BEST-SELLERS: PAPERBACK BOOKS

Rankings reflect sales for the week ending Saturday, Oct. 13, 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. The New York Times Best Sellers are compiled and archived by The Best-Seller 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: www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/methodology.

NONFICTION

1. SAPIENS, by Yuval Noah Harari. (Harper Perennial)

How Homo sapiens became Earth’s dominant species.

THIS WEEK: 1

WEEKS ON LIST: 22

2. BEAUTIFUL BOY, by David Sheff. (Mariner)

A father struggles with his son’s meth addiction.

THIS WEEK: 2

WEEKS ON LIST: 5

3. ON TYRANNY, by Timothy Snyder. (Tim Duggan)

Twenty lessons from the 20th century about the course of tyranny.

THIS WEEK: 3

WEEKS ON LIST: 54

4. LEONARDO DA VINCI, by Walter Isaacson. (Simon & Schuster)

A biography of the Italian Renaissance polymath that connects his work in various disciplines.

THIS WEEK: 4

WEEKS ON LIST: 2

5. WHITE FRAGILITY, by Robin DiAngelo. (Beacon Press)

Historical and cultural analyses on what causes defensive moves by white people and how this inhibits cross-racial dialogue.

THIS WEEK: 5

WEEKS ON LIST: 14

6*. KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL, by Anthony Bourdain. (Ecco)

A memoir-exposé of the restaurant world. Originally published in 2000.

THIS WEEK: 6*

WEEKS ON LIST: 54

7. GRIT, by Angela Duckworth. (Scribner)

The MacArthur Fellow argues that passion and perseverance are more important than innate talent in creating success.

THIS WEEK: 7

WEEKS ON LIST: 8

8. CODE GIRLS, by Liza Mundy. (Hachette)

The story of the more than 10,000 women “code breakers” during World War II.

THIS WEEK: 8

WEEKS ON LIST: 2

9. KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, by David Grann. (Vintage)

The story of a murder spree in 1920s Oklahoma that targeted Osage Indians, whose lands contained oil. The fledgling FBI intervened, ineffectively.

THIS WEEK: 9

WEEKS ON LIST: 28

10. JUST MERCY, by Bryan Stevenson. (Spiegel & Grau)

A law professor and MacArthur grant recipient’s memoir of his decades of work to free innocent people condemned to death.

THIS WEEK: 10

WEEKS ON LIST: 125

11. HILLBILLY ELEGY, by J.D. Vance. (Harper)

A Yale Law School graduate looks at the struggles of the white working class through the story of his own childhood.

THIS WEEK: 11

WEEKS ON LIST: 24

12*. SHOE DOG, by Phil Knight. (Scribner)

A memoir by the co-founder of Nike Inc.

THIS WEEK: 12*

WEEKS ON LIST: 21

13. FIRST MAN, by James R. Hansen. (Simon & Schuster)

The biography of Neil Armstrong and Apollo 11’s historic 1969 moon landing.

THIS WEEK: 13

WEEKS ON LIST: 2

14. THE POWER OF HABIT, by Charles Duhigg. (Random House)

An examination of the science behind habits, how we form them and break them.

THIS WEEK: 14

WEEKS ON LIST: 120

15. BEING MORTAL, by Atul Gawande. (Picador)

The surgeon and New Yorker writer considers how doctors fail patients at the end of life, and how they can do better.

THIS WEEK: 15

WEEKS ON LIST: 58

TRADE FICTION

1. CRAZY RICH ASIANS, by Kevin Kwan. (Anchor)

A New Yorker gets a surprise when she spends the summer with her boyfriend in Singapore.

THIS WEEK: 1

WEEKS ON LIST: 25

2. THE TATTOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ, by Heather Morris. (Harper)

A concentration camp detainee tasked with permanently marking fellow prisoners falls in love with one of them.

THIS WEEK: 2

WEEKS ON LIST: 6

3. ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE, by Gail Honeyman. (Penguin)

A young woman’s well-ordered life is disrupted by the IT guy from her office.

THIS WEEK: 3

WEEKS ON LIST: 19

4. CHINA RICH GIRLFRIEND, by Kevin Kwan. (Anchor)

The second book in the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy. As her wedding draws near, Rachel Chu discovers her birth father.

THIS WEEK: 4

WEEKS ON LIST: 12

5. LESS, by Andrew Sean Greer. (Back Bay)

Winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in fiction. To avoid an ex-boyfriend’s wedding, a failed novelist attends literary events around the world.

THIS WEEK: 5

WEEKS ON LIST: 21

6. MILK AND HONEY, by Rupi Kaur. (Andrews McMeel)

A collection of poetry about love, loss, trauma and healing.

THIS WEEK: 6

WEEKS ON LIST: 131

7. THE FALLEN, by David Baldacci. (Grand Central)

Amos Decker, known as the Memory Man, puts his talents toward solving a string of murders in a Rust Belt town.

THIS WEEK: 7

WEEKS ON LIST: 5

8. THE HANDMAID’S TALE, by Margaret Atwood. (Anchor)

In the Republic of Gilead’s dystopian future, men and women perform the services assigned to them.

THIS WEEK: 8

WEEKS ON LIST: 85

9*. RICH PEOPLE PROBLEMS, by Kevin Kwan. (Anchor)

The final book in the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy. Rivalries and jealousies arise among privileged families.

THIS WEEK: 9*

WEEKS ON LIST: 10

10. THE SUN AND HER FLOWERS, by Rupi Kaur. (Andrews McMeel)

A second collection of poetry from the author of “Milk and Honey.”

THIS WEEK: 10

WEEKS ON LIST: 54

11. PACHINKO, by Min Jin Lee. (Grand Central)

In the early 20th century, a Korean fisherman’s daughter has a wealthy stranger’s child, marries a pastor and moves to Japan.

THIS WEEK: 11

WEEKS ON LIST: 32

12. A SIMPLE FAVOR, by Darcey Bell. (Harper)

A single mother’s life is rattled when her best friend disappears.

THIS WEEK: 12

WEEKS ON LIST: 7

13. THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10, by Ruth Ware. (Scout)

A travel writer on a cruise is certain she has heard a body thrown overboard, but no one believes her.

THIS WEEK: 13

WEEKS ON LIST: 67

14. SLEEPING BEAUTIES, by Stephen King and Owen King. (Gallery)

Women who fall asleep become shrouded in mysterious cocoons while the men battle one another.

THIS WEEK: 14

WEEKS ON LIST: 2

15. THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES 2018, edited by Roxane Gay with Heidi Pitlor. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

A selection of short fiction that includes stories about a Twitter addict and an Appalachian preacher.

THIS WEEK: 15

WEEKS ON LIST: 1