USA Today Bestsellers, 10/30
This week marks the 15th anniversary of USA Today‘s bestseller list. The newspaper celebrates with a roundup of the top 150 for the entire period. Books editor Bob Minzeheimer surveys the list and notes that self-help, religion and spirituality dominate but history is represented by only three titles (Tom Brokaw’s The Greatest Generation, and two titles by David McCullough, John Adams and 1776). I don’t think we have to linger on what that says about Americans.
On the weekly list, Twilight: The Complete Illustrated Movie Companion went to #21 from #96 last week. No surprise;Twilight fans seem ravenous for any news on the movie (even the trailer had a debute — on Entertainment Tonight) which opens Nov. 21.
We’re happy to see that Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, currently at #19, continues to climb the list after five weeks. Checking library catalogs, significant hold lists are building in some areas.
Holds are also heavy for some other recent titles with longevity on the list:
#20 The Love Dare, Stephen Kendrick, Alex Kendrick, B&H — highest position after five weeks
#37 Hot, Flat and Crowded, Thomas Friedman, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 7 weeks, down from peak of #6
#43 Cedar Cove Christmas, Debbie Macomber, Mira, 5 weeks, down from peak of #23
Below are titles new to the list:
#5 Extreme Measures, Vince Flynn, Atria
#13 Against Medical Advice, James Patterson, Little, Brown — Patterson’s first nonfiction title
#23 Bones, Jonathan Kellerman, Ballantine
#27 My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey, Jill Bolte Taylor, Viking — the author’s appearance on Oprah last week put this May title on the list.
#31 Rough Weather, Robert B. Parker, Putnam Adult
#36 Testimony, Anita Shreve, Little, Brown
#38 Dark Summer, Iris Johansen, St. Martin’s Press
#46 The Road, Cormac McCarthy, Vintage — the release of film version was recently delayed until 2009, but that doesn’t seem to have hurt the tie-in.
#66 Star Wars: Millennium Falcon, James Luceno, Del Rey
#81 The Longest Trip Home, John Grogan, William Morrow
#103 Martha Stewart’s Cooking School, Martha Stewart, Clarkson Potter
#111 The Way I Am, Eminem, Dutton
#123 Goodnight Goon: A Petrifying Parody, Michael Rex, Putnam Juvenile
#134 Children of Hurin, J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien, Mariner Books (paperback reprint; first appearance on list)
#147 Living with the Dead, Kelley Armstrong, Spectra
#149 Fancy Nancy Sees Stars, Jane O’Connor, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser and Ted Enik, HarperTrophy (paperback reprint; first time on list)
