Jumping to the top of Germany’s fiction list at the end of January was Swiss novelist Martin Suter’s Elephant, about a mysterious glow-in-the-dark pink elephant, the product of a genetic experiment, and the humans who want to exploit its powers of enchantment.
Following closely behind was Paul Auster’s 4 3 2 1. Auster has long been a popular writer in Europe, more so than in the U.S. Rowohlt anticipated the whopping new novel’s popularity and relied on four translators to make certain the German edition—which comes in at 1,264 pages—would appear at the same time as the 880-page U.S. edition, which was released in late Janaury by Holt.
In France, the second in Audrey Carlan’s Calendar Girl series, February, leads the charts. Could part of the appeal be that, in this episode of the erotic series, the titular high-priced call girl is escorting a French artist on visit to Seattle? In the second slot is Stop with Your Lies by Philippe Besson, a classic work of French autofiction in which the narrator, who is Besson himself, sees a face that takes him back to the erotic adventures of his teenage years.
Sweden, like much of the world, has shown a passion for Elena Ferrante’s work: Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay led the fiction list there in January. A trio of health and diet books dominated the Swedish nonfiction list, with YouTube star Therese Lindgren’s Sometimes I Don’t Feel So Good still at #1.
International Bestsellers
France
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calendar girl Février February: Calendar Girl, Book 2 Audrey Carlan Hugo Roman | L’avenir en commun The Common Future Jean-Luc Mélenchon Le Seuil |
| 2 | Arrête avec tes mensonges Stop with Your Lies Philippe Besson Julliard | Révolution Revolution Emmanuel Macron XO, Paris |
| 3 | Ta deuxième vie commence quand tu comprends que tu n’en as qu’une Your Second Life Begins When You Understand That You Only Have One Raphaëlle Giordano Eyrolles | Histoire mondiale de la France World History of France Le Seuil |
For the week ended Feb. 5; used by arrangement with GFK/Livres Hebdo
Germany
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elefant Elephant Martin Suter Diogenes | Wunder wirken Wunder Miracles Work Wonders Eckart von Hirschhausen Rowohlt |
| 2 | 4 3 2 1 Paul Auster Rowohlt | Wer wir waren Who We Were Roger Willemsen S. Fischer |
| 3 | Meine geniale Freundin My Brillant Friend Elena Ferrante Suhrkamp | Alexander von Humboldt und die Erfindung der Natur Alexander von Humboldt and the Invention of Nature Andrea Wulf C. Bertelsmann |
For the week ended Feb. 12; used by arrangement with Buchreport
Sweden
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Den som stannar, den som går Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay Elena Ferrante Norstedts | Ibland mår jag inte så bra |
| 2 | Lykttändaren Lamplighter Pontus Ljunghill Wahlström & Widstrand | Blodsockerkoll på 8 veckor The 8-Week Blood Sugar Diet Michael Mosley Bonnier Fakta |
| 3 | En bror att dö för A Brother to Die For Anders Roslund & Stefan Thunberg Piratförlaget | Food Pharmacy Food Pharmacy Mia Clase & Lina Nertby Aurell Bonnier Fakta |
For the week ended Jan. 17; used by arrangement with Svensk Bokhandel
