Amazon Charts: Bryson and Pullman double up

Philip Pullman's The Secret Commonwealth (Penguin/David Fickling) has maintained its number one spot in the Amazon Charts' Most-Sold: Fiction top 20 for a second week—also earning the "all ears" tag, meaning it was more listened to on Audible than read on a Kindle. Its predecessor in the Book of Dust series, 2017's La Belle Sauvage, rose into the Most-Sold: Fiction chart for the first time, in 20th place.

The current UK Official Top 50 number one through Nielsen BookScan's TCM, Bill Bryson's The Body (Transworld), also held its Most-Sold: Non-Fiction top spot. Just over 500 copies separated The Body and The Secret Commonwealth in the BookScan charts.

The previous week's Most-Sold: Fiction runner-up, self-published author L J Ross' Borderlands, slipped to fourth place, allowing Rosie Walsh's The Man Who Didn't Call (Mantle) to rise to second place in its 12th week in the chart.

Oyinkan Braithwaite's My Sister the Serial Killer (Atlantic) also made its debut in Most-Sold: Fiction. The title, a contender for both this year's Booker and Women's Prize, has enjoyed a boost in sales since it was picked for the latest Richard and Judy Book Club. Since being named Waterstones' October Fiction Book of the Month, its sales have surged even further—no doubt these bookshop promotions have helped its fortunes on Amazon too.

However, Borderlands held the number one in the Most-Read: Fiction chart, though Pullman's sequel soared into third place. The Secret Commonwealth was the chart's most "unputdownable" book, with readers finishing it faster than similar books on Kindle and Audible. Impressive, given the title is 704 pages long and the audio edition clocks in at over 19 hours.

Adam Kay's Twas the Nighshift Before Christmas (Picador) soared into second place in Most-Sold: Non-Fiction, a week ahead of release, and leapfrogging its own predecessor This is Going to Hurt. Elton John's Me (Macmillan) also made its debut, in eighth place.

Giant-killing Louis Theroux's Gotta Get Theroux This (Macmillan) once again secured the Most-Read: Non-Fiction title, with the formerly unbeatable Michelle Obama's Becoming (Penguin) sliding to third place. Kindle readers highlighted passages more frequently in Theroux's memoir than any other title.