04 Jul 2012 22:56:06
Dan Brown may no longer be the fastest-selling adult author of all time, losing out on that record last week to EL James and her slice of erotica Fifty Shades of Grey, but The Da Vinci Code author has retained another, less sought-after honour: he has topped Oxfam's list of the writers most donated to its charity shops for the fourth year running.
Scottish crime writer Ian Rankin was the second most likely author to have his books donated to Oxfam's 685 shops, followed by James Patterson, Alexander McCall Smith and John Grisham, Oxfam said today. The American legal thriller writer Grisham entered the chart of "most donated" authors for the first time this year, in joint fourth place with McCall Smith.
The charity said that its bestselling author, in contrast, was Stieg Larsson – the second year in a row that the late Swedish writer has topped Oxfam's bestseller charts – followed by JK Rowling. Larsson's fellow Norwegian author Jo Nesbø, whose crime novels starring detective Harry Hole have been critically acclaimed, was a new entry in third place, with Lee Child and Terry Pratchett rounding out the top five.
Although its charts were made up entirely of fiction authors, and dominated by crime and thriller writers, Oxfam, which is currently running its two-week annual literary festival Bookfest, said that overall its most donated and bestselling genre was non-fiction.
"Oxfam loves books and book sales have been helping Oxfam in its fight against poverty for more than 50 years," said director of trading Andrew Horton. "Every single book, whether it is donated or bought, helps to support Oxfam's vital work. Bookfest is a great opportunity to celebrate this and we really hope that the public will get involved by coming along to their local Oxfam shop or bookshop to enjoy the brilliant range of events and promotions taking place during the fortnight."
• This article was amended on 2 July 2012. In the original it stated that Stieg Larsson was Norwegian. This has been corrected.
