Best Selling Books of all Time

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November 13, 2025

pile of assorted novel books

According to Guinness World Records, the Bible is the best-selling book of all time with an estimated 6 billion copies sold and distributed as of 1995.[1] Sales estimates for other printed religious texts include at least 800 million copies for the Qur’an and 200 million copies for the Book of Mormon.[2] Also, a single publisher has produced more than 162.1 million copies of the Bhagavad Gita. The total number could be much higher considering the widespread distribution and publications by ISKCON. Wikipedia

List of best-selling individual books

More than 100 million copies

Book Author(s) Original language First published Approximate sales Genre
A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens English 1859 >200 million[21] Historical fiction
The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) Antoine de Saint-Exupéry French 1943 200 million[22][23][24] Fantasy
The Alchemist (O Alquimista) Paulo Coelho Portuguese 1988 150 million[25][26] Fantasy
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone J. K. Rowling English 1997 120 million[27][28] Fantasy
And Then There Were None Agatha Christie English 1939 100 million[29] Mystery
Dream of the Red Chamber (紅樓夢) Cao Xueqin Chinese 1791 100 million[30][31] Family saga
The Hobbit J. R. R. Tolkien English 1937 100 million[32][33][34] Fantasy, children’s fiction
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll English 1865 100 million[35] Fantasy, absurdist fiction

Between 50 million and 100 million copies

Book Author(s) Original language First published Approximate sales Genre
She: A History of Adventure H. Rider Haggard English 1887 83 million[36] Adventure
The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown English 2003 80 million[37] Mystery thriller
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets J. K. Rowling English 1998 77 million[38] Fantasy
The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger English 1951 65 million[39] Coming-of-age
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban J. K. Rowling English 1999 65 million[40] Fantasy
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire J. K. Rowling English 2000 65 million[40] Fantasy
Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix J. K. Rowling English 2003 65 million[40] Fantasy
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince J. K. Rowling English 2005 65 million[40] Fantasy
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows J. K. Rowling English 2007 65 million[40] Fantasy
The Bridges of Madison County Robert James Waller English 1992 60 million[41] Romance
One Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien años de soledad) Gabriel García Márquez Spanish 1967 50 million[42][43][44] Magic realism
Lolita Vladimir Nabokov English 1955 50 million[45] Novel
Heidi Johanna Spyri German 1880 50 million[46] Children’s fiction
The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care Benjamin Spock English 1946 50 million[47] Manual
Anne of Green Gables Lucy Maud Montgomery English 1908 50 million[48] Children’s novel
Black Beauty Anna Sewell English 1877 50 million[49] Children’s literature
The Name of the Rose (Il Nome della Rosa) Umberto Eco Italian 1980 50 million[50] Historical novel, mystery
The Eagle Has Landed Jack Higgins English 1975 50 million[51] War, thriller
Watership Down Richard Adams English 1972 50 million[52] Children’s fiction
The Hite Report Shere Hite English 1976 50 million[53] nonfiction
Charlotte’s Web E. B. White English 1952 50 million[54] Children’s fiction
The Ginger Man J. P. Donleavy English 1955 50 million[55] Novel
The Purpose Driven Life Rick Warren English 2002 50 million[56] Bible study

Between 20 million and 50 million copies

Book Author(s) Original language First published Approximate sales Genre
The Tale of Peter Rabbit Beatrix Potter English 1902 45 million[57] Children’s literature
Jonathan Livingston Seagull Richard Bach English 1970 44 million[58] Novella, self-help
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eric Carle English 1969 43 million[59] Children’s literature, picture book
A Message to Garcia Elbert Hubbard English 1899 40 million[47] Essay/literature
To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee English 1960 40 million[60] Southern Gothic, Bildungsroman
Flowers in the Attic V. C. Andrews English 1979 40 million[61] Gothic horror, family saga
Cosmos Carl Sagan English 1980 40 million[62] Popular science, anthropology, astrophysics, cosmology, philosophy, history
Sophie’s World (Sofies verden) Jostein Gaarder Norwegian 1991 40 million[63] Philosophical novel, Young adult
Angels & Demons Dan Brown English 2000 39 million[64] mystery–thriller
Alcoholics Anonymous William Griffith Wilson English 1939 over 37 million[65] Self-help
Kane and Abel Jeffrey Archer English 1979 37 million[66] Novel
How the Steel Was Tempered (Как закалялась сталь) Nikolai Ostrovsky Russian 1932 36.4 million copies in USSR[67] Socialist realist novel
War and Peace (Война и мир) Leo Tolstoy Russian 1869 36 million copies in Russia[67] Historical novel
The Adventures of Pinocchio (Le avventure di Pinocchio) Carlo Collodi Italian 1881 35 million[68][69][better source needed] Fantasy, children’s fiction
The Diary of Anne Frank (Het Achterhuis) Anne Frank Dutch 1947 35 million[70] Historical non-fiction, autobiography, memoir, bildungsroman / coming of age, Jewish literature
Your Erroneous Zones Wayne Dyer English 1976 35 million[71][72] Self-help
The Thorn Birds Colleen McCullough English 1977 33 million[73] Romantic family saga
The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini English 2003 31.5 million[74] Bildungsroman, historical fiction
Valley of the Dolls Jacqueline Susann English 1966 31 million[75] Novel
How to Win Friends and Influence People Dale Carnegie English 1936 Over 30 million[76][77] Self-help
The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald English 1925 30 million (“around”)[78] Novel, tragedy
Gone with the Wind Margaret Mitchell English 1936 30 million (est.)[79] Historical fiction
Rebecca Daphne du Maurier English 1938 30 million (est.)[80] Gothic novel
The Revolt of Mamie Stover William Bradford Huie English 1951 30 million[81] Fiction
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Män som hatar kvinnor) Stieg Larsson Swedish 2005 30 million[82] Fiction
The Lost Symbol Dan Brown English 2009 30 million[83] Fiction
The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins English 2008 29 million in US[84] Young adult fiction
James and the Giant Peach Roald Dahl English 1961 28 million[85] Children’s novel
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ Lew Wallace English 1880 26 million in 1946[86] Novel
The Young Guard (Молодая гвардия) Alexander Alexandrovich Fadeyev Russian 1945 26 million copies in USSR[67] Young adult historical novel
Who Moved My Cheese? Spencer Johnson English 1998 28[87] – 30[88] million Self-help, motivational, business fable, psychology, leadership, parable
A Brief History of Time Stephen Hawking English 1988 25 million[89] Popular science
Paul et Virginie Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre French 1788 25 million[90] Novel
Lust for Life Irving Stone English 1934 25 million[91] Biographical novel
The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame English 1908 25 million[92] Children’s literature
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Stephen R. Covey English 1989 25 million[93] Self-help
Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window (窓ぎわのトットちゃん) Tetsuko Kuroyanagi Japanese 1981 25 million [94] Autobiographical novel
Virgin Soil Upturned (Поднятая целина) Mikhail Sholokhov Russian 1935 24 million copies in USSR[67] Novel
The Celestine Prophecy James Redfield English 1993 23 million[95] New-age spiritual novel
The Fault in Our Stars John Green English 2012 23 million[96] Young adult romantic novel
The Girl on the Train Paula Hawkins English 2015 23 million[97] Thriller
The Shack William P. Young English 2007 22.5 million[98] Novel
Uncle Styopa (Дядя Стёпа) Sergey Mikhalkov Russian 1936 21 million copies in USSR[67] Children’s Literature, picture book
The Godfather Mario Puzo English 1969 21 million[99] Crime novel
Love Story Erich Segal English 1970 21 million[100] Romance novel
Catching Fire Suzanne Collins English 2009 21 million in US[84] Young adult novel, adventure, dystopian, science fiction
Mockingjay Suzanne Collins English 2010 20 million in US[84] Young Adult novel, adventure, war, science fiction, action thriller
Kitchen (キッチン) Banana Yoshimoto Japanese 1988 20 million[101] Japanese novel
Andromeda Nebula (Туманность Андромеды) Ivan Yefremov Russian 1957 20 million[102] Science fiction novel
Gone Girl Gillian Flynn English 2012 20 million[103] Crime thriller novel
The Bermuda Triangle Charles Berlitz English 1974 20 million[104]
Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe English 1958 20 million[105] Novel
Wolf Totem (狼图腾) Jiang Rong Chinese 2004 20 million[106] Semi-autobiographical novel
The Happy Hooker: My Own Story Xaviera Hollander English 1971 20 million[107] Memoir
Jaws Peter Benchley English 1974 20 million[108] Thriller
Love You Forever Robert Munsch English 1986 20 million[109] Children’s literature, picture book, fiction
The Women’s Room Marilyn French English 1977 20 million[110] Feminist novel
What to Expect When You’re Expecting Arlene Eisenberg and Heidi Murkoff English 1984 20 million[111] Pregnancy guide
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain English 1885 20 million[112] Picaresque novel, Bildungsroman, satire, Robinsonade
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ Sue Townsend English 1982 20 million[113] Young adult novel
Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen English 1813 20 million[114][115] Classic regency novel, romance
Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft (Kon-Tiki ekspedisjonen) Thor Heyerdahl Norwegian 1950 20 million[116] Travel literature
The Good Soldier Švejk (Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka za světové války) Jaroslav Hašek Czech 1923 20 million (printed)[117] Unfinished satirical dark comedy novel
Where the Wild Things Are Maurice Sendak English 1963 20 million[118] Children’s picture book
The Power of Positive Thinking Norman Vincent Peale English 1952 20 million[119] Self-help
The Secret Rhonda Byrne English 2006 20 million[120] Self-help
Fear of Flying Erica Jong English 1973 20 million[121] Romantic novel
Dune Frank Herbert English 1965 20 million[122] Science fiction novel
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Roald Dahl English 1964 20 million[123] Children’s fantasy novel
The Naked Ape Desmond Morris English 1968 20 million[124] Social Science, Anthropology, Psychology
Kokoro (こゝろ) Natsume Sōseki Japanese 1914 20 million (as of 1994)[125] Novel

Between 10 million and 20 million copies

Book Author(s) Original
language		 First
published		 Approx. sales Genre
Where the Crawdads Sing Delia Owens English 2018 18 million[126] Coming-of-age, murder mystery
Follow Your Heart (Va’ dove ti porta il cuore) Susanna Tamaro Italian 1994 18 million[127] Sentimental, epistolary novel
Matilda Roald Dahl English 1988 17 million[128] Children’s literature
The Book Thief Markus Zusak English 2005 16 million[129] Young adult fiction
The Horse Whisperer Nicholas Evans English 1995 16 million[130]
Goodnight Moon Margaret Wise Brown English 1947 16 million[131] Children’s literature
The Neverending Story (Die unendliche Geschichte) Michael Ende German 1979 16 million[132] Children’s literature
All the Light We Cannot See Anthony Doerr English 2014 15.3 million[133] Historical fiction, war novel
Fifty Shades of Grey E. L. James English 2011 15.2 million in the U.S.[134] Erotica
The Outsiders S. E. Hinton English 1967 15 million[135]
Guess How Much I Love You Sam McBratney English 1994 15 million[136]
Shōgun James Clavell English 1975 15 million[137]
The Poky Little Puppy Janette Sebring Lowrey English 1942 15 million[138]
The Pillars of the Earth Ken Follett English 1989 15 million[139] Historical fiction
Perfume (Das Parfum) Patrick Süskind German 1985 15 million[140]
The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck English 1939 15 million[141]
The Shadow of the Wind (La sombra del viento) Carlos Ruiz Zafón Spanish 2001 15 million[142]
Interpreter of Maladies Jhumpa Lahiri English 2000 15 million[143]
Becoming Michelle Obama English 2018 14 million[144] Memoir
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams English 1979 14 million[145] Science fiction
Tuesdays with Morrie Mitch Albom English 1997 14 million[146]
God’s Little Acre Erskine Caldwell English 1933 14 million[147]
A Wrinkle in Time Madeleine L’Engle English 1962 14 million[148]
Long Walk to Freedom Nelson Mandela English 1994 14 million[149]
The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway English 1952 13 million[67]
Life After Life Raymond Moody English 1975 13 million[150]
Momo Michael Ende German 1973 13 million[151] Children’s literature
Peyton Place Grace Metalious English 1956 12.1 million[152]
The Giver Lois Lowry English 1993 12 million[153][154] Dystopian fiction
Me Before You Jojo Moyes English 2012 12 million[155]
Norwegian Wood (ノルウェイの森) Haruki Murakami Japanese 1987 12 million[156]
The Plague (La Peste) Albert Camus French 1947 12 million[157]
No Longer Human (人間失格) Osamu Dazai Japanese 1948 12 million[158]
Man’s Search for Meaning (Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager) Viktor Frankl German 1946 12 million[159]
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck Mark Manson English 2016 12 million[160][161]
The Divine Comedy (La Divina Commedia) Dante Alighieri Italian 1304 11–12 million
(during the 20th century)[162]
Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy Lynley Dodd English 1983 11 million[163] Children’s literature, picture book
The Prophet Kahlil Gibran English 1923 11 million[164]
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas John Boyne English 2006 11 million[165]
The Exorcist William Peter Blatty English 1971 11 million[166] Horror
The Gruffalo Julia Donaldson English 1999 10.5 million[167] Children’s literature, picture book
Fifty Shades Darker E. L. James English 2012 10.4 million in the U.S.[134] Erotica
Tobacco Road Erskine Caldwell English 1932 10 million[168]
Ronia, the Robber’s Daughter Astrid Lindgren Swedish 1981 10 million[169]
The Cat in the Hat Dr. Seuss English 1957 10.5 million[170] Children’s literature, picture book
Diana: Her True Story Andrew Morton English 1992 10 million[171]
The Help Kathryn Stockett English 2009 10 million[172]
Catch-22 Joseph Heller English 1961 10 million[173]
The Stranger (L’Étranger) Albert Camus French 1942 10 million[174]
Eye of the Needle Ken Follett English 1978 10 million[175]
The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold English 2002 10 million[176]
Wild Swans Jung Chang English 1992 10 million[177]
Santa Evita Tomás Eloy Martínez Spanish 1995 10 million[178]
Night (Un di Velt Hot Geshvign) Elie Wiesel Yiddish 1958 10 million[179]
Confucius from the Heart (于丹《论语》心得) Yu Dan Chinese 2006 10 million[180]
The Total Woman Marabel Morgan English 1974 10 million[181]
Knowledge-value Revolution (知価革命) Taichi Sakaiya Japanese 1985 10 million[182]
Problems in China’s Socialist Economy (中国社会主义经济问题研究) Xue Muqiao Chinese 1979 10 million[183]
What Color Is Your Parachute? Richard Nelson Bolles English 1970 10 million[184]
The Dukan Diet Pierre Dukan French 2000 10 million[185]
The Joy of Sex Alex Comfort English 1972 10 million[186]
The Gospel According to Peanuts Robert L. Short English 1965 10 million[187]
Life of Pi Yann Martel English 2001 10 million[188]
The Front Runner Patricia Nell Warren English 1974 10 million[189]
The Goal Eliyahu M. Goldratt English 1984 10 million[190]
Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury English 1953 10 million[191]
Angela’s Ashes Frank McCourt English 1996 10 million[192]
The Story of My Experiments with Truth (સત્યના પ્રયોગો અથવા આત્મકથા) Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Gujarati 1925–1929 10 million[193]
Bridget Jones’s Diary Helen Fielding English 1996 10 million (as of 2005)[194]
It Ends with Us Colleen Hoover English 2016 10 million[195] Romance, Fiction

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