This week's best sellers

8. Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire/Niall Ferguson (Allen Lane £20) Historian argues that America should embrace idea of empire 1,255 (4,520)

9. Grumpy Old Men/David Quantick (HarperCollins £10) Manual for malcontents from writer of radio’s News Quiz and Loose Ends 1,150 (1,315)

10. Tommy: The British Soldier on the Western Front/Richard Holmes
(HarperCollins £20)
The first world war told by the men who served in it
1,050 (15,015)

PAPERBACKS: General

1. A Short History of Nearly Everything/Bill Bryson
(Black Swan £8.99)
The American travel writer switches his focus to popular science
29,165 (71,075)

2. Rags to Richie/Shane Richie
(Pocket £6.99)
Life story of the television entertainer and current EastEnders star
12,015 (18,595)

3. A Royal Duty/Paul Burrell
(Penguin £6.99)
Memoir of the Princess of Wales’s butler, updated with new revelations
9,765 (24,605)

4. Toast: The Story of a Boy’s Hunger/Nigel Slater
(Harper Perennial £7.99)
Food writer serves up tasty morsels about his early life
6,645 (48,865)

5. Ricky/Ricky Tomlinson
(Time Warner £6.99)
Brookside and Royle Family star tells story of a turbulent life
6,230 (77,150)

6. The Kid: A True Story/Kevin Lewis
(Penguin £6.99)
From neglected childhood, via care and gangland, to a new life
5,385 (186,315)

7. Out of the Dark/Linda Caine and Robin Royston
(Corgi £6.99)
Woman’s recovery from depression with the help of her psychotherapist
5,370 (59,835)

8. The Bookseller of Kabul/Asne Seierstad
(Virago £6.99)
Norwegian journalist’s record of life in the aftermath of war in Afghanistan
5,340 (122,400)

9. Not on the Label/Felicity Lawrence
(Penguin £7.99)
Investigation into the state of Britain’s food-production industry
3,330 (16,050)

10. A Child Called It/Dave Pelzer
(Orion £6.99)
First part of account of a childhood scarred by his abusive mother
3,155 (960,280)

HARDBACKS: Fiction

1. Shopaholic and Sister/Sophie Kinsella
(Bantam Press £12.99)
Latest episode of the series introduces a black sheep in the family
9,855 (18,620)

2. The Dark Tower: Song of Susannah/Stephen King
(Hodder £20)
Sixth instalment of the epic picks up where Wolves of the Calla left off
8,670 (8,670)

3. The Other Side of the Story/Marian Keyes
(M Joseph £12.99)
Tale of three women’s lives and loves set in the publishing world
6,085 (31,610)

4. The Increment/Chris Ryan
(Century £16.99)
Secret SAS assassination squad targets former soldiers in a cycle of violence
3,885 (7,430)

5. The Torment of Others/Val McDermid
(HarperCollins £17.99)
Echoes of the past resound following the deaths of two prostitutes
2,360 (5,185)

6. The Narrows/Michael Connelly
(Orion £14.99)
Long-awaited sequel to The Poet with Harry Bosch chasing a mass murderer
2,340 (24,220)

7. Sharpe’s Escape/Bernard Cornwell
(HarperCollins £17.99)
British hero battles the French in Portugal during the Peninsular war
1,385 (50,770)

8. Just One Look/Harlan Coben
(Orion £12.99)
A murder of 20 years ago comes back to haunt those involved
1,180 (18,305)

9. The Lonely Dead/Michael Marshall Smith
(HarperCollins £10)
Former CIA agent investigates a series of murders across America
1,140 (17,425)

10. Dance Little Lady/Lilian Harry
(Orion £9.99)
Wartime saga concerning four women at work in a munitions factory
1,125 (2,065)

PAPERBACKS: Fiction

1. Blow Fly/Patricia Cornwell
(Time Warner £6.99)
Little respite for Kay Scarpetta in the follow-up to The Last Precinct
29,560 (55,025)

2. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time/Mark Haddon
Vintage/Red Fox £6.99)
Boy probes murder of neighbour’s pet
27,860¹ (533,565¹)

3. Nobody True/James Herbert
(Pan £6.99)
Victim pursues his murderer from beyond the grave
19,895 (33,030)

4. Brick Lane/Monica Ali
(Black Swan £7.99)
Bengali bride learns all about London and married life
18,400 (170,635)

5. The Da Vinci Code/Dan Brown
(Corgi £6.99)
Harvard professor must decipher the clues to a Louvre curator’s murder
17,170 (347,950)

6. Greed/Chris Ryan
(Arrow £6.99)
Mercenary backed by MI5 chases and is chased by terrorists
17,150 (36,770)

7. Want to Play?/P J Tracy
(Penguin £6.99)
Debut thriller in which two separate investigations lead to one conclusion
13,280 (50,680)

8. The Lake House/James Patterson
(Headline £6.99)
Six children flee from evil and seek the safety they once knew
12,500 (64,380)

9. The Lovely Bones/Alice Sebold
(Picador £7.99)
Murder victim recounts her death and watches her family struggle to cope
11,780 (960,100¹)

10. Lots of Love/Fiona Walker
(Coronet £6.99)
Reluctant house-sitter finds romance with Cotswolds landowner’s son
11,330 (56,355)

Lists prepared by The Bookseller using data supplied by and copyright to Nielsen BookScan, taken from the TCM for the seven-day period ending 12/06/04. Figures shown are estimated sales for the seven-day period followed (in brackets) by the estimated total sale. ¹Includes sales of more than one edition in the same format and at the same recommended retail price