The Bookseller.com

2nd December 2008

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Cherie beats Jordan

20.05.08 Philip Stone

Cherie Blair has knocked former model Katie Price off the top of forthcoming hardback non-fiction charts.

Published officially on 15th May, Cherie Blair's much-discussed memoir Speaking for Myself (Little, Brown) sold 3,877 copies during the week ending 17th May, enough to supplant Katie Price's Jordan: Pushed to the Limit (Century) at the summit of the forthcoming Sunday Times' "Hardback General" non-fiction chart. By contrast, Lord Levy's memoirs, A Question of Honour (Simon & Schuster), which was officially released on 12th May, sold just 603 copies last week.

Meanwhile, Kathy Reichs' Bones to Ashes (Arrow) held on to top spot in the overall charts in another strong week for paperback fiction. New entries were led by Kate Mosse's Sepulchre (Orion), a half-price Book of the Week offer at both Waterstone's and Borders over the weekend. Mosse entered the charts in third overall, with a 23,787 weekly sale, behind Sheila O'Flanagan's Bad Behaviour (Headline Review).

James Patterson's Step on a Crack (Headline), Chris Ryan's Strikeback (Arrow) and Ben Elton's Blind Faith (Black Swan), a recent Times Book Club £2.99 special offer at W H Smith, were other new entries into the Top 20.

Patricia Cornwell's second Win Garano thriller, The Front (Little, Brown) was the new number one in Original Fiction in a much improved week for the market, which saw total revenue increase by 10.1% week-on-week to £25.4m.

Retail Bestseller News Jordan Philip Stone Cherie Blair