The top of our list is one place Dr. Seuss will go, of course

Three things are certain in this world: death, taxes, and Dr. Seuss’ “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” topping bestsellers lists during graduation season. The illustrated Seuss classic, first published in 1990, is No. 1 on this week’s USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list. A perennial favorite literary gift for new grads, the book features a young boy embarking on life’s great adventures.

Recent Seuss controversy doesn’t seem to have dampened sales. The expansive and long-beloved Dr. Seuss canon has taken a cultural hit in recent years on racial insensitivity grounds, with six titles pulled by the Seuss gatekeepers last year.

During 2021’s Read Across America Day – traditionally held on author Theodor Geisel’s birthday, March 2 – President Biden did not mention Dr. Seuss, long a staple of that day. That White House mention did return for the 2022 festivities.

Here’s what what other titles made waves on this week’s bestsellers list.

Readers hit the pool with Jennifer Weiner, Emily Henry

Authors Emily Henry and Jennifer Weiner, masters of the beach read, dominate this week’s list as the weather gets hotter and the drinks get colder.

Henry, who last week nabbed her first No. 1 book with “Book Lovers,” drops to No. 2 this week, while Weiner’s new novel “The Summer Place” debuts at No. 4. In Weiner’s latest, a family in all its messy glory is forced to face its issues – secrets, misunderstandings, regrets and unhealed wounds – as a Cape Cod beach house wedding looms.

A ★★★★ review for USA TODAY says, “With its Cape Cod setting that evokes seashells, cool water, melting ice cream and summer bliss, it’s sure to be the must-have beach bag item this year.”

Weiner is no stranger to the bestsellers list. The two previous books in her Cape Cod Trilogy, “Big Summer” (2020) and “That Summer” (2021), landed as high as No. 10 and No. 5, respectively.

Obi-Wan Kenobi battles ‘Star Wars’ onto the bestsellers list

A couple of weeks before Disney+ is due to launch “Obi-Wan Kenobi” series starring Ewan McGregor, the Jedi master has battled “Star Wars” onto the bestsellers list at No. 30.

Kenobi and apprentice Anakin Skywalker are the stars of Mike Chen’s “Star Wars: Brotherhood,” which explores the familylike bond between two of the central characters in the Skywalker Saga as they investigate a devastating explosion on Cato Neimoidia.

A ★★★★ review for USA TODAY calls it “one of the best ‘Star Wars’ novels to date.” It continues, “Much of the criticism of the final movie of the Skywalker series, ‘Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker’ (2019), argued that writers didn’t take many chances and played it safe while trying to tie together nine films. Thankfully, Chen doesn’t get too wrapped up in tying together loose ends, and instead makes ‘Brotherhood’ feel vastly original with age-old characters.”

Contributing: Marco della Cava, USA TODAY