Non-Fiction: Deborah James' memoir reigns again

Deborah James’ How to Live When You Could be Dead (Vermillion) notched up a second week as the Hardback Non-fiction number one, selling 10,755 copies in its first full week on sale. Becky Excell’s Quick and Easy Gluten-Free (Quadrille) made its début in second place, shifting 9,685 copies in its first week—the food blogger’s biggest launch week outside of lockdown.

Miriam Margolyes’ This Much is True (John Murray) looked unstoppable at the top of Paperback Non-fiction, easing into a seventh straight week as the category chart number one. As the August bank holiday woke a sunburnt, barbecue-ready nation up to the imminent arrival of back-to-school season, The Official Highway Code (TSO) and The Oxford English Mini Dictionary (OUP) bounced up the top 20.