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.

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