Beast of Buckingham Palace reigns over charts, while Mackesy début makes its mark

David Walliams’ The Beast of Buckingham Palace (HarperCollins) is once again the UK Official Top 50 number one, with 103,949 copies sold in its third week in the chart. The Tony Ross-illustrated title has now sold over 330,000 copies in total—joining Walliams’ two other titles in Children’s top three bestsellers of the year and rising into the 2019 top 10. The Beast of Buckingham Palace has also become the first title to notch up six-figure volumes for three consecutive weeks since E L James’ Grey (Arrow) in 2015.

Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse (Ebury) vaulted 44% upwards in volume week on week, galloping into the Hardback Non-Fiction number one for the first time. Its first full week of sales following its Waterstones Book of the Year win, at 53,925 copies sold, pushed it over the 200,000-copies sold mark.

This, the first chart of December, saw everything get serious: Adam Kay’s Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas (Picador) improved 38% week on week, while Guinness World Records 2020 rocketed by 10,000 copies.

Lee Child’s Blue Moon (Bantam) held the Original Fiction number one for a sixth straight week, matching his personal record set by Past Tense in 2018. The Jack Reacher titles demonstrate their remarkable consistency, with the 24th title currently running 0.6% in volume ahead of the 23rd (and with a shorter launch week, too).

Craig Smith and Katz Cowley’s The Dinky Donkey (Scholastic) looks set to be the picture book of Christmas, with just under 70,000 copies sold to date. The Beano Annual 2020 (D C Thomson) also reigned atop the Children’s Non-Fiction chart for another week, claiming 17th in the Top 50.

The print market zipped upwards 17% in volume and 19.7% in value week on week. However, the week still trailed the same week in 2018, posting a 2.3% decline in volume and a 1.2% drop in value year on year. Will next week’s Pinch of Nom sequel Everyday Light be enough to turn the tables?