists with made-for-you book recommendations from TBR, our book recommendation service! Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
title: “The Bestselling Books Of The Week According To All The Lists” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-25” author: “Peggy Moss”
December is a slow month for new releases, so it perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise that precisely zero of the books listed are new releases from this week. The only book that wasn’t on previous weeks’ lists is Atomic Habits, presumably because people are looking to jumpstart their new year’s resolutions, but that’s far from a brand new release. This is also a list dominated by white authors, with the exception of Michelle Obama’s memoir. For some new releases that deserve a lot more attention, check out How to Turn Into a Bird by María José Ferrada and Ace Voices by Eris Young. Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
title: “The Bestselling Books Of The Week According To All The Lists” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-15” author: “Aletha Pruett”
Although the Indie Bestseller list has a more diverse list of titles, many of those weren’t present on any other lists, so this still disproportionately features white authors. It really shows how the promises made by publishers in 2020 — the summer when the bestseller lists briefly featured many Black authors — have not been kept today. For a new release that deserves a lot more attention, check out The Book of Everlasting Things by Aanchal Malhotra. Go beyond the bestseller lists with made-for-you book recommendations from TBR, our book recommendation service! Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
title: “The Bestselling Books Of The Week According To All The Lists” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-15” author: “Albert Clasby”
Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books. It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover (NYT #5, USA Today #4, PW #2) The Butcher and the Wren by Alaina Urquhart (NYT #6, USA Today #3, PW #1) Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover (NYT #8, USA Today #8, PW #7) I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (NYT Nonfiction #1, USA Today #7, PW #6) Blowback by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois (NYT #7, USA Today #9) What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe (NYT Nonfiction #2, PW #8)
title: “The Bestselling Books Of The Week According To All The Lists” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-23” author: “Joan Koons”
Like last week, Colleen Hoover continues to dominate the charts, with five separate titles on this list. Most of the other books also carry over from last week’s bestsellers, but there are a few new releases, including Nicholas Sparks’s newest novel as well as a new nonfiction book from Gabor Maté. Unfortunately, like last week, this is also not a very diverse list: the vast majority of the authors featured are white. Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books. Maybe Now by Colleen Hoover (NYT #8, USA Today #9, Publishers Weekly #7)
title: “The Bestselling Books Of The Week According To All The Lists” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-25” author: “Stephanie Yarbrough”
This week, Colleen Hoover continues her reign. In fact, Verity is on some of these lists twice: one for the regular edition, one for the collector’s edition. That’s 43 weeks that it’s been on the New York Times Bestseller list, with It Ends with Us currently at 68 weeks. Most of these titles carry over from last week’s list. The newcomers are all either celebrities, such as Kelly Ripa’s new memoir, or new books in a series: The Golden Enclaves and Kingdom of the Feared are both concluding books in fantasy trilogies. Another trend that continues from previous bestseller roundups is that this an overwhelmingly (entirely?) white list, which shows publishing still has a long way to go in both publishing authors of color and promoting their books. Without further ado, let’s get into the books!
Books On Two Bestseller Lists:
Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books. Dreamland by Nicholas Sparks (NYT #6, Publishers Weekly #8) Kingdom of the Feared by Kerri Maniscalco (USA Today #4, Publishers Weekly #6)
title: “The Bestselling Books Of The Week According To All The Lists” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-12” author: “Patrick Cummings”
This week includes a lot more overlap than usual, and there aren’t a lot of surprises here. In fact, so many of these titles have been on this list for many weeks (Verity is on week 70 of being on the NYT Bestseller List) that I’ve bolded new additions so you can find them easier. Even the new titles are almost all extremely established authors, though, like David Baldacci, Nelson DeMille, and Jodi Picoult. Unsurprisingly, then, this bestseller is also overwhelmingly (entirely?) white, which shows that while more diverse books may be published now than in years past, that doesn’t mean they’re getting the same marketing push as well-known white authors. Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books. Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover (NYT #7, USA Today #7, Publishers Weekly #7) Lore Olympus: Volume Three by Rachel Smythe (USA Today #6, Publishers Weekly #5)
title: “The Bestselling Books Of The Week According To All The Lists” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-12” author: “Elsa Geise”
This week, there’s an unusual amount of alignment between all four lists, mostly thanks to Colleen Hoover’s much-anticipated companion novel to It Ends With Us coming out this month. I’ve bolded the few new additions to this list, but they’re all either very established authors, celebrities, or presidential biographies. Unfortunately, this also continues to be an extremely (entirely?) white list, which is frustrating, especially given the amount of incredible books by authors of color getting published every week. Might I recommend Strike the Zither by Joan He? If you want to keep up to date with all the new releases — not just the bestsellers — check out our New Books newsletter. Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books. Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover (NYT #7, USA Today #8, Publishers Weekly #7)
title: “The Bestselling Books Of The Week According To All The Lists” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-07” author: “David Meyer”
November and December are generally slower months in publishing, because most publishers would prefer to have some lead time to generate buzz before the holiday shopping season. So, it shouldn’t be surprising that the authors putting out new books right now are very established authors, especially in long-running series, including Diary of a Wimpy Kid #17, Kay Scarpetta #26, and Jack Reacher #27. I’ve bolded the books that are appearing on this list for the first time. Unfortunately, this continues to be an overwhelmingly (entirely?) white author list. For a new release that deserves more reach, I recommend The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks by Shauna Robinson. Go beyond the bestseller lists with made-for-you book recommendations from TBR, our book recommendation service! The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy (NYT #8, Publishers Weekly #8) Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover (NYT #9, Publishers Weekly #9) Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
title: “The Bestselling Books Of The Week According To All The Lists” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-26” author: “Jessie Powell”
Colleen Hoover’s reign continues unabated, and the only new additions to the list this week are either celebrity memoirs or new releases in long-running series (#29 in the Stephanie Plum series and #30 in the Alex Cross series). I noticed that there are several nonfiction titles on the New York Times bestseller list that weren’t on any other lists, which makes me wonder if those are more editorially chosen than strictly sales numbers. This bestseller list continues to be overwhelmingly (entirely?) white. For some new releases that deserve more reach, also pick up Bloodmarked (Legendborn #2) by Tracy Deonn and Even Though I Knew the End by C. L. Polk. Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
