THE AUDACITY OF NOPE On Dec. 28, 2019, Jenny Odell was at home in Oakland, Calif., getting ready to meet friends at the movie “1917,” when her boyfriend suddenly called out to her from the next room. “He said, ‘I have some weird and good news for you,’” she remembers. He had just clicked on a tweet from former President Obama, announcing his list of favorite books from 2019. Listed at No. 6 (titles were in alphabetical order) was Odell’s first book, “How to Do Nothing,” which our reviewer described as “a complex, smart and ambitious book that first reads like a self-help manual, then blossoms into a wide-ranging political manifesto.” The gist: Stop toggling. Pay attention. Notice nature.

For Odell, a multidisciplinary artist and an avid bird-watcher, news of Obama’s enthusiasm was “totally out of the blue.” She says, “I’m honestly surprised that anyone had the patience to wade through what is at times a dense, strangely shaped book.” She continued on with her day: She went to the movie. She checked on some ducks that were using a nearby lake as a way station on their journey south. (In her book, Odell writes, “Simple awareness is the seed of responsibility”; she is an author who practices what she preaches.)

Generally, a title destined for best-sellerdom will land on the list within weeks of publication. This was not the case for Odell’s debut. Eight months after it came out, 14 days after Obama gave it the nod, “How to Do Nothing” touched down at No. 10 on last week’s hardcover nonfiction list — a rare feat for a book of its age.

So how much did the presidential endorsement help? According to Dennis Johnson, the publisher of Melville House, which brought “How to Do Nothing” into the world, “The book had been doing really, really well — it’s been an indie phenomenon, making various regional lists throughout the year — but there’s no question Obama’s plug gave it the rocket fuel to land on the best-seller list.” Melville House declined to share exact sales figures, but a spokeswoman said that Obama’s selection increased demand by 450 percent over the book’s preholiday sales pace.