Harry Potter conquers bestseller list - again

Fictional boy wizard Harry Potter the hero of the record-breaking children's books has stormed back to the top of the British…

Fictional boy wizard Harry Potter the hero of the record-breaking children's books has stormed back to the top of the British bestseller list.

Paperback editions of the J K Rowling books have become the five best-selling books in Britain, according to data released today by Whitaker BookTrack, which monitors all book sales in Britain.

Book one, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stonewas back in the number one slot almost five years after it first hit the shelves. It sold 53,841 copies last week alone.

The second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and fourth book Harry Potter and the Goblet of Firewere in second and third position while book three, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkabanis in fifth.

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A special edition of the first book, which the forthcoming film is based, is in fourth spot.

The Harry Potter phenomenon, which has captured the imagination of millions of children and adults around the world, reached fever pitch on Sunday with the glittering premiere of the movie in London.

The film, titled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stonein the United States, opens in Britain and the US on November 16th.

The Potter books, about an orphaned boy who finds out he is a wizard, have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, topping adult bestseller lists as well as children's.

They knocked comedian Billy Connolly's eponymous biography by his wife Pamela Stephenson off the top spot and into sixth position.

Chef Jamie Oliver's Happy Days with the Naked Chef, Dave Pelzer's Lost Boy: A Foster Child's Search for the Love of a Family, Ian Rankin's crime thriller The Fallsand Terry Pratchett's The Truth: Discworld Srounded out the top ten.

The BookTrack list is based on data of weekly book sales from about 6,000 British outlets and Internet retailers. It includes all categories of books for both adults and children - paperback, hardcover, fiction and non-fiction.