Bestselling books lists: Fiction, nonfiction, children’s
The Baltimore Sun’s weekly bestseller lists of fiction, non-fiction, biography, lifestyle, political, children’s and young adult books are compiled by staff members of Skyhorse Publishing based on publishing houses’, booksellers’, online retailers’ and other sources’ sales data covering the week ending Oct. 26. The reviews and recommendations are compiled by Skyhorse Publishing staff. The Sun welcomes suggestions on local authors to feature via email at books@baltsun.com.
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Bestsellers
Fiction
The Widow: A Novel
John Grisham
Doubleday (October 21, 2025)
The Black Wolf: A Novel (Chief Inspector Gamache Novel, 20)
Louise Penny
Minotaur Books (October 28, 2025)
The Housemaid
Freida McFadden
Grand Central Publishing (August 23, 2022)
Reminders of Him: A Novel
Colleen Hoover
Montlake (January 18, 2022)
Regretting You
Colleen Hoover
Montlake (December 10, 2019)
The Secret of Secrets: A Novel
Dan Brown
Doubleday (September 9, 2025)
Bonds of Hercules (Deluxe Limited Edition)
Jasmine Mas
Canary Street Press (October 28, 2025)
Gone Before Goodbye
Harlan Coben and Reese Witherspoon
Grand Central Publishing (October 14, 2025)
The Frozen River: A GMA Book Club Pick: A Novel
Ariel Lawhon
Vintage Books (November 5, 2024)
Alchemised
SenLinYu
Del Rey (September 23, 2025)
Non-fiction: Biography & autobiography
To Rescue the American Spirit: Teddy Roosevelt and the Birth of a Superpower (The Presidential Series)
Bret Baier
Mariner Books (October 21, 2025)
The Uncool: A Memoir
Cameron Crowe
Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster (October 28, 2025)
Man’s Search for Meaning
Viktor E. Frankl
Beacon Press (June 1, 2006)
Night
Elie Wiesel
Hill and Wang (January 16, 2006)
The Running Ground: A Father, a Son, and the Simplest of Sports
Nicholas Thompson
Random House (October 28, 2025)
Non-fiction: Self-help & advice
The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can’t Stop Talking About
Mel Robbins and Sawyer Robbins
Hay House LLC (December 24, 2024)
Read Your Mind: Proven Habits for Success from the World’s Greatest Mentalist
Oz Pearlman
Viking (October 28, 2025)
Atomic Habits
James Clear
Avery (October 16, 2018)
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
Bessel van der Kolk MD
Penguin Books (September 8, 2015)
Don’t Believe Everything You Think
Joseph Nguyen
Authors Equity (October 29, 2024)
Non-fiction: Lifestyle
Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity
Peter Attia, MD and Bill Gifford
Harmony (March 28, 2023)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks―The Essential Recipes: 120 Greatest Hits, New Twists, and Perfected Classics
Ree Drummond
William Morrow Cookbooks (October 28, 2025)
Forgotten Home Apothecary : 250 Powerful Remedies at Your Fingertips
Dr. Nicole Apelian
Global Brother (October 8, 2024)
The Promise of Heaven: 31 Reasons to Get Excited About Your Eternal Home
Dr. David Jeremiah
Thomas Nelson (October 7, 2025)
Left, right, and center
Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice
Virginia Roberts Giuffre
Knopf (October 21, 2025)
How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will
John Kennedy
Broadside Books (October 7, 2025)
1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History–and How It Shattered a Nation
Andrew Ross Sorkin
Viking (October 14, 2025)
Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America
Jonathan Karl
Dutton (October 28, 2025)
Under Siege: My Family’s Fight to Save Our Nation
Eric Trump
Threshold Editions (October 14, 2025)
The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness
Morgan Housel
Harriman House (September 8, 2020)
107 Days
Kamala Harris
Simon & Schuster (September 23, 2025)
Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America
Michael Harriot
Dey Street Books (September 19, 2023)
Hostage
Eli Sharabi
Harper Influence (October 7, 2025)
Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds
John Fugelsang
Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster (September 9, 2025)
Children’s
Partypooper: A side-splitting birthday disaster from the #1 international bestselling Diary of a Wimpy Kid series (Book 20)
Jeff Kinney
Harry N. Abrams (October 21, 2025)
My First Learn-to-Write Workbook: Practice for Kids with Pen Control, Line Tracing, Letters, and More!
Crystal Radke
Callisto Kids (August 27, 2019)
I Love you to the Moon and Back
Amelia Hepworth and Tim Warnes
Tiger Tales (September 17, 2024)
The Spooky Wheels on the Bus: (A Holiday Wheels on the Bus Book)
J. Elizabeth Mills
Cartwheel Books (July 1, 2010)
Room on the Broom
Julia Donaldson
Puffin Books (August 25, 2003)
Young adult
Sunrise on the Reaping (A Hunger Games Novel)
Suzanne Collins
Scholastic Press (March 18, 2025)
Lord of the Flies
William Golding
Penguin Books (December 16, 2003)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Interactive Illustrated Edition)
J. K. Rowling
Scholastic Inc. (October 14, 2025)
The Book of Dust: The Rose Field (Book of Dust, Volume 3)
Philip Pullman
Knopf Books for Young Readers (October 23, 2025)
The Giver
Lois Lowry
Clarion Books (July 1, 1993)
Recommended Books
Wisdom Takes Work: Learn. Apply. Repeat. (The Stoic Virtues Series)
Ryan Holiday
Portfolio (October 21, 2025)
In this much-anticipated final installment in the Stoic Virtues series, Ryan Holiday makes the case for the virtue on which all other virtues depend.
Of all the stoic virtues – courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom – wisdom is the most elusive. This is especially apparent in an age where reaction and idle chatter are rewarded, and restraint and thoughtfulness are unfashionable. The great statesman and philosophers of the past would not be fooled, as we are, by headlines or appearances or the primal pull of tribalism. They knew too much of history, of their own flaws, of the need for collaboration to do any of that. That’s wisdom – and we need it more than ever.
Wisdom is Ryan Holiday’s guiding principle, and Wisdom Takes Work is the culmination of all his work. Drawing on fascinating stories of the ancient and modern figures alike, Holiday shows how to cultivate wisdom through reading, self-education, and experience. Through the lives of Montaigne, Seneca, Joan Didion, Abraham Lincoln, and others, Holiday teaches us how to listen more than we talk, to think with nuance, to ruthlessly question our own beliefs, and to develop a method of self-education. He argues convincingly for the necessity of mental struggle and warns against taking shortcuts that deprive us of real knowledge. And he shows us how dangerous power and intelligence can be without the tempering influence of wisdom.
An absence of curiosity and prudence is a catastrophe for all of us, argues Ryan Holiday. This incredibly timely book both diagnoses the greatest problem of our current moment and offers solutions for the way forward. Wisdom is work – but it’s worth it.
The Christmas Stranger
Richard Paul Evans
Gallery Books (November 4, 2025)
From the bestselling author of the Christmas classic The Christmas Box and the movie The Noel Diary comes a powerful and thought-provoking holiday story about love, loss, and the mysterious workings of heaven.
Three years after losing his family in a Christmas Eve accident, grief-stricken Paul Wanlass hasn’t just given up on Christmas, he’s given up on life. He can’t imagine anything to keep him here—not his work as a computer repairman, not the residents in his Salt Lake City neighborhood, and certainly not the idea of connecting with someone new. When a stranger knocks on his door, claiming to be picking up a laptop, Paul allows him in—but discovers the man has a very different mission in mind. When the stranger shows up again, Paul challenges him to give him just one reason to live. The stranger agrees to the challenge but warns Paul not to expect a path he would have guessed or chosen.
As the stranger promised, Paul’s life takes a wild and fateful turn. A robbery connects him with a woman who has also lost the love of her life, and, in a seemingly unrelated incident, Paul rescues a young boy from bullying, only to find the boy needs a different kind of rescue. The twists leave Paul wondering what these people have in common, and why they were brought together. Who—or what—really is this Christmas stranger, and how will Paul find meaning once again?
Diary of Small Discontents: New & Selected Poems 1974–2024
John Yau
Omnidawn (October 6, 2025)
A collection of poetry showcasing the diversity of subjects and forms in Yau’s writing.
This collection brings together work from half a century of writing by John Yau. Preoccupied with forms and musical structures, Yau’s work includes sestinas, sonnets, pantoums, and lists, as well as invented forms. Employing both strict and open-ended frameworks, Yau creates multi-faceted poems that can shift abruptly from humor to outrage and consider topics including Chinese American identity, school shootings, invented countries, and haunted memories. Some poems are grounded in an autobiographical voice, while others take on the voices of other characters, including contemporary artists and a fictional Chinese private eye.
Spanning the vast diversity of Yau’s forms and subjects, the poems in Diary of Small Discontents add up to an unapologetically original collection.
Blue-Collar Blessed: A Humble Life in Idaho
Denny LaVé
Skyhorse Publishing (November 4, 2025)
A blue-collar entrepreneur’s unlikely path from chaos to Senate candidacy.
From a broken Montana home to Washington’s marble halls, Denny LaVé’s extraordinary memoir chronicles an American journey defying every expectation. Perfect for readers who loved Hillbilly Elegy and Educated, this powerful narrative reveals how faith and hard work can transform fractured beginnings into purposeful leadership.
Born into dysfunction—his father secretly took him across state lines at age four—LaVé bounced between schools, parents, and broken promises. Through setbacks from failing college to heat stroke during Marine boot camp, he refused to surrender.
His unconventional healing path included living in a 1,000-year-old Dominican monastery in France, building a multi-million-dollar construction business from scratch, raising six sons, and confronting trauma through intensive therapy—including a harrowing suicide attempt that became his turning point.
LaVé’s candid exploration of childhood sexual trauma and mental health struggles offers hope to anyone battling shame. His journey from broken child to successful entrepreneur and Senate candidate proves healing is possible and ordinary Americans can make extraordinary differences.
Culminating in a face-to-face confrontation with political establishment that inspired his Senate run, this raw, inspiring memoir will resonate with anyone that believes character matters more than credentials and sometimes the most unlikely candidates are exactly what democracy needs.
Bruce Wagner’s Pick of the Week
Unscripted
Cheryl Hines
Skyhorse Publishing (November 11, 2025)
Not even Cheryl Hines, a rising star in Los Angeles’ legendary improvisational comedy company The Groudlings (before she got her own one on the Hollywood Walk of Fame), could have done justice to the narrative of her own life—but her new memoir, Unscripted, certainly does. Best known for her generation-long portrayal of Larry David’s wife on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, her story spans her beginnings in a small Florida town, bartending in LA (where she audits improv classes), working as Rob Reiner’s personal assistant, then gets Curbed—and her romance with Robert F. Kennedy Jr before and after he decides to run for president. With biting wit that’s as brutally poignant as it is mordant, Cheryl reveals the challenges and joys of a blended family with her husband, the activist lawyer who became an enemy of Big Pharma and was ultimately appointed Secretary of the Health and Human Services. She too is a lifelong education activist and a tireless drummer for United Cerebral Palsy, inspired by her late nephew Michael who had the disease. If you bought this book to read about her time with Larry David, fine, but you won’t believe what’s coming—the fearlessness, good humor, and WTF aspects of her journey are absolutely inspiring. The off-color joke she’s forced to repeat to the hard-of-hearing Ethel Kennedy at a birthday party in Hyannis Port—Cheryl’s the virgin patsy in a long-running set-up gag by the Kennedy siblings—is worth the price of admission.
Book of the Week
Unscripted
Cheryl Hines
Skyhorse Publishing (November 11, 2025)
The highly anticipated memoir by the Emmy-nominated actress, director, and comedian Cheryl Hines.
As an actress, director, producer, and comedian, Cheryl Hines is best known for her twenty-four-year portrayal of Larry David’s wife, Cheryl, on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, for which she received two Emmy Award nominations. She also played leading roles on the ABC sitcom Suburgatory and the FOX comedy Son of Zorn and is recognized for her work in the films RV, Waitress, and Bad Moms Christmas. In 2014, she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Cheryl is married to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
An Excerpt from Unscripted
The Groundlings could be a competitive place because there were always scouts for sketch shows in attendance. Everyone wanted to stand out. You have to trust that when you’re up there performing, your scene partner is not going to sabotage you just to make themselves look good. That can happen, but for us it was a place where we would know that, if someone was coming to look at a certain person, even though you might feel envious, you’re still excited for that person and you want them to stand out and be great. You want them to get that agent or that audition or that role, so there has to be mutual trust.
The people I was performing with were rock solid. They would always make me look good, and I believed they wanted the best for me. I felt the same about them. It was exciting because you would watch people being flown to New York to audition for SNL, see them get a great agent or book a job on a sitcom. Even when it didn’t have to do with me, I’d think, “Oh, I’m in the mix for something and if I keep working hard, stay focused, and keep on this path, I know it’s going to lead me somewhere good.”
By then, I had found my way back to myself. I had a good sense of who I was and had the chance to build back my self-esteem. I was with people I trusted.
It was an exhilarating time. The show attracted all kinds of celebrities and influential people: Vince Vaughn, John Kennedy Jr., Christopher Guest. At the time, I was working for Rob Reiner, and he and his wife Michele would come to the shows, which I found incredibly supportive. I was witnessing other Groundlings like Will Ferrell, Cheri Oteri, Chris Kattan, and Chris Parnell skyrocket. Lisa Kudrow was on Friends and Mindy Sterling was in Austin Powers.
I felt that I was close to something, but not quite there. I kept getting called back for the sketch show, Mad TV, but they didn’t offer me the part. Eventually, I had to quit working for the Reiners. It was too hard to keep taking time off for auditions and callbacks.
I started to book small roles on sitcoms. I even got a few lines on Friends! It was great, but I wasn’t making enough to pay my rent. As the weeks went by, I started to become more and more desperate for a way to earn money to pay my bills. Becky was starting to worry about me. She knew I was running on fumes. She called.
“Hey, I sent you my ATM card so you can withdraw some cash. You’ve got to hang in there, Cher,” she said reassuringly.
“What? Rebecca! You didn’t have to do that,” I told her.
“I know you’re dying out there. Check your mail. It should be there,” she said.
“Oh my god, thank you. I can’t believe you did that.”
And there it was. An envelope postmarked Orlando, Florida, with Becky’s ATM card. I ran to the closest bank. I inserted the card, typed in the PIN, and requested $40. Insufficient Funds. Hmmm, I guess I was asking for too much. I requested $20. Insufficient Funds. I laughed so hard it annoyed the people waiting behind me. That’s my sister! She’d give me the last dollar she had—if she had one. I just imagined her going through the trouble of going to the post office and mailing me that card. It didn’t matter that she had no money in her account, the gesture alone made me feel so loved. I called her back.
“Hey, I tried your card, but I couldn’t get any money out,” I told her.
We laughed for a long time.
“Why would you send me a card if you didn’t have any money in your account?”
“Well, it’s always a crapshoot. Try it again next week on Friday. I might have some money by then,” she said.
I sent the card back to her. I wasn’t going to take her last dollar, but man, did I love her pluck.
I was barely scraping by and was looking for ways to stay inspired to keep me focused. I loved watching stand up, but I didn’t have enough money to actually go to a club, so one Saturday night I called The Improv.
“Listen, I can’t afford to pay the door charge, but I can scrape together enough for the two-drink minimum if you’ll just let me in,” I said.
The poor guy answering the phone said, “Who are you? What are you talking about?”
“My friends and I, we just can’t . . . Well, I can’t afford to buy tickets. But we are really good laughers. We’re really loud. We’ll be the best audience you’ve ever seen.”
“Oh, God. Okay. Just come to the door and ask for Bill. I’ll see what I can do,” he said.
We went and laughed our asses off as promised. That’s pretty much how I got by for the next few years.
My roommate Maria turned out to be a lifeline for me. She loaned me money for rent and a little extra to buy food when I couldn’t afford it. To this day, we’re as close as ever. We’ve traveled to Santorini and back and have been to every Hollywood party that would have us. I had found an angel in the City of Angels.
Maria’s generosity was a temporary Band-Aid at the time but didn’t stop the bleeding. My anxiety about money became more and more intense. I was performing in the Sunday company at the Groundlings, doing my best to write new sketches every week. I was sitting on the news that Larry asked me to play the role of his wife on a new show, but couldn’t move forward until I had an official offer from HBO. My anxiety steadily amplified as the weeks turned into months.
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