Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed the coveted book-trade Christmas Number One spot. His record-breaking memoir My Autobiography (Hodder & Stoughton) sold 103,378 copies in the week ending 21st December - up 30% week on week and more than 40,000 units ahead of nearest rival, Guinness World Records (Guinness).
Ferguson's
My Autobiography, which has surpassed David Beckham's
My Side (HarperCollins) to become the bestselling sports memoir
on record, becomes the first autobiography to take the Christmas Number One spot since Russell Brand's
My Booky Wook (also published by Hodder & Stoughton) in 2007.
The former Manchester United FC manager brings an end to Jamie Oliver's run of consecutive Christmas number ones - the TV chef topped the charts on Christmas Day in each of the past three years. His new cookbook, Save with Jamie (Michael Joseph), sold 33,610 copies in the UK last week - up 91% on the previous week but only strong enough for seventh position in the Official UK Top 50.
David Jason's My Life (Century) takes third position in the Official UK Top 50, ahead of Jeff Kinney's eighth Diary of a Wimpy Kid novel, Hard Luck (Puffin) - the book that scooped the US Christmas Number One crown. Minecraft: Official Annual 2014 (Egmont) takes fifth position in the chart ahead of Nigel Slater's Eat (Fourth Estate).
Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones novel,
Mad About the Boy (Cape), proved the bestselling novel in the UK last week, scoring sales of 32,712 copies, while there is a belated number one for the late American writer John Williams - his 1965-published
Stoner (Vintage Classics), one of the
surprise bestsellers of the year, was the bestselling paperback novel in the UK last week and jumps to number one in this week's Mass-Market Fiction chart.
A grand total of 61 different books enjoyed sales of 10,000 copies or more in the UK last week, with the likes of David Walliams' Demon Dentist (HarperCollins), Tom Kerridge's Proper Pub Food (Absolute Press), Brendan O'Carroll's Mrs Brown's Family Handbook (Michael Joseph) and Terry Pratchett's Raising Steam (Doubleday) enjoying sales of 20,000 copies or more.
David Beckham's David Beckham (Headline), Chris Hadfield's An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth (Macmillan), J K Rowling's The Casual Vacancy (Sphere), Letters of Note (Canongate Unbound) and Jean-Yves Ferri and Dider Conrad's Asterix and the Picts (Orion) were among numerous titles to see their sales more than double week on week - well ahead of the market average. Nielsen BookScan Total Consumer Market data reveals total printed book sales jumped 15% (1.1m units) in the UK last week, to 8.5m copies sold, with the value of sales increasing 18.8% (£11.5m), to £72.8m.
Spending was down 3.4% (£2.6m) on the
comparative week last year. However, the current sales week is expected to be much bigger than in 2012 due to an additional day of pre-Christmas sales - 25th December was a Tuesday last year, compared to a Wednesday this year.
The Top 10 Bestsellers (week ending 21st December 2013):
1. Alex Ferguson's My Autobiography (Hodder & Stoughton, £25) 103,378 copies sold
2. Guinness World Records 2014 (Guinness, £20) 60,218
3. David Jason's My Life (Century, £20) 59,146
4. Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck (Puffin, £12.99) 39,779
5. Minecraft: Annual 2014 (Egmont, £7.99) 38,069
6. Nigel Slater's Eat (Fourth Estate, £26) 35,340
7. Jamie Oliver's Save with Jamie (Michael Joseph, £26) 33,610
8. Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (Cape, £18.99) 32,712
9. Minecraft: Redstone Handbook (Egmont, £7.99) 31,267
10. David Walliams' Demon Dentist (HarperCollins, £12.99) 30,293
Christmas Number Ones of the 21st Century:
2013: Sir Alex Ferguson's My Autobiography (Hodder)
2012: Jamie Oliver's 15-Minute Meals (Penguin)
2011: Jamie Oliver's Jamie's Great Britain (Penguin)
2010: Jamie Oliver's Jamie's 30-Minute Meals (Penguin)
2009: Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol (Transworld)
2008: J K Rowling's The Tale of Beedle the Bard (Bloomsbury)
2007: Russell Brand's My Booky Wook (Hodder)
2006: Mick O'Hare's Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze? (Profile)
2005: Jamie Oliver's Jamie's Italy (Penguin)
2004: Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code (Transworld)
2003: Lynne Truss' Eats, Shoots and Leaves (Profile)
2002: Guinness World Records (Guinness)
2001: Jamie Oliver's Happy Days with the Naked Chef (Penguin)
2000: Guinness World Records (Guinness)