Joanna Gaines' new book is a best seller; Michael Connelly's 'Desert Star' is No. 1

Michael Connelly's latest novel "Desert Star" (Little, Brown, 400pp.) debuts at No. 1 on this week's USA TODAY Best-Selling Books list, dethroning Colleen Hoover's "It Starts With Us," which spent the three weeks since its release at the top spot.

"Desert Star," featuring fan favorites Harry Bosch and Renée Ballard, is not only the author's sixth appearance at No. 1 on the list but is also his 24th novel on the list featuring Bosch and Ballard either individually or together. They team up again in "Desert Star" – while LAPD Detective Ballard rebuilds the cold case unit in the robbery-homicide division, she and Bosch, a former LAPD detective and current private investigator, join forces to hunt down Bosch's "white whale," a psychopath who killed an entire family who still walks free.

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Joanna Gaines opens up in best seller 'The Stories We Tell'

Joanna Gaines' latest bestseller "The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters" (Harper Select, 256 pp.) debuts at No. 17. The author gets a little more intimate, delving into her own life story. The book joins her six other USA TODAY bestsellers, which include two No. 1 cookbooks and two children's books.

“I actually only told two people that I was writing this down, and I never knew if I'd actually share it,” Gaines, 44, reveals of the book over video chat in an interview. “The intention was truly to just process, get perspective, write it down. There is such power when you write down your story and you see how all the things woven together really do create something beautiful and powerful.”

"I am enough, period":How Joanna Gaines renovated her relationship with perfectionism

'Legend & Lattes' is BookTok's latest best seller

Many authors have seen their sales increase thanks to their popularity on BookTok – just look at Colleen Hoover's recent rise to fame and fortune. Now there is a new BookTok name on the list: Travis Baldree. This week his BookTok fave "Legends & Lattes" (Tor, 304 pp.) debuts on the list at No. 79.

BookTok is a popular subculture on social media platform TikTok that focuses on all things literary, from favorite reads and authors to book hauls and bookshelf designs. Other authors whose books have been promoted are Adam Silvera, Madeline Miller and V.E. Schwab.

Billed as a "cozy fantasy," the novel follows the exploits of a battle-weary Orc named Viv who decides she is in need of a fresh start and opens the first-ever coffee shop in the city of Thune.

Originally a project for National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo) in November 2021, according to the author's website, the novel was published this February. Not long after, it started building buzz on TikTok, which finally culminated in nabbing bestseller status this week.

More: Colleen Hoover is queen of the best sellers list. Who is she and why are her books so popular?

Contributing: Erin Jensen, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Joanna Gaines, Michael Connelly have new best selling books this week