Unorthodox Book Tops Christmas Chart

As the run-up to Christmas begins, an unusual title has joined the race for this year's holiday best-seller - a book rejecting religion. The God Delusion, by top intellectual and scientist Richard Dawkins, has been almost continuously resting at number one on the leading online retailer's books chart for the past two weeks, defending the position from the many celebrity-fronted titles that were expected to take the top spot in the run-up to Christmas.

An academic argument for atheism and a scrutiny of nearly all major world religions, The God Delusion's massive popularity has made it the site's best-selling science title this year, and is now in the running for the year's top Christmas book.

"Although 'popular religion' titles like The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail have done particularly well this year, it's quite rare for such a serious scientific or philosophical book to top the UK best-seller charts," comments Kes Nielsen, Head Books Buyer of Amazon.co.uk.

"This is an especially interesting trend considering that, given the UK's obsession with all things celebrity, the many recent autobiographies of famous faces were expected to dominate the charts in the run-up to Christmas. It seems as though many people are bored with the superficial world of stardom that's fascinated us for so long and prefer substance over style."

Amazon.co.uk's top five books chart:

1. The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins
2. The Sound of Laughter - Peter Kay
2. Cook With Jamie: My Guide to Making You a Better Cook - Jamie Oliver
4. The Gospel According to Chris Moyles: The Story of a Man and His Mouth - Chris Moyles
5. Humble Pie - Gordon Ramsay