Hard to fault Dan Brown’s performance this week. That kind of unit sale is just terribly impressive. Given the phenomenal sales he has been clocking up in the UK  where The Bookseller reports he has sold some ‘141,156 copies in its first full week in bookshops’ his Irish performance is not THAT impressive relatively speaking.

There is however great news for Irish authors. Alex Barclay is selling well and makes an new appearance alongside Amy Huberman whose paperback edition of Hello, Heartbreak is also in the chart. With Joseph O’Connor and Maeve Binchy hanging in there, that means the top ten is 40% Irish authored.

1: The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown, 3,685
2: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson, 1,836
3: The Help, Kathryn Stockett, 1,766
4: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest, Stieg Larsson, 1,653
5: Hello, Heartbreak, Amy Huberman, 1,576
6: The Girl Who Played with Fire, Stieg Larsson, 1,462
7: Time of Death, Alex Barclay, 1,390
8: Ghost Light, Joseph O’Connor, 1,256
9: Picture Perfect, Jodi Picoult, 1,209
10: The Return Journey, Maeve Binchy, 973

Data Supplied by Nielsen BookScan taken from the Irish Consumer Market week ending 31st July 2010