“We are facing the most participatory ‘diada’ and the one that has made the most sales in history, with growth above 5%& rdquor ;, has confirmed the Gremi de Llibreters and the Cambra del Llibre at the end of a Sant Jordi that they have described as “record”, making good the feelings that writers, booksellers and publishers had been advancing throughout the day.
The Sant Jordi Award triumphs in Sant Jordi
This Sant Jordi also confirmed that the unwritten rule continues to work that whoever wins the Sant Jordi Award has many numbers to be one of the best sellers of the ‘diada’. And more, if on top of that she has been the creator of the proclamation of the day party and the rose: the TV-3 journalist and writer Gemma Ruiz Palà has been crowned on the podium of fiction in Catalan with ‘Les nostres mares’ (Proa), his tribute to the women who lived through the Franco dictatorship, followed by a regular of the ‘best-seller’, Xavier Bosch, with his ’32 de març’ (Univers).
The list of the Gremi de Llibreters, made according to the estimates gathered during the week and until the last minute of Sunday have not given too many surprises in Spanish: the pull of Eva García Saenz de Urturi is undeniable and ‘El ángel de la ciudad’ (Planeta) was crowned the best-selling fiction book in a day where the writer from Vitoria could not cope: hundreds of readers collapsed her signature points throughout the day anticipating a success that confirms her as one of the favorites of Sant Jordi, where the ‘bestseller’ wins almost all the top positions of the ‘ranking’ of best sellers.
If last year Saenz de Urturi was second behind Santiago Posteguillo, this year his latest ‘thriller’ set in Venice has been a hit. In second place is followed by another SUV in terms of ‘best sellers’, Elisabet Benaventwho launched his latest novel a week ago, ‘How (not) I wrote our story’ (Suma), starring a successful writer who is going through a creative crisis and considers killing the character who catapulted her to success in order to overcome it.
At number 3, both on the Catalan and Spanish lists, he doubles for the Irish Maggie O’Farrell with ‘El retrato de casada’ (Libros del Asteroide / L’Altra), where she novels the life of the young Lucrecia de Medici, murdered by her husband at the age of 15 after two years of marriage. In fiction in Spanish, the podium is completed by ‘El cuco de cristal’ (Suma) by Javier Castillo and ‘Hijos de la fábula’ (Tusquets) by Fernando Aramburu. In fiction in Catalan, the fourth best seller was ‘Les calces al sol’, by Regina Rodríguez Sirvent, (La Campana), followed by ‘Demà, i demà, i demà’, by Gabrielle Zevin (Periscopi).
The Cassock and Rojas Estapé
In non-fiction in Catalan, a duel of titans: At the top, ‘Gran Enciclopèdia del Barça’, by La Sotana (Blackie Books), which yesterday afternoon had already ‘cast’ the 10,000 copies they had preparedfollowed by the king of local ‘true crime’, Carles Porta, with his new installment of ‘Crims’, ‘Pecats capitals’ (La Campana).
In Spanish, self-help and ‘long sellers’ prevailed: the best seller was ‘How to make good things happen to you’ by Marian Rojas Estapé (Espasa), followed by ‘Atomic habits’ by James Clear, (Diana), ‘Find your vitamin person by Marian Rojas Estapé (Espasa), ‘Love begins with you’ (Planeta) by Curro Cañete and in fifth position ‘Una shared history’ by the writer Júlia Navarro who publishes Plaza & Janés.
After La Sotana and Porta, in non-fiction in Catalan, they completed the list, in third place, ‘From the savannah to Mart’, by Xavier Sala i Martín (Rosa dels Vents), in fourth, ‘Mitologia dels països catalans’, by Daniel Rangil (Efadós), and fifth, ‘Si la memòria no ens faila’, by Quim Monzó and Sergi Pàmies (La Vanguàrdia).
Catalan fiction
1- ‘Our Seas’, Gemma Ruiz Palà (Proa Editors)
2- ’32 March’, Xavier Bosch (Univers)
3- ‘The wedding picture’, Maggie O’Farrell, (L’Altra)
4- ‘Les calces al sol’, Regina Rodríguez Sirvent, (La Campana)
5- ‘Demà, i demà, i demà’, Gabrielle Zevin (Periscopi)
Castilian fiction
1- ‘The angel of the city’, Eva García Saenz de Urturi, (Planet)
2- ‘How (not) I wrote our history’, Elisabet Benavent, (Sum)
3- ‘The married portrait’, Maggie O’Farrell, (Asteroid Books)
4- ‘The crystal cuckoo’, Javier Castillo, (Suma)
5- ‘Sons of the fable’, Fernando Aramburu (Tusquets)
Catalan nonfiction
1- ‘Great Barça Encyclopedia’, La Sotana, (Blackie Books)
2- ‘Crims: Pecats capitals’, Carles Porta, (The Bell)
3- ‘From the savannah to Mart’, Xavier Sala i Martín, (Rosa dels Vents)
4- ‘Mythology of the Catalan countries’, Daniel Rangil (Efadós)
5- ‘If memory does not fail’, Quim Monzó and Sergi Pàmies (La Vanguàrdia)
Spanish non-fiction
1- ‘How to make good things happen to you’, Marian Rojas Estapé, (Espasa)
2- ‘Atomic Habits’, James Clear, (Diana)
3- ‘Find your vitamin person’, Marian Rojas Estapé (Espasa)
4- ‘Love begins with you’, Curro Cañete, (Planet)
5- ‘A shared history’, Júlia Navarro (Plaza & Janés)
A “record” growth of 5%
On a Sunday when a authentic citizen tide has taken the streets of Barcelona From early in the morning, publishing success was fully assured. The book and rose sectors predicted that this Sant Jordi, which has fallen on a weekend and arrives after three years of pandemic restrictions, was going to be record-breaking and in the end the forecasts have more than met.
Related news
The Chamber of Books of Catalonia, an institution that brings together the unions and associations of publishers, booksellers, distributors and graphic communication in Catalonia, has assured that it has been the “most participatory” day in history and with the highest sales, with global growth above 5%.
The president of the Guild of Publishers of CataloniaPatrici Tixis, had affirmed this Sunday that the sales figures for Sant Jordi were “on the way” to breaking records and that he has “good feelings” due to the high participation from the first hour, due to the increase in the offer compared to last year and because sales started to pick up on Friday.