Rankings reflect sales for the week ended Aug. 17, which were reported on a confidential basis by vendors offering a wide range of general interest titles. Every week, thousands of diverse selling locations report their actual sales on hundreds of thousands of individual titles. The panel of reporting retailers is comprehensive and reflects sales in stores of all sizes and demographics across the United States.
An asterisk (*) indicates that a book’s sales were barely distinguishable from those of the book above. A (b) indicates that some bookstores reported receiving bulk orders.
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FICTION
1. THE WOMEN, by Kristin Hannah. (St. Martin’s) In 1965, a nursing student follows her brother to serve during the Vietnam War and returns to a divided America.
LAST WEEK: 1
WEEKS ON LIST: 28
2. BORN OF BLOOD AND ASH, by Jennifer L. Armentrout. (Blue Box) The fourth book in the Flesh and Fire series. Sera and Nyktos must prevent Kolis from destroying the realms.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 1
3. ANGEL OF VENGEANCE, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. (Grand Central) The 22nd book in the Agent Pendergast series. A serial killer in Manhattan seems poised to outmaneuver Pendergast and Greene.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 1
4. JOY, by Danielle Steel. (Delacorte) A book editor recognizes the trauma incurred by her partner during his military deployments and seeks to restore her sense of self.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 1
5. THE WEDDING PEOPLE, by Alison Espach. (Holt) A woman who is down on her luck forms an unexpected bond with the bride at a wedding in Rhode Island.
LAST WEEK: 6
WEEKS ON LIST: 3
6. FOURTH WING, by Rebecca Yarros. (Red Tower) Violet Sorrengail is urged by the commanding general, who also is her mother, to become a candidate for the elite dragon riders.
LAST WEEK: 4
WEEKS ON LIST: 67
7. IRON FLAME, by Rebecca Yarros. (Red Tower) The second book in the Empyrean series. Violet Sorrengail’s next round of training might require her to betray the man she loves.
LAST WEEK: 7
WEEKS ON LIST: 41
8. THE GOD OF THE WOODS, by Liz Moore. (Riverhead) When a 13-year-old girl disappears from an Adirondack summer camp in 1975, secrets kept by the Van Laar family emerge.
LAST WEEK: 8
WEEKS ON LIST: 7
9. OFFER FROM A GENTLEMAN AND ROMANCING MR. BRIDGERTON, by Julia Quinn. (Avon) The second book in the Bridgerton Collector’s Edition series.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 1
10. THE COVEN, by Harper L. Woods. (Bramble) At Hollow’s Grove University, a school for magic that suffered a bloody massacre decades ago, 13 gifted students confront ghosts from the school’s past.
LAST WEEK: 2
WEEKS ON LIST: 2
11. ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK, by Chris Whitaker. (Crown) Questions arise when a boy saves the daughter of a wealthy family amid a string of disappearances in a Missouri town in 1975.
LAST WEEK: 10
WEEKS ON LIST: 8
12. SHADOW OF DOUBT, by Brad Thor. (Atria/Emily Bestler) The 23rd book in the Scot Harvath series. A mess of trouble involving double agents, international intrigue and a potential global firestorm forces Harvath to choose between his country and his conscience.
LAST WEEK: 3
WEEKS ON LIST: 2
13. WORST CASE SCENARIO, by T.J. Newman. (Little, Brown) When a commercial airliner crashes into a nuclear power plant, firefighters, plant employees and nearby citizens go into action.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 1
14. LADY MACBETH, by Ava Reid. (Del Rey) A reimagining of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” that centers the story on Lady Macbeth.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 1
15. HARD TO KILL, by James Patterson and Mike Lupica. (Little, Brown) The second book in the Jane Smith series. A double triple homicide complicates matters for Smith.
LAST WEEK: 5
WEEKS ON LIST: 3
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NONFICTION
1. SHAMELESS, by Brian Tyler Cohen. (Harper) The YouTube host and podcaster gives his take on the current state of the Republican Party.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 1
2. MEN HAVE CALLED HER CRAZY, by Anna Marie Tendler. (Simon & Schuster) Tendler recounts events around and during her time in a psychiatric hospital.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 1
3. THE ART OF POWER, by Nancy Pelosi. (Simon & Schuster) The representative from California chronicles her journey in politics, including her time as the first woman to be speaker of the House.
LAST WEEK: 1
WEEKS ON LIST: 2
4. THE ANXIOUS GENERATION, by Jonathan Haidt. (Penguin Press) A co-author of “The Coddling of the American Mind” looks at the effects of a phone-based life on children’s mental health.
LAST WEEK: 2
WEEKS ON LIST: 21
5. ON THE EDGE, by Nate Silver. (Penguin Press) The founder of FiveThirtyEight and author of “The Signal and the Noise” profiles professional risk-takers.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 1
6. WHAT’S NEXT, by Melissa Fitzgerald and Mary McCormack. (Dutton) Two cast members of “The West Wing” share insights into the creation and legacy of the series.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 1
7. THE DEMON OF UNREST, by Erik Larson. (Crown) The author of “The Splendid and the Vile” portrays the months between the election of Abraham Lincoln and the beginning of the Civil War.
LAST WEEK: 5
WEEKS ON LIST: 16
8. OVER RULED, by Neil Gorsuch and Janie Nitze. (Harper) An associate justice of the United States Supreme Court questions the number and complexity of laws in America.
LAST WEEK: 3
WEEKS ON LIST: 2
9. MINISTRY OF TRUTH, by Steve Benen. (Mariner) A producer on “The Rachel Maddow Show” looks at how the Republican Party seeks to rewrite recent history.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 1
10. OUTLIVE, by Peter Attia with Bill Gifford. (Harmony) A look at recent scientific research on aging and longevity.
LAST WEEK: 7
WEEKS ON LIST: 73
11. ASK NOT, by Maureen Callahan. (Little, Brown) The author of “American Predator” puts forward a history of the Kennedy family that describes the abuse of women in its orbit.
LAST WEEK: 4
WEEKS ON LIST: 7
12. AUTOCRACY, INC., by Anne Applebaum. (Doubleday) The Pulitzer Prize-winning author elucidates the structures and technologies that bolster autocracies in the 21st century.
LAST WEEK: 8
WEEKS ON LIST: 4
13. GRAND PRIX, by Will Buxton. Illustrated by Davi Augusto. (Ten Speed) An illustrated history of Formula 1 racing. (b)
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 1
14. TRUE GRETCH, by Gretchen Whitmer with Lisa Dickey. (Simon & Schuster) The governor of Michigan recounts defining moments from her life and time in office.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 4
15. NUCLEAR WAR, by Annie Jacobsen. (Dutton) The author of “Operation Paperclip” portrays possible outcomes in the minutes following a nuclear missile launch.
LAST WEEK: 10
WEEKS ON LIST: 12
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The New York Times bestsellers are compiled and archived by the bestseller lists desk of the New York Times news department and are separate from the culture, advertising and business sides of The New York Times Co. More information on rankings and methodology: nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/methodology.
