Jeff Kinney's Wrecking Ball swings into number one

Jeff Kinney has come in like a Wrecking Ball, with the 14th Wimpy Kid title knocking Lee Child’s Blue Moon (Bantam) from the UK Official Top 50 number one spot. Wrecking Ball (Puffin) sold 48,848 copies in its launch week and notched up Kinney’s third week in the top spot this year alone, after the success of his World Book Day title Diary of Greg Heffley’s Best Friend.

Kinney already holds third and fifth place in the Children’s category for 2019 to date, with the WBD title selling 184,786 copies and Diary of An Awesome Friendly Kid, the spin-off set from the point of view of Rowley Jefferson, on 201,708 units. As a result, perhaps these sales ate into Wrecking Ball’s a little—its first week is down 15% in volume on last year’s The Meltdown.

Wrecking Ball, Kinney’s 14th overall number one, also racks up his 61st pole position in the Children’s chart. Last year, The Meltdown became Kinney’s first book to go straight to number one in three years, after avoiding a clash with David Walliams in the schedules—and Wrecking Ball has repeated the trick.

David Baldacci’s Redemption (Pan) swiped the Mass Market Fiction number one, after missing out to Pan Mac stablemate Peter James’ Dead at First Sight a week ago. The current Waterstones Thriller pick of the month, Lucy Foley’s The Hunting Party (HarperCollins), also galloped up the chart, claiming second in Mass Market Fiction and improving 106% in volume week on week.

Adam Kay’s Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas (Picador) finally claimed the Hardback Non-Fiction number one, after three weeks of playing second fiddle to Mrs Hinch: The Activity Journal (Michael Joseph). However he missed out on a non-fiction double, as This is Going to Hurt (Picador) dropped from its Paperback Non-Fiction top spot. Carl Chinn’s Peaky Blinders: The Real Story (John Blake) claimed the crown.  

Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse (Ebury) rocketed 70% week on week to claim fourth place, and rose to second place in Hardback Non-Fiction, leapfrogging The Activity Journal.

Blue Moon by Child held its Original Fiction number one for a second week, while Heather Morris' Cilka's Journey (Zaffre) bounded up the chart to second place. The highest new entry was Erin Morgenstern's The Starless Sea (Harvill Secker) in fifth.

The print market jumped 6.9% in value week on week, to £34.7m. However, year on year it dipped 0.6%, against the same week last year that saw David Walliams and Tony Ross' The Ice Monster (HarperCollins Children's) hit the chart.