Jan Guillou, one of Sweden's most popular and outspoken novelists, shot straight to the top of the fiction list in late August with Madame Terror, the most recent book in his series featuring hero Carl Hamilton. Terror is published by Piratforlaget (Pirate Publishing), a company cofounded by Guillou and, among others, Liza Marklund, whose The Will of Nobel (also a Piratforlaget title) was #3 at the end of August after spending several weeks in the top spot. Piratforlaget also had the #8 nonfiction book in Sweden last month with Marklund and Lotta Snickare's There Is a Special Place in Hell for Women Who Don't Help Each Other, which examines how women can succeed as leaders.
The French fiction list also had a new #1 at the end of last month. Marc Levy's My Friends, My Loves is a comedic take on two fathers sharing a home where they try to live by two rules: no babysitters and no women allowed in the house. The top nonfiction title in France is by the country's minister of internal affairs, Nicolas Sarkozy, who is eyeing a run for president.
Only two new nonfiction titles made the top 10 list in Spain; the more intriguing work, Carnage in Republican Madrid, is a memoir by Norwegian diplomat Felix Schlayer Altera, who saved scores of people in Spain during the Civil War. The book was first published in Germany in 1938.
International Bestsellers
| France | ||
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
| 1 | My Friends, My LovesMarc Levy Robert Laffont | Witness AccountNicolas Sarkozy XO |
| 2 | In the Woods of EternityFred Vargas Viviane Hamy | More!Francois de Closets Fayard/Plon |
| 3 | Two Little Girls in BlueMary Higgins Clark Albin Michel | Journey to the Land of CottonErik Orsenna Fayard |
| For week ending August 27, used by arrangement with Livres Hebdo/Ipsos. | ||
| Spain | ||
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
| 1 | The Cathedral of the SeaIldefonso Balcones Grijalbo | The War that Franco Has WonCesar Vidal Planeta |
| 2 | Pranks of the Bad ChildMario Vargas Llosa Alfaguara | The Voyage to HappinessEduardo Punset Destino |
| 3 | The Painter of BattlesArturo Perez-Reverte Alfaguara | The Science of HealthValenti Fuster Planeta |
| For week ending August 27, used by arrangement with El Cultural. | ||
| Sweden | ||
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
| 1 | Madame TerrorJan Guillou Piratforlaget | Swedish Road Atlas— Kartforlaget |
| 2 | The Girl Who Played with FireStieg Larsson Norstedts | Our Best GI RecipesOla Lauritzson Albert Bonnier |
| 3 | The Will of NobelLiza Marklund Piratforlaget | Wordlist of the Swedish Academy— Norstedts |
| For week ending August 27, used by arrangement with Svensk Bokhandel. | ||
