Sunday, June 28, 2020

Sunday Salon: Bestsellers around the world

I recently started following quite a few British book bloggers and noticed that many of the books that they read are different from those in other countries. For the group of bloggers I am following, there are a lot more WWII novels, particularly focused on the life off women on the home front and lots of those escapist, moving to somewhere new and starting again type books..

Thinking about this made me contemplate doing a semi regular post where I would have a look at the bestsellers list for two countries and see if there were any interesting similarities or, indeed, interesting differences. So, for example, I might take a look at the Australian and British bestsellers list and discuss the differences, and next time it might be Australian and American, or perhaps even all three, or another country all together. We'll see. It could be that there really isn't anything all that interesting to comment on!

One of the first challenges in trying to do this is trying to work out what the definitive bestseller list is. Is it the New York Times or USA Today in America? Should it include both fiction and non fiction, kids books or not? Some lists are broken into hardcover and other types of editions. It's actually a bit harder to find like for like than I thought it would be! In the end, I decided to be a little flexible about this and just make it whichever list catches my eye at the time I am writing the post, with no hard and fast rules. I will try, where possible to do a like for like comparison.

Given that this idea sprung from the fact that I was seeing different books on British based blogs than I do on Australian or US blogs, I would start with looking at the British vs Australian lists.

Here is the current list of top 10 Australian fiction bestsellers from Betterreading.com.au from week ending 13 June.

  1. Fair Warning by Michael Connelly (Alle & Unwin)
  2. Normal People by Sally Rooney (Faber & Faber)
  3. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (Hachette)
  4. Hideaway by Nora Roberts (Hachette)
  5. Daddy’s Girls by Danielle Steel (Macmillan)
  6. Wrath of Poseidon by Clive Cussler and Robin Burcell (Michael Joseph)
  7. The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams (Affirm Press)
  8. Tom Clancy’s Firing Point by Mike Maden (Michael Joseph)
  9. Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton (Harper Collins)
  10. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo (Penguin)

And the current list of top 10 Australian non-fiction bestsellers from Betterreading.com.au

  1. Phosphorescence by Julia Baird (HarperCollins)
  2. The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape (John Wiley & Sons)
  3. Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe (Magabala Books)
  4. Untamed by Glennon Doyle (Vermilion)
  5. Epic Air Fryer Cookbook by Emily Paster (Harvard Common Press)
  6. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*** by Mark Manson (Macmillan)
  7. The Pie Maker (Bauer)
  8. Becoming by Michelle Obama (Viking)
  9. A Bigger Picture by Malcolm Turnbull (Hardie Grant)
  10. Ottolenghi SIMPLE by Yotam Ottolenghi (Ebury Press)

And here is the Sunday Time hardcover top 10 list from All Top Books. There were no numbers on this list so I assume that they are  in order but I don't know for sure!
  • Be Your Own Best Friend : The Glorious Truths of Being Female by Chessie King
  • Camino Winds by John Grisham
  • Daughters of Cornwall by Fern Britton
  • Fair Warning by Michael Connelly
  • If It Bleeds by Stephen King
  • Lancaster: The Forging of a Very British Legend by John Nicol
  • Me and White Supremacy : How to Recognise Your Privilege, Combat Racism and Change the World by Layla Saad
  • Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
  • The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy
  • Women Don't Owe You Pretty by Florence Given

It is interesting to me that the non fiction books on these lists are so different. I do wonder if they use different criteria because while there are three cookbooks on the Australian lists, there are none on the UK list, or maybe they are just further down the list. 

Perhaps it is that non fiction lists are far more representative of what is going on in the individual country. For example, Dark Emu from the Australian list is about the indigenous Australian experience and A Bigger Picture is about a former Australian prime minister so would really only be of interest to Australians.

I do think, though, that my husband would be very interested in reading the book about the Lancaster bombers.

Where I expect we will always see similarities in the fiction lists is in relation to the big name authors, so it is no surprise to see names like Stephen King or Danielle Steel on these lists.

On the UK fiction side there are two books in particular that stand out to me.The first is Daughters of Cornwall by Fern Britton. I lived in the UK in the late 1990s and at that time Fern Britton was the host of the TV cooking show Ready, Steady, Cook. I know that the later series of the show that were hosted by Ainsley Harriott got shown here in Australia but I have no idea if the early ones were, and therefore if anyone here would recognise her name. What I didn't know was that she was now an author. This book is a triple timeline book with events taking place in 1918, 1939 and 2020. And just like that I am keen to read it! It turns out that Fern Britton has previously written 8 other books and my library has some of them so hopefully if I read and enjoy this one, I can work my way through her backlist.

The other book which caught my attention was The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy. This book is actually the reason why I started thinking about doing the post, because as soon as I heard about it I knew I wanted to read it, even if I don't really know what it is about, but I think I have only seen it on one non British blog so far! Or at least that I can recall. This book did come out last year, so maybe I am just late to the party with this book.

Is there anything on these lists that catches your interest?


I am sharing this post with Sunday Salon, which is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

26 comments:

  1. Ooh this is such a cool idea! I'm always curious about bestseller lists, particularly ours when a certain book is still on it almost 18 months after it's release! How are so many people still buying it, especially when it's already sold epically well.

    I have honestly not really thought about how following different book bloggers from different countries might open your eyes up to a whole new trend, or pattern, of what people are reading in a particular country. I'm going to have to search myself out more British book bloggers! The ones I follow atm are almost all Australian and American.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It surprised me to see the differences between different blogs from different countries but it does make sense. I mean, we post lots of Australian stuff after all!

      Delete
  2. What a great idea. It sometimes takes me by surprise when I discover a hot "new" book in the US is already a year old in the UK or Australia. On the other hand, I love discovering new books from my friends around the world, even if I have to sometimes wait months for the US release (sometimes under a new title).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is interesting when buzz books are out for months and then they take off in another country!

      Delete
  3. I first realized how different the readings of America, Britain, and Australia were when I started trying to read the 1001 Children's Books list. I was surprised to find that I'd read very few of the top children's books from outside the US. I naturally thought the best books would make their way to US from other places quite naturally, but that doesn't seem to be the case, at least in the past.

    Good books are good books, and I'm happy to see books being read widely in the UK and Australia that I might add to my list here in the US.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes, I became aware of the differences in books when we became snowbirds in a very diverse area of South Florida. Our 600 unit high-rise building is shared by people from all over the world: Russia, Canada, Britain, Central America, America, etc. We have a library in our building composed of drop offs from the residents and managed by a committee. I've been introduced to some wonderful books from the Canadians and those from England.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It would be interesting to see all the differences with such a diverse group of residents.

      Delete
  5. I hadn't heard of the Charlie Mackesy book so I had to look it up. And some of the other AU & UK titles either. It's good to be aware of these & to read more widely. I guess I'm not as aware of these lists as perhaps I should be: some of them are crime/thriller/romance types of books which I dont read many. It's an interesting project nonetheless. Although I'm in Canada, I tend to read more from the southern neighbor next door. but I need to read more Canadian. cheers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have read a few Canadian authors but I could read more!

      Delete
  6. I follow quite a few British and Canadian bloggers. We are quite lucky in Australia given that we are usually able to access a wide range of titles from the US, and also the UK and Canada because of Commonwealth ties.
    I love your idea of regularly comparing bestseller lists.

    Wishing you a great reading week

    Wishing you a great reading week

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We are lucky because we do get British and Canadian as well as American titles in addition to ours!

      Delete
  7. Great post! I love seeing what the best sellers are in other countries.

    Hope you have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think it is will be interesting to see what patterns emerge Yvonne!

      Delete
  8. It would make sense that UK and Australia would have different top books but what doesn't make sense it different titles for the same book, at least when we all speak English. My Sunday Salon is full of good news

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is definitely one of my pet hates too Anne

      Delete
  9. I love this idea! When I worked at Barnes and Noble, our weekly Best Sellers reflected the New York Times Best Seller list. We had 10 (or was it 12?) fiction titles and the same number for nonfiction. Depending on the time of year, we often had several cookbooks on the nonfiction shelves. It seems like Grisham, Baldacci, King or Clancy were ALWAYS represented at least once or twice during a given month. I remember when The Help was on the display for well over a year.

    Looking forward to seeing more of these comparisons. Thanks, Marg!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think all those big names are where the interesting things are to be found Les. I think the more interesting details will be in the differences, and the lesser known books.

      Delete
    2. Oh, I agree, Marg. I was often discouraged to see these popular authors' books wind up on the best seller lists before on the day of their publication/laydown. I was forever rooting for the debuts by unknown authors. It's been three years since I've paid any attention to the lists, so it will be interesting to see what you have to share with us!

      Delete
  10. Great idea, Marg... it's interesting that our Top ten fiction list is mostly overseas books. But great to see that Dictionary of Lost Words is up there, I loved that book:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are only a couple of Aussie books there Lisa, but at least there are some there.

      Delete
  11. Anything to do with WWI and II catch my eye. I find that each book whatever country or set of people they deal with have another perspective of the war - whether from the avenged or the avenger, the oppressor or the oppressed. Always a different story.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I always wonder what historical fiction stories are told in other countries! I am sure there are some fascinating stories that we just don't hear about!

      Delete
  12. This is a really neat idea. I wonder if release dates have any effect given that rights to a book are sold individually to different geographical markets. I guess looking at Canada's best sellers list would give some indication.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll get to the Canadian list in a couple of months I think

      Delete
  13. Greta idea for the comparisons. I follow several British, Australian and New Zealand bloggers and love the suggestions i get.

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails

  © Blogger template Simple n' Sweet by Ourblogtemplates.com 2009

Back to TOP