This week’s fiction rankings

The New York Times Hardcover Fiction list dated March 22, 2026 was printed in the New York Times Book Review and the rankings reflect retail sales for the week ending March 7, 2026. (libraryaware.com; nytimes.com) The top five positions on the March 22 NYT Hardcover Fiction chart were: #1 The Correspondent by Virginia Evans; #2 Felicia’s Favorites by Danielle Steel; #3 My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney; #4 Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman; and #5 Dire Bound by Sable Sorensen. (libraryaware.com) Franchise and serial works were prominent on that NYT list, with C.J. Box’s The Crossroads (a Joe Pickett novel) at #7, James Patterson and Brian Sitts’ Cross & Sampson (an Alex Cross title) at #9, and Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl entries appearing at #10 and #13. (libraryaware.com) Publishers Weekly’s weekly bestseller roundup — republished by The Spokesman-Review on March 21, 2026 — compiles sales from independent and chain bookstores as well as wholesalers and independent distributors for the same week ending March 7, and its hardcover-fiction top spot went to Judge Stone by Viola Davis and James Patterson. (spokesman.com; chron.com) That split—Virginia Evans’ The Correspondent leading the NYT hardcover chart while Judge Stone tops the Publishers Weekly panel—reflects known methodological differences between the two lists (different retailer panels and reporting windows), which routinely produces divergent rankings week to week. (libraryaware.com; publishersweekly.com) SenLinYu’s Alchemised appears at #12 on the March 22 NYT Hardcover Fiction list, and industry trackers note publishers and booksellers will be watching whether that title or other indie-favored entries climb in the March 29 update (NYT lists update online every Wednesday). (libraryaware.com; mhl.org)