Seven up for Walliams' World's Worst Teachers

David Walliams’ The World’s Worst Teachers (HarperCollins) has once again claimed the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, selling 16,713 copies through Nielsen BookScan’s TCM. Not only has it surpassed 300,000 copies sold in under two months on sale, it has also now racked up the joint-longest run of any Walliams title in the top spot, tied with 2016’s The Midnight Gang.

The World’s Worst Teachers' 16,713-copy haul is the author’s lowest to date for a number one title, and the lowest-selling number one for the market as a whole since The Tattooist of Auschwitz in January. But, if it can rustle up one more week, it will not only become Walliams’ longest-ever-running number one, but also the first title to achieve an eight-week consecutive streak since Joe Wicks’ Lean in 15 (Bluebird) in early 2016, and the first kids’ title to do so since Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Bloomsbury) in 2001.

John Grisham’s The Reckoning (Hodder) reclaimed the Mass Market Fiction top spot from Frederick Forsyth’s The Fox (Corgi) and returned to second place in the Top 50. The Reckoning, at four non-consecutive weeks, is now Grisham’s longest-running Mass Market Fiction number one since 2009’s The Associate.

Harlan Coben’s Run Away (Arrow) was the highest new entry in the Top 50, soaring straight into sixth place with 10,408 copies sold in its first three days on sale.

Lisa Jewell’s The Family Upstairs (Century) stormed straight into the Original Fiction number one, the author’s second title to take the pole after 2017’s Then She Was Gone. The Family Upstairs also notched up Jewell’s highest single-week volume in hardback to date, at 3,811 copies.

Meera Sodha’s East (Fig Tree) was the newest entry in the Hardback Non-Fiction chart, in fifth, as Pinch of Nom (Bluebird) swiped the number one for a 19th week in total, putting it level with Jamie Oliver’s 5 Ingredients (Michael Joseph). Adam Kay’s This is Going to Hurt (Picador) scored its 41st week atop the Paperback Non-Fiction top 20, in a chart that returned an identical top seven week on week.

Though the Children’s number one is on Walliams lockdown for the foreseeable future, Robin Stevens’ Top Marks for Murder (Puffin) entered the kids’ chart in second place, with 5,328 copies sold. Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month, Jenny McLachlan’s The Land of Roar (Egmont), also clawed into the chart, in fourth place.

The print market was slightly down on the week before, with a 1.2% drop in volume and a 1.4% slide in value week on week. However, 2019 continued to outpace 2018, with year-to-date value up 4% year on year.