A few weeks ahead of the release of Peter Wohlleben’s The Inner Life of Animals: Love, Grief, and Compassion—Surprising Observations of a Hidden World, his first title, The Hidden Life of Trees, was the #1 nonfiction book in France in August and in third place in his native Germany. Canada’s Greystone Books published Trees in North America, where it was a bestseller, and has set a 70,000-copy first printing for The Inner Life of Animals, which is set to publish on November 7 in Canada and the U.S.
In fiction, well-known names topped the lists in France, Germany, and Sweden. Amelie Nothomb’s newest novel, Strike the Heart, landed in the top spot in France when it was released there in the last week of August. Germany’s fiction list was led by Elena Ferrante’s Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay. The summer of 2017 has been a good one for Ferrante: in July, her My Brilliant Friend finished the month in the second spot on the German fiction bestseller list, and the first and third spots on the fiction bestseller list in Sweden went to The Story of the Lost Child and Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay. In August, Lost Child was #3 on the fiction bestseller list there. The top spot in Sweden last month was claimed by 1968, the seventh volume in Jan Guillou’s Great Century series.
France
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frappe-toi le coeur Strike the Heart Amélie Nothomb Albin Michel | La vie secrète des arbres The Hidden Life of Trees Peter Wohlleben Les Arènes |
| 2 | La tresse The Braid Laetitia Colombani Grasset | La Fontaine: 1621–1695, une école buissonnière La Fontaine: 1621–1695, a School for Playing Hooky Erik Orsenna Stock |
| 3 | Quand sort la recluse When the Recluse Comes Out Fred Vargas Flammarion | Votre cerveau Your Brain Michel Cymes Stock |
For the week ended Aug. 27; used by arrangement with GFK/Livres Hebdo
Germany
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Die Geschichte der getrennten Wege Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay Elena Ferrante Suhrkamp | Heilen mit der Kraft der Natur Healing with the Power of Nature Andreas Michalsen Insel |
| 2 | Die Geschichte der Bienen The History of Bees Maja Lunde Btb | Wir können nicht allen helfen We Can’t Help Everyone Boris Palmer Siedler |
| 3 | Prinzessin Insomnia & der alptraumfarbene Nachtmahr Princess Insomnia and the Nightmare-Coloured Nightmare Walter Moers Knaus | Das geheime Leben der Bäume The Secret Life of Trees Peter Wohlleben Ludwig |
For the week ended Aug. 27; used by arrangement with Buchreport
Sweden
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1968 1968 Jan Guillou Piratförlaget | Food Pharmacy: kokboken Food Pharmacy: The Cookbook Mai Clase & Lina Nertby Aurell Bonnier Fakta |
| 2 | Pappas pojke Daddy’s Boy Emelie Schepp HarperCollins Nordic | Hjärnstark Brain Power Anders Hansen Fitnessförlaget |
| 3 | Det förlorade barnet The Story of the Lost Child Elena Ferrante Norstedts | Omgiven av idioter Surrounded by Idiots Thomas Erikson Hoi Förla |
For the week ended Aug. 17; used by arrangement with Svensk Bokhandel
