Five of the Top 10 books in the November Top 50 Bestsellers list compiled by NPD BookScan are brand new releases, hitting the shelves (both real and virtual) on or after October 1. Debuting at #1 is Capital Gaines by Chip Gaines (Thomas Nelson) of Fixer Upper fame. Chip’s success story is for real. Not only is Fixer Upper the #1 home improvement show on television, but Chip and his wife Joanna have also built a thriving business that employs more than 600 people and has single-handedly revived the city of Waco, Texas.
David Jeremiah’s new release, A Life Beyond Amazing(Thomas Nelson) came in at #2, followed by The Daniel Dilemma by mega church pastor Chris Hodges (Thomas Nelson) at #5. Rounding out the Top 10 at #8 and #9 respectively are new books by two bestselling authors—T.D. Jakes’ Soar! (FaithWords), and Donald Miller’s Building a Storybrand, the first title released under the new HarperCollins Leadership imprint.
Fourteen other new releases dot the landscape in the rest of the Top 50. Along with books by authors you might expect to be here—Joel Osteen’s Blessed in the Darkness is at #13 and an updated edition of Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend is at #14—there are two authors with new books in the Top 50 who have been here before, though it’s been a while. Katie Davis Majors of Kisses From Katie fame has a new book, Daring to Hope (Multnomah) that debuted at #11. And Jefferson Bethke, who wrote a breakout book in 2013, just released a book about marriage, Love that Lasts(Thomas Nelson), that came in at #14.
The books by Katie Davis Majors and Jefferson Bethke are clearly resonating with millennial readers as evidenced by the enormous number of customer reviews each book has already received on Amazon. Daring to Hope currently has nearly 400 reviews with an average of five stars, and Love That Lasts has collected nearly 700 reviews, also with an average of five stars.
Finally there’s a great story about a debut book from Whitaker House that was released simultaneously in two languages, and both books are in the Top 50. Divine Encounter with the Holy Spirit by Guillermo Maldonado came in at #23, and the Spanish version of the same book, Encuentro Divino Con El Espiritu Santo, was right behind at #26. We’re not sure if this has happened before in the history of ECPA’s bestsellers lists, but its great to see it this month with this book and publisher.
There were no surprises in the Top 25 Fiction bestsellers list. Novels by William Paul Young (Windblown Media), Jonathan Cahn (Frontline/Charisma House), Wanda Brunstetter (Barbour Publishing), Beverly Lewis (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group), and Karen Kingsbury (Howard Books) filled out the Top 5.
As for the Top 25 Bibles bestsellers list, it’s interesting to note that 6 different translations by six different publishers populate the Top 10: NLT (Tyndale), NIV (Zondervan), ESV (Crossway), NKJV (Nelson), CSB (B&H) and The Message (NavPress).