▁of ▁the ▁country ' s ▁top ▁ten ▁best - s elling ▁books ▁of ▁the ▁year . ▁Br ising r ▁deb uted ▁at ▁number ▁one ▁on ▁USA ▁Tod ays ▁top ▁ 1 5 0 ▁best s ellers ▁list . ▁It ▁stayed ▁on ▁the ▁list ▁for ▁ 2 5 ▁consecutive ▁weeks ▁until ▁March ▁ 3 , ▁ 2 0 0 9 . ▁ ▁Crit ical ▁reception ▁Br ising r ▁received ▁mixed ▁to ▁positive ▁reviews , ▁with ▁critical ▁review ers ▁comment ing ▁on ▁the ▁book ' s ▁length ▁and ▁Pa ol ini ' s ▁growing ▁m atur ity ▁in ▁his ▁treatment ▁of ▁characters . ▁David ▁Dur ham ▁of ▁the ▁Washington ▁Post ▁gave ▁the ▁novel ▁a ▁moder ately ▁negative ▁review , ▁pra ising ▁Pa ol ini ▁for ▁his ▁stream lined ▁pro se , ▁but ▁said ▁the ▁novel ▁los es ▁focus ▁in ▁the ▁middle . ▁He ▁added , ▁though , ▁that ▁Br ising r ▁" re connect s ▁with ▁the ▁core ▁elements ▁that ▁animate ▁E rag on ' s ▁tale " ▁toward ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁the ▁book , ▁and ▁Pa ol ini ▁shows ▁growing ▁m atur ity ▁during ▁some ▁" qu iet " ▁moments ▁in ▁Br ising r , ▁although ▁Dur ham ▁noted ▁these ▁parts ▁could ▁bore ▁younger ▁readers . ▁Dur ham ▁also ▁found ▁that ▁Pa ol ini ' s ▁new ▁characters ▁are ▁original , ▁and ▁that ▁Pa ol ini ▁added ▁depth ▁to ▁some ▁characters ▁from ▁the ▁previous ▁nov els ▁in ▁the ▁In herit ance ▁Cy cle . ▁In ▁contrast , ▁She ena ▁Mc F ar land ▁of