House Warming
Kate Morton’s seventh novel, Homecoming, lands at #2 on our hardcover fiction list. The author “delivers an eerie epic involving a wealthy family’s mysterious deaths in Adelaide Hills, South Australia,” according to our starred review. “This is Morton’s best yet.” It’s also her best in terms of first-week print unit sales, which bodes well: each of her previous books has gone on to enjoy six-figure print unit sales.
Flying the Coop
Children’s book juggernaut Mo Willems, with his famed Pigeon character in tow, makes his adult debut with the illustrated humor title Be the Bus, #11 on our hardcover nonfiction list. Trading the feathered fussbudget’s usual pastel palette for more vivid hues, Willems has the bratty bird dispense words of dubious wisdom: “It is better to give than to receive,” he offers, then is quick to add, “Barely!” In a prepub interview with PW, Willems offered his thoughts on the enduring character: “I’ve worked with the Pigeon for 20 years and I’ve never been able to predict what he’ll do next. Case in point, this book.”
They Like to Move It
A pair of new books on our hardcover nonfiction list make the case for putting down the phone and getting physical.
At #5, Built to Move by husband and wife Kelly and Juliet Starrett focuses on “how readers can achieve greater ease of movement and improve overall health,” our review said. “Helpful illustrations demonstrate how to perform the exercises and the low intensity of the workouts will appeal to those intimidated by more demanding regimens.”
One notch below, Choosing to Run is, refreshingly, not a political stump-speech book but an inspirational memoir by two-time Olympian Des Linden, who in 2018 became the first American woman to win the Boston Marathon in more than three decades.
NEW & NOTABLE
SCHOOL TRIP
Jerry Craft
#5 Children’s Fiction
“In this companion to Newbery winner New Kid and its sequel, Class Act, eighth grader Jordan Banks is excited about two things: his acceptance letter to the art school of his dreams, and traveling to Paris with his Riverdale Academy Day School classmates,” per our starred review. “Craft offers a zestful graphic novel adventure that mixes lighthearted fare with thought-provoking observations.”
ROMANTIC COMEDY
Curtis Sittenfeld
#7 Hardcover Fiction
“The culture wars and political drama of Sittenfeld’s best work are absent in her underwhelming latest, which follows a successful but insecure woman who catches the eye of a rock star,” according to our review of the April Reese’s Book Club pick. “There’s some brilliant character work, but as Cinderella stories go, this doesn’t quite stand out.”
A version of this article appeared in the 04/17/2023 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline: Behind the Bestsellers Apr. 2–8, 2023
