The French Love Cecilia; 'The Secret' Stays on Top
-- Publishers Weekly, 2/18/2008
The French public's fascination with Cecilia, the ex-wife of president Nicolas Sarkozy, was deep enough to put books about her in the two top spots on France's nonfiction list in January, while a biography of Sarkozy himself debuted at #4. In Germany, Andrew Morton's biography of Tom Cruise landed at #6, while Love Yourself and Enjoy Your Next Marriage moved up to #3 and author Eva-Maria Zurhorst's earlier book, Love Yourself and Enjoy Your Next Crisis, returned to the list at #5. In Spain, The Secret remained at #1, and Stephen Hawking's The Universe in a Nutshell landed at #5.
On the fiction lists, The Cathedral of the Sea, a longtime bestseller in Spain, debuted in the top spot in Germany in January; in Spain, World Without End, a bestseller in the U.S., landed in the top spot. The highest debut in France was The Road, which came in at #3. Castles in the Sky, the third and final volume in Stieg Larsson's Millennium series, landed at #6. Debuting at #2 in Germany was The Last Weynfeldt, the latest book by the Swiss writer Martin Suter, about a 50-something bachelor whose life turns around after he meets a young woman. Just cracking the top 10 in Spain was the graphic memoir Persepolis.
| France | ||
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
| 1 | Headache at School Daniel Pennac Gallimard | Cecilia Anna Bitton Flammarion |
| 2 | The Hedgehog's Elegance Muriel Barbery Gallimard | Cecilia: The Face Behind the Ex-First Lady Denis Demonpion/Laurent Leger Pygmalion |
| 3 | The Road Cormac McCarthy Editions de L'Olivier | A Life Simone Veil Stock |
| For week ending January 26, used by arrangement with Livres Hebdo. | ||
| Germany | ||
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
| 1 | The Cathedral of the Sea Ildefonso Falcones Scherz | I Am Off for a Little While Hape Kerkeling Malik |
| 2 | The Last Weynfeldt Martin Suter Diogenes | The Secret Rhonda Byrne Arkana |
| 3 | Lunch Lady Julia Franck S. Fischer | Love Yourself and Enjoy Your Next Marriage Eva-Marie Zurhorst Arkana |
| For week ending January 26, used by arrangement with Buchreport. | ||
| Spain | ||
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
| 1 | World Without End Ken Follett Plaza & Janes | The Secret Rhonda Byrne Urano |
| 2 | A Day of Rage Arturo Perez-Reverte Alfaguara | The City That Was Federico Jimenez Losantos Temas de Hoy |
| 3 | The Boy in the Striped Pajamas John Boyne Salamandra | The Sum of Days Isabel Allende Arete |
| For week ending January 26, used by arrangement with El Cultural. | ||
