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Children's fantasy and thrillers lead the way on Oxfam's second-hand best-selling books list. Asked to list their best-selling authors, Oxfam?s bookstores revealed demand for a diverse cross-section of literature.

Dan Brown and Philip Pullman are currently going head-to-head in the charity?s shops as thrillers and children?s fantasy novels drive Britain?s used book sales.

Thrillers

However, thriller and crime writers, such as Brown, Alexander McCall Smith and Ian Rankin, race off the shelves along with Pullman, Harry Potter author JK Rowling and the master of fantasy: JRR Tolkien.

The most popular second-hand authors are:

1 - Philip Pullman - (Oxford-based author famed for his His Dark Materials trilogy)

2 - Dan Brown - (Author of the worldwide best-seller The Da Vinci Code)

3 - Alexander McCall Smith - (Creator of The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series)

4 - JK Rowling - (Creator of the Harry Potter publishing phenomenon)

5 - Ian Rankin - (Edinburgh-based creator of the Inspector Rebus thrillers)

6 - Terry Pratchett - (Creator of the ongoing Discworld fantasy novel series ? and author of children?s books beyond that fantasy series.)

7 - JRR Tolkien - (Legendary writer of Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion and the quite fabulous early adventures of Bilbo Baggins: The Hobbit)

8 - Stephen King - (Undisputed king of horror with Carrie, Salem?s Lot and The Shining just being a handful of his macabre offerings.)

9 - John Grisham - (Author of The Firm, The Pelican Brief and many other thriller favourites)

10 - Bill Bryson - (American writer whose massive volumes include Notes From A Small Island (about Britain), the recent A Short History of Nearly Everything and Down Under - who puts his travels into print)

Second Hand

Past Booker prize-winners - such as Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan and Margaret Atwood - have a respectable following from second-hand readers, but Britons are just as likely to enter an Oxfam store and buy titles by Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy, CS Lewis (The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe books, Out of the Silent Planet)or PG Wodehouse that continue to stand the test of time.

There is also a strong regional bias with Fife-based writer Iain Banks, author of Scottish themed novels like The Crow Road and The Wasp Factory, particularly popular in Oxfam?s Scottish bookstores. In Oxford, there is a strong demand for local authors such as Mark Haddon and Colin Dexter as well as Lewis and Tolkien, who worked at the university.

Murray Winters, business development manager at Oxfam, said: ?There is huge demand for the likes of Brown, Rankin, Pullman and Rowling. They sell extremely quickly and are becoming more and more popular.

?There is also a market for the classics. For every three Pullmans sold, something by the Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy or Charles Dickens also sells. Readers come to our bookstores because there is a wide selection of genres on offer ? we have the best-sellers but also titles that have been out of print for decades or simply cannot be found in mainstream shops.?

Unprecedented Demand

Oxfam continues to enjoy unprecedented demand for second-hand books from both readers wanting popular authors to collectors searching for rare, out of print and antique titles. It raised more than ?14 million from book sales in 2003 and sales continue to grow strongly. The charity?s chain of 70 specialist second-hand bookstores are always happy to accept donations of good condition books ? so maybe it?s time to have a little clearout ? it?s an easy way to give to a good cause ? and helps make reading more accessible to all.

Oxfam GB is a development, relief, and campaigning organisation dedicated to finding lasting solutions to poverty and suffering around the world. There are more than 750 high street charity shops under the Oxfam banner across the UK.

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