YEREVAN, OCTOBER 21, ARMENPRESS. This week’s YEREVAN BESTSELLER project of ARMENPRESS is topped by “Instead of Unread Books” by Armen Sargsyan. It is the author’s first book.

“The Book of Lamentations'' by St. Gregory of Narek published by “MHM” and “Zangak” publishing houses is ranked 2nd. The mystical poem "Book of Lamentations" has been translated into many languages and has played a significant role in the development of the Armenian literary language. In 95 grace-filled prayers St. Gregory draws on the exquisite potential of the Classical Armenian language to translate the pure sighs of the broken and contrite heart into an offering of words pleasing to God. The result is an edifice of faith for the ages, unique in Christian literature for its rich imagery, its subtle theology, its Biblical erudition, and the sincere immediacy of its communication with God.

Mark Aren’s “Where wild roses bloom” comes next. This is the second novel of the author which describes the inner world of an Armenophobic Turkish former serviceman, when he, already an old man, suddenly hears a lullaby song that reminds him of his mother and later finds out that the song is in Armenian: realizing his parents were Armenians. The same former serviceman spends his remaining life searching the graves of his parents, without knowing that it was a misunderstanding.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s collection titled “Stories” is ranked 4th. The collection comprises several famous novels of the Russian writer.

“Art of Devotion or Ode to Rose” by photographer and writer Edgar Harutyunyan is ranked 5th in the list.

“The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde is ranked 6th. It was first published complete in July 1890. It is a philosophical novel.  Dorian Gray is the subject of a full-length portrait in oil by Basil Hallward, an artist who is impressed and infatuated by Dorian's beauty; he believes that Dorian’s beauty is responsible for the new mode in his art as a painter.

Paulo Coelho’s “The Spy” is ranked 7th. The Spy brings to life the true story of Mata Hari, the famous courtesan and accused spy who was executed for treason one hundred years ago. Mata Hari was a dancer who shocked and delighted audiences during the First World War, and she became a confidant to some of the era’s richest and most powerful men. She dared to liberate herself from the moralism and provincial customs of the early twentieth century, but she ultimately paid for it with her life. As she waited for her execution in a Paris prison, one of her last requests was for a pen and some paper to write letters.

“The Fault in Our Stars” is the 8th novel by author John Green, published in January 2012. The title is inspired by Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, in which the nobleman Cassius says to Brutus: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in ourselves, that we are underlings." 

Svetlana Alexievich’s “War's Unwomanly Face” is back in the list and is ranked 9th. This book is a confession, a document and a record of people's memory. More than 200 women speak in it, describing how young girls, who dreamed of becoming brides, became soldiers in 1941. The author has received a Nobel Prize for literature in 2015.

“A Room of One's Own” by Virginia Woolf concludes the list. It is an extended essay first published on 24 October 1929. The essay was based on a series of lectures she delivered at Newnham College and Girton College, two women's colleges at Cambridge University in October 1928. While this extended essay in fact employs a fictional narrator and narrative to explore women both as writers of and characters in fiction, the manuscript for the delivery of the series of lectures, titled "Women and Fiction", which was published in Forum March 1929, and hence the essay, are considered non-fiction.

To complete the bestseller list, the following bookshops have participated in the survey: “Narek” (51-91-36), “Bookinist” (53-74-13), “Antares” (091-90-01-23) and “Zangak” (23-26-49).