This list for the first month of the New Year culminates the bestselling books of 2006, bringing them into the new year for reading pleasure. Books flying off the shelves last month included fiction such as “The History of Love,” “Bangkok 8,” “Case Histories,” and “The Feast of Love.” Also, the latest from Michael Crichton and the Dylan Thomas classic Christmas CD rounded out the list.
For nonfiction, the absolutely wonderful “Bird Songs,” a well-illustrated digital audio book of 250 bird songs, was popular during the holiday season. Amy Sedaris’ hysterically entertaining/cookbook/humor book, “I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence, was also a hot year-end buy.
For children, Diesel’s very own bookseller extraordinaire Melissa Lion has reappeared on the bestseller list with her first two novels, “Upstream” and “Swollen.” At the top is the perennial classic “Guinness World Records 2007.” Two other wonderful children’s books have made it onto the list: “Cloud Boy” and Robert Sabuda’s amazingly constructed pop-up book “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
Fiction
1. “Next,” by Michael Crichton, hardcover, HarperCollins, $27.95
2. “Case Histories,” by Kate Atkinson, paperback, Back Bay Books, $13.95
3. “The Memory Keeper’s Daughter,” by Kim Edwards, paper, Penguin, $14
4. “Bangkok 8,” by John Burdett, paperback, Vintage Books, $13.95
5. “Snow,” by Orhan Pamuk, paperback, Vintage Books, $14.95
6. “The Sea,” by John Banville, paperback, Vintage International, $12.95
7. “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan,” by Lisa See, paperback, Random House, $13.95
8. “The Feast of Love,” by Charles Baxter, paperback, Vintage Books, $14
9. “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” (audio CD), by Dylan Thomas, CD, Caedmon, $14.95
10. “The History of Love,” by Nicole Krauss, paperback, W.W. Norton, $13.95
Nonfiction
1. Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search For Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia,” by Elizabeth Gilbert, hardcover, Viking Adult, $24.95
2. “Bird Songs,” by Les Beletsky and John L. Dunn, hardcover, Chronicle Books, $45
3. “Malibu: California’s Most Famous Seaside Community” by Marian Hall and Nick Rodionoff, hardcover/paperback, Angel City Press, $35/$25
4. “I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman,” by Nora Ephron, hardcover, Random House, $19.95
5. “West of Jesus: Surfing, Science and the Origins of Belief,” by Steven Kotler, hardcover, Bloomsbury, $$23.95
6. “The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream,” by Barack Obama, hardcover, Crown, $25
7. “On Bullshit,” by Harry Frankfurt, hardcover, Princeton University Press, $9.95
8. “I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence,” by Amy Sedaris, hardcover, Warner, $27.99
9. “The Glass Castle: A Memoir,” by Jeannette Walls, paperback, Scribner, $14
10. “Awareness,” by Anthony De Mello, paperback, Doubleday, $13.95
Children
1. “Guinness World Records 2007,” by Guinness, hardcover, Guinness Media, $28.95
2. “Upstream,” by Melissa Lion, hardcover/paperback, Knopf, $15.95 & $8.95
3. “The Amulet of Samarkand,” by Jonathan Stroud, paperback, Hyperion, $7.99
4. “Twelve Days of Christmas: A Pop-Up Celebration,” by Robert Sabuda, hardcover, Little Simon, $26.95
5. “Cloud Boy,” by Rhode Montijo, hardcover, Simon & Schuster, $12.95
6. “The Golden Compass: His Dark Materials Book 1,” paperback, Yearling Books, $7.50
7. “Feed,” by M.T. Anderson, paperback, Candlewick Press, $7.99
8. “Pirateology,” by Dugald Steer, hardcover, Candlewick Press, $19.99
9. “Disney Princess: Princess Mix & Match,” by Carol Monica, hardcover, Disney Press, $14.99
10. “Swollen,” by Melissa Lion, paperback, Knopf, $6.50
List provided by Diesel, A Bookstore