Books on Donald Trump still sell: Maggie Haberman's 'Confidence Man' a best seller

Never too much of a good thing: "Righteous Prey" (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 416 pp.), the latest novel in John Sandford's Virgil Flowers thriller series, debuts at No.1 this week on USA TODAY's Best Selling Books list.

The top nonfiction title, debuting at No. 2, is New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman's thorough accounting of Donald Trump's presidency, “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America” (Penguin Press, 608 pp.).

Among the book's revelations is one particularly silly detail: Trump wanted to wear a shirt with a Superman logo when he was released from the hospital after seeking COVID-19 treatment in 2020. Trump planned to be wheeled out of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center before standing up and opening his button-down shirt to reveal the superhero's logo, Haberman writes.

Trump went so far as to call a campaign aide to purchase the shirts, according to Haberman, who writes that Trump was inspired by the singer James Brown, who tossed a cape off onstage.

'Confidence Man': Trump offered sarcastic prayers for RBG's health, talked abortion with Theresa May

More seriously, Haberman writes that Trump vowed not to leave the White House after he lost his bid for reelection to President Joe Biden. Weeks after the 2020 presidential election, Haberman writes Trump told aides, "I'm just not going to leave."

"How can you leave when you won an election?" Trump asked Ronna McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Conference. "Why should I leave if they stole it from me?"

Celeste Ng has another bestseller with 'Our Missing Hearts'

Celeste Ng's new novel "Our Missing Hearts" (Penguin Press, 352 pp.) debuts on this week's list at No. 8.

Ng, the author of the blockbuster 2017 bestseller "Little Fires Everywhere," which was adapted into a 2020 Hulu miniseries starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington, has apparently remained a favorite of Witherspoon's: The actress and book lover made "Our Missing Hearts" her October pick for her Hello Sunshine book club.

'Our Missing Hearts': Celeste Ng brings humanity and sweetness to the dystopian novel

"Our Missing Hearts" is a dystopian tale set in the near future, when Asian Americans are marked by the government with distrust and their art is destroyed. Twelve-year-old Bird doesn’t ask too many questions after his mother, a Chinese American poet, leaves the family. But a mysterious letter sends him on a quest to find her.

Laura Trujillo writes in a ★★★★ (out of four) review for USA TODAY that "it is a book you won’t be able to put down, nor stop thinking about long after you do."

The review continues, "Ng’s paragraphs are built with sentences so lovely and lyrical you likely will find yourself marking passages in every chapter to share with others. The way she writes about motherhood – about what you know and don’t know about your children, and their expressions “part them and part the person they loved most” – has you nodding along knowingly and gaining insight into your own feelings as a parent."

Contributing: Marina Pitofsky, Ken Tran, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump sells: Maggie Haberman's 'Confidence Man' a best seller