The Bookseller.com

20th November 2008

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Hosseini bags top spot

15.01.08 Philip Stone

The "Richard & Judy" spotlight last Wednesday helped Khaled Hosseini to his first ever number one this week. A Thousand Splendid Suns (Bloomsbury) sold 43,254 copies through Nielsen BookScan's Total Consumer Market in the week to 12th February, leaping ahead of Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach (Vintage) and The Kite Runner (Bloomsbury).

R&J also helped Danny Scheinmann's Random Acts of Heroic Love (Black Swan), with 17,696 copies sold ahead of its appearance on tomorrow's show. The author will also appear on the R&J Book Club website tomorrow evening for an online chat, and is in a strong position to replace Hosseini at the top this time next week.

James Patterson's first new title since his move to Random House, 7th Heaven, is the new number one in original fiction this week. The title, on offer at half-price at numerous high street retailers, sold 12,132 copies at an average selling price of £10.24 (46.1% off its £18.99 r.r.p.).

Shoppers were out in force over the seven-day period, with revenue up on last year for the second consecutive week of 2008. £29.6m was spent through the TCM last week, up 1.1% on last week and up 8.6% on the same week in 2007.

Richard & Judy Khaled Hosseini Philip Stone Charts