Fiction
1 THE GOD OF THE WOODS (Riverhead, $19). By Liz Moore. Tragedy revisits the owners of a summer camp when their teenage daughter disappears, echoing a similar loss years before.
2 PROJECT HAIL MARY (Ballantine, $22). By Andy Weir. The lone survivor on a spaceship must figure out how to save the earth from destruction.
1 THE GOD OF THE WOODS (Riverhead, $19). By Liz Moore. Tragedy revisits the owners of a summer camp when their teenage daughter disappears, echoing a similar loss years before.
2 PROJECT HAIL MARY (Ballantine, $22). By Andy Weir. The lone survivor on a spaceship must figure out how to save the earth from destruction.
3 REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES (Ecco, $19.99). By Shelby Van Pelt. A woman develops a friendship with an octopus living in an aquarium.
4 HOW ABOUT NOW (Harper Perennial, $18) by Kate Baer. Poems reflecting on the challenges women face at midlife.
5 MATE (Berkley, $20). By Ali Hazelwood. Half-human, half-werewolf and under threat from both communities, Serena Paris seeks protection from Koen Alexander, the leader of a werewolf pack.
6 GOOD SPIRITS (Avon, $18.99). By B.K. Borison. Hundred-year-old spirit Nolan Callahan, a.k.a. the Ghost of Christmas Past, falls for his latest assignment, Harriet York, a chronic people-pleaser.
7 I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN (Transit, $16.95). By Jacqueline Harpman. A group of women who have been imprisoned underground for years escape to find an empty world.
8 THE FROZEN RIVER (Vintage, $18). By Ariel Lawhon. A historical mystery inspired by Martha Ballard, an 18th-century American healer whose journals were the subject of the Pulitzer Prize-winning history “A Midwife’s Tale.”
9 THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES 2025 (Mariner, $18.99). By Celeste Ng, Nicole A. Lamy (Eds.). A collection of short stories curated by “Little Fires Everywhere” author Celeste Ng.
10 THE HOUSEMAID (Grand Central, $18.99). By Freida McFadden. A woman with a troubled past is grateful for employment as a housemaid until things take a sinister turn.
1 ON TYRANNY (Crown, $14). By Timothy Snyder. A historian examines how dictatorships rise and how to fight them.
2 BRAIDING SWEETGRASS (Milkweed, $22). By Robin Wall Kimmerer. Essays by an Indigenous scientist offer lessons in reciprocal awareness between people and plants.
3 THE 2026 OLD FARMER’S ALMANAC (Old Farmer’s Almanac, $10.95). The classic reference guide forecasts culture, weather and trends.
4 HOW TO KNOW A PERSON (Random House, $20). By David Brooks. A New York Times columnist draws on various sources to consider how people can make more meaningful connections with each other.
5 FIGHT OLIGARCHY (Crown, $14.99). By Bernie Sanders. The U.S. senator warns of the dangers of oligarchies and presents ways our society can move toward more democratic principles.
6 ALL ABOUT LOVE (Morrow, $16.99). By bell hooks. The first volume in the iconic feminist’s “Love Song to the Nation” trilogy considers compassion as a form of love.
7 MEDITATIONS FOR MORTALS (Picador, $19). By Oliver Burkeman. A reflection on how to find perspective and meaning when faced with life’s imperfections.
8 THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE (Penguin, $19). By Bessel van der Kolk. A scientific look at how trauma can reshape a person’s body and brain.
9 THE WAGER (Vintage, $21). By David Grann. After enduring storms, sickness and a shipwreck, the surviving crew members of HMS Wager turn against each other.
10 THE ART THIEF (Vintage, $18). By Michael Finkel. More than 300 art objects were stolen by one man who kept them in a secret room.
Rankings reflect sales for the week ended Nov. 9. The charts may not be reproduced without permission from the American Booksellers Association, the trade association for independent bookstores in the United States, and indiebound.org. Copyright 2025 American Booksellers Association. (The bestseller lists alternate between hardcover and paperback each week.)
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