Nicholas Sparks' 'Dreamland' captures No. 1 spot, 'Wolf Hall' returns to bestsellers list

Nicholas Sparks' "Dreamland" (Random House, 384 pp.) debuts at No.1 this week on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list. The novel follows the trials and tribulations of a young couple in love and a single mom starting over.

Sparks has the magic touch when it comes to bestsellers. Two dozen of his books have made the bestsellers list since his 1996 debut novel, "The Notebook." All 23 of his novels and his nonfiction "A Memoir: Three Weeks With My Brother" have made the list, and of those, 16 have hit No. 1, including last year's "The Wish."

More: 'The Notebook' author Nicholas Sparks apologizes to LGBTQ community for past emails

Hilary Mantel's posthumous sales

Author Hilary Mantel's novel "Wolf Hall," (Picador, 640 pp.) which won the Booker Prize in 2009, returns to the list at No. 53 only a week after the author's death at age 70. The novel was the first book of an award-winning trilogy that also included the Booker Prize-winning “Bring Up the Bodies” in 2012 and 2020's final installment, “The Mirror and the Light,” which was longlisted for the prize. All three novels were USA TODAY bestsellers spending a total of 45 weeks on the list.

“I’m very keen on the idea that a historical novel should be written pointing forward,” she told The Associated Press in 2009 when discussing "Wolf Hall." “Remember that the people you are following didn’t know the end of their own story. So they were going forward day by day, pushed and jostled by circumstances, doing the best they could, but walking in the dark, essentially.”

More: Hilary Mantel, award-winning 'Wolf Hall' author, dies at 70

'Fairy Tale' continues to thrill

Stephen King's latest bestseller, "Fairy Tale" (Scribner, 608pp.) is the inaugural pick for the USA TODAY Book Club.  The new book club is part of USA TODAY's commitment to find the good stuff on crowded shelves for readers and continue the conversation.

USA TODAY's Brian Truitt gave the novel ★★★½ out of four, saying the novel "will win your heart as much as King’s past efforts have unnerved your soul." It became an instant bestseller upon its September release, hitting No. 1 on our list.

Every month, USA TODAY will pick a newly released book we love. Our picks will run the gamut from blockbuster bestsellers by beloved authors to debut novels by newcomers everyone should know. Join us for a Twitter Spaces conversation about "Fairy Tale" on Oct. 27 when host Truitt will be joined by special guests to be announced.

Contributing: Barbara VanDenburgh, USA TODAY; Associated Press

More: Review: Stephen King weaves a profound 'Fairy Tale' filled with heart (and, yes, some horror)

More: Stephen King takes Colleen Hoover's crown: His new book 'Fairy Tale' is a No. 1 best seller

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nicholas Sparks latest book is No. 1, 'Wolf Hall' is best seller again