list of best-selling books
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List of Popular BooksTRANSCRIPT
List of best-selling booksThis page provides lists of best-selling single-volume books and book series to date and in any language. "Best-selling" refers to the estimated number of copies sold of each book, rather than the number of books printed or currently owned. Comics and textbooks are not included in this list. The books are listed according to the highest sales estimate as reported in reliable, independent sources. This list is incomplete, since there are many books such as Don Quixote, The Three Musketeers, The Adventures of Pinocchio, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and the individual Harry Potter books which are commonly cited as "best-selling books" yet have no reliable sales figures. There is a separate section on this page for books known to have sold over 10 million copies, yet do not have figures for their final sales data.
List of best-selling single-volume booksMore than 100 million copiesBook First Original Approximat Author(s) publishe language e sales d Charles Dickens J. R. R. Tolkien Antoine de SaintExupry J. R. R. Tolkien Cao Xueqin Agatha Christie English English 1859 1954 1955 1943 200 million[1] 150 million[2]
A Tale of Two Cities The Lord of the Rings
The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince)
French
140 million[3]
The Hobbit / Hong lou meng (Dream of the Red Chamber/The Story of the Stone) And Then There Were None
English
1937 1754[5] 1791 1939
100 million[4]
Chinese
100 million[6]
English
100 million[7]
[edit] Between 50 million and 100 million copiesBook The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe She: A History of Adventure The Da Vinci Code Think and Grow Rich The Catcher in the Rye O Alquimista (The Alchemist) Steps to Christ Lolita Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre (Heidi's Years of Wandering and Learning) The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care Anne of Green Gables Author(s) First Original Approximat publishe language e sales d English English English English English 1950 1887 2003 1937 1951 85 million[8] 83 million[9] 80 million[10] 70 million[11] 65 million[12] 65 million[13] 60 million[14] 50 million[15]
C. S. Lewis H. Rider Haggard Dan Brown Napoleon Hill J. D. Salinger Paulo Coelho
Portuguese 1988 1892 1955
Ellen G. White English Vladimir Nabokov English
Johanna Spyri German Dr. Benjamin Spock Lucy Maud Montgomery
1880
50 million[16]
English English
1946 1908
50 million[17] 50 million[18]
Black Beauty: His Grooms and Companions: The autobiography Anna Sewell of a horse Il Nome della Rosa (The Name of Umberto Eco the Rose) The Eagle Has Landed Watership Down Jack Higgins
English
1877
50 million[19]
Italian English
1980 1975 1972
50 million[20] 50 million[21] 50 million[22]
Richard Adams English
[edit] Between 30 million and 50 million copiesBook The Hite Report Charlotte's Web The Ginger Man The Tale of Peter Rabbit Author(s) Shere Hite E.B. White; illustrated by Garth Williams J. P. Donleavy Beatrix Potter First Original Approximate publishe language sales d English English English English English English English 1976 1952 1955 1902 2007 1970 1899 48 million[23] 45 million[24] 45 million[25] 45 million[26] 44 million[28] 40 million[29] 40 million[17] 40 million[30] 39 million[31] 36.4 million copies in USSR[32] 36.0 million copies in USSR[32] 35 million[33] 35 million[34] 34 million[35] 30 million[36]
Harry Potter and the Deathly J. K. Rowling Hallows[27] Jonathan Livingston Seagull A Message to Garcia Sofies verden (Sophie's World) Angels and Demons Richard Bach Elbert Hubbard Jostein Gaarder Dan Brown
Norwegian 1991 English 2000 1932
(Kak zakalyalas' stal'; How the Nikolai Ostrovsky Russian Steel Was Tempered) (Voyna i mir; War and Peace) Le avventure di Pinocchio. Storia di un burattino (The Adventures of Pinocchio) You Can Heal Your Life Kane and Abel Leo Tolstoy Russian
1869
Carlo Collodi Louise Hay Jeffrey Archer
Italian English English Dutch
1881 1984 1979 1947
Het Achterhuis (The Diary of a Young Girl, The Diary of Anne Frank Anne Frank)
Book In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do? To Kill a Mockingbird Valley of the Dolls Gone with the Wind Cien Aos de Soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude) The Purpose Driven Life The Thorn Birds The Revolt of Mamie Stover
Author(s) Charles M. Sheldon Harper Lee Jacqueline Susann
First Original Approximate publishe language sales d English English English 1896 1960 1966 1936 1967 2002 1977 1951 2005 1969 30 million[17] 30 million[37] 30 million[17] 30 million[38] 30 million[39][40] 30 million[41] 30 million[42] 30 million[43] 30 million[44] 30 million[45]
Margaret Mitchell English Gabriel Garca Mrquez Rick Warren Colleen McCullough Spanish English English
William Bradford English Huie Swedish English
Mn som hatar kvinnor (The Stieg Larsson Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ) The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eric Carle
[edit] Between 20 million and 30 million copiesBook The Late, Great Planet Earth Author(s) Hal Lindsey, C. C. Carlson Original language English English English English English English First Approximat publishe e sales d 1970 1998 1908 1949 1989 1993 28 million[46] 26 million[47] 25 million[48] 25 million[49] 25 million[50] 23 million[51]
Who Moved My Cheese? Spencer Johnson The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame Nineteen Eighty-Four The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People The Celestine Prophecy George Orwell Stephen R. Covey James Redfield
Book The Hunger Games The Godfather Love Story (Wolf Totem) The Happy Hooker: My Own Story Jaws Love You Forever The Women's Room What to Expect When You're Expecting The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft
Author(s) Suzanne Collins Mario Puzo Erich Segal Jiang Rong Xaviera Hollander Peter Benchley Robert Munsch Marilyn French Arlene Eisenberg and Heidi Murkoff Mark Twain Sue Townsend Thor Heyerdahl
Original language English English English Chinese English English English English English English English Norwegian
First Approximat publishe e sales d 2008 1969 1970 2004 1971 1974 1986 1977 1984 1885 1982 1950 23 million[52] 21 million[53] 21 million[54] 20 million[55] 20 million[56] 20 million[57] 20 million[58] 20 million[59] 20 million[60] 20 million[61] 20 million[62] 20 million[63]
[edit] Between 10 million and 20 million copiesBook Original First Approximate Author(s) languag publishe sales e d Maurice Sendak Rhonda Byrne Erica Jong William P. Young English English English English 1963 2006 1973 2007 19 million[64] 19 million[65] 18 million[66] 18 million[67]
Where the Wild Things Are The Secret Fear of Flying The Shack
Book
Original First Approximate Author(s) languag publishe sales e d Margaret English Wise Brown Michael Ende German 1947 1979 1994 1975 16 million[68] 16 million[69] 15 million[70] 15 million[71]
Goodnight Moon Die unendliche Geschichte (The Neverending Story) Guess How Much I Love You Shgun
Sam English McBratney James Clavell Janette Sebring Lowrey English
The Poky Little Puppy The Pillars of the Earth How to Win Friends and Influence People Das Parfum (Perfume) The Grapes of Wrath The Horse Whisperer
English
1942 1989 1936 1985 1939 1995 2001 1979 1997 1933 1994
15 million[72] 15 million[73] 15 million[74] 15 million[75] 15 million[76] 15 million[77] 15 million[78] 14 million[79] 14 million[80] 14 million[81] 14 million[82]
Ken Follett English Dale Carnegie Patrick Sskind John Steinbeck Nicholas Evans English German English English
La sombra del viento (The Shadow Carlos Ruiz Spanish of the Wind) Zafn The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Tuesdays with Morrie God's Little Acre Va' dove ti porta il cuore (Follow Your Heart) Douglas Adams Mitch Albom Erskine Caldwell Susanna Tamaro English English English Italian
Book The Outsiders
Original First Approximate Author(s) languag publishe sales e d S. E. Hinton English 1967 1964 13 million[83] 13 million[84] 12 million[85] 12 million[86] 12 million[87] 12 million[88] 12 million[89] 12 million[90]
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Roald Dahl English
, Noruwei no Mori (Norwegian Wood)Peyton Place Dune La Peste (The Plague) (No Longer Human) The Naked Ape
Haruki Murakami Grace Metalious Frank Herbert Albert Camus Osamu Dazai Desmond Morris Robert James Waller
Japanese 1987 English English French 1956 1965 1947
Japanese 1948 English 1968
The Bridges of Madison County
English
1992
12 million[91]
Ein Psychologe erlebt das Viktor Konzentrationslager (Man's Search Frankl for Meaning) Dante Divina Commedia (Divine Comedy) Alighieri Things Fall Apart The Prophet The Exorcist The Gruffalo Chinua Achebe Khalil Gibran
German
1946
12 million[92] 11-12 million (during 20th century)[93] 11 million[94] 11 million[95] 11 million[96] 10.5 million[97]
Italian
1304
English English
1958 1923 1971 1999
William English Peter Blatty Julia English
Book
Original First Approximate Author(s) languag publishe sales e d Donaldson
Catch-22 Eye of the Needle A Brief History of Time The Cat in the Hat The Lovely Bones Wild Swans Santa Evita Un di Velt Hot Geshvign (Night) The Kite Runner (Confucius from the Heart) The Total Woman (Knowledge-value Revolution) (Problems in China's Socialist Economy) What Color is Your Parachute?
Joseph Heller
English
1961 1978 1988 1957 2002 1992 1995 1958 2003 2006 1974
10 million[98] 10 million[99] 10 million[100] 10 million[101] 10 million[102] 10 million[103] 10 million[104] 10 million[105] 10 million[106] 10 million[107] 10 million[108] 10 million[109] 10 million[110]
Ken Follett English Stephen Hawking Dr. Seuss Alice Sebold English English English
Jung Chang English Toms Eloy Spanish Martnez Elie Wiesel Yiddish Khaled Hosseini Yu Dan Marabel Morgan Taichi Sakaiya English Chinese English
Japanese 1985 1979
Xue Muqiao Chinese Richard Nelson Bolles Pierre Dukan Alex
English
1970
10 million[111]
The Dukan Diet The Joy of Sex
French English
2000 1972
10 million[112] 10 million[113]
Book
Original First Approximate Author(s) languag publishe sales e d Comfort
The Gospel According to Peanuts A Wrinkle in Time Life of Pi
Robert L. Short Madeleine L'Engle
English English
1965 1962 2001
10 million[114] 10 million[115] 10 million[116]
Yann Martel English
[edit] No reliable sales figuresNote: These books do not have reliable sales data; however, there is evidence that they have sold at least 10 million copies, and therefore belong on this list.Book Don Quixote Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Author(s) Miguel de Cervantes J.K. Rowling Original language Spanish English English English English English English First Note published s 1605 1997 1998 1999 2000 2003 2005 2005 2006 2007[117]
[118] [119]
Harry Potter and the Chamber of J.K. Rowling Secrets Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire J.K. Rowling J.K. Rowling
[118] [119]
[118] [119]
[118] [119]
Harry Potter and the Order of the J.K. Rowling Phoenix Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Twilight New Moon Eclipse J.K. Rowling
[118]
[118] [120]
Stephenie Meyer English Stephenie Meyer English Stephenie Meyer English
[121]
[121]
[121]
Book
Author(s)
Original language
First Note published s 2008[121]
Breaking Dawn
Stephenie Meyer English
[edit] List of best-selling book series[edit] At least 100 million copiesBook series Author Original No. of First Approxima languag installment published te sales e s English 7 1997-2007 450 million[122] 300 million[123] 300 million[124] 260 million[125] 250 million[126] 250 million[127] 200 million[128] 200 million[129]
Harry Potter
J.K.Rowling
Goosebumps
R. L. Stine Erle Stanley Gardner Stan and Jan Berenstain
English
1992 62 + spin off 1997 series present 82 over 300 185 400 24 1933 1970 1962 present 1979 1998 1983 2003 1949 present 1930 present
Perry Mason Berenstain Bears Choose Your Own Adventure Sweet Valley High Noddy
English English
various authors English Francine Pascal English and ghostwriters Enid Blyton English
Nancy Drew
various authors as Carolyn English Keene
175
The Railway Series Rev. W. Awdry, (spawned Thomas Christopher the Tank Engine & Awdry Friends) San-Antonio Frdric Dard
English
41
1945 2011 1949 2001
200 million[130] 200 million[131]
French
173
Book series The Baby-sitters Club Star Wars Peter Rabbit Chicken Soup for the Soul Frank Merriwell Dirk Pitt (Musashi) American Girl The Chronicles of Narnia
Author
Original No. of First Approxima languag installment published te sales e s English 335 over 300 6 1986 present 1977 present 1902 1930 1997 present 1896 1973 present 1935 1939 1986 present 7 1949 1954 1971 present 172 million[132] 160 million[133] 150 million[134] 130 million[135] 125 million[136] 120 million[137] 120 million[138] 120 million[139] 120 million[140] 120 million[141]
Ann Martin
various authors English Beatrix Potter Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen Gilbert Patten Clive Cussler Eiji Yoshikawa English
English
105
English English
209 19
Japanese 7
various authors English C. S. Lewis Roger Hargreaves, Adam Hargreaves English
Mr. Men
English
43
Twilight
Stephenie Meyer English
4+1 2005 Novella + 1 2011 Guide 1963 present 14 60 1953 1966 1954
116 million[121] 110 million[142] 100 million[143] 100
Clifford the Big Red Norman Bridwell English Dog James Bond Martine Ian Fleming Gilbert English French
Book series
Author Delahaye, Marcel Marlier
Original No. of First Approxima languag installment published te sales e s present million[144]
[edit] Between 50 million and 100 million copiesBook series Author Original No. of First Approxima languag installmen publishe te sales e ts d Dutch English English 119 114 12 3+3 picture books 265 7 1955 present 1989 present 19762003 19452001 1949 1992 2007 present 1926 1928 1992 present 2011 2012 1996 2007 1999 2006 85 million[145] 80 million[146] 80 million[147]
Nijntje (Miffy) Fear Street The Vampire Chronicles Pippi Longstocking
Dick Bruna R. L. Stine Anne Rice
Astrid Lindgren
Swedish
80 million[148]
OSS 117 Diary of a Wimpy Kid Winnie-the-Pooh Magic Tree House series
Jean Bruce Jeff Kinney A. A. Milne; illustrated by E. H. Shepard Mary Pope Osborne
French English
75 million[149] 75 million[150]
English
2
70 million[151]
English English English
43 3 16 13
70 million[152] 70 million[153] 65 million[154] 65 million[155]
Fifty Shades of Grey E. L. James Left Behind Tim LaHaye, Jerry B. Jenkins
A Series of Lemony Snicket English Unfortunate Events aka Daniel
Book series
Author Handler
Original No. of First Approxima languag installmen publishe te sales e ts d
Little House on the Laura Ingalls Prairie Wilder Jack Reacher Discworld Where's Wally?[159] Millennium Trilogy Lee Child Terry Pratchett
English English English
12 16 39 13 3
1932 2006 1997 present 1983 present 1987 present 2005 2007 1992 present 1927 present 1904 1979 1914 1995 2008 2010
60 million[156] 60 million[157] 55 million[158] 55 million[160] 53 million[161]
Martin Handford English Stieg Larsson Swedish
Men Are from Mars, Women Are from John Gray Venus The Hardy Boys various authors as Franklin W. Dixon
English
15
50 million[162]
English
190
50 million[163]
various authors The Bobbsey Twins as Laura Lee Hope Tarzan Edgar Rice Burroughs
English
72
50 million[164]
English
26 3
50 million[165] 50 million[166]
The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins English trilogy
[edit] Between 30 million and 50 million copiesBook series A Child's First Library Of Learning Author No. of First Original Approxima installmen publishe language te sales ts d 29 1980 45 million[167]
various authors English
Book series
Author
No. of First Original Approxima installmen publishe language te sales ts d English 30 1992 1990 2013 1992 1997 present 1997 present 1955 1962 1958 present 2002 2011 1950 1967 1955 1999 19822012 44 million[168] 44 million[169] 42 million[170] 40 million[171] 40 million[172] 36.52 million[173] 35 million[174] 33 million[175] 30 million[176] 30 million[177] 30 million[178]
Junie B. Jones
Barbara Park
The Wheel of Time
Robert Jordan, Brandon English Sanderson Michael Connelly Lee Child Jo Nesb English English
14
Harry Bosch Jack Reacher Harry Hole (Pictureand-story book Railway Guerilla) Paddington Bear The Inheritance Cycle (Tokugawa Ieyasu) Ramona The Dark Tower
15 15
Norwegian 9
original author: Chinese Liu Zhixia Michael Bond Christopher Paolini Sohachi Yamaoka English English Japanese
10
70 4 26 8 8
Beverly Cleary English Stephen King English
[edit] Between 20 million and 30 million copiesBook series Author Sachiko Kiyono Original No. of First Approximat languag installme publish e sales e nts ed Japanese 25 1976 2006 28 million[179]
(Nontan)
Book series
Author
Original No. of First Approximat languag installme publish e sales e nts ed 1941 27 million[180] present 1979 2009
Curious George
Hans Augusto Rey English and Margret Rey Kaoru Kurimoto Dav Pilkey
58
(Guin Saga) Captain Underpants
Japanese 118 English Japanese 43
26 million[181]
1997 26 million[182] present 1978 26 million[183] present
(Mike-neko Jir Holmes series) Akagawa Robert Kiyosaki Sharon Lechter Henning Mankell
Rich Dad, Poor Dad
English
18
1997-
26 million[184]
Kurt Wallander
Swedish
10
1991 2002 1982 1989 1998 2007 1968 1990
25 million[185] 25 million[186] 25 million[187] 24.4 million, only bunkobon[188]
Sagaen om Isfolket (The Margit Legend of the Ice People) Sandemo The Sword of Truth Terry Goodkind
Norwegia 47 n English 12
Shtar (Onihei Hankach) Ikenami Brain Quest series various authors
Japanese 24
English
1992 23.7 present million[189] 1987 23 million[190] present 2003 22 million[191] present 1963 1966 21.5 million[192]
(Kaiketsu Zorori) Yutaka Hara Japanese 41 South Beach Diet (Ryoma ga Yuku) Arthur Agatston Rytar Shiba English 6
Japanese 5
Book series (Zukkoke Sanningumi) Shannara Redwall Maisy Dragonlance (Genma Taisen) (The Gate of Youth) The Foundation Trilogy Horrible Histories Artemis Fowl Rainbow Magic Morgan Kane The Southern Vampire Mysteries
Author Masamoto Nasu Terry Brooks Brian Jacques Lucy Cousins various authors Kazumasa Hirai Hiroyuki Itsuki Isaac Asimov
Original No. of First Approximat languag installme publish e sales e nts ed Japanese 50 English English English English 20 22 23 1978 2004 21 million[193]
1977 21 million[194] present 1986 20 million[195] present 1990 20 million[70] present
more than 1984 20 million[196] 150 present 1979 1983 20 million[197]
Japanese 20 Japanese English 3[199] 24 8 80+
1970 20 million[198] present 1950 1953 20 million[200]
Terry Deary English Eoin Colfer Daisy Meadows Louis Masterson Charlaine Harris English English
1993 20 million[201] present 2001 2012 20 million[202]
2003 20 million[203] present 1966 2001 2013 20 million[204] 20 million[205]
Norwegia 90 n English 13
[edit] Between 15 million and 20 million copiesBook series Author No. of First Original Approxima installment publishe language te sales s d 6 1979 2008 1996 present 1982 present 2005 2009 1995 2000 1996 present 16 million[211]
The Hitchhiker's Douglas Adams, Guide to the plus a final book by English Galaxy Eoin Colfer Bridget Jones The Riftwar Cycle Helen Fielding Raymond E. Feist English English English English
2 25 5 3 Currently 5. 7 Planned.
15 million[212] 15 million[213] 15 million[214] 15 million[217] 15 million[220]
Percy Jackson & Rick Riordan the Olympians His Dark Materials A Song of Ice and Fire Philip Pullman
George R. R. Martin English
NotesThe Perry Rhodan series, the Jerry Cotton series has sold over 300 million copies, but most of these were in magazine format.[222] The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien is included in the list as a single entry because it was written by Tolkien as a single book.
List of best-selling regularly updated books
Book American Spelling Book (Webster's Dictionary)
Author(s) Noah Webster
Original language
First Approximate published sales 100 million[17]
English 1783
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
MerriamWebster
Englis h 1898
Between 30 million and 50 million copiesBook Roget's Thesaurus Author(s) Peter Mark Roget Original language English First Approximate published sales 1852 1948 40 million[230] 30 million[235]
Oxford Advanced Learner's A. S. Hornby English Dictionary