Bestsellers

I have been writing, editing and publishing cookbooks for 40 years, and the inevitable question arises—“Hey, what’s selling?” This is the same question that one might hear when designing a new restaurant, yoga pants or iPhone covers. Always start by asking the market what they want.

Here is the list of top-­selling cookbooks of 2024. Joshua Weissman’s “An Unapologetic Cookbook” was still hot after coming out in 2021, logging in around 400 on Amazon. Other top titles included phrases such as “Super Simple,” “Quick & Cozy,” “Mediterranean,” “Easy Weeknight Dinners,” etc. And big stars like Martha Stewart, Ina Garten and Matty Matheson always punch at or above their weight.

So what happened to the books I consider top-shelf (listed with their current Amazon sales rank)? “Richard Hart Bread” (#13,881), “Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking” (#5,135), “Italy by Ingredient” (2023, #133,753), “Giuseppe’s Easy Bakes” (#27,981), “Danube” (#74,686) and “Wafu Cooking” (#8,620). Not to mention books about food, including “Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts” (#13,273), “Secret Harvests” (2023, #515,000) and “Bourbon Land” (#7,140).

Looking back in time to general fiction, I found that, in 1930, the top-selling book was Faulkner’s “As I Lay Dying,” in 1940 Hemingway’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” in 1950 we read C.S. Lewis’ “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” and in 1960 it was “To Kill a Mockingbird.” But in 2010, it was “Mockingjay,” the third in the “Hunger Games” series. From Faulkner to Suzanne Collins.

I even ventured back to the 19th century, when the bestselling book was “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” Other top titles included “Anna Karenina,” “War and Peace,” “Middlemarch,” “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” “Moby Dick” and “Great Expectations.” Either a tiny percentage of well-­educated Americans actually read books in the 1800s (hence the list was inherently “elitist” to start with), or—with the advent of a vast sea of entertainment choices—we can no longer sustain the time and effort to plow through Dostoevsky.

Perhaps we have confused elitism with the pursuit of excellence. Punch above your weight in everything you do—what you read, what you watch, what you cook and how you live. Improving oneself is not elitist.

That means making the right choices. Fast food versus slow. SpongeBob versus Winnie the Pooh. “The Berenstain Bears” versus “Treasure Island.” Shorts and T-shirt versus coat and tie. Flip-flops versus wingtips.
Here’s an idea. Put down the Hot Pocket, the computer game and the smartphone. Cook from scratch, read a good book, go for a walk. Practice a skill, learn a new language, travel to an unknown shore. Visit a museum, make Sunday dinner, bring your neighbor a pot of soup.

Take the road less traveled. Do the hard thing. Practice your scales. Shine your shoes. Clean out your closet. Donate money. Invest in your future. Stand up for your rights. See something, say something. Be a mensch!

The old advice is still true today. A stitch in time saves nine. Early to bed and early to rise. Do unto others. A good name is better than riches. Any job worth doing is worth doing well.

We are told to gorge ourselves on small bites that have no lasting value. I say, be an elitist; invest time, don’t waste it.

Practice. Buy one good book. Reject meals in minutes. Bake a loaf of sourdough. Wait for the stuff worth waiting for. Pursue excellence.

I guarantee that most of us will have last words that sound something like, “I should have done the hard thing.”

Yeah, that hard, elitist thing.