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Top 10 Most Read Books in the World
- Thread starter Steerpike
- Start date
Aidan of the tavern
Dark Lord
Haahaha, I've read a grand total of 2 of them.
- Thread starter
- #3
5 1/2 for me.
Funny thing is, for all the great fantasy literature that is out there, what we see here, apart from Lord of the Rings, is Harry Potter and Twilight. No surprise, I suppose.
Funny thing is, for all the great fantasy literature that is out there, what we see here, apart from Lord of the Rings, is Harry Potter and Twilight. No surprise, I suppose.
Aidan of the tavern
Dark Lord
Oh dear. I don't know how long Twilight will stay there though, but LOTR should still be there in 50 years.
- Thread starter
- #5
Yeah, I think Twilight will be a generational thing rather than something the stands the test of time. The same might be true for Potter as well, though I think it will have more staying power generally. I wonder how much of Lord of the Rings being on there is due to the movies? I think it belongs on any fantasy must-read list, but I wonder how many people worldwide were actually reading it before the movies came out. I know it was still a lot, but I wonder if enough to be in the top ten.
It appears that it would. As of 2001 (when Fellowship came out), it had sold an estimated 100M copies, out of today's total figure of 150M.
Well, maybe it would. Kinda sorta. One problem is that, if you blow the table up, you discover that the figures given are for "the past 50 years"—and gives LotR a sales figure of 103M during that time, which means that c. 47M copies would have had to have been sold more than fifty years ago… which is certainly not the case. (The actual figure, as of 1962, is rather closer to 150k, from what I can determine.)
The problem is that there is no reliable data on total sales of hardly any book—astonishingly, not even those written and published recently. And by "recently," I mean such things as the Harry Potter and Twilight books. (And you can imagine how surprised I was to discover that.)
There's also the problem of "sold" as opposed to "printed." (We'll ignore whether or not they've actually been "read"—which is impossible to assess: I'd have to guess that the Bible is the least-read best-seller of all time.
) Religious texts are often given away in bulk, and something like the Bible is printed in so many different versions, in so many different languages, by so many different printers, that any number assigned to it can only ever be purely speculative.
Nor do the figures reflect actual readership in another way—the number of people who own pirated copies (or otherwise "unauthorized" printings/editions) can't be assessed. Nor, I suspect, do the figures includes "rentals" from online services… certainly not in all cases. Quite possibly they don't include any download data, even from such merchants as Amazon (and ought not to include "free" downloads, as these are not "sales"); unquestionably, they do not include downloads from non-commercial sites such as Project Gutenberg. (Nor, for that matter, can the number of people who have checked the books out from libraries be assessed, nor the number who've borrowed the books from friends, but at least in those cases, the total contribution to "readership" probably parallels sales figures—that is, if a book has sold more copies, it's probably been borrowed more frequently.)
Then there is the problem that the person who assembled this list didn't provide the source(s) of his data. There isn't even a date on when the article the table was based on was published: it appears to be from 2012, but that may not be the case. (By the way, if you read the author's comments on the Bible, it's fairly clear he has an agenda… which might be why his list doesn't mention any other religious texts.)
And of course the fact that the purported figures are limited to the past fifty years is also immensely deceptive. According to the Wikipedia article "List of best-selling books of all time" (which is at least sourced…)—a list that does not include Mao's quotations or the Bible (or the Quran, or the Bhagavad-Gita, both of which probably do rank in the top ten)—the best-selling book of all time is Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. And number two is The Little Prince. (LotR is #3… and The Hobbit is #4.) However, the majority of these sales took place more than fifty years ago… so they don't make this restricted list. The DaVinci Code and Think and Grow Rich come in at #9 and #10 respectively; next closest is The Alchemist at #12. Mao's quotations suffer further from the fact that the majority of the copies printed were not "sold": they were given away (were, in fact, forced on people): since the Wiki list is sales-based, there's no way to place this accurately.
Then there's the top of the list of "no reliable sales figures available": Don Quixote. This book has been in print since 1605—continuously: it has never been out of print. It is estimated to be the most widely-printed, and most widely-translated, book after the Bible… but we'll never know for sure. (One thing we do know is that there were a million copies printed and given away by the government of Venezuela in 2005, the 400th anniversary of the book—one of the few things I can find admirable about Hugo Chavez.) Similar considerations apply to, for example, the Alice books, The Three Musketeers, and a great many other titles. The Iliad and the Odyssey, the Divine Comedy, anything by Shakespeare… or collections of poetry, such as the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam—the Fitzgerald translation alone has seen over 650 editions, and is one of only hundreds of translations. (In fact, Fitzgerald's translation has itself been translated into more than 70 other languages.) I'd be surprised if total sales of the Rubaiyat exceeded, or even approached, those of LotR… but, again, we'll never know.
At any rate: in answer to the question, yes, as far as I can tell, LotR would still occupy a top ten position (based on the criteria used) even without the movies. Unfortunately, that "criteria used" caveat has to be borne in mind. Tables of this sort are entertaining, and to the extent that they've been researched are informative… as with all such things, one must read the fine print.
Well, maybe it would. Kinda sorta. One problem is that, if you blow the table up, you discover that the figures given are for "the past 50 years"—and gives LotR a sales figure of 103M during that time, which means that c. 47M copies would have had to have been sold more than fifty years ago… which is certainly not the case. (The actual figure, as of 1962, is rather closer to 150k, from what I can determine.)
The problem is that there is no reliable data on total sales of hardly any book—astonishingly, not even those written and published recently. And by "recently," I mean such things as the Harry Potter and Twilight books. (And you can imagine how surprised I was to discover that.)
There's also the problem of "sold" as opposed to "printed." (We'll ignore whether or not they've actually been "read"—which is impossible to assess: I'd have to guess that the Bible is the least-read best-seller of all time.
) Religious texts are often given away in bulk, and something like the Bible is printed in so many different versions, in so many different languages, by so many different printers, that any number assigned to it can only ever be purely speculative. Nor do the figures reflect actual readership in another way—the number of people who own pirated copies (or otherwise "unauthorized" printings/editions) can't be assessed. Nor, I suspect, do the figures includes "rentals" from online services… certainly not in all cases. Quite possibly they don't include any download data, even from such merchants as Amazon (and ought not to include "free" downloads, as these are not "sales"); unquestionably, they do not include downloads from non-commercial sites such as Project Gutenberg. (Nor, for that matter, can the number of people who have checked the books out from libraries be assessed, nor the number who've borrowed the books from friends, but at least in those cases, the total contribution to "readership" probably parallels sales figures—that is, if a book has sold more copies, it's probably been borrowed more frequently.)
Then there is the problem that the person who assembled this list didn't provide the source(s) of his data. There isn't even a date on when the article the table was based on was published: it appears to be from 2012, but that may not be the case. (By the way, if you read the author's comments on the Bible, it's fairly clear he has an agenda… which might be why his list doesn't mention any other religious texts.)
And of course the fact that the purported figures are limited to the past fifty years is also immensely deceptive. According to the Wikipedia article "List of best-selling books of all time" (which is at least sourced…)—a list that does not include Mao's quotations or the Bible (or the Quran, or the Bhagavad-Gita, both of which probably do rank in the top ten)—the best-selling book of all time is Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. And number two is The Little Prince. (LotR is #3… and The Hobbit is #4.) However, the majority of these sales took place more than fifty years ago… so they don't make this restricted list. The DaVinci Code and Think and Grow Rich come in at #9 and #10 respectively; next closest is The Alchemist at #12. Mao's quotations suffer further from the fact that the majority of the copies printed were not "sold": they were given away (were, in fact, forced on people): since the Wiki list is sales-based, there's no way to place this accurately.
Then there's the top of the list of "no reliable sales figures available": Don Quixote. This book has been in print since 1605—continuously: it has never been out of print. It is estimated to be the most widely-printed, and most widely-translated, book after the Bible… but we'll never know for sure. (One thing we do know is that there were a million copies printed and given away by the government of Venezuela in 2005, the 400th anniversary of the book—one of the few things I can find admirable about Hugo Chavez.) Similar considerations apply to, for example, the Alice books, The Three Musketeers, and a great many other titles. The Iliad and the Odyssey, the Divine Comedy, anything by Shakespeare… or collections of poetry, such as the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam—the Fitzgerald translation alone has seen over 650 editions, and is one of only hundreds of translations. (In fact, Fitzgerald's translation has itself been translated into more than 70 other languages.) I'd be surprised if total sales of the Rubaiyat exceeded, or even approached, those of LotR… but, again, we'll never know.
At any rate: in answer to the question, yes, as far as I can tell, LotR would still occupy a top ten position (based on the criteria used) even without the movies. Unfortunately, that "criteria used" caveat has to be borne in mind. Tables of this sort are entertaining, and to the extent that they've been researched are informative… as with all such things, one must read the fine print.
- Thread starter
- #7
Yes, good points Ravana. I guess you saw the link cited in the graphic: 10 Most Read Books In The World . They guy doesn't give any real information as to how the numbers were determined, just says that they were the result of long research.
It would be interesting to have a more concrete list. I wouldn't be too surprised to see Potter and Twilight on it in the past number of years. The Diary of Anne Frank surprised me, frankly as do The Alchemist and Think and Grow Rich. I guess The Da Vinci Code was popular enough at its height that it is plausible.
It would be interesting to have a more concrete list. I wouldn't be too surprised to see Potter and Twilight on it in the past number of years. The Diary of Anne Frank surprised me, frankly
as do The Alchemist and Think and Grow Rich. I guess The Da Vinci Code was popular enough at its height that it is plausible.
Ireth
Mythic Scribe
Heh. I've read five of them. XD Though I look upon Twilight with shame.
gavintonks
Scribal Lord
Ive read 7 thought the koran and bhgadavid should be here though
Aravelle
Mystagogue
I have a copy of Think and Grow Rich, but have yet to read it...
I don't think Twilight should be on here. gavintonks is right, what about the koran?
I don't think Twilight should be on here. gavintonks is right, what about the koran?
- Thread starter
- #11
I don't know, Aravelle. Twilight has sold A LOT of books. In the UK, it broke the record for the fastest book to ever hit one million sales, as measured by Waterstones. I wouldn't be surprised to see either that or Potter near the top in sales figures.
Aravelle
Mystagogue
True... I remember reading somewhere it had only sold 50 million copies...but I don't know if that's overall or in the U.S. ... if just in the U.S., I'd best shut up. I myself own two copies of Twilight. >.<
- Thread starter
- #13
I think the 50 million figure is from quite some time ago - 2008 based on the Google search I just did.
In any event, I wouldn't put the word "only" in front of 50 million copies
In any event, I wouldn't put the word "only" in front of 50 million copies
kennyc
Grandmaster
Holy Cow is right.... sheesh!
- Thread starter
- #15
Here's an interesting question: if you knew you could write a book that you personally believed was absolutely dreadful, and make millions on that one book, knowing that your name would forever be attached to a work you hated, would you write it?
shangrila
Grandmaster
Is that for the entire series though? That would be kind of lame, since Harry Potter is 7 books and Twilight is 4 (IIRC, although she may have crapped out another since I read them).
"In the world" is kind of misleading too. If the Bible is there I'm fairly sure the Quran should be as well. Seems more like a western list than a worldwide one.
"In the world" is kind of misleading too. If the Bible is there I'm fairly sure the Quran should be as well. Seems more like a western list than a worldwide one.
gavintonks
Scribal Lord
A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens English 1859 200 million[1]
Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) Antoine de Saint-Exupéry French 1943 200 million[2]
The Lord of the Rings J. R. R. Tolkien English 1954–1955 150 million[3]
The Hobbit J. R. R. Tolkien English 1937 100 million[4]
紅樓夢/红楼梦 Hong lou meng (Dream of the Red Chamber) Cao Xueqin Chinese 1759–1791 100 million[5]
And Then There Were None Agatha Christie English 1939 100 million[6]
Here is the wikki 100 million sales
Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) Antoine de Saint-Exupéry French 1943 200 million[2]
The Lord of the Rings J. R. R. Tolkien English 1954–1955 150 million[3]
The Hobbit J. R. R. Tolkien English 1937 100 million[4]
紅樓夢/红楼梦 Hong lou meng (Dream of the Red Chamber) Cao Xueqin Chinese 1759–1791 100 million[5]
And Then There Were None Agatha Christie English 1939 100 million[6]
Here is the wikki 100 million sales
gavintonks
Scribal Lord
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe C. S. Lewis English 1950 85 million[7]
She H. Rider Haggard English 1887 83 million[8]
The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown English 2003 80 million[9]
Think and Grow Rich Napoleon Hill English 1937 70 million[10]
The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger English 1951 65 million[11]
O Alquimista (The Alchemist) Paulo Coelho Portuguese 1988 65 million[12]
Steps to Christ Ellen G. White English 1892 60 million[13]
Lolita Vladimir Nabokov English 1955 50 million[14]
Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre (Heidi's Years of Wandering and Learning) Johanna Spyri German 1880 50 million[15]
The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care Dr. Benjamin Spock English 1946 50 million[16]
Anne of Green Gables Lucy Maud Montgomery English 1908 50 million[17]
Black Beauty: His Grooms and Companions: The autobiography of a horse Anna Sewell English 1877 50 million[18]
Il Nome della Rosa (The Name of the Rose) Umberto Eco Italian 1980 50 million[19]
The Eagle Has Landed Jack Higgins English 1975 50 million[20]
Watership Down Richard Adams English 1972 50 million[21]
Between 30 million and 50 million copies
Book Author(s) Original language First published Approximate sales
The Hite Report Shere Hite English 1976 48 million[22]
Charlotte's Web E.B. White; illustrated by Garth Williams English 1952 45 million[23]
The Ginger Man J. P. Donleavy English 1955 45 million[24]
The Tale of Peter Rabbit Beatrix Potter English 1902 45 million[25]
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows[26] J. K. Rowling English 2007 44 million[27]
Jonathan Livingston Seagull Richard Bach English 1970 40 million[28]
A Message to Garcia Elbert Hubbard English 1899 40 million[16]
Sofies verden (Sophie's World) Jostein Gaarder Norwegian 1991 40 million[29]
Angels and Demons Dan Brown English 2000 39 million[30]
Как закалялась сталь (Kak zakalyalas' stal'; How the Steel Was Tempered) Nikolai Ostrovsky Russian 1932 36.4 million copies in USSR[31]
Война и мир (Voyna i mir; War and Peace) Leo Tolstoy Russian 1869 36.0 million copies in USSR[31]
Le avventure di Pinocchio. Storia di un burattino (The Adventures of Pinocchio) Carlo Collodi Italian 1881 35 million[32]
You Can Heal Your Life Louise Hay English 1984 35 million[33]
Kane and Abel Jeffrey Archer English 1979 34 million[34]
Het Achterhuis (The Diary of a Young Girl, The Diary of Anne Frank) Anne Frank Dutch 1947 30 million[35]
In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do? Charles M. Sheldon English 1896 30 million[16]
To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee English 1960 30 million[36]
Valley of the Dolls Jacqueline Susann English 1966 30 million[16]
Gone with the Wind Margaret Mitchell English 1936 30 million[37]
Cien Años de Soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude) Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez Spanish 1967 30 million[38][39]
The Purpose Driven Life Rick Warren English 2002 30 million[40]
The Thorn Birds Colleen McCullough English 1977 30 million[41]
The Revolt of Mamie Stover William Bradford Huie English 1951 30 million[42]
Män som hatar kvinnor (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) Stieg Larsson Swedish 2005 30 million[43]
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eric Carle English 1969 30 million[44]
Between 20 million and 30 million copies
Book Author(s) Original language First published Approximate sales
The Late, Great Planet Earth Hal Lindsey, C. C. Carlson English 1970 28 million[45]
Who Moved My Cheese? Spencer Johnson English 1998 26 million[46]
The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame English 1908 25 million[47]
Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell English 1949 25 million[48]
The Celestine Prophecy James Redfield English 1993 23 million[49]
The Godfather Mario Puzo English 1969 21 million[50]
Love Story Erich Segal English 1970 21 million[51]
狼图腾 (Wolf Totem) Jiang Rong Chinese 2004 20 million[52]
The Happy Hooker: My Own Story Xaviera Hollander English 1971 20 million[53]
Jaws Peter Benchley English 1974 20 million[54]
Love You Forever Robert Munsch English 1986 20 million[55]
The Women's Room Marilyn French English 1977 20 million[56]
What to Expect When You're Expecting Arlene Eisenberg and Heidi Murkoff English 1984 20 million[57]
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain English 1885 20 million[58]
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ Sue Townsend English 1982 20 million[59]
Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft Thor Heyerdahl Norwegian 1950 20 million[60]
She H. Rider Haggard English 1887 83 million[8]
The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown English 2003 80 million[9]
Think and Grow Rich Napoleon Hill English 1937 70 million[10]
The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger English 1951 65 million[11]
O Alquimista (The Alchemist) Paulo Coelho Portuguese 1988 65 million[12]
Steps to Christ Ellen G. White English 1892 60 million[13]
Lolita Vladimir Nabokov English 1955 50 million[14]
Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre (Heidi's Years of Wandering and Learning) Johanna Spyri German 1880 50 million[15]
The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care Dr. Benjamin Spock English 1946 50 million[16]
Anne of Green Gables Lucy Maud Montgomery English 1908 50 million[17]
Black Beauty: His Grooms and Companions: The autobiography of a horse Anna Sewell English 1877 50 million[18]
Il Nome della Rosa (The Name of the Rose) Umberto Eco Italian 1980 50 million[19]
The Eagle Has Landed Jack Higgins English 1975 50 million[20]
Watership Down Richard Adams English 1972 50 million[21]
Between 30 million and 50 million copies
Book Author(s) Original language First published Approximate sales
The Hite Report Shere Hite English 1976 48 million[22]
Charlotte's Web E.B. White; illustrated by Garth Williams English 1952 45 million[23]
The Ginger Man J. P. Donleavy English 1955 45 million[24]
The Tale of Peter Rabbit Beatrix Potter English 1902 45 million[25]
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows[26] J. K. Rowling English 2007 44 million[27]
Jonathan Livingston Seagull Richard Bach English 1970 40 million[28]
A Message to Garcia Elbert Hubbard English 1899 40 million[16]
Sofies verden (Sophie's World) Jostein Gaarder Norwegian 1991 40 million[29]
Angels and Demons Dan Brown English 2000 39 million[30]
Как закалялась сталь (Kak zakalyalas' stal'; How the Steel Was Tempered) Nikolai Ostrovsky Russian 1932 36.4 million copies in USSR[31]
Война и мир (Voyna i mir; War and Peace) Leo Tolstoy Russian 1869 36.0 million copies in USSR[31]
Le avventure di Pinocchio. Storia di un burattino (The Adventures of Pinocchio) Carlo Collodi Italian 1881 35 million[32]
You Can Heal Your Life Louise Hay English 1984 35 million[33]
Kane and Abel Jeffrey Archer English 1979 34 million[34]
Het Achterhuis (The Diary of a Young Girl, The Diary of Anne Frank) Anne Frank Dutch 1947 30 million[35]
In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do? Charles M. Sheldon English 1896 30 million[16]
To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee English 1960 30 million[36]
Valley of the Dolls Jacqueline Susann English 1966 30 million[16]
Gone with the Wind Margaret Mitchell English 1936 30 million[37]
Cien Años de Soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude) Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez Spanish 1967 30 million[38][39]
The Purpose Driven Life Rick Warren English 2002 30 million[40]
The Thorn Birds Colleen McCullough English 1977 30 million[41]
The Revolt of Mamie Stover William Bradford Huie English 1951 30 million[42]
Män som hatar kvinnor (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) Stieg Larsson Swedish 2005 30 million[43]
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eric Carle English 1969 30 million[44]
Between 20 million and 30 million copies
Book Author(s) Original language First published Approximate sales
The Late, Great Planet Earth Hal Lindsey, C. C. Carlson English 1970 28 million[45]
Who Moved My Cheese? Spencer Johnson English 1998 26 million[46]
The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame English 1908 25 million[47]
Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell English 1949 25 million[48]
The Celestine Prophecy James Redfield English 1993 23 million[49]
The Godfather Mario Puzo English 1969 21 million[50]
Love Story Erich Segal English 1970 21 million[51]
狼图腾 (Wolf Totem) Jiang Rong Chinese 2004 20 million[52]
The Happy Hooker: My Own Story Xaviera Hollander English 1971 20 million[53]
Jaws Peter Benchley English 1974 20 million[54]
Love You Forever Robert Munsch English 1986 20 million[55]
The Women's Room Marilyn French English 1977 20 million[56]
What to Expect When You're Expecting Arlene Eisenberg and Heidi Murkoff English 1984 20 million[57]
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain English 1885 20 million[58]
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ Sue Townsend English 1982 20 million[59]
Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft Thor Heyerdahl Norwegian 1950 20 million[60]
gavintonks
Scribal Lord
Bestselling books of 2011: the top 100 listed
Nielsen's bestselling books of 2011 are dominated by paperbacks and elderly novels. See what came top
• Get the data
Share 98
Comments (13)
2011, ONE DAY
Elderly bestseller: Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess in the film version of One Day. Photograph: Allstar/Focus Features/Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar
What were the most popular books in the UK in 2011? Thanks to Nielsen Bookscan, we have the answer. Which is? By and large, books we've already read.
Of the nearly 5,000 books detailed in the 2011 charts so far, 35% of them, or 1,695, were published before 2010. In an analysis published today, John Dugdale writes that the charts are dominated by movie tie-ins and older books with the number one slot held by One Day, followed by Christmas number one chef Jamie Oliver's Jamie's 30-Minute Meals .
Glance at 2011's chart, and you could be forgiven for wondering if 12 months have really passed. For this was a year when old books saw off new ones, and paperbacks sent hardbacks packing. The same seven titles merely change places, with Larsson's musty trio and David Nicholls's and Kathryn Stockett's two-year-old novels all given renewed sales muscle by movie versions.
Of the 4,838 books on the list, the vast majority are paperbacks - 1,176, or 24%. And, if you look at the charts by numbers of books sold, you can see how far ahead the top-sellers are from the rest of the pack.
But look at it it again by value, and a different picture emerges.
Nielsen Bookscan is the world's largest book tracking service - they collect total transaction data directly from the tills and dispatch systems of all major book retailers. The data covers over 90% of all retail book purchases in the UK – 6,500 retailers in the UK each week. It monitors more than 220,000 different titles selling in a week and the consumer value is on average £30m each week.
So, what types of books are they? Nielsen categorises all the titles by type, the biggest of which is 'F1.1 General & Literary Fiction', which is a catch-all category covering books as diverse as Wuthering Heights, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and Chris Ryan's Who Dares Wins.
But after that, you can see where the money is: £87.6m in crime and thrillers and £48.1m in children's fiction.
Nielsen's bestselling books of 2011 are dominated by paperbacks and elderly novels. See what came top
• Get the data
Share 98
Comments (13)
2011, ONE DAY
Elderly bestseller: Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess in the film version of One Day. Photograph: Allstar/Focus Features/Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar
What were the most popular books in the UK in 2011? Thanks to Nielsen Bookscan, we have the answer. Which is? By and large, books we've already read.
Of the nearly 5,000 books detailed in the 2011 charts so far, 35% of them, or 1,695, were published before 2010. In an analysis published today, John Dugdale writes that the charts are dominated by movie tie-ins and older books with the number one slot held by One Day, followed by Christmas number one chef Jamie Oliver's Jamie's 30-Minute Meals .
Glance at 2011's chart, and you could be forgiven for wondering if 12 months have really passed. For this was a year when old books saw off new ones, and paperbacks sent hardbacks packing. The same seven titles merely change places, with Larsson's musty trio and David Nicholls's and Kathryn Stockett's two-year-old novels all given renewed sales muscle by movie versions.
Of the 4,838 books on the list, the vast majority are paperbacks - 1,176, or 24%. And, if you look at the charts by numbers of books sold, you can see how far ahead the top-sellers are from the rest of the pack.
But look at it it again by value, and a different picture emerges.
Nielsen Bookscan is the world's largest book tracking service - they collect total transaction data directly from the tills and dispatch systems of all major book retailers. The data covers over 90% of all retail book purchases in the UK – 6,500 retailers in the UK each week. It monitors more than 220,000 different titles selling in a week and the consumer value is on average £30m each week.
So, what types of books are they? Nielsen categorises all the titles by type, the biggest of which is 'F1.1 General & Literary Fiction', which is a catch-all category covering books as diverse as Wuthering Heights, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and Chris Ryan's Who Dares Wins.
But after that, you can see where the money is: £87.6m in crime and thrillers and £48.1m in children's fiction.
gavintonks
Scribal Lord
The top-100 selling books of 2011
Click heading to sort table. Download the spreadsheet here
Pos.
Title
Author
Imprint
Volume
Value, £
SOURCE: NIELSEN BOOKSCAN
1 One Day# Nicholls, David Hodder Paperback 935,355 5,157,015.10
2 Jamie's 30-Minute Meals Oliver, Jamie Michael Joseph 484,338 6,617,423.26
3 Tiny Bit Marvellous,A French, Dawn Penguin Books 413,800 2,013,459.89
4 Room Donoghue, Emma Picador 402,108 2,153,688.64
5 Help,The# Stockett, Kathryn Penguin Books 383,467 2,004,365.48
6 Guinness World Records 2012 Guinness World Records 381,175 3,613,236.28
7 Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,The: Millennium Trilogy# Larsson, Stieg Quercus 329,389 1,626,448.44
8 Confession,The Grisham, John Arrow Books 314,471 1,582,868.17
9 Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest,The: Millennium Trilogy# Larsson, Stieg Quercus Publishing Plc 311,529 1,511,433.36
10 Girl Who Played with Fire,The: Millennium Trilogy# Larsson, Stieg Quercus Publishing Plc 288,706 1,392,112.
Click heading to sort table. Download the spreadsheet here
Pos.
Title
Author
Imprint
Volume
Value, £
SOURCE: NIELSEN BOOKSCAN
1 One Day# Nicholls, David Hodder Paperback 935,355 5,157,015.10
2 Jamie's 30-Minute Meals Oliver, Jamie Michael Joseph 484,338 6,617,423.26
3 Tiny Bit Marvellous,A French, Dawn Penguin Books 413,800 2,013,459.89
4 Room Donoghue, Emma Picador 402,108 2,153,688.64
5 Help,The# Stockett, Kathryn Penguin Books 383,467 2,004,365.48
6 Guinness World Records 2012 Guinness World Records 381,175 3,613,236.28
7 Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,The: Millennium Trilogy# Larsson, Stieg Quercus 329,389 1,626,448.44
8 Confession,The Grisham, John Arrow Books 314,471 1,582,868.17
9 Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest,The: Millennium Trilogy# Larsson, Stieg Quercus Publishing Plc 311,529 1,511,433.36
10 Girl Who Played with Fire,The: Millennium Trilogy# Larsson, Stieg Quercus Publishing Plc 288,706 1,392,112.