The Bestselling Books of 2009

2009 Top 20 Books:

The Twilight series still had a hold on readers in 2009 with all four books crowding the top of the list. Eclipse captured the top spot, followed closely by the book club favorite The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, followed by New Moon and then Twilight, before The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo appears in fifth. Next came Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. In seventh place was another book club favorite Olive Kitteridge. Fighting for eighth and ninth position were respectively The Lost Symbol and The Elegance of the Hedgehog. Breaking Dawn took tenth. Nine of the top contenders were fiction with only the nonfiction being Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea, a social commentary documenting Mortenson's work building schools in Asia.

Honorable mention is given to the following titles:
Julie & Julia by Julie Powell (Nonfiction), Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Fiction) by Seth Grahame-Smith (Fiction), The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski (Fiction), The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (Kids), True Compass by Edward Kennedy (Nonfiction), The Time-Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (Fiction), People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (Fiction), The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (Fiction), The Reader by Bernhard Schlink (Fiction), White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (Fiction), and Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson (Fiction).

Kids series and authors that did exceptionally well in 2009:
Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney, Warriors elementary reader series by Erin Hunter, Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, Magic Tree House series by Mary Osborne, books by Dr. Seuss, Fancy Nancy early readers by Jane O'Connor, Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan, Sarah Dessen's books and the Ivy and Bean series by Annie Barrows.

Authors that attracted large readerships in 2009 and have a number of titles include:
Charlaine Harris, Diana Gabaldon, Jodi Picoult, John Grisham, P.C. Cast, Lee Child, Malcolm Gladwell, Paulo Coelho, Janet Evanovich, and Julia Child.

Copperfield's Books Trend Commentary

Why Twilight?
"The continued interest in the Twilight series really represents the series cross over to an adult audience. And with the introduction of the movies, we may not see this phenomenon subside for a few more years, similar to how the Harry Potter series popularity that rose with each additional movie" said Copperfield's Books CEO Tom Montan.

Top Ten Books
"Several of the top ten books are book club books and gained momentum through word-of-mouth. Books such as The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Three Cups of Tea, Olive Kitteridge, and The Elegance of the Hedgehog were all titles that held their place in the top 10 for months." said Copperfield's Book Buyer Ty Wilson.

Three Cups of Tea
"Greg Mortenson has a huge following in Sonoma and Napa counties which shows in the numbers of books sold. His work--documented in the book Three Cups of Tea--made him a Nobel Peace Prize nominee this year. We were thrilled to host two capacity events with him and 1,500 attendees this December in Santa Rosa. His book Stones into Schools is rapidly following Three Cups of Tea's path." said Stephanie Deignan, Copperfield's Books Events Coordinator.

Supernatural Fiction
"The successes of Stephenie Meyer, Charlaine Harris, and P.C. Cast show it was a big year for fiction with supernatural aspects. Even a spoof like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies performed spectacularly," said Ty Wilson, Copperfield's Book Buyer.

Children's Picture Books
"Regarding children's books...we had great success with clever picture books this year. Customers were responding to fun books rather than silly. Books like Mac Barnett's Guess Again and Tony Fucile's Let's Do Nothing sold well because of their savvy senses of humor. " said Petaluma Copperfield's Books Children's Book Specialist Patty Norman.

Teen Preferences
"For teens, Sarah Dessen continues to fill the bill for well-written reality-based books about contemporary teens. Also, we're seeing the interest in vampires continue with a number of new series hitting the shelves, but teens are now gravitating to books featuring fallen angels and the occasional werewolf, " said Petaluma Copperfield's Books Children's Book Specialist Patty Norman.

Children's Books in the Top 20 and the Movie Business
"The trend of making movies from popular children's books continues to grow. Now Jeff Kinney-- already a phenomenon with his Wimpy Kid series—has a movie coming out in the spring, as well as a movie diary. His books follow the skinny kid in the locker room surrounded by monster jocks and manage to eke out humor from the middle school experience. The Percy Jackson series is another great story with a movie on the way. Based on the idea that Greek Gods are real and living in modern times, demi-god kids-- progeny of a god and a human--now populate the earth and have a valid explanations for human traits such as dyslexia....like preferring to read Greek. Where are the Wild Things Are, a classic with strong sales, spiked into bestsellerdom because of the movie." Michele Bellah, Children's Book Buyer.

Bestsellers by Store