NEW ON THE LIST AND IN PUBLISHING

Graham’s return: Not only did Lauren Graham return to the small screen in November as Lorelei Gilmore on the Netflix revival of her show Gilmore Girls, but she also returns to USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list this week, this time with a collection of essays recounting her life in and out of the Hollywood spotlight. Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls ( and Everything in Be

tween) debuts at No. 10. In an interview with USA TODAY’s Bill Keveney, Graham shared some of her reasons for writing the collection. “Returning to the show justified putting together these thoughts and essays, ... I thought, ‘I feel so grateful to get to do this again that I’m going to write about what it was like.’” But the collection of essays is not strictly limited to Gilmore gab. Graham also shares stories from her youth, starting out as an actress and life as a single woman working in Hollywood. Graham is no stranger to the list. Her first book, Someday, Someday Maybe, reached no. 47 in 2013.

Christmas is coming: The Elf on the Shelf reclaims its perennial perch on the list this week at No. 1, the fourth straight year Santa’s helper has made it to the top spot. But it appears the elf is not alone. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas elsewhere on the list. Joining Elf are other holiday classics including How the Grinch Stole Christmas! at No. 40, Little Blue Truck’s Christmas at No. 44 and The Polar Express at No. 45.