Book Buzz: 'The Help' jumps to No. 1


Published: Tuesday, August 9, 2011 at 10:13 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, August 9, 2011 at 10:13 a.m.

'Help' arrives: It took some help from Hollywood, but The Help has hit No. 1 on USA Today's Best-Selling Books list for the first time after spending 111 weeks on the list. Kathryn Stockett's debut novel about black maids in 1960s Mississippi made it as high as No. 2 for two weeks in June, but anticipation over the the movie version with Emma Stone and Viola Davis (due Wednesday) has sent the book to the top. First published in February 2009, The Help made its debut at No. 142 on May 28, 2009. It has since has sold more than 3 million copies in hardcover. Two paperback editions are in stores, including the movie tie-in, released on June 28. More than 2 million paperback copies are in print, and the e-book also is selling well.

Crossover success: Popular TV shows are pushing the novels that inspire them to record highs on the list. Tess Gerritsen's The Silent Girl has its highest debut of any title in her nine-book Rizzoli and Isles crime series. It enters the list at No. 7 and is the basis for TNT's Rizzoli & Isles, which began its second season this week. And Twisted: A Pretty Little Liars Novel, ninth in the young-adult series by Sara Shepard, enters the list at No. 11, the highest rank for the series. ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars is in the middle of its second season. Twisted marks the beginning of another four-book story arc, as the four main characters continue to be haunted by the spirit of their missing friend, Alison.

Apocalypse now: Publishers are hot for a dark trend: apocalyptic fiction. Fans of The Strain Trilogy by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan are hungry for The Night Eternal, Book 3 in the series about a world overrun by the undead. It's due Oct. 25. There's also a lot of anticipation for The Twelve, the follow-up to Justin Cronin's The Passage, about a world decimated by zombie/vampire hybrids (2012). Out right now: Dan Simmons' Flashback, in which America is all but destroyed by drug addiction, and Robopocalypse, Daniel H. Wilson's sci-fi thriller about a robot uprising.

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