In the U.K., British thriller/crime writer Simon Kernick’s The Payback debuted at #1. John Grisham’s The Confession returned to the list after a hiatus, coming in at #2, and chick lit author Jill Mansell’s To the Moon and Back debuted at #3. As for British nonfiction, cookbooks made a strong showing, with books by Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson, and model Lorraine Pascal appearing on the list, along with an unauthored tome, Grandma’s Best Recipes.

Italy’s list also had a number of cookbooks in February: two titles by Benedetta Parodi, Welcome to My Kitchen and Cooked and Eaten; as well as Recipes of the House Clerici by TV host Antonella Clerici. Umberto Eco’s latest, The Cemetery in Prague, was #4 on the combined fiction and nonfiction list, and Mordecai Richler’s Barney’s Version was #6.

Camilla Läckberg led the French fiction list with The German Child, followed by John Irving’s Last Night in Twisted River and Kathryn Stockett’s The Help. The nonfiction list was dominated by French authors, including Stéphane Hessel, Hessel, a diplomat, former ambassador, and French resistance fighter (Raise in Protest!) and French theologian and sociologist Frédéric Lenoir (Little Treaty on the Inner Life).