The Bookseller.com

2nd December 2008

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Gilbert leads global bestsellers

02.01.08 Philip Jones

American Elizabeth Gilbert was the bestselling writer in the Nielsen-measured English-speaking book world over Christmas.

Eat, Pray, Love, her account of the year she spent travelling the world alone after a difficult divorce, sold just shy of 300,000 copies in the final week before Christmas in the US, massively ahead of her nearest rivals Stephen Colbert (143,000) and Conn Iggulden (114,000) in the US, and Russell Brand (112,000) in the UK.

The international book sales data, compiled by Nielsen BookScan from book sales in the US, South Africa, Australia and Ireland, showed Christmas book buyers preferred non-fiction to fiction in all the markets except Australia.

In the US, the bestselling 20 non-fiction titles accounted for 1.6m units sold, compared to the 1.2m shifted by the top 20 fiction titles. The highest fiction titles were James Patterson's Double Cross and Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth, which were fourth and fifth respectively.

In South Africa the differential was even more marked, with its top 20 non-fiction titles accounting for 51,000 unit sales, compared to just 15,000 from the fiction list. Non-fiction title In Black and White, the story of South Africa's Rugby World Cup winning coach Jake White, was the top bestseller by some distance. There were no fiction titles among the top five bestsellers, with John van de Ruit's 'Spud the top fiction title in the final week.

In Ireland, where the autobiography of Irish rugby player Trevor Brennan narrowly beat Maeve Binchy to number one, the top 20 non-fiction books accounted for 72,000 units, compared with 47,000 shifted by the top 20 fiction titles.

In Australia book buyers narrowly preferred fiction titles, with Bryce Courtenay's The Persimmon Tree taking the top spot well ahead of nearest rival Guinness World Records 2008. The top 20 fiction titles accounted for 217,000 units, compared to 193,000 units sold of the equivalent number of non-fiction books.

Standout "global" bestseller was Guinness World Records, the only title to appear in each of the four countries' bestseller lists, selling 92,000 copies globally, or 120,000 copies if UK sales are included.

The Global Book Charts

Top 5 US bestsellers (week ending 23rd December 2007)
1 Eat, Pray, Love Gilbert, Elizabeth Penguin 296,724
2 I am America (and so can you!) Colbert, Stephen Grand Central Publishing 143,369
3 The Dangerous Book for Boys Iggulden, Conn Collins 114,007
4 Double Cross Patterson, James Little, Brown 106,526
5 The Pillars of the Earth Follett, Ken New American Library 106,087

Top 5 South African bestsellers (week ending 22nd December 2007)
1 In Black and White White, Jake & Ray, Cra Zebra Press 25,932
2 Secret Byrne, Rhonda Simon & Schuster 4,582
3 John Platters South African Wine Guide 2 Platter, John John Platter 3,089
4 Zhoozsh Mansfield, Jeremy Struik Publishers 2,272
5 Guinness World Records 2008 Guinness World Records 2,168

Top 5 Australian bestsellers (week ending 22nd December 2007)
1 The Persimmon Tree Courtenay, Bryce Viking Australia 44,559
2 Guinness World Records 2008 Guinness World Records 31,066
3 The Six Sacred Stones Reilly, Matthew Macmillan Australia 21,035
4 Jamie at Home Oliver, Jamie Michael Joseph 17,192
5 Monsoon Morrissey, Di Macmillan Australia 16,040

Top 5 Irish bestsellers (week ending 22nd December 2007)
1 Trevor Brennan: Heart and Soul Thornley, Gerry Red Rock Press 5,236
2 This Year it Will be Different: A Christmas Treasury Binchy, Maeve Orion 5,172
3 The Gathering Enright, Anne Jonathan Cape 4,838
4 Padraig Harrington's Journey to the Open Harrington, Padraig Bantam Press 4,837
5 My Booky Wook Brand, Russell Hodder & Stoughton 4,588

Source for all chart information: Nielsen BookScan

Bestseller News US Philip Jones South Africa Ireland Australia Elizabeth Gilbert