Creating a roundup of the 25 best-selling books of all time is harder than it sounds. Books—especially those published hundreds of years ago—were published in different editions and translated into multiple languages. Some received abridged editions, or were expanded into definitive ones. Some were published as serials, and then compiled into larger volumes. Others were purchased in bulk and then distributed for free.
Combine this with inaccurate record-keeping, and publishers who exaggerate their sales as a means of promotion, and we have no way of determining exact counts, let alone with enough accuracy to make an indisputable list. There are too many variables—too many known unknowns—that make it difficult to create something definitive. So here is what we came up with, with a few self-imposed rules:
We're doing literary fiction only. That means religious texts, self-help guides, political tools, and other reference texts are out—the Bible and Mao Tse Tung's Little Red Book would both be in the Top 25. And we're leaving out some key books like The Lord of the Rings and The Count of Monte Cristo—the former because its original serialization makes it difficult to quantify, and the latter because its age makes it difficult to find reliable sources.
Did your favorites make the list? How well do you think that the quality matches up with the quantity sold? Let us know in the comments.
25. Anne of Green Gables
Author: L.M. Montgomery
Country: Canada
Publication Date: 1908
Estimated Sales: 50 million copies
The tale of a free-spirited orphan girl who comes to live in Avonlea, Prince Edward Island, Canada is a classic children's story. The relationship between her and her foster parents—who were expecting a boy, but grow to adore her anyway—made the book a runaway success and led the author to pen seven sequels—eight, if you include the posthumous novel released in 2009. Buy here.
24. Heidi
Author: Johanna Spyri
Country: Switzerland
Publication Date: 1880-1881
Estimated Sales: 50 million copies
Heidi is a children's novel about a young girl, orphaned at a young age and raised by her grandfather in the Swiss Alps. She gains exposure to the outside world through her relationship with Klara, a wealthy girl in Frankfurt who's lost the ability to walk, and the two girls bond and support one another's growth.
23. Lolita
Author: Vladimir Nabokov
Country: United States
Publication Date: 1955
Estimated Sales: 50 million copies
Publishers were originally afraid to touch Nabokov's most famous novel, about an English professor who becomes sexually infatuated with a 12-year-old girl. Since then, it's been turned into a play, an opera, and two films, the first of which was written by Nabokov himself and directed by Stanley Kubrick.
22. One Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien años de soledad)
Author: Gabriel García Márquez
Country: Colombia
Publication Date: 1967
Estimated Sales: 50 million copies
A dark, dramatic novel filled with magical realism, Marquez's magnus opus tells the story of the Buendía family, which founded the fictional town of Macondo. It is an epic tale that follows the family for seven generations, as family members and the larger town both prosper and suffer in ways that feel cyclical and karmic.
21. Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Author: Lew Wallace
Country: United States
Publication Date: 1880
Estimated Sales: 50 million copies
The central conceit of the novel is a fantastic one. The reader follows the life of Judah Ben-Hur, a man who lives at the same time as Jesus, meets him, and bears witness to his Crucifixion. Today, the book is best known in popular culture via its movie adaptation starring Charlton Heston in the title role, which features an incredible chariot race that still holds up today.
20. The Bridges of Madison County
Author: Robert James Waller
Country: United States
Publication Date: 1992
Estimated Sales: 60 million copies
This is a romance novel about an Italian American war bride, who carries on a passionate affair with a traveling photographer while her family is at the State Fair. In 1995, Clint Eastwood turned it into a romantic drama starring himself and Meryl Streep. A Broadway musical released in 2014 was nominated for four Tonys and won two, for its Original Score and Orchestrations.
19. The Catcher in the Rye
Author: J.D. Salinger
Country: United States
Publication Date: 1951
Estimated Sales: 65 million copies
The definitive coming-of-age tale of an adolescent male, The Catcher in the Rye was Salinger's only full-length novel. It made Holden Caulfield, expelled prep student and hater of all things "phony," a literary hero—or antihero, depending on how much you can tolerate him. Salinger, a notorious recluse, died in 2010, but according to his son, five decades of his unpublished writing may soon see the light of day .
18. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Author: J.K. Rowling
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Date: 2007
Estimated Sales: 65 million copies
In the seventh and final book in the Potter series, Harry, Hermione, and Ron are on the run, on a mission to weaken and defeat Lord Voldemort once and for all. Its launch was accompanied by a massive anti-spoiler campaign, and debates about Snape's loyalties ran rampant. This books was split into two separate fillms for the Harry Potter movie series.
17. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Author: J.K. Rowling
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Date: 2005
Estimated Sales: 65 million copies
The sixth and seventh Potter books are companions of sorts; Half-Blood Prince is the exposition, with lots of talking, explanation, and setting of stakes—and Deathly Hallows is the follow-through. In Book 6, Harry learns all he can about Lord Voldemort, arming himself with the knowledge to defeat the most evil wizard the world has ever known.
16. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Author: J.K. Rowling
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Date: 2003
Estimated Sales: 65 million copies
Book 5 is the longest of the seven, and when it initially launched, it was considered by many to be the weakest link; it takes awhile for the plot to get rolling, and Harry is really angry for the entire book. But time has been kind to it. It's the falling action to Goblet of Fire's climax, and it does a lot of world-building, expanding Harry's trio to include Luna, Ginny, and Neville.
15. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Author: J.K. Rowling
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Date: 2000
Estimated Sales: 65 million copies
Possibly the strongest Potter novel, Goblet of Fire expands the scope of the Wizarding World with the introduction of the Triwizard tournament. It includes one of the series' best twists, and it marks a shift away from the light whimsy of the first book. There's death, violence, and high stakes from here on out.
14. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Author: J.K. Rowling
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Date: 1999
Estimated Sales: 65 million copies
Prose-wise, this book is a leap forward in maturity, and it marked the moment that many Potter readers became Potter fans. Harry's third year is beset by new challenges—most notably, a murderous, escaped wizard who might provide answers about his parents' deaths.
13. The Alchemist (O Alquimista)
Author: Paulo Coelho
Country: Brazil
Publication Date: 1988
Estimated Sales: 65 million copies
This novel, about a Spanish shepherd who travels to Egypt in search of treasure, was a flop when a small publishing house snapped up the rights in 1988. But after the company gave Coelho back the rights, he continued his attempts to get his novel published and seen. Today, his tenacity has paid off; Coelho characterizes his desire to be seen as "fate." Original language: Portuguese.
12. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Author: J.K. Rowling
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Date: 1998
Estimated Sales: 77 million copies
It's hard to follow lightning in a bottle. And although Chamber of Secrets is probably the weakest Potter book, it establishes a bigger wizarding society beyond Hogwarts' walls. We learn more about the schools' founders. And Rowling keeps us interested enough to pick up Prisoner of Azkaban, which is where the fun really starts.
11. The Da Vinci Code
Author: Dan Brown
Country: United States
Publication Date: 2003
Estimated Sales: 80 million
Through a combination of short chapters, forward momentum, narrative twists, and church conspiracies, The Da Vinci Code was a pop culture phenomenon, prompting many readers to delve into its explosive, controversial claims that Jesus had a blood descendant, and there was a fanatical sect of Catholicism dedicated to hiding the truth. The critics panned The Da Vinci Code, but the people made it into a commercial success.
10. Vardi Wala Gunda
Author: Ved Prakash Sharma
Country: India
Publication Date: 1992
Estimated Sales: 80 million copies
Written in Hindi, Vardi Wala Gunda is a mystery thriller about corrupt cops and assassination conspiracies. The author, Ved Prakash Sharma, has written over 170 novels. This one is his most famous and successful.
9. She: A History of Adventure
Author: H. Rider Haggard
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Date: 1886
Estimated Sales: 83 million copies
A story of two explorers who discover a lost kingdom in the heart of Africa, She: A History of Adventure was a pivotal work of literature in the fantasy genre. Any media that details the hunt for a lost civilization—like Shangri-La—or the mysticism and magic of a forgotten place, owes a debt to this novel. In popular media, both the Indiana Jones and Tarzan franchises borrow liberally from She.
8. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Author: C.S. Lewis
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Date: 1950
Estimated Sales: 85 million copies
Four children walk through a wardrobe and wind up in a wintry wonderland known as Narnia. Fauns and talking animals are ruled by an evil White Witch, who displaced the true ruler of Narnia—a massive, god-like lion named Aslan. A benchmark of children's literature, the book led to six sequels, which are collectively known as The Chronicles of Narnia. These novels are excellent for anyone looking to read more fantasy books in 2023.
7. The Hobbit
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Date: 1937
Estimated Sales: 100 million copies
Before The Lord of The Rings, there was The Hobbit, a children's book about a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins, and the quest he goes on with a wizard and 13 dwarves to claim their ancestral home from a dragon. Originally a standalone work, The Hobbit was incorporated into Middle-earth as The Lord of the Rings took shape, and Tolkien added additional, contextual details in later Hobbit editions. You can check out all of the Lord of the Rings books for more info.
See our guide to The Lord of the Rings timeline.
6. Dream of the Red Chamber
Author: Cao Xueqin
Country: China
Publication Date: 1791
Estimated Sales: 100 million copies
Dream of the Red Chamber is widely considered one of the great Chinese novels from the pre-Modern era. Written during the Qing Dynasty—the last Imperial dynasty before the 1911 Revolution brought the monarchy to its end—it depicts the success and fall of a noble family, and it is well-known for its nuanced depictions of female characters.
5. And Then There Were None
Author: Agatha Christie
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Date: 1939
Estimated Sales: 100 million copies
Considered by the author herself to be one of her best written works, And Then There Were None is a murder mystery that traps ten people on an island. One of them is a murderer, and as each of them begin dying one-by-one in accordance to a nursery rhyme, the survivors try to solve the mystery to save themselves.
4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Author: J.K. Rowling
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Date: 1997
Estimated Sales: 120 million copies
The first book about The Boy Who Lived is the shortest one, and it is perhaps the most magical one—no other book in the series captures the same sort of childish wonderment that Harry experiences when he enters the wizarding world for the first time. There were boarding school novels before Rowling's, and there were boy wizards before her Chosen One. But nothing has captured the popular imagination quite like Harry Potter, before or since. That being said, there are still quite a few books like Harry Potter worth reading.
3. The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince)
Author: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Country: France
Publication Date: 1943
Estimated Sales: 140 million copies
An impenetrable tale of uncommon beauty, The Little Prince captures something whimsical and fleeting about childhood—and the limited view that comes with adulthood and conformity. It is, in a literal sense, about a boy prince who travels from his home asteroid to other planets. But it's been alternately interpreted as a commentary on war, and even as a Biblical allegory.
2. A Tale of Two Cities
Author: Charles Dickens
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Date: 1859
Estimated Sales: 200 million copies
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…" So begins Dickens' most famous novel, a historical fiction narrative set during the French Revolution. Like most of Dickens' works, it deals with matters of class, the desperation of the poor, and the decadence of the wealthy.
1. Don Quixote
Author: Miguel de Cervantes
Country: Spain
Publication Date: 1605 (Part One), 1615 (Part Two)
Estimated Sales: 500 million copies
Originally published in two volumes, Don Quixote is an epic tragicomedy about a man so subsumed in tales of knighthood and gallantry that he imagines he is a knight, and he enlists a peasant man and woman as his "squire" and his "lady." Multiple scenes in the book have become iconic, especially Don Quixote's battle with the windmills, which he imagines to be fearsome giants.
Best Selling Books in 2023
Unlike our all-time list, it's a little bit easier to identify the best-selling books of this year. The easiest way to identify top-sellers is to look at Amazon's best-selling books list for 2023. This list features that highest-selling books on Amazon for the year, which includes a mix of New York Times bestsellers as well as various other new novels and biographies. While Amazon's list doesn't represent all book sales, it does represent a pretty significant portion of online book sales. These are the top 10 books of 2023, according to Amazon's list:
- Atomic Habits - James Clear
- Spare - Prince Harry
- The Woman in Me - Britney Spears
- Iron Flame - Rebecca Yarros
- Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus
- The 48 Laws of Power - Robery Greene
- It Starts With Us - Colleen Hoover
- Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros
- It Ends With Us - Colleen Hoover
- The Body Keeps Score - Bessel van der Kolk M.D.
Kevin Wong is a commerce freelance writer for IGN.
