Welcome back to this week’s Irish bestselling books charts! This week is all about the children’s market.
We’re seeing back-to-school purchases (notably Of Mice and Men, having its annual return to the Top 10 Mass Market Fiction and The Outsiders, at no. 4 in the Children’s Top 10 once more) still enjoying their yearly resurgence, but we do have more exciting news from the world of Irish children’s books.
While Gruffalo Granny is No 1, and we’re delighted to see a children’s book in the top slot, we’re super thrilled that there are THREE Irish children’s books in the Top 10 Children’s list – Leona Forde’s Millie McCarthy (which is also in the overall Top 20, a significant achievement for an Irish children’s author), The Squad by Evanne Ní Chuilinn, and debut Bluebird by Harriet Parsons, which is this week’s featured book.
It’s 1991; at a Russian ballet school, ballet is everything – beauty, perfection, endurance, sacrifice …
When Dublin girls Hope and Emily are chosen to study at the famous Pavlovgrad Ballet School, they think all their dreams have come true, but the challenges they face will be harder than they could ever imagine.
Daily life in the Soviet Union is like stepping into another world – freezing winters, sugar shortages, boarding at school with the other ballet students – but the chance to learn from the best, and the chance to become the best, makes all the sacrifice worthwhile. Or does it? For Hope, adopted from Russia as a baby, returning to the country of her birth to fulfil her dream of becoming a ballerina uncovers secrets buried deep…
And now this week’s Irish bestselling books, with the Top 20 followed by the Top 10 in each category. Data Supplied by Nielsen BookScan taken from the Irish Consumer Market.
| Title | Author | Publisher Group | Sales | |
| 1 | Gruffalo Granny:The Gruffalo | Donaldson, Julia | Pan Macmillan Grp | 5,187 |
| 2 | Nation Once Again,A | Howard, Paul | Penguin Grp | 1,558 |
| 3 | Happy, thank you. More, please.:How I got grateful, stayed mortified, and learned to trust the universe | Cobbler, Kyla | Hachette Books Ireland Grp | 1,509 |
| 4 | We Chase Shadows | Osman, Richard | Penguin Grp | 1,462 |
| 5 | The Correspondent | Evans, Virginia | Penguin Grp | 1,050 |
| 6 | Homegrown:A pair of hands. A patch of earth. A philosophy for living. | Quinn, Barrie | Gill Group | 876 |
| 7 | Land | O’Farrell, Maggie | Headline Grp | 770 |
| 8 | Yesteryear | Burke, Caro Claire | HarperCollins Grp | 764 |
| 9 | Agrippa | Harris, Robert | Random House Grp | 763 |
| 10 | Where Are the Kings | Ryan, Donal | Transworld Grp | 711 |
| 11 | Newer World,The | Barry, Sebastian | Faber Grp | 688 |
| 12 | Love Unlocked | Ahern, Cecelia | HarperCollins Grp | 623 |
| 13 | Small Things Like These | Keegan, Claire | Faber Grp | 622 |
| 14 | Brain Damage | McFadden, Freida | Sourcebooks Grp | 538 |
| 15 | The Bridge | Tóibín, Colm | Pan Macmillan Grp | 504 |
| 16 | Binding 13 | Walsh, Chloe | Little, Brown Book Grp | 462 |
| 17 | Shortest History of Ireland,The | Hawes, James | Old Street Publishing Group | 456 |
| 18 | All Them Dogs | White, Djamel | John Murray Group | 443 |
| 19 | Big Little Truths | Moriarty, Liane | Penguin Grp | 438 |
| 20 | Milly McCarthy and the Doggy Daycare Drama | Forde, Leona | Gill Group | 431 |
| Mass Market Fiction | ||||
| Title | Author | Imprint | Sales | |
| 1 | The Correspondent | Evans, Virginia | Penguin Books Ltd | 1,050 |
| 2 | Small Things Like These | Keegan, Claire | Faber & Faber | 622 |
| 3 | Brain Damage | McFadden, Freida | Poisoned Pen Press | 538 |
| 4 | Binding 13 | Walsh, Chloe | Piatkus Books | 462 |
| 5 | Divorce,The | McFadden, Freida | Poisoned Pen Press | 316 |
| 6 | Keeping 13 | Walsh, Chloe | Piatkus Books | 298 |
| 7 | Housemaid,The | McFadden, Freida | Little,Brown | 266 |
| 8 | Secret of Secrets,The | Brown, Dan | Penguin (Transworld) | 257 |
| 9 | Of Mice and Men | Steinbeck, John | Penguin Books Ltd | 250 |
| 10 | Saving 6 | Walsh, Chloe | Piatkus Books | 242 |
| Original Fiction | ||||
| Title | Author | Imprint | Sales | |
| 1 | Nation Once Again,A | Howard, Paul | Sandycove | 1,558 |
| 2 | We Chase Shadows | Osman, Richard | Viking | 1,462 |
| 3 | Land | O’Farrell, Maggie | Tinder Press | 770 |
| 4 | Yesteryear | Burke, Caro Claire | Fourth Estate | 764 |
| 5 | Agrippa | Harris, Robert | Hutchinson Heinemann | 763 |
| 6 | Where Are the Kings | Ryan, Donal | Doubleday | 711 |
| 7 | Newer World,The | Barry, Sebastian | Faber & Faber | 688 |
| 8 | Love Unlocked | Ahern, Cecelia | HarperCollins | 623 |
| 9 | The Bridge | Tóibín, Colm | Macmillan | 504 |
| 10 | All Them Dogs | White, Djamel | John Murray Publishers, Ltd. | 443 |
| Paperback Non Fiction | ||||
| Title | Author | Imprint | Sales | |
| 1 | Happy, thank you. More, please.:How I got grateful, stayed mortified, and learned to trust the universe | Cobbler, Kyla | Hachette Books Ireland | 1,509 |
| 2 | London Falling | Keefe, Patrick Radden | Picador | 405 |
| 3 | Careless People:A story of where I used to work | Wynn-Williams, Sarah | Pan Books | 390 |
| 4 | Poor | O’Sullivan, Katriona | Penguin Books Ltd | 258 |
| 5 | Say Nothing:A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland | Radden Keefe, Patrick | William Collins | 253 |
| 6 | White Lines:A Rugby Life Broken and Rebuilt | Caldwell, Ryan | Hachette Books Ireland | 249 |
| 7 | Sheepdog Named Oscar,A:Love and Companionship in Rural Ireland | Waldron, Dara | Simon & Schuster Ltd | 240 |
| 8 | Ourselves Alone:Sinn Féin Behind Closed Doors | Fenton, Siobhán | Sandycove | 230 |
| 9 | Castle,The:Adventures in a World of Unravelling Men | Ronson, Jon | Viking | 183 |
| 10 | Said the Dead | Ghríofa, Doireann Ní | Faber & Faber | 170 |
| Hardback Non Fiction | ||||
| Title | Author | Imprint | Sales | |
| 1 | Homegrown:A pair of hands. A patch of earth. A philosophy for living. | Quinn, Barrie | Gill Life | 876 |
| 2 | Shortest History of Ireland,The | Hawes, James | Old Street Publishing | 456 |
| 3 | Ottolenghi SIMPLE TOO | Ottolenghi, Yotam & Lochmuller, Verena | Ebury Press | 343 |
| 4 | One Pan Wins:Easy meals all made in one pan | Maguire, Neven | Gill Life | 318 |
| 5 | NO ONE TELLS YOU:The Last Years of Edna O’Brien | Gébler, Carlo | New Island Books | 296 |
| 6 | Catalpa:The epic story of the greatest prison rescue in Irish history | Barry, Michael B. | Gill Books | 232 |
| 7 | Let Them Theory,The | Robbins, Mel & Robbins, Sawyer | Hay House UK Ltd | 197 |
| 8 | Reset,The | Ferguson, Rose | HQ | 186 |
| 9 | Guinness World Records 2027 | Guinness World Records | 161 | |
| 10 | Setting the Land Free:Visions of a Rewilded Ireland | Daltun, Eoghan | Hachette Books Ireland | 148 |
| Childrens | ||||
| Title | Author | Imprint | Sales | |
| 1 | Gruffalo Granny:The Gruffalo | Donaldson, Julia | Macmillan Children’s Books | 5,187 |
| 2 | Milly McCarthy and the Doggy Daycare Drama | Forde, Leona | Gill Childrens | 431 |
| 3 | Squad Girls | Ní Chuilinn, Evanne | Gill Childrens | 353 |
| 4 | Outsiders,The | Hinton, S E | Penguin Books Ltd | 330 |
| 5 | Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories 2 | Kinney, Jeff | Puffin | 270 |
| 6 | Sunrise on the Reaping (exclusive Irish edition) | Collins, Suzanne | Scholastic | 217 |
| 7 | Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone | Rowling, J.K. | Bloomsbury Publishing PLC | 198 |
| 8 | Donut Squad: Destiny of the Donuts (a Phoenix Comic Book) | Cameron, Neill | DFB Phoenix | 196 |
| 9 | Spooky Cutie | Penguin Books Ltd | 173 | |
| 10 | Bluebird:It doesn’t get easier, you just get stronger | Parsons, Harriet | O’Brien Press Ltd | 171 |
