Wrapt Up In Books

USA Today Top 150 - April 2, 2006

2006-04-07T16:29:00.000-07:00

[For the week ending 4/2/06]

Top 10 Best Sellers:
1. (6) The Da Vinci Code [Dan Brown]
2. (284) Dark Demon [Christine Feehan]
3. (219) Time & Again [Nora Roberts]
4. (1) No Place Like Home [Mary Higgins Clark]
5. (-) Countdown [Iris Johansen]
6. (3) Marley & Me [John Grogan]
7. (4) Game of Shadows [Mark Fainaru-Wada, Lance Williams]
8. (268) Bump in the Night [J.D. Robb, Mary Blayney, et al.]
9. (25) Angels & Demons [Dan Brown]
10. (9) In Cold Blood [Truman Capote]

Top Five Risers:
+282 - Dark Demon by Christine Feehan (284 -> 2)
Romance: Female vampire slayer is seduced by her enemy
+260 - Bump in the Night by J.D. Robb, Mary Blayney, et al. (268 -> 8)
Four stories about the paranormal
+216 - Time & Again by Nora Roberts (219 -> 3)
Has two romances: "Time Was" and "Times Change"
+150 - The Admiral's Bride by Suzanne Brockmann (227 -> 77)
Romance: Man and woman find love while posing as husband and wife to crack case
+121 - Sword of Darkness by Kinley MacGregor (140 -> 19)
Romance: New king of Camelot meets his match with Seren

Top Five Sinkers:
-75 - Company Man by Joseph Finder (55 -> 130)
CEO uncovers a conspiracy against him at work
-66 - The House by Danielle Steel (62 -> 128)
Woman restores old mansion and learns its dramatic history
-61 - Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza (59 -> 120)
Subtitle: "Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust"
-59 - Fatal Burn by Lisa Jackson (17 -> 76)
Agent's missing daughter is linked to serial killer's next victim
-56 - Ultrametabolism by Mark Hyman (68 -> 124)
Subtitle: "The Simple Plan for Automatic Weight Loss"

Just Made It (aka spot #150):
You're Wearing That? [Deborah Tannen]
Subtitle: "Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation"

Manga Report:
- Fruits Basket, Vol. 13 (debuted at #48)

USA Today Top 150 - March 26, 2006

2006-04-04T21:38:00.000-07:00

[For the week ending 3/26/06]

Top 10 Best Sellers:
1. (216) No Place Like Home [Mary Higgins Clark]
2. (1) Marley & Me [John Grogan]
3. (-) American Theocracy [Kevin Phillips]
4. (-) Game of Shadows [Mark Fainaru-Wada, Lance Williams]
5. (2) The Mermaid Chair [Sue Monk Kidd]
6. (3) The Da Vinci Code [Dan Brown]
7. (4) Night [Elie Weisel]
8. (-) The Secret Supper [Javier Sierra]
9. (9) In Cold Blood [Truman Capote]
10. (-) French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating for Pleasure [Mireille Guiliano]

Top Five Risers:
+215 - No Place Like Home by Mary Higgins Clark (216 -> 1)
+155 - Septimus Heap, Book One: Magyk by Angie Sage (267 -> 112)
+107 - The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey (248 -> 141)
+63 - Life of Pi by Yann Martel (193 -> 130)
+59 - Some Like It Hot by Zoey Dean (128 -> 69)

Top Five Sinkers:
-78 - The Brothers Bulger by Howie Carr (59 -> 137)
-59 - The Kill by Allison Brennan (68 -> 127)
-55 - Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood by Koren Zailckas (58 -> 113)
-33 - (tie) Missing Persons by Stephen White (81 -> 114)/
The Automatic Millionaire Homeowner by David Bach (50 -> 83)

Just Made It (aka spot #150):
Why My Wife Thinks I'm An Idiot [Mike Greenberg]
Subtitle: "The Life and Times of a Sportscaster Dad"

Manga Report:
- Naruto, Vol. 9 (#123, from #86)

Best Name of the Week:
"The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak (#87, from #109)
How books helped Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich in WWII

USA Today Top 150 - March 19, 2006

2006-03-26T18:40:00.000-08:00

[For the week ending 3/19/06]

Top 10 Best Sellers:
1. (1) Marley & Me [John Grogan]
2. (2) Fatal Burn [Lisa Jackson]
3. (11) The Da Vinci Code [Dan Brown]
4. (7) Night [Elie Wiesel]
5. (2) Fatal Burn [Lisa Jackson]
6. (4) Kill The Messenger [Tami Hoag]
7. (11) Tenth Circle [Jodi Picoult]
8. (5) Rage [Jonathan Kellerman]
9. (12) In Cold Blood [Truman Capote]
10. (-) Dirty Blonde [Lisa Scottoline]

Top Five Risers:
+106 - V For Vendetta (from 195 to 89)
+100 - The Original Sudoku (from 217 to 117)
+86 - You: The Smart Patient (from 233 to 147)
+66 - The Brothers Bulger (from 125 to 59)
+64 - Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes (from 206 to 142)

Top Five Sinkers:
-50 - The MacGregors: Alan-Grant (from 72 to 112)
-49 - The Two Minute Rule (from 95 to 144)
-42 - Who Moved My Cheese? (from 107 to 149)
-41 - Lover Eternal (from 39 to 80)
-39 - Killing Kelly (from 75 to 114)

Just Made It (aka spot #150):
Crazy in Love [Luanne Rice]
Troubled wife meets handsome stranger

Manga Report:
- Naruto Vol. 9 (#86, from #59)

Just what is the "Two Minute Rule"?
According to Publishers Weekly (via Amazon), "two minutes, in and out...[is] the rule for robbing banks".

USA Today Top 150 - March 12, 2006

2006-03-16T16:24:00.000-08:00

I got a little behind with the charts so Mar 19's should be up by Saturday, in time for Mar 26's to come out. Also, starting with this post, I will begin an attempt at analysis and/or commentary about the raw data.

[For the week ending 3/12/06]

Top 10 Best Sellers:
1. (3) Marley & Me [John Grogan]
2. (2) Fatal Burn [Lisa Jackson]
3. (-) Tenth Circle [Jodi Picoult]
4. (5) Kill The Messenger [Tami Hoag]
5. (9) Rage [Jonathan Kellerman]
6. (20) Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling [Wayne W. Dyer]
7. (11) Night [Elie Wiesel]
8. (6) 5th Horseman [Dan Brown]
9. (1) Micah [Laurell K. Hamliton]
10. (7) Pretty Woman [Fern Michaels]

Top Risers:
+156 - Harry Potter/Goblet of Fire (from 242 to 86)
+126 - Harry Potter/Sorceror's Stone (from 263 to 143)
+99 - The Penalty Box (from 212 to 113)
+91 - Misquoting Jesus (from 199 to 108)
+86 - Smashed: Story of A Drunken Childhood (from 176 to 90)
+76 - Harry Potter/Order of the Phoenix (from 141 to 65)
+69 - Close Range (from 185 to 116)
+62 - Cold Service (from 108 to 46)

Top Fallers:
-83 - Crazy Kisses (from 63 to 146)
-73 - Green Eggs and Ham (from 71 to 144)
-51 - Hard Truth (from 88 to 139)
-49 - Sea Change (from 92 to 141)

Manga Report:
- Naruto Vol. 9 (#59, from #48)
- Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 6 (#117, from #105)

Just Made It (Spot #150):
The Little Book That Beats the Market [Joel Greenblatt]
Aims to show how to "beat the market"

Analysis:
Help From The Movie Theatres
Four books out of the six J.K. Rowling has written so far in the Harry Potter series gained at least 25 spots. This is most likely due to the DVD release of the adaptation of Book 4, "The Goblet of Fire". You can see the performance of Books 1, 4 and 5 under Top Risers, and Book 6's performance? Well, it did pretty well for itself and it might have had a bit of help in being the most recent one to be published (it came out July 16 last year -- a mere 9 months). "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" went from 120 to 93, gaining 27 spots.

Also Annie Proulx's compiliation of stories, "Close Range", benefited from the popularity of "Brokeback Mountain", one of her stories that is in "Range". It went from #185 to #116, a gain of 69 spots, while Brokeback rose 45 (from #122 to #77).

Finally, "Aquamarine", by Aliee Hoffman, rose from 138 to 82 (56 spots) as its film adaptation is still making its way through theatres.

USA Today Top 150 - March 5, 2006

2006-03-15T01:44:00.000-08:00

Top 10 Best Sellers:
1. (23) Micah [Laurell K. Hamilton]
2. (-) Fatal Burn [Lisa Jackson]
3. (2) Marley & Me [John Grogan]
4. (246) Devil in Winter [Lisa Kleypas]
5. (-) Kill The Messenger [Tami Hoag]
6. (1) 5th Horseman [James Patterson]
7. (-) Pretty Woman [Fern Michaels]
8. (-) The House [Danielle Steel]
9. (-) Rage [Jonathan Kellerman]
10. (6) The Da Vinci Code [Dan Brown]

Top Risers:
+242 - Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas (from 246 to 4)
+155 - Aquamarine (from 293 to 138)
+133 - Never Seduce A Scoundrel by Sabrina Jeffries (from 164 to 31)
+125 - Seduced by Crimson (from 253 to 128)
+72 - Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss (from 195 to 123)
+66 - Body of Evidence (from 182 to 116)
+48 - (tie) Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss (from 119 to 71)/
An Independent Woman by Candace Camp (from 128 to 80)

Top Sinkers:
-89 - Crazy in Love (from 30 to 119)
-58 - Origin in Death (from 35 to 93)
-41 - Hard Truth (from 47 to 88)
-34 - Sea Change (from 58 to 92)

Just Made It (aka spot 150):
The Bewitching Twin by Donna Fletcher
"Scottish romance: Aliss is kidnapped by Rogan of the Wolf clan"

Manga Report:
Naruto Vol. 9 fell 19 places from last week but still managed to remain in the top 50 as #48. Meanwhile, two other graphic novels debuted in the top 150: Negima! 9 by Ken Akamatsu (#101) and Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 6 by Hiromu Arakawa (#105).

Longest (Freakin') Title:
16 words
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

USA Today Top 150 - February 26, 2006

2006-03-04T22:26:00.000-08:00

These book chart posts will hopefully complemented by other book-related posts (what I'm reading, funny book covers, etc.), but that's not a guarantee. So don't be sad if this blog slowly dies out within a month.

Top 10 Best Sellers:
1. (1) 5th Horseman [James Patterson]
2. (4) Marley & Me [John Grogan]
3. (3) Night [Elie Weisel]
4. (2) Cell [Stephen King]
5. (5) The Closers [Michael Connelly]
6. (6) The Da Vinci Code [Dan Brown]
7. (8) The Third Secret [Steve Berry]
8. (7) Memoirs of a Geisha [Arthur Golden]
9. (10) The World Is Flat [Thomas L. Friedman]
10. (-) The Templar Legacy [Steve Berry]

Premiering in Top 100:
#10 - The Templar Legacy [Steve Berry]
Quest to find lost treasures of the ancient Knights Templar
#23 - Micah [Laurell K. Hamilton]
Request to raise the dead unites two creatures
#40 - The Two Minute Rule [Robert Crais]
Ex-con vows to find the killer of his son, a police officer
#43 - The Chronicles of Narnia [C.S. Lewis]
Set of all seven books in the Chronicles of Narnia series; movie is based on the story "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"
#51 - The Old Wine Shades [Martha Grimes]
Mystery: Richard Jury hears strange tale of missing wife, son and dog
#82 - Snow Flower and the Secret Fan [Lisa See]
In 19th-century China, Lily and Snow Flower write to each other in a secret language about their lives

Top 10 Risers:
+118 - Naruto Vol. 9 by Mashishi Kishimoto (from 147 to 29)
+93 - (tie) Dora the Explorer: Egg Suprise (from 184 to 91)/
Dora the Explorer: Dora's Rainbow Egg Hunt (from 195 to 102)
+68 - The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman (from 211 to 143)
+57 - Good to Great and the Social Sector by Jim Collins (from 180 to 123)
+53 - The End of Faith by Sam Harris (from 123 to 70)
+41 - My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult (from 100 to 59)
+36 - The Pretty Committee Strikes Back by Lisi Harrison (from 47 to 11)
+35 - Annie Freeman's Traveling Funeral by Kris Radish (from 172 to 137)
+34 - Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins (from 110 to 76)

Top 5 Sinkers:
-62 - Daily Readings From Your Best Life Now (from 88 to 150)
-55 - The Biggest Loser (from 75 to 130)
-54 - Last Dance: Behind the Scenes at the Final Four (from 80 to 134)
-44 - You: The Smart Patient (from 81 to 125)
-43 - The Five Love Languages (from 62 to 105)

Of Note:
- The four books in positions 104 through 107 all fell at least 34 slots from the previous week.
- Three manga volumes are in the top 150 as well as six Sudoku related books. The mangas other than Naruto Vol. 9 are Rurouni Kenshin Vol. 24 (#116) and Death Note Vol. 4 (#118)