Complex sentence: The Galileo Affair was the first book in the 1632 series that appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover fiction and was listed for a period of 2 weeks during April 2004, peaking at number 27.
Split into simpler sentences: The Galileo Affair was the first book in the 1632 series to be listed on the New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover fiction. During April 2004, this book was able to stay on the NY Times list for a period of 2 weeks while peaking at number 27.