Gaston, Tome 23 tops French sales

The comic book Gaston, Tome 23: Des boum et des paf by Trondheim and Delaf sold 42,591 copies in the week ending October 25, 2026, becoming the top-selling book in France. It outperformed Sarah Knafo's Le Casse du siècle by 23,198 copies, ending Rebecca Yarros' brief reign at the top.

Sarah Knafo holds second place

Sarah Knafo's Le Casse du siècle remained in second place with 19,393 copies sold. The book has now sold over 300,000 copies in total since its publication, according to Edistat, a French publishing statistics agency.

Freida McFadden completes the podium

Freida McFadden's Le Boyfriend, translated by Karine Xaragai, sold 17,610 copies, bringing its total sales to 57,431. The author's other book, Chère Debbie, sold 14,060 copies and remained in fourth place.

Rebecca Yarros' sales drop

Rebecca Yarros' The Empyrean: Threshing Day dropped from first to eighth place, selling only 9,144 copies in the week ending October 25. This was less than half of the 23,024 copies sold the previous week.

Comics gain prominence in top ten

Four comic books appeared in the top ten best-selling titles for the first time. Mortelle Adèle et les labyrinthes de papier by Mr Tan and Diane Le Feyer rose to fifth place with 11,685 copies sold, surpassing Résurrection: Le Retour de la France éternelle by Philippe de Villiers.

New comics enter top ten

Elles: Intemporelle(s) and Brume, Tome 5: La Cité d'Ys joined the top ten, with the latter entering directly at tenth place with 7,916 copies sold. This marked a shift in the rankings, with comics now occupying four of the top ten spots.

Market shows weekly growth

The French book market saw an 8% increase in volume sales from October 19 to 25, totaling 4,972 million copies. This was accompanied by a 5% rise in turnover, reaching 62,434 million euros, according to Edistat.

Annual sales still down

Despite the weekly recovery, the French book market recorded an 18% decline in volume and 17% drop in value compared to the same week in 2025. Specialized bookstores accounted for 52% of sales, with large food stores showing the strongest weekly growth at 23%.