‘Children’s Bible’ novel, ’Keep Sharp’ brain guide hit Top 10

The top selling titles at Copperfield’s Books, in Petaluma, for the week of Jan. 4-Jan. 10, 2020

As book-buying Petalumans make the shift from snapping up titles to wrap up and give away to selecting fiction and nonfiction they plan to keep for themselves, local lit habits show few changes over last week.

The 2021 version of always-popular-around-the-new-year “Tidelog Northern California” takes the No. 1 spot this week, moving up from No. 2, while Charles Macksey’s charming fable “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” moves from No. 6 to No. 2. The popular “Petaluma in Vintage Postcards,” oddly absent from the list last week, returns in the No. 3 Spot, while Barack Obama’s “A Promised Land” celebrates its eight week in release by popping down a few rungs of the ladder to end up at No. 4 after weeks of staking a claim for the No. 1 and No. 2 spots. Ernest Cline’s science-fiction sequel “Ready Player Two” continues to hold the No. 5 place for the second week in a row.

Meanwhile, a few newer titles are testing out the Top 10 waters this week.

Lydia Millett’s apocalyptic novel “A Children’s Bible,” released in October of 2020, is this week’s No. 8 book. A semi-metaphorical drama about climate disruption, and how a loosely connected group of children attempt to ride out the end of the world when their moms and dads choose self-medication and parental retreat, the book follows a brother and sister, one of whom becomes attached to an illustrated Bible that might have some clues as to how to turn the end into a new beginning.

The one brand new release, Sanjay Gupta’s “Stay Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age,” which hit the stands on Tuesday, Jan. 5, is packed with suggestions on brain health by CNN’s chief medical correspondent. While the secrets Guptay shares are anything but secret, and tend toward the obvious – exercise, reading, memorization, diet and meditative relaxation – he provides plenty of evidence to support them, and drops a lot of famous names along the way.

Here are the full Top 10 on Petaluma’s Fiction & Nonfiction and Kids & Young Adults bestselling books lists.

FICTION & NON-FICTION

1. ‘Tidelog Northern California 2021,’ by Pacific Publishers

2. ‘The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,’ by Charlie Macksey

3. ‘Petaluma in Vintage Postcards,’ by Alice van Omeran and KC Greaney

4. ‘A Promised Land,’ by Barack Obama

5. ‘Ready Player Two,’ by Ernest Cline

6. ‘Forests of California,’ by Obi Kauffman

7. ‘The Dutch House,’ by Ann Patchett

8. ‘A Children's Bible,’ by Lydia Millett

9. ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,’ by Douglas Adams

10. ‘Keep Sharp,’ by Sanjay Gupta

KIDS & YOUNG ADULTS

1. ‘Wings of Fire: The Dark Secret,’ by Tui Sutherland

2. ‘Lightfall: The Girl and the Galdurian,’ by Tim Probert

3. ‘Cat Kid Comic Club,’ by Dav Pilkey

4. ‘Margaret’s Unicorn,’ by Briony May Smith

5. ‘Dad Jokes for Kids,’ by Jimmy Niro

6. ‘Babysitters Club: Logan Likes Mary Anne!’ by Ann M Martin

7. ‘Guts,’ by Raina Telegemeier

8. ‘Hi Jack,’ by Mac Barnett

9. ‘One of Us is Lying,’ by Karen McManus

10. ‘My Little Golden Book About Ruth Bader Ginsburg,’ by Shana Corey

(Data compiled by Amber-Rose Reed, Manager of Copperfield’s Books)