It’s not always easy to be able to tell what the big books of the moment are. The books talked about the most online aren’t necessarily the biggest sellers: a new John Grisham novel will knock almost anything else off the bestseller list, but you probably won’t see it on BookTok. Each bestseller list also has its own criteria and uses its own data; Amazon certainly isn’t letting anyone else in on their sales numbers. There is no single list that includes all book sales.
That’s where this combined bestseller list comes in. Every week, I compile the bestsellers on four of the most popular lists: the New York Times, both Combined Print & E-Book Fiction and Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction lists; Amazon Charts, both Fiction and Nonfiction; USA Today; and Publishers Weekly. I note the titles on multiple lists in the hopes that it will give us a broad overview of the bestselling books of the moment. New additions to the list this week are bolded.
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.
Books on All Four Bestseller Lists:
The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama (NYT #1, USA Today #1, Publishers Weekly #1, Amazon #1)
It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover (NYT #1, USA Today #2, Publishers Weekly #2, Amazon #1)
It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover (NYT #3, USA Today #4, Publishers Weekly #5, Amazon #3)
The Boys from Biloxi by John Grisham (NYT #4, USA Today #8, Publishers Weekly #7, Amazon #4)
Books On Three Bestseller Lists:
The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson (NYT #2, USA Today #7, Amazon #2)
Desert Star by Michael Connelly (NYT #6, USA Today #10, Amazon #5)
Fairy Tale by Stephen King (NYT #7, Publishers Weekly #9, Amazon #6)
Verity by Colleen Hoover (NYT #5, Publishers Weekly #10, Amazon #9)
Books On Two Bestseller Lists:
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry (NYT #3, Amazon #3)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Diper Överlöde by Jeff Kinney (USA Today #6, Publishers Weekly #3)
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (NYT #5, Amazon #6)
Surrender by Bono (NYT #4, Amazon #8)
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk (NYT #7, Amazon #7)
A Light in the Flame by Jennifer L. Armentrout (USA Today #5, Amazon #10)
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (NYT #8, Amazon #7)
Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (NYT #10, Amazon #8)
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.
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