Books: Bestsellers

It's still too early to call the great Rushdie/ Seth contest, as The Ground Beneath Her Feet, just into the chart, arrived in the shops after An Equal Music. Splitting them is a new horror yarn from Rushdie's former ad-land colleague, James Herbert. Bookwatch Ltd, 1999

ORIGINAL FICTION

TITLE AUTHOR/PUBLISHER PRICE WEEKLY SALES

1 (1) Monsoon Wilbur Smith (Macmillan) pounds 17.99 5,498

2 (3) Charlie Lesley Pearse (Penguin) pounds 5.99 4,237

3 (10) LA Connections: power Jackie Collins (Pan) pounds 2.50 2,433

4 (-) She's the One Cathy Kelly (Headline) pounds 5.99 2,156

5 (8) An Equal Music Vikram Seth (Phoenix House) pounds 16.99 2,014

6 (2) Come Together Josie Lloyd & Emlyn Rees (Arrow) pounds 5.99 1,985

7 (-) Others James Herbert (Macmillan) pounds 16.99 1,703

8 (6) When Morning Comes Audrey Howard (Hodder) pounds 5.99 1,652

9 (-) The Ground Beneath Her Feet Salman Rushdie (Cape) pounds 18 1,504 10 (7) Sharpe's Fortress Bernard Cornwell (HarperCollins) pounds 16.99 1,405

ORIGINAL NON-FICTION

TITLE AUTHOR/PUBLISHER PRICE WEEKLY SALES

1 (-) NatWest Playfair Cricket Annual 99 ed Bill Frindall (Headline) pounds 4.99 5,517

2 (2) Rough Guide: the Internet Angus Kennedy (Rough Guides) pounds 5 4,892

3 (3) Men are From Mars... John Gray (Thorsons) pounds 8.99 3,249

4 (1) Ground Force Weekend Alan Titchmarsh (BBC) pounds 9.99 3,065

5 (7) Cricketer's Almanack 1999 ed Matthew Engel (Wisden) pounds 28.00 3,040

6 (5) Little Book of Feng Shui Lillian Too (Element) pounds 1.99 2,319

7 (4) The Whole Woman Germaine Greer (Doubleday) pounds 16.99 2,032

8 (6) How To Get What You Want John Gray (Vermilion) pounds 9.99 1,946

9 (-) The Little Book of Wrong Shui Rohan Candappa (Ebury) pounds 1.99 1,460

10 (9) The Year 1000 R Lacey & D Danziger (Little, Brown) pounds 12.99 1,290