The January 2024 favorites have been revealed. Some books stubbornly hold their own. Others had to leave unexpectedly.
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In the still fresh literary year of 2024, one thing or another is happening in the field of fiction at the end of the month shortly before February. The risers and fallers of the Spiegel bestseller list reveal which books were most popular. Which title did you take with you to your favorite place to read? Is there a book there that belongs in the book with the important six titles? Some of the titles have been on the list for a few weeks, others went up after a short entry, and others went down. These are the top 10 from January.
1st place: “The City and its Uncertain Wall” by Haruki Murakami
A mysterious city behind a wall and supernatural appearances. Haruki Murakami is once again publishing a new novel for his 75th birthday that has it all. To discuss Haruki Murakami. You should also read these three books by the Japanese author. On February 2, 2024, Thea Dorn will discuss the new book with guests in the Literary Quartet.
Under mysterious circumstances, the narrator finds himself back in the world beyond the wall. He moves to Tokyo, works in a bookstore, and has a variety of girlfriends. The memory of the girl and the walled city haunts him. Eventually he quits and takes a job in an old library in Fukushima Prefecture. Reality begins to falter - and the narrator has to ask himself what binds him to this world.
Blurb/Dumont
2nd place: “Mindful murder through conscious nutrition” by Karsten Dusse
Karsten Dusse is no stranger to his “Mindful Murder” books. In the fifth volume, he skilfully combines crime thriller elements with the common theme of healthy eating. The new book shows that this can be extremely exciting. You can find the meeting here.
Thanks to mindfulness, Björn Diemel has found his center. However, his problem areas are now the edges of his body, which are moving further and further away from the center. Björn realizes that resting within oneself and lack of movement are two fundamentally different things.
Blurb/Heyne
3rd place: “The Invitation” by Sebastian Fitzek
Sebastian Fitzek is an old friend on the bestseller lists and is considered Germany's most famous thriller author. Fitzek caused the longest queue at the 2023 Frankfurt Book Fair. His books are page-turners that you can happily devour in one sitting, as the suspense curve in the thrillers is extremely high. This is also the case in “The Invitation”. After reading it, many readers ask themselves whether they would like to go to a class reunion or would rather stay at home.
Looking forward to a long weekend in the Alps, Marla Lindberg accepts the invitation to a class reunion. But shortly after arriving she realizes: There is only one thing more deadly than leaving the remote mountain hotel at night in the icy snow. Not to do it...
Blurb/Droemer
4th place: “Monster” by Nele Neuhaus
Shortly after its release, Nele Neuhaus' “Monster” went straight to number 1 on the Spiegel bestseller list. It went down a few notches, but she's still in the top five in week ten, which is great. Your Taunus crime novels about Bodenstein and Kirchhoff have already reached their eleventh book. In the current crime thriller, a rejected asylum seeker finds himself in the crosshairs of the investigation. But it's not that simple. Nele Neuhaus reveals in an interview with Ippen.Media what else is planned. You should also read these four other crime novels by Nele Neuhaus.
The body of a young girl is found in the field. The 16-year-old Larissa was strangled. Through a DNA analysis, a rejected Afghan asylum seeker, who was initially sentenced to prison but was released after a detention complaint, is targeted by the police. He is able to go into hiding before Pia and Bodenstein can talk to the man.
Blurb/Ullstein
5th place: “Late Life” by Bernhard Schlink
Bernhard Schlink became famous worldwide in 1995 with his novel “The Reader”. The film adaptation with Kate Winslet was also well received by audiences. In the current novel, the best-selling author addresses the topic of aging and the challenges that come with it. More about the book here.
Martin, seventy-six, is happy. His young wife is successful as a painter, he writes, looks after his six-year-old son David and takes care of the kitchen and garden. When he learns that he only has a few months to live, his life begins to fall apart.
Blurb/Diogenes
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Spiegel bestseller: places 6-10
Rebecca Yarro's "Iron Flame - Kissed by Flames"
Bonnie Garmus “A Question of Chemistry”
Sabine Thiesler “Romeo’s Death”
Daniel Kehlmann “Light Play”
Iris Wolff “Gleades”