Chris Colfer's new book lands in top 10
Here's a look at what's new on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list…
King of 'Kingdoms': Chris Colfer has plenty to be gleeful about when it comes to his writing career. His The Land of Stories: Beyond the Kingdoms (Little, Brown) lands at No. 10, his highest debut. (The full list will publish on Thursday.)
Beyond the Kingdoms is the fourth book in a series for young readers about twins who have magical encounters with the fairy-tale characters they've read about. In the new book, Alex and Conner Bailey pursue a "Masked Man" with help from Goldilocks, Red Riding Hood and Mother Goose.
The series' previous peak was No. 29 with book three, A Grimm Warning, last summer.
Colfer, 25, who played Kurt Hummel on Glee, is on a multi-city book tour that ends July 18 in Los Angeles. In a recent interview with the Phoenix New Times, he said, "I did nothing but watch TV and movies when I was a kid, and I think it's really what made me a good storyteller."
He has a busy fall ahead as a storyteller, too. The Curvy Tree, a debut picture book, arrives on Oct. 27 from Little, Brown. It's based on an original fairy tale of the same name from The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell.
And on Nov. 24, Adventures from the Land of Stories Boxed Set: The Mother Goose Diaries and Queen Red Riding Hood's Guide to Royalty will be published, containing two new books.
'Mockingbird' rises: A 55-year-old book very much in the news makes a 20-point leap this week. The 1960 Southern classic To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee rises from No. 27 to No. 7. That reflects sales between July 6-12, in advance of the July 14 publication of Lee's new book Go Set a Watchman. Mockingbird, published in 1960, has been on USA TODAY's list a total of 894 weeks (the list began in 1993). Mockingbird climbed to No. 4 in February, after it was announced that Watchman would be published.
First the world was shocked that Watchman, written in the 1950s, had been rediscovered. It's been further shocked by the revelation that in the new book, heroic Atticus Finch is portrayed as a bigot. (Lee wrote Watchman before Mockingbird.) Some disappointed Mockingbird fans have said on Twitter they don't want to read the new book. Pre-orders, however, set records.
Watchman sales will be reflected on next week's list.