"Twilight" overtakes "Harry Potter"

August 4, 2009

Not in terms of total sales – when it comes to those, the boy wizard still reigns supreme. J.K. Rowling's seven-book Harry Potter series has sold 142 million copies (and that's just in the US) while Stephenie Meyer's four-book teen vampire series "Twilight" has had sales of about 40 million.

But in terms of tenacity on the bestseller list, USA Today is reporting that "Twilight" has "smashed records that until now belonged to J.K. Rowling." This week, the Twilight series holds the No. 4, 5, 6 and 7 spots on USA Today's list.

"The 'Twilight' books have stayed in the list's top 10 for 52 consecutive weeks. They held the first four spots a total of 13 weeks in the past year," reports USA Today. Overall, "Rowling can't match Meyer's control of the list."