English Romance Best-Selling Book Package

We have a philosophy that everyone should have a book as a Christmas gift, says Katarina Jeansson at the award-winning bookstore Dillbergs in Kalmar, where they notice an increased demand for several genres before Christmas.

Children's books are selling well, and this year there is also a demand for social literature, such as Andreas Cervenka's "Fuskbygget" and Angela Merkel's memoirs. The same trend is seen at Bokusgruppen, where bestsellers include Anders Borg's "Vart är vi på väg?" and "Patriot" by the Russian regime critic Aleksej Navalnyj.

A fiction book that is doing well at Dillbergs is "Väninnorna på Nordiska Kompaniet" by Ruth Kvarnström-Jones. Katarina Jeansson herself recommends Malin Haawind's "Den som följer en stjärna vänder inte om", which is about Ellen Key's housekeeper, and Carl Johan Vallgren's "Din tid kommer".

When he received the award for best Swedish crime novel, everyone became interested. And he writes so beautifully, it's not a regular crime novel, she says.

English romance

Ruth Kvarnström Jones is one of the bestsellers also at Bokusgruppen and Adlibris, which somewhat surprises sales manager Sakari Luovio. Otherwise, Kepler's "Sömngångaren" sells best. Also, August Prize winner Tony Samuelsson's "Kungen av Nostratien" and Nobel Prize winner Han Kang's books are selling well.

It's not self-evident that Nobel Prize winners reach our top lists. But this year it was a commercial hit, which is seen in Christmas sales. Sally Rooney's "Intermezzo" was also a given, says Sakari Luovio, who was however surprised by some titles on the top list – for example, Charlie Mackesy's several-year-old everyday philosophical fable "Pojken, mullvaden, räven och hästen".

This year, fantasy is also entering the cottages. On Adlibris' English top list, nine out of ten titles are held by American romance queen Sarah J Maas.

Fantasy is growing strongly. Generally, English fiction is the best in class for us. It's a trend that has been going on for a couple of years, which is clear also in Christmas sales – people are giving away more English literature, says Luovio.

Pancake tower

For children, Sven Nordquist's 40-year-old "Pannkakstårtan" in picture book version stands out, as well as "Läs: boken för dig som vill börja läsa".

Old heroes that are in demand are a jubilee edition of Harry Potter and a fairy tale collection by Elsa Beskow. New children's favorites at Bokusgruppen are instead "Sommarskuggan och julbuset" and I Just Want To Be Cool's "Matfighten", as well as the humorous "Bara rumpor på julen".

Elin Swedenmark/TT