HARRY POTTER leads 2005 bestseller list
In news that will shock no one, The Book Standard reports that J.K. Rowling’s HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE was last year’s bestselling book. Coming in second was James Frye’s non-fiction Oprah-approved A MILLION LITTLE PIECES.
Dan Brown will be able to fund the education of several generations of family members with two titles in the top 10: THE DA VINCI CODE and its prequel, ANGELS & DEMONS (with his other two books sitting further down the list). Other books of interest to BOOKGASM readers making the top 50 were Elizabeth Kostova’s debut THE HISTORIAN and the latest from Lemony Snicket. You can peruse all 200 titles here.
[...] The broadcast came complete with a last-minute phone call from Oprah Winfrey, whose blessing of the title via her book club sent its sales into the stratosphere. But instead of ripping into Frey and saying, “Jimmy, you duped me and made me look like a fool,” she defended him. “What is relevant is that he was a drug addict,” she said. No, Oprah, what’s relevant is that in his appearance on your show, he looked you in the eye and lied to you. While he was sober, no less. So to avoid the issue is to send the message to America that lying is A-OK. [...]