Book sales in Mexico in 2020 have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic and were down as much as 75% in April, at the start of the country’s lockdown, compared to April 2019, according to Nielsen BookScan. They have since rebounded and are down approximately 20% for the year to date, and look to be rebounding further going into the all-important holiday shopping season. With the Guadalajara International Book Fair starting later this month, PW presents some of the bestselling books in Mexico through the end of October.
Among the fiction top sellers was Salvar el fuego (Saving the Fire) by screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, a love story about a married choreographer who falls in love with an imprisoned murderer. The book is #2 on the fiction list and won the $175,000 Alfaguara Prize. The top nonfiction book was El traidor: El diario secreto del hijo del Mayo (The Traitor: The Secret Diary of the Son of Mayo) by Anabel Hernandez, an account of life inside the Sinaloa Cartel, as described by a former member. The bestselling children’s book was Los compas y el diamantito legendario (The Compass and the Legendary Diamond) by El Trollino, Mikecrack, and Timba VK, a trio of Spanish YouTube gamers turned authors.
For the week ended Oct. 30; used by arrangement with Nielsen BookScan
