The Bestselling Books of the Week, According to NYT, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Amazon

Tracking down the bestselling books of the moment isn’t as straightforward as you might think. There’s no one centralized keeper of that data; instead, every bestseller list uses its own criteria — some stated, some kept secret — and its own sources. Amazon famously guards its numbers, and considering how much of the book-buying landscape they dominate, that leaves everyone else in a disadvantaged position. So what’s the best way to tell which books are the buzziest right now?

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.

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.

Books on All Four Bestseller Lists:

It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover (NYT #1, USA Today #1, Publishers Weekly #1, Amazon #1)

The Boys from Biloxi by John Grisham (NYT #2, USA Today #2, Publishers Weekly #2, Amazon #2)

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover (NYT #3, USA Today #3, Publishers Weekly #3, Amazon #3)

Verity by Colleen Hoover (NYT #4, USA Today #4, Publishers Weekly #4, Amazon #4)

Fairy Tale by Stephen King (NYT #8, USA Today #9, Publishers Weekly #8, Amazon #5)

Beyond the Wand by Tom Felton (NYT #1, USA Today #6, Publishers Weekly #5, Amazon #4)

And There Was Light by Jon Meacham (NYT #2, USA Today #10, Publishers Weekly #10, Amazon #3)

Books On Three Bestseller Lists:

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (NYT #5, USA Today #5, Amazon #8)

Long Shadows by David Baldacci (NYT #6, USA Today #5, Amazon #9)

Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover (NYT #7, USA Today #8, Publishers Weekly #7)

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (NYT #3, Publishers Weekly #9, Amazon #1)

Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.