The bestselling books of the week, according to all the lists

covers of three bestselling books on a graph with a red arrow pointing up and to the right

Bestseller lists are a dark art, and no single tabulation can give you a complete picture of the state of books in any given week.

That’s why we combine data from the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, Amazon Charts, USA Today, and Indie Bestsellers.

Nonfiction is showing up strong this week, including:

I’ll Believe in Anything by Jacob Tierney, a collection of annotated scripts for the first season of Heated Rivalry

The American Way of Killing by Malcolm Gladwell, an exploration of the gun violence epidemic

In the Shadow of Eight by Collin Gosselin, a memoir about his traumatic childhood behind the scenes of reality TV phenomenon Jon & Kate Plus 8

The fiction front is pretty predictable, with the following blockbuster titles appearing on all five lists:

Threshing Day by Rebecca Yarros, the drop-in short story collection in the Emyprean series

The Witch by Freida McFadden, a haunted house thriller by BookTok’s favorite mystery author

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi, which has sold more than 1.8 million (!) copies in print so far this year

See more trending titles and learn about how we compile the list.

ON AIR

What we’re watching, reading, and listening to

Books are the foundation of the media food pyramid, but a well-rounded diet is supported by a variety of media.

This week on the Book Riot Podcast, we’re sharing the TV, movies, and music we’re enjoying lately. Among the highlights:

Nathan Fielder’s genre-defying documentary about convicted grifter Elizabeth Holmes

The most delightful addition to reality TV hosting

The most consistently excellent spy series of the century

The perfect plane movie when you’ve had two glasses of wine and are about to cross the Atlantic

A sexy satirical fable that gives new meaning to “morning wood”

An attempt to replicate a childhood favorite radio station

Find the episode and all of our recs on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

MIDDLE GRADE

Get in the portal, hero, we’re going on a journey

The hero’s journey offers an enduring thrill for fantasy fans. Readers newly entering the world of chapter books, which offer that much more room for character arcs and plot thickening, rarely forget that first coming-of-age adventure.

These hero’s journey tales range from early middle grade to the cusp of YA:

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin: This bestseller and Newbery Honor Award winner takes young readers on an adventure inspired by Chinese folklore. Spurred by her father’s extraordinary folktales and accompanied by a dragon, young Minli sets off on a quest to find the Old Man on the Moon to ask him how she can change her poor family’s fortunes.

This is a Door by Daniel Nayeri*: Middle grade readers and kids at an advanced reading level are sure to be bewitched by this visually innovative new fairy tale from a National Book Award and Newbery Honor-winning author. The tale of Nothing the Younger takes literal shape when he embarks on a quest with a dog and a mouse, following a call to defeat a Giantess and searching for his purpose.

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster: Juster’s classic is a great one for the classroom or early middle grade readers who love or are trying to find something to love about writing and grammar classes. Readers journey into a whimsical world of wordplay with Milo, who leaves his humdrum reality through a tollbooth portal on a journey to explore what makes life exciting.

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin: This middle grade/early YA level classic from an SF/F great follows Ged (one of the first non-white fantasy heroes), a great sorcerer in the making, on his journey to free himself of the shadow he unleashed. Ged’s hero status is hard-won from his reckless and power-hungry boyhood; his epic, series-long journey begins with facing the consequences of his actions.

*A message from our sponsor

LANGUAGE

Dictionary.com names its word of the year

Dictionary.com named its word of the year, which isn’t so much a standalone word as a superlative suffix for gerunds: maxxing, which means “pursuing an activity to the fullest or optimizing a certain aspect of your life.”

Looksmaxxing is probably the most familiar (and disturbing) usage, though tokenmaxxing had its moment as well.

According to Dictionary.com’s own usage charts, both of those terms peaked earlier this year, so naming “maxxing” the word of the year suggests that perhaps “-maxxing” has what it takes to become the -gate (aka Watergate) for possibly destructive extreme behavior encouraged by spending too much time online. (Perhaps the word of the year for 2027 could be algo-minning, the pursuit of a life influenced as little as possible by giant tech platforms. One can dream)

Other finalists for their word of the year: unc, Odyssey, data center, and affordability.

AUDIOBOOKS

Spotify editors’ October audiobook picks

Your Spotify Premium membership gets you 15 hours of audiobook listening every month. Here are three of Spotify Editor’s Picks for October, each under 15 hours.

Grace & Jo Have Never Solved a Murder by Jess Mey, read by Stacy Gonzalez – After a woman discovers her boss’s dead body, she gets an unexpected job offer from his widow: to help her solve her husband’s murder. Millennial sleuths, come through!

The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman by Deesha Philyaw, read by Janina Edwards – A megachurch pastor’s wife with a “rags to Rolex” story is competing in a First Lady pageant when her picture-perfect life is derailed by a sex scandal. But that scandal is based on a lie, and this First Lady is getting a little tired of fake folks quoting scripture and telling her to put the church first… This one also gets my very screamy stamp of approval. If you grew up in the church, buckle up!!

Bad Words by Rioghnach Robinson, read by Katharine Chin, Major Curda – A literary critic who tanked a debut author’s career with her scathing review now has the chance to review the new book that’s supposed to save his career a decade later. A second bad review ignites a viral feud, but beneath the animosity, softer feelings are brewing. —VD

UNUSUAL SUSPECTS

Thrillers about female rage

Janasha Prabhu is the author of Monster in the Mirror, out now from Sourcebooks Landmark. Below, she recommends three more thrillers about female rage.

If you’re anything like me, you love books where women finally have enough and just snap. Gone Girl is your bread and butter. And every time the final girl in a horror movie takes out the man hunting her, you cheer.

My debut novel Monster in the Mirror is probably up your alley if the above applies to you. And so are the following three thrillers about female rage that I hold dear to my heart and am honored to recommend.

They Never Learn, by fellow Chicagoan Layne Fargo, follows Scarlett Clark, an English professor who’s good at her job—and at getting away with murder. As the body count of problematic men on her university’s campus grows larger, the school begins to look more closely into the cases, and Scarlett slips up, putting her secret at risk of discovery.

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite speaks for itself by the title alone. Korede, the protagonist, is always looking after her little sister, Ayoola—especially because said sister has now disposed of three boyfriends. Korede never fails to clean up her sister’s messes, but when Ayoola starts dating the man Korede has been secretly in love with, Korede suddenly has to choose who to save.

Maeve Fly by CJ Leede is my third and bloodiest recommendation, and if you’d love to read about a female Patrick Bateman, this is the book for you. Maeve Fly works as a princess in a theme park during the day, but at night, Maeve haunts the Sunset Strip. When Gideon Green, Maeve’s best friend’s brother, moves to town, something dark and sinister begins to stir in Maeve, leading her down a dark path.

I hope you do choose to read these books. But if you do, buckle up.