You ever want to know what people are buying in bookstores? Well, it so happens that I work at one, and I wanted to write about what books customers have been asking for during the holiday season.
All bookstores are different, so the books customers are asking will be different . This holiday season was super crazy. Lots of people coming out, packing my bookstore which is good (but also bad because Omicron!!!!!!). These are just the books the customers in my area asked for during the past week leading up to the Holidays in 2021.
This list isn’t a conclusive list; the books here are the ones that I’ve remembered because I’ve been asked about it a bazillion times or I’ve seen customers holding it.
The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom | The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers | Homebody by Rupi Kaur | Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune | The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig | The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood | Lore Olympus: Volume One by Rachel Smythe | The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
The 1619 Project: Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones | The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess by Tom Gauld | Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem by Amanda Gorman | Cat Kid Comic Club #2: Perspectives by Dav Pilkey | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Big Shot by Dav Pilkey | Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition*
Call Us What We Carry: Poems by Amanda Gorman | 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones | Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe | All About Me!: My Remarkable Life in Show Business by Mel Brooks* | Atomic Habits by James Clear
The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present by Paul McCartney | The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl | Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci* | Will by Will Smith | Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown
Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner | Best Wishes, Warmest Regards: The Story of Schitt’s Creek by Dan Levy & Eugene Levy | Something’s Off by Virgil Abloh | Not All Diamonds and Rose by Dave Quinn | The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber & David Wengrow*
The Korean Vegan Cookbook by Joanne Lee Molinaro* | Mooncakes and Milk Bread: Sweet and Savory Recipes Inspired by Chinese Bakeries by Kristina Cho* | Black Food: Stories, Art, and Recipes from Across the African Diaspora [A Cookbook] by Bryant Terry | The Essential New York Times Cookbook: The Recipes of Record by Amanda Hesser | Dessert Person by Claire Saffitz | The Great British Baking Show: A Bake for All Seasons
(Any titles with the asterisk* are books that we didn’t have in stock because they sold out before.)
The Midnight Library and Homebody returning to the holiday shopping list again (albeit, this year’s Homebody is a hardcover edition). 1619 Project, Call Us What We Carry, Empire of Pain, Atomic Habits, The Storyteller by Dave Grohl, Taste by Stanley Tucci, and The Korean Vegan were the books that were most asked for by customers.
I’m sure I’m forgetting a lot of books that people asked for. Like all years, the holiday season was super busy, and my bones are exhausted. (I need to slumber for a while.)
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