Dan Brown sells another 175,000
01.10.09 Philip Stone
01.10.09 Philip Stone
Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol sold another 175,040 copies at UK book retailers last week, bringing its total sales to 726,090 on UK shores.
In the US, Brown's record-breaking conspiracy thriller sold just over 400,000 copies during the seven days to 27th September, meaning sales in the UK and US alone now total 2.3m across all editions.
The book stays comfortably atop both countries' bestseller lists. The Lost Symbol (Bantam) enjoys a 143,234 margin over runner-up Guinness World Records in the Official UK Top 50, while Jeffrey Archer's Paths of Glory (Pan) sits third. The inseparable television duo Ant & Dec are the early leaders in the celebrity memoir battle. Their joint-memoir, Ooh! What a Lovely Pair (Michael Joseph) sold 21,026 copies through Nielsen BookScan's Total Consumer Market last week, and takes fourth place overall.
In the US, Fox News' passionate but controversial television show host Glenn Beck's Arguing with Idiots: How to Stop Small Minds and Big Government (Threshold) débuts in second position with a 120,888 sale, while Diana Gabaldon's An Echo in the Bone (Delacorte) sits in third.
For the first time in more than a year, a misery memoir tops the UK paperback non-fiction bestseller list. Lisa James' Mummy Knew (Harper Element) sold 7,428 copies at UK book retailers last week, ending Julie Walters' reign at the top of the charts. Walters' memoir, That's Another Story (Phoenix), spent eight consecutive weeks as the paperback non-fiction number one.
According to BookScan data, 29 titles with "Super Thursday" 1st October publication dates sold more than 500 copies during the week ending 26th September—including Audrey Niffenegger's Her Fearful Symmetry (Cape — 4,470 copies), Clive Cussler's The Wrecker (Michael Joseph — 1,819), Bernard Cornwell's The Burning Land (HarperCollins — 1,452), and one of the books tipped to be a surprise Christmas hit, Simon Tofield's Simon's Cat (Hodder — 911 copies). However, none of them carried an official embargo.
I've just finished reading "Mummy Knew" by Lisa James. In fact, I couldn't put it down. I'd definitely recommend. It's not your usual 'misery memoir' at all, in so far as great writing often contains tragedy but also offers so much more. I'd go so far as to say its the best book I've read in a long time, and I read all sorts. I found it riveting, inspirational, wholly captivating and beautifully told. I hope she goes on to write something else. well, there you have it. Certainly one to put on your must-read list.
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