New books from J.K. Rowling and Khaled Hosseini hit the bestseller lists in various countries in August, while a second book by a German thriller author gave her two spots on the fiction list there.
Bloomsbury's English-language edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was #1 in Germany last month, while the German version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was in eighth place. Hallows also led Sweden's fiction list. Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns topped the combined fiction and nonfiction list in Italy, and his previous book, The Kite Runner, remained in the fourth spot. Back in Germany, Kalteis, the newest title from Andrea Schenkel, debuted in third place when it was released in August, one place ahead of her first book, the long-running bestseller Tannod. Several other European countries have bought rights to Schenkel's thrillers, but her books have not been published in the U.S. Other new fiction titles making the top 10 in Germany in August included Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach and The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen.
There was little movement on the fiction and nonfiction lists in France, except for Holiday Exercises for Adults, which landed at #1 in nonfiction. Exercises is not about working out—it explores ways adults can remember what they learned in high school.
| France | ||
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
| 1 | The Hedgehog's EleganceMuriel Barbery Gallimard | Holiday Exercises for AdultsChristophe Absi Chiflet et Cie |
| 2 | Because I Love YouGuillaume Musso XO | The Smell of the AgesJean d'Ormesson Editions Heloise d'Ormesson |
| 3 | The Children of FreedomMarc Levy Robert Laffont | The CampRaphaelle Bacque, Ariane Chemin Albin Michel |
| For week ending August 22, used by arrangement with Livres Hebdo/Ipsos. | ||
| Germany | ||
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
| 1 | Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsJ.K. Rowling Bloomsbury | I Am Off for a Little WhileHape Kerkeling Rowohlt Berlin |
| 2 | MillionaireTommy Jard Scherz | The SecretRhonda Byrne Arkana |
| 3 | KalteisAndrea Schenkel Edition Nautilus | Love YourselfEva-Maria Zurhorst Arkana |
| For week ending August 22, used by arrangement with Buchreport. | ||
| Italy | ||
| Combined | ||
| 1 | A Thousand Splendid SunsKhaled Hosseini Piemme | The Kite RunnerKhaled Hosseini Piemme |
| 2 | The Caste: How Italian Politicans Became UntouchableG. Antonio Stella; Sergio Rizzo Rizzoli | The Rain Before It FallsJonathan Coe Feltrinelli |
| 3 | The Hippodrome at the BeachAndrea Camilleri Sellerio di Giorgianni | As God CommandedNiccolo Ammaniti Mondadori |
| For week ending August 22, used by arrangement with Informazinoi Editoriali. | ||
