Saturday, November 17, 2012

The Top 10 Best-selling Fiction of All Time

Photo credit: residentialmarketingblog.com
Have you ever wondered which one of your favorite novels (fiction books, in this case) has the highest number of sales ever? Just in case you ever wondered, here are the books with messages which have resonated throughout history and have delighted wo/men’s hearts with their treasured secrets. Here are the 10 best selling fiction in any language of the world. This list omits some books like The Three Musketeers, The Adventures of Pinocchio, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and any of the books considered to have attained bestseller status but have unreliable sales figures.

In some cases, there are ties. I have placed books with similar sales figures in the same position so other bestsellers (which include childhood favorites like Heidi which has sold over 50 million copies to date, and Peter Rabbit, over 45 million) deserving mention may be a part of the countdown.


Number 1.
Number one is a tie.
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Publication date: 1859 and
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Pub. Date: 1943, have sold over 200 million copies each to date.

Number 2.
You probably know The Lord of the Rings as a fantasy trilogy (that is, three separate books) but since J.R.R. Tolkien originally published them as one fantasy book; they are regarded as one volume for the sake of this countdown. The book has sold over 150 million copies since its publication in 1954-55.

Number 3.
Selling a little over 100 million copies these three books tie at number 3:
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. Pub. Date: 1937;

Number 4
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis Published in 1950 has sold over 85 million copies.

Number 5
At number 5 and with 83 million copies sold worldwide is H. Rider Haggard’s She. This masterpiece published in 1887 has come to be regarded as one of the bestselling books of all time.

Number 6
The Da Vinci Code, some really controversial novel written by Dan Brown in 2003 holds forth at number 6 going over 80 million in sales.

Number 7
O Alquimista (The Alchemist) by Paulo Coelho (1988) with over 65 million copies each sold.

Number 8
The following have gone over 50 million each in sales:
Heidi by Johanna Spyri (1880);
Il Nome della Rosa (The Name of the Rose) by Umberto Eco (1980);

Number 9
Two children favorites draw a tie with an adult fiction at number 9. With over 45 million copies each sold, together these three rank as one of the bestsellers in history:
The Gingerman by J.P Donleavy. Pub. Date: 1955
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White, illustrated by Garth Williams. Pub. Date: 1952

Number 10
The literary phenomenon, J.K. Rowling, creator of the Harry Potter series brings up the rear on this list of worldwide bestselling books.
Presently, at a little over 44 million copies sold, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling stands at number 10 of the all time fiction bestsellers.


Bonus:
It would probably be a thrill for Nigerians and Africans all around the world to know that the Nigerian sweetheart, Dr. Chinua Achebe wrote one of the bestselling books of all time.
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe has sold over 11 million copies and has been translated into over 45 languages of the world and that makes it the bestselling book written by an African residing in Africa!

If you were in any way, touched by the outcome of this list, you can get the rest of the bestselling books of all time on Wikipedia. That’s where I borrowed this wonderful info from. Of course, you don’t think I sell books, do you?
And while you’re at it, remember to donate a little something ($5 isn’t small) to keep Wikipedia running.

Read with passion!


Akpan


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