Inspector Salvo Montalbano is at it again in Italy, as Andrea Camilleri’s latest detective novel, The Other End of the Wire, was at #1 on the combined fiction and nonfiction lists at the end of June. At #2 was 18-year-old Italian YouTube sensation Sofia Viscardi’s debut novel, It Happens, a bildungsroman following 17-year-old Margherita and her travails—romantic and otherwise—with companions Olimpia, Tom, and Samuele.
In Spain, Swiss novelist Joël Dicker’s The Book of Baltimore topped the fiction list. In his first novel since The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, an international bestseller published in 2014, Dicker again turns his eye to his Quebert protagonist, the successful young novelist Marcus Goldman. In nonfiction, psychologist Rafael Santandreu’s new book, Being Happy in Alaska, intended to refine the methodology of cognitive psychology laid out in his previous works, was #1.
Sweden sees writing partners Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström reach #1 in fiction with Three Minutes, the successor to their award-winning 2011 thriller Three Seconds; though only recently published in Sweden, Quercus has U.S. rights. Italy’s Elena Ferrante, a worldwide sensation, sees My Brilliant Friend listed at #2. In nonfiction, Geoffrey Budworth’s Knots, an illustrated guide to the tying of knots, took the top position, with Fredrik Eklund and Bruce Littlefield’s The Sell—on selling anything to anyone—at #2.
June International Bestsellers
Italy
| Combined Fiction and Nonfiction | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | L´altro capo del filo The Other End of the Wire Andrea Camilleri Sellerio Editore Palermo | 4 | Mio fratello rincorre i dinosauri My Brother Runs After Dinosaurs Giacomo Mazzariol Einaudi |
| 2 | Succede It Happens Sofia Viscardi Mondadori | 5 | Cosa pensano le ragazze What Girls Think Concita De Gregorio Einaudi |
| 3 | Caffè amaro Bitter Coffee Simonetta Agnello Hornby Feltrinelli | 6 | Un’estate magica A Magic Summer Corina Bomann Giunti Editore |
For the week ended July 3; used by arrangement with Informazioni Editroiali
Spain
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | El libro de los Baltimore The Book of Baltimore Joël Dicker Alfaguara | Ser feliz en Alaska Being Happy in Alaska Rafael Santandreu Grijalbo |
| 2 | Donde los escorpiones Nest of Scorpions Lorenzo Silva Destino | SPQR. Una historia de la antigua Roma SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome Mary Beard Crítica |
| 3 | Historia de un canalla History of A Scoundrel Julia Navaro Plaza & Janés | El libro de las pequeñas revoluciones The Book of Little Revolutions Elsa Punset Destino |
For the week ended July 6; used by arrangement with El Cultural
Sweden
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tre minuter Three Minutes Anders Roslund & Börge Hellström Piratförlaget | Knopar Knots Geoffrey Budworth Tukan Förlag |
| 2 | Min fantastiska väninna My Brilliant Friend Elena Ferrante Norstedts | Sälj! The Sell Fredrik Eklund & Bruce Littlefield Ekerlids Förlag |
| 3 | Det andra ansiktet The Other Face Mari Jungstedt Albert Bonniers Förlag | Omgiven av idioter Surrounded by Idiots Thomas Erikson Hoi Förlag |
For the week ended July 3; used by arrangement with Svensk Bokhandel.
