'We haven't seen anything like it since Harry Potter': UK bookshops report record week

With books delayed by the pandemic reaching shops alongside other titles aimed at the Christmas market, the trade has seen sales boom

Booksellers up and down the UK are reporting a boom in sales since readers returned to bookshops after the lockdown, with the first avalanche of Christmas titles giving them their best first week of September since records began.

New books from authors including Richard Osman, Elena Ferrante and Raynor Winn helped last week, with 590 hardbacks published on 3 September, dubbed “Super Thursday”. Many of the bestselling titles had been delayed from earlier in the year due to the coronavirus. Trade magazine the Bookseller said it was the best first week of September on record, with the books market making £33.6m over the week to 5 September, an increase of 11.1% on the previous seven days.

Related: ‘We’re so nervous': England’s bookshops prepare to reopen on Monday

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