Top 10 Best Selling Books of All Time

Top 10 Best Selling Books of All Time

Everyone loves reading books and owning them, that is why even in this age of pdf and kindle, physical book are still selling strong. Here we take a look at the Top 10 Best Selling Books of All Time. We would be only looking at single volume books and not series of comics, also we would be excluding religious books like Bible or Quran because they are being printed and circulated for centuries and getting exact figures are really tough. Classics like Don Quixote, A Tale of Two Cities, The Three Musketeers, etc because though they are best sellers in their own right are also being neglected as they don’t have any reliable sales figures.

Top 10 Best Selling Books of All Time

10. Think and Grow Rich

At number 10 in Top 10 Best Selling Books of All Time is Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. A personal development and self improvement book, it became a great hit when it was published during the Great Depression and sold over 20 million copies then and by now it has sold 70 million copies worldwide. Despite the title telling about increasing income, the book basically deals with the philosophies that can make a person succeed in life in whatever he wants to do. The book also featured on John C. Maxwell’s A Lifetime “Must Read” Books List.

9. The Da Vinci Code

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp8_qek3TCQ

At number 9 is The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. One of the most controversial books of all time is also among the bestselling book of all time, this Dan Brown novel which made him a superstar overnight deals with the alternate religious history with the central point being Jesus and his relation with Mary Magdalene and the fabled Holy Grail. The book was a fast paced and riveting ride filled with conspiracy theories. Despite the huge uproar over it and being banned in many places, it sold 80 million copies worldwide.

8. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

At number 8 in Top 10 Best Selling Books of All Time is The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. The first book of the seven novel series Chronicles of Narnia. It tells the story of world called Narnia which has talking animals, mythical creatures and a queen who has ruled for 100 years of winter and how four kids walk come to this world by entering a Wardrobe and thus fulfill an ancient prophecy and now must fight to save Narnia and their own lives. The book is still extremely popular with kids even after half a century of being published and the movie series further increased its popularity. The book has sold over 80 million copies worldwide.

7. She: A History of Adventure

At number 7 in Top 10 Best Selling Books of All Time is She: A History of Adventure by H. Rider Haggard. The book follows the journey of Horace Holly and Leo Vince as they journey through the interiors of Africa and discover primitive tribes and a mysterious white queen. It is one of Rider’s most influential novels having sold more than 100 million copies in 44 languages and is in print even today!

6. Dream of the Red Chamber

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGSs8VHetFE

At number 6 in Top 10 Best Selling Books of All Time is Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin. One of the four great Classical Novels of China, it is often considered a masterpiece of Chinese literature and even has a separate field to study “Redology” devoted to this book. It is a semi-biographical novel that shows the rise and fall of Cao Xueqin’s family. This 18^th century book has sold about 100 million copies worldwide.

5. And Then There Were None

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9UwOA_YObg

At number 5 in Top 10 Best Selling Books of All Time is And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. Agatha who is often called the Queen of Crime has written many elaborate thrillers but this is definitely her masterpiece and one of the hardest books to right. The book tells the story of a group of individuals who are invited to a house on an island because of various circumstances and then are trapped there with people being killed one by one according to a nursery rhyme. Even after more than 70 years, it is still considered as one of the best crime thrillers of all time. No wonder it sold more than 100 million copies.

4. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

At number 4 in Top 10 Best Selling Books of All Time is Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K Rowling. The debut novel that make Rowling a worldwide sensation overnight, it tells the story of a boy Harry Potter who discovers his magical heritage and joins Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where he discovers his enemy and his true past. The series became one of the highest selling book series and the movies also became very popular and earned more than a billion dollars combined. The first book sold more than 107 million copies worldwide.

3. The Little Prince

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWQo_AAHDUA

At number 3 is The Little Prince. This is the highest selling non English book, having sold 140 million copies worldwide and is the best work of French writer, poet, aristocrat Antoine de Saint-Exupery. One of the most significant books in the history; it was voted the best book of the 20^th century in France and was also translated into 250 languages and dialects. It is a touching story of friendship, love and loss of a young prince that had fallen to earth.

2. The Hobbit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4Snv2R5dbM

At number 2 in Top 10 Best Selling Books of All Time is The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien. Despite selling as many as 142 million copies, it was always overshadowed by its more famous sequel The Lord of the Rings and that can be attributed to that fact that The Lords of the Rings had a really great movie series that piqued the interest of the entire world into the books. While there was is a Hobbit movie trilogy as well, it failed to reach the height of The Lord of the Rings movies.

1. The Lord of the Rings

At number 1 in Top 10 Best Selling Books of All Time is The Lord of The Rings. J.R.R Tolkein finds his name on the list again and this time with The Lords of The Rings which is the sequel to The Hobbit. Furthermore, this epic fantasy novel has sold more than 150 million copies worldwide and to this day is one of the most popular books. Even after half a century since it was released, it still inspires writer and has molded the modern fantasy. The book has lead to a movie series, games and merchandises. Though it has three books, it’s often sold together in a single volume.

Nothing comes close to the joy of reading your favorite book while seated all alone and despite the wave of kindles and other book readers, owning an actual book is still first priority of most avid readers. These books in our list are the highest selling books in history with some of them being two centuries old but still are popular to this day.