Memoir Of A Geisha Book



Fifty Shades of Grey has become the fastest ever selling paperback in the UK - but how does it compare? Photo: Jeff Blackler/Rex Features
  • The story of Saiyuri is a very detailed one, and how she came to be a geisha. The (fictional) biographical novel of a geisha is definitely a wonderful read. I love all things Japanese, and this book is a great insight into the world, as it is well researched and well written.
  • Mentor to Sayuri and Hatsumomo’s chief rival in Kyoto, Mameha is a kind but cunning geisha. She takes Sayuri under her wing as a favor to the Chairman, and provides guidance to Sayuri on read analysis of Mameha. Get the entire Memoirs of a Geisha LitChart as a printable PDF. 'My students can't get enough of your charts and their.

Fifty Shades of Grey is Britain's best-selling book ever - according to the publishers at least - but how does it compare?

Publisher Cornerstone (part of Random House) announced this week that the erotic novel has sold in excess of 5.3m copies in print and ebook – more than The Highway Code or Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.

I found this to be a very well written memoir about the time spent in the flower and willow world by a prominent geisha of her time. Mineko's story starts off as a young child, around the age of four, and continues until she shockingly leaves the world around the age of 29, at the prime of her career.

Geisha

The book has remained in the top slot in the UK bestseller lists for the 16th week running. The second and third books, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed, are also selling fast, with UK sales of 3.6m and 3.2m respectively. Combined UK sales for the trilogy are in excess of 12m copies, with rights to the book sold around the world and published in languages including Albanian, Chinese, Russian, Serbian and Vietnamese.

But is it right? Proving sales across platforms independently is very difficult as there are so many outlets. Nielsen Bookscan, which collects the retail sales information from point of sale systems in more than 31,500 bookshops around the world, does not provide collated sales across e-books and physical books, which means we' are reliant on publishers.

So, bearing that in mind, Nielsen have given us their top 100 list of all-time Uk book sales. It shows volumes of each book, its publisher and genre. So, how does Fifty Shades compare?

It's not top on this list: that's got Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code at number one, followed by the Harry Potter novels.

First thing to say is that the Highway Code dominates everything - but because it has been around for so long it artificially jumps near the top of the list with the many versions since 1998 selling over 4.8m copies. So we've removed it from this list although it's easy to compare.

But considering the Fifty Shades books have only just been published, they are already a powerful force. Fifty Shades itself has sold 3,758,936 copies, with the two follow-ups, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed selling over two million copies each. This is how the big series compare:

The list is fascinating in its own right, even without the dominance of the big writers. Just for these other top books:
• Top children's book: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, with 1,783,535 sales. Julia Donaldson's The Gruffalo is right behind with 1,781,269 sales
• Top cookery book: Jamie's 30-Minute Meals, by Jamie Oliver with 1,743,266 sales
• Top non-fiction humour: The World According to Clarkson by Jeremy Clarkson with 1,489,403 sales

The full data is below. What can you do with it?

Data summary

Top 100 best selling books of all time

UK sales only. Click heading to sort table. Download this data

Title
Volume Sales
Genre
1 Da Vinci Code,The Brown, Dan 5,094,805 Transworld Crime, Thriller & Adventure
2 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Rowling, J.K. 4,475,152 Bloomsbury Children's Fiction
3 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Rowling, J.K. 4,200,654 Bloomsbury Children's Fiction
4 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Rowling, J.K. 4,179,479 Bloomsbury Children's Fiction
5 Fifty Shades of Grey James, E. L. 3,758,936 Random House Romance & Sagas
6 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Rowling, J.K. 3,583,215 Bloomsbury Children's Fiction
7 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Rowling, J.K. 3,484,047 Bloomsbury Children's Fiction
8 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Rowling, J.K. 3,377,906 Bloomsbury Children's Fiction
9 Angels and Demons Brown, Dan 3,193,946 Transworld Crime, Thriller & Adventure
10 Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince:Children's Edition Rowling, J.K. 2,950,264 Bloomsbury Children's Fiction
11 Fifty Shades Darker James, E. L. 2,479,784 Random House Romance & Sagas
12 Twilight Meyer, Stephenie 2,315,405 Little, Brown Book Young Adult Fiction
13 Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,The:Millennium Trilogy Larsson, Stieg 2,233,570 Quercus Crime, Thriller & Adventure
14 Fifty Shades Freed James, E. L. 2,193,928 Random House Romance & Sagas
15 Lost Symbol,The Brown, Dan 2,183,031 Transworld Crime, Thriller & Adventure
16 New Moon Meyer, Stephenie 2,152,737 Little, Brown Book Young Adult Fiction
17 Deception Point Brown, Dan 2,062,145 Transworld Crime, Thriller & Adventure
18 Eclipse Meyer, Stephenie 2,052,876 Little, Brown Book Young Adult Fiction
19 Lovely Bones,The Sebold, Alice 2,005,598 Pan Macmillan General & Literary Fiction
20 Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time,The Haddon, Mark 1,979,552 Random House General & Literary Fiction
21 Digital Fortress Brown, Dan 1,928,900 Transworld Crime, Thriller & Adventure
22 Short History of Nearly Everything,A Bryson, Bill 1,852,919 Transworld Popular Science
23 Girl Who Played with Fire,The:Millennium Trilogy Larsson, Stieg 1,814,784 Quercus Crime, Thriller & Adventure
24 Breaking Dawn Meyer, Stephenie 1,787,118 Little, Brown Book Young Adult Fiction
25 Very Hungry Caterpillar,The:The Very Hungry Caterpillar Carle, Eric 1,783,535 Penguin Picture Books
26 Gruffalo,The Donaldson, Julia 1,781,269 Pan Macmillan Picture Books
27 Jamie's 30-Minute Meals Oliver, Jamie 1,743,266 Penguin Food & Drink: General
28 Kite Runner,The Hosseini, Khaled 1,629,119 Bloomsbury General & Literary Fiction
29 One Day Nicholls, David 1,616,068 Hodder & Stoughton General & Literary Fiction
30 Thousand Splendid Suns,A Hosseini, Khaled 1,583,992 Bloomsbury General & Literary Fiction
31 Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest,The:Millennium Trilogy Larsson, Stieg 1,555,135 Quercus Crime, Thriller & Adventure
32 Time Traveler's Wife,The Niffenegger, Audrey 1,546,886 Random House General & Literary Fiction
33 Atonement McEwan, Ian 1,539,428 Random House General & Literary Fiction
34 Bridget Jones's Diary:A Novel Fielding, Helen 1,508,205 Pan Macmillan General & Literary Fiction
35 World According to Clarkson,The Clarkson, Jeremy 1,489,403 Penguin Humour: Collections & General
36 Captain Corelli's Mandolin Bernieres, Louis de 1,352,318 Random House General & Literary Fiction
37 Sound of Laughter,The Kay, Peter 1,310,207 Random House Autobiography: General
38 Life of Pi Martel, Yann 1,310,176 Canongate General & Literary Fiction
39 Billy Connolly Stephenson, Pamela 1,231,957 HarperCollins Biography: The Arts
40 Child Called It,A Pelzer, Dave 1,217,712 Orion Autobiography: General
41 Gruffalo's Child,The Donaldson, Julia 1,208,711 Pan Macmillan Picture Books
42 Angela's Ashes:A Memoir of a Childhood McCourt, Frank 1,204,058 HarperCollins Autobiography: General
43 Birdsong Faulks, Sebastian 1,184,967 Random House General & Literary Fiction
44 Northern Lights:His Dark Materials S. Pullman, Philip 1,181,503 Scholastic Ltd. Young Adult Fiction
45 Labyrinth Mosse, Kate 1,181,093 Orion General & Literary Fiction
46 Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince Rowling, J.K. 1,153,181 Bloomsbury Science Fiction & Fantasy
47 Help,The Stockett, Kathryn 1,132,336 Penguin General & Literary Fiction
48 Man and Boy Parsons, Tony 1,130,802 HarperCollins General & Literary Fiction
49 Memoirs of a Geisha Golden, Arthur 1,126,337 Random House General & Literary Fiction
50 No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency,The:No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency S. McCall Smith, Alexander 1,115,549 Little, Brown Book Crime, Thriller & Adventure
51 Island,The Hislop, Victoria 1,108,328 Headline General & Literary Fiction
52 PS, I Love You Ahern, Cecelia 1,107,379 HarperCollins General & Literary Fiction
53 You are What You Eat:The Plan That Will Change Your Life McKeith, Gillian 1,104,403 Penguin Fitness & Diet
54 Shadow of the Wind,The Zafon, Carlos Ruiz 1,092,349 Orion General & Literary Fiction
55 Tales of Beedle the Bard,The Rowling, J.K. 1,090,847 Bloomsbury Children's Fiction
56 Broker,The Grisham, John 1,087,262 Random House Crime, Thriller & Adventure
57 Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution:The No-hunger, Luxurious Weight Loss P Atkins, Robert C. 1,054,196 Random House Fitness & Diet
58 Subtle Knife,The:His Dark Materials S. Pullman, Philip 1,037,160 Scholastic Ltd. Young Adult Fiction
59 Eats, Shoots and Leaves:The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation Truss, Lynne 1,023,688 Profile Books Group Usage & Writing Guides
60 Delia's How to Cook:(Bk.1) Smith, Delia 1,015,956 Random House Food & Drink: General
61 Chocolat Harris, Joanne 1,009,873 Transworld General & Literary Fiction
62 Boy in the Striped Pyjamas,The Boyne, John 1,004,414 Random House Childrens Books G Young Adult Fiction
63 My Sister's Keeper Picoult, Jodi 1,003,780 Hodder & Stoughton General & Literary Fiction
64 Amber Spyglass,The:His Dark Materials S. Pullman, Philip 1,002,314 Scholastic Ltd. Young Adult Fiction
65 To Kill a Mockingbird Lee, Harper 998,213 Random House General & Literary Fiction
66 Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus:A Practical Guide for Improvin Gray, John 992,846 HarperCollins Popular Culture & Media: General Interest
67 Dear Fatty French, Dawn 986,753 Random House Autobiography: The Arts
68 Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian,A Lewycka, Marina 986,115 Penguin General & Literary Fiction
69 Hannibal Harris, Thomas 970,509 Random House Crime, Thriller & Adventure
70 Lord of the Rings,The Tolkien, J. R. R. 967,466 HarperCollins Science Fiction & Fantasy
71 Stupid White Men:...and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Natio Moore, Michael 963,353 Penguin Current Affairs & Issues
72 Interpretation of Murder,The Rubenfeld, Jed 962,515 Headline Crime, Thriller & Adventure
73 Sharon Osbourne Extreme:My Autobiography Osbourne, Sharon 959,496 Little, Brown Book Autobiography: The Arts
74 Alchemist,The:A Fable About Following Your Dream Coelho, Paulo 956,114 HarperCollins General & Literary Fiction
75 At My Mother's Knee ...:and Other Low Joints O'Grady, Paul 945,640 Transworld Autobiography: The Arts
76 Notes from a Small Island Bryson, Bill 931,312 Transworld Travel Writing
77 Return of the Naked Chef,The Oliver, Jamie 925,425 Penguin Food & Drink: General
78 Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason Fielding, Helen 924,695 Pan Macmillan General & Literary Fiction
79 Jamie's Italy Oliver, Jamie 906,968 Penguin National & Regional Cuisine
80 I Can Make You Thin McKenna, Paul 905,086 Transworld Fitness & Diet
81 Down Under Bryson, Bill 890,847 Transworld Travel Writing
82 Summons,The Grisham, John 869,671 Random House Crime, Thriller & Adventure
83 Small Island Levy, Andrea 869,659 Headline General & Literary Fiction
84 Nigella Express Lawson, Nigella 862,602 Random House Food & Drink: General
85 Brick Lane Ali, Monica 856,540 Transworld General & Literary Fiction
86 Memory Keeper's Daughter,The Edwards, Kim 845,858 Penguin General & Literary Fiction
87 Room on the Broom Donaldson, Julia 842,535 Pan Macmillan Picture Books
88 About a Boy Hornby, Nick 828,215 Penguin General & Literary Fiction
89 My Booky Wook Brand, Russell 820,563 Hodder & Stoughton Autobiography: The Arts
90 God Delusion,The Dawkins, Richard 816,907 Transworld Popular Science
91 'Beano' Annual,The 0 816,585 D.C. Thomson Children's Annuals
92 White Teeth Smith, Zadie 815,586 Penguin General & Literary Fiction
93 House at Riverton,The Morton, Kate 814,370 Pan Macmillan General & Literary Fiction
94 Book Thief,The Zusak, Markus 809,641 Transworld General & Literary Fiction
95 Nights of Rain and Stars Binchy, Maeve 808,900 Orion General & Literary Fiction
96 Ghost,The Harris, Robert 807,311 Random House General & Literary Fiction
97 Happy Days with the Naked Chef Oliver, Jamie 794,201 Penguin Food & Drink: General
98 Hunger Games,The:Hunger Games Trilogy Collins, Suzanne 792,187 Scholastic Ltd. Young Adult Fiction
99 Lost Boy,The:A Foster Child's Search for the Love of a Family Pelzer, Dave 791,507 Orion Biography: General
100 Jamie's Ministry of Food:Anyone Can Learn to Cook in 24 Hours Oliver, Jamie 791,095 Penguin Food & Drink: General

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