It turns out the Fifty Shades craze is not restricted to the U.S. On all three charts tracked this month, E.L. James’s blockbuster book placed high on the list. In Spain and Italy, where Fifty Shades of Grey debuted in June, it landed at #1 and #2, respectively. In the Netherlands, the book jumped to second place from #13.
Also in the Netherlands, Jeff Kinney’s fifth Wimpy Kid book debuted at #6. The Ugly Truth, like the other books in the series, has sold extremely well; since it was first published in the U.S. by Abrams in 2010, it has sold well over two million copies at outlets tracked by Nielsen BookScan. Debuting in fifth place in the Netherlands in June was Leon De Winter’s VSV. De Winter has had two books published by Toby Press, most recently God’s Gym in 2009, which PW called a “slick, entertaining import with the soul of an American thriller-fantasy.”
Another international sensation making waves in his native country is Andrea Camilleri, whose newest book, A Blade of Light, debuted in the top spot in Italy in June. Camilleri’s most recent English-language book was The Age of Doubt from Penguin, published this past May. That book, the 14th starring Inspector Montalbano, has continued the author’s success in America. A Blade of Light is also an Inspector Montalbano book.
International Bestsellers: July 2012
SPAIN
Fiction
Cincuenta sombras de Grey
Fifty Shades of Grey
E.L. James
Grijalbo
Danza de dragones: Canción
de hielo y fuego 5
A Dance with Dragons: A Song of
Ice and Fire, Book 5
George R.R. Martin
Gigamesh
La conjura de Cortés: Trilogia de Martín Ojo de Plata 3
The Conspiracy of Cortes
Matilde Asensi
Planeta
Nonfiction
Una mochila para el universo
A Backpack for the Universe
Elsa Punset
Lunwerg
El arte de no amargarse la vida
The Art of Not Making Our Lives Miserable
Rafael Santandreu
Oniro
Indecentes
Indecent
Ernesto Ekaizer
Espasa
NETHERLANDS
Conbined
Gijp
Gijp
Michel van Egmond
De Buitenspelers
Vijftig tinten grijs
Fifty Shades of Grey
E.L. James
Prometheus
Bon Bini beach
Guiltless
Suzanne Vermeer
A.W. Bruna
Dinsdag is voorbij
Tuesday’s Gone
Nicci French
Anthos B.V.
VSV
VSV
Leon de Winter
De Bezige Bij
Het leven van een Loser: Niet te doen!
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth
Jeff Kinney
De Fontein Jeugd
ITALY
Combined
Una lama di luce
A Blade of Light
Andrea Camilleri
Sellerio Editore Palermo
Cinquanta sfumature di grigio
Fifty Shades of Grey
E.L. James
Mondadori
Sua Santità: Le carte segrete di Benedetto XVI
His Holiness: The Secret
Documents of Benedict XVI
Gianluigi Nuzzi
Chiarelettere
Fai bei sogni
Create Beautiful Dreams
Massimo Gramellini
Longanesi
Léonie
Léonie
Sveva Casati Modignani
Sperling & Kupfer
Se ti abbraccio non aver paura
Don’t Be Afraid of Embraces
Fulvio Ervas
Marcos y Marcos
