It was a chance to finally get around to Tolstoy or Proust, but the charts tell a different story. Which books did we actually turn to in the lockdowns? • Let us know in the comments what you were reading Back in spring 2020, when it became clear that coronavirus wasn’t going away, book lovers spied an opportunity for a rare, government-mandated reading holiday. Here, at last, was a chance to have a go at Tolstoy’s War and Peace and Proust’s In Search of Lost Time. Robert Macfarlane reported that he was working his way through the great Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh. Ali Smith urged readers towards Boccaccio’s Decameron. Diana Evans’s thoughts turned “heavenwards” by way of Homer’s Odyssey. I downloaded 27 hours of The Brothers Karamazov audiobook in anticipation.All lovely ideas. With 20 months of hindsight, however, which books did we actually end up turning to? The bestseller lists from the three different lockdowns may not tell you the contents of Britain’s soul, but then again, the numbers do not lie. We read: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. Sophie Hinchliffe’s Mrs Hinch: The Little Book of Lists. Lots of David Walliams, who topped the Lockdown 1 and Lockdown 2 charts with Slime and Code Name Bananas respectively. JK Rowling: the first three Harry Potter books steadily rose up the charts through the pandemic. Joe Wicks. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. A Pinch of Nom, plus spin-offs. Sally Rooney’s Normal People. Reni Eddo-Lodge’s Why I’m No Longer... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2021-12-11 09:00:06 UTC ]
Joe Wicks has pulled off a clean sweep of the top three chart spots, as Lean in 15: The Sustain Plan (Bluebird) clinched the number one for a second week running with 25,442 copies sold. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-01-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Helped by Harry Potter and the hit fitness guru, year on year takings to December rose sharply to £1.59bnRetail sales struggled in 2016, but JK Rowling cast a spell strong enough to power sales towards a magical £1.6bn during the year, a rise of almost 5% on 2015, according to the latest annual... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Dan Brown is back. Tolkien is back. Tony Abbott is back. Harry Potter is back (well, recycled in four new editions). Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2017-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Joe Wicks was the bestselling author in print on Amazon's UK website last year, according to the internet giant’s 2016 Trends Report. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-01-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
JK Rowling and Bill Bryson top the charts, while film tie-ins give Paula Hawkins and Jojo Moyes a second bite of the cherry – but this unpredictable year has also seen a welcome revival of humorous writingIt was a year when the No 1 book was a play script. When hyper-prolific James Patterson,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-12-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child helped lift sales in the children’s/YA category 31.1% in July over the same month in 2015, according to figures released by the Association of American Publishers as part of its StatShot program. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-12-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The bestselling books over the holidays at the e-tailer were 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down,' 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,' and a children's backlist book. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-12-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
David Walliams’ The Midnight Gang (HarperCollins Children's) is the 2016 Christmas Number One, selling 79,200 copies for £474,684 and seeing off a challenge by an insurgent Five on Brexit Island (Quercus), while surprise hit The GCHQ Puzzle Book (Michael Joseph) had a strong third place finish. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The July publication of 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' helped raise sales in the children's/young adult segment 31.1% in July over a year ago. July sales of adult books fell. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
David Walliams’ The Midnight Gang (HarperCollins) has clocked up its sixth week as the UK Official Top 50 number one, while Five on Brexit Island (Quercus), soared 47% in volume week on week to secure second place. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A handwritten and illustrated book - one of only seven produced by the Harry Potter author - is being auctioned. Continue reading at BBC World
[ BBC World | 2016-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
David Walliams’ The Midnight Gang (HarperCollins Children's) has struck (number) one for a fifth consecutive week, shifting 80,968 copies for £466,987, according to Nielsen BookScan's Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts 1 and 2' was Amazon's best-selling book of 2016 and was also the year's "most wished for" and "most gifted" book at the e-tailer. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-12-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Sarah Perry's novel The Essex Serpent is named Waterstones Book of the Year ahead of a Beatrix Potter manuscript and a Harry Potter playscript. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2016-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
David Walliams has once again secured the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, with The Midnight Gang (HarperCollins Children's) shifting 81,216 copies for £467,852, according to Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
David Walliams says writing children's books is "definitely the thing that gives me most pleasure". Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2016-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A seven-year-old girl who reads "to forget the war" has been sent the Harry Potter books by the author. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2016-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
David Walliams has clinched the UK Official Top 50 number one spot for a third week running, as The Midnight Gang (HarperCollins Children's) sold 78,950 copies for £449,629 through Nielsen BookScan. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The 2014 Pulitzer Prize winning novel about a French woman and a German man living during World War II with poetic and moral themes around music and science continues its streak on the bestseller list. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2016-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Warner Bros. has signed a deal to buy the gamer-focused YouTube network Machinima in order to expand the movie and TV studio’s digital video business, the company said Thursday. Burbank-based Warner Bros., the studio behind film franchises like Harry Potter and DC Entertainment, was already a... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this