The top of France’s nonfiction list took on a political bent in October, with an exposé of French president François Hollande penned by investigative journalists Fabrice Lhomme and Gérard Davet after five years of research. Novelist Laurent Gounelle examines the junction where faith and doubt meet in his latest novel, And You Will Find the Treasure That Sleeps in You, which follows communications specialist Alice, an atheist, as she helps her childhood friend Jeremiah to become a country priest.
In Germany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts 1 and 2—the first play in J.K. Rowling’s megabestselling series, which she cowrote with Jack Thorne and John Tiffany—continues to sell well, taking the second slot on the fiction list. Bruce Springsteen is enough of a boss to land in the third slot on the nonfiction chart with his recent memoir, Born to Run. At #2 in nonfiction is Against Hate, by the winner of the 2016 German Book Trade Peace Prize, German journalist Carolin Emcke, who reports frequently from war zones and whose work focuses on regions in crisis.
Italy finds Rowling and co. up on top of its combined lists with Cursed Child. Foreign thrillers proved popular in the country in October as well, with The Book of Baltimore by Switzerland’s Joël Dicker and The Ice Child by Sweden’s Camilla Läckberg settling into the fourth and fifth slots on the combined list, respectively.
Fiction
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Et tu trouveras le trésor qui dort en toi And You Will Find the Treasure That Sleeps in You Laurent Gounelle Kero | Un président ne devrait pas dire ça... A President Should Not Say That Fabrice Lhomme, Gérard Davet Stock |
| 2 | Demain les chats Cats of Tomorrow Bernard Werber Albin Michel | Guide des égarés Guide of the Lost Jean d’ Ormesson Gallimard |
| 3 | Petit pays Little Country Gaël Faye Grasset et Fasquelle | Sur les chemins noirs On the Black Paths Sylvain Tesson Gallimard |
For the week ended Oct. 30; used by arrangement with GFK: Livres Hebdo
Germany
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Das Paket The Package Sebastian Fitzek Droemer | Wunder wirken Wunder Miracles Work Wonders Eckart von Hirschhausen Rowohlt |
| 2 | Harry Potter und das verwunschene Kind Harry Potter and the Cursed Child J.K. Rowling et al. Carlsen | Gegen den Hass Against Hate Carolin Emcke S. Fischer |
| 3 | Im Wald In the Woods Nele Neuhaus Ullstein | Born to Run Born to Run Bruce Springsteen Heyne |
For the week ended Oct.. 30; used by arrangement with Buchreport
Italy
| Combined Fiction and Nonfiction | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harry Potter e la maledizione dell’erede Harry Potter and the Cursed Child J.K. Rowling et al. Salani | 4 | Il libro dei Baltimore The Book of Baltimore Joël Dicker La nave di Teseo |
| 2 | Dieci e lode Full Marks Sveva Casati Modignani Sperling & Kupfer | 5 | Il domatore di leoni The Ice Child Camilla Läckberg Marsilio |
| 3 | Veri amici True Friends Mates Mondadori Electa | 6 | L’imperfetta meraviglia The Imperfect Marvel Andrea De Carlo Giunti Editore |
For the week ended Oct. 16; used by arrangement with Informazioni Editoriali
