JK Rowling's New Book Tops Bestseller Charts

'Casual Vacancy' knocks '50 Shades' off top spot
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 4, 2012 1:30 AM CDT
JK Rowling's New Book Tops Bestseller Charts
JK Rowling poses with her new book in London last week.   (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

JK Rowling has soared back to the top of the bestseller lists faster than a flying broomstick with her first book aimed at adults. Despite mixed reviews, The Casual Vacancy is at the top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. In Britain, it outsold the second-place fiction title, Bernard Cornwell's 1356, by more than 10 to one, the Guardian reports. In the US, it went straight to the top of USA Today's bestseller list, unseating Fifty Shades of Grey, which has been on top for 21 out of the last 23 weeks.

Rowling is "kind of review-proof," says Amazon's editorial director of books. The test for Casual Vacancy, she says, will be how well it continues to sell. But despite the strong sales, it will take some serious magic for Rowling's dark tale of class tensions in an English village to ever match the sales of her Harry Potter series: First-week sales of the seventh and final Potter book were more than 20 times higher than those of Casual Vacancy. (More JK Rowling stories.)

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