NEW ON THE LIST AND IN PUBLISHING
Movie madness:
With anticipation (and publicity) building for fall movies based on books, the books themselves are finding new readers. The Light Between
Oceans zooms up USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books to No. 3 from No. 18; that’s the highest ranking ever for the 2012 debut novel by M.L. Stedman. Light has spent 76 weeks in the top 150; its previous high was No. 15 (on Aug. 30, 2012). Stedman’s best seller tells the story of an Australian World War I vet, a lighthouse keeper, and his wife, who rescue a baby and keep her. The film adaptation, which opens Friday, stars Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender. A new movie tie-in paperback edition has been released. Also benefiting from fall movie buzz: The Girl on the Train, the impossible-to-stop thriller by Paula Hawkins, at No. 2 (the movie starring Emily Blunt opens on Oct. 7), and Miss Peregerine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs at No. 6 (Tim Burton’s adaptation arrives in theaters on Sept. 30). Both titles also sport new movie tie-in jackets. ‘Island’ time:
Kristin Hannah has a late-summer hit with
Summer Island, about a mother and daughter, at No. 9. But this is a 15-year-old title by the popular author, its sales boosted by a $1.99 e-book promotional price. Meanwhile The Nightingale, Hannah’s huge 2015 hit, continues to reside in the top 50, at No. 40. The
Nightingale, the story of two sisters in Nazioccupied France, has spent 82 weeks on the list; its highest ranking was No. 4. St. Martin’s Press reports more than 2 million copies sold.