What are the best-selling books of all time?
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Every order processed by ProofreadingServices.com provides funding for one day of food and education for a child in Tanzania. If you'd like to support our social mission, you can order proofreading, translation, or resume writing.
Rare is the book that can capture the imagination of millions. Spanning genres, cultures, and historical eras, these best-selling books of all time have shaped our world and inspired new generations of writers and readers alike.
| Book | Author | Original language | First published | Approximate sales | Genre |
| Don Quixote | Miguel de Cervantes | Spanish | 1605 | 500,000,000 | fiction: fantasy (novel) |
| A Tale of Two Cities | Charles Dickens | English | 1859 | 200,000,000 | fiction: fantasy (novel) |
| The Lord of the Rings | J. R. R. Tolkien | English | 1954–1955 | 150,000,000 | fiction: fantasy (novel) |
| Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) | Antoine de Saint-Exupéry | French | 1943 | 140,000,000 | fiction (novel) |
| Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | J. K. Rowling | English | 1997 | 120,000,000 | fiction: fantasy (novel) |
| The Hobbit | J. R. R. Tolkien | English | 1937 | 100,000,000 | fiction: fantasy (novel) |
| And Then There Were None | Agatha Christie | English | 1939 | 100,000,000 | fiction: mystery (novel) |
| 紅樓夢/红楼梦 (Dream of the Red Chamber) | Cao Xueqin | Chinese | 1791 | 100,000,000 | fiction: family saga (novel) |
| The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | C. S. Lewis | English | 1950 | 85,000,000 | fiction: fantasy (novel) |
| She: A History of Adventure | H. Rider Haggard | English | 1887 | 83,000,000 | fiction: fantasy, adventure, romance and Gothic (novel) |
| Le avventure di Pinocchio. Storia di un burattino (The Adventures of Pinocchio) | Carlo Collodi | Italian | 1881 | >80,000,000 | fiction (novel) |
| The Da Vinci Code | Dan Brown | English | 2003 | 80,000,000 | fiction: mystery, thriller (novel) |
| Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | J. K. Rowling | English | 1998 | 77,000,000 | fiction: fantasy (novel) |
| Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | J. K. Rowling | English | 1999 | 65,000,000 | fiction: fantasy (novel) |
| Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | J. K. Rowling | English | 2000 | 65,000,000 | fiction: fantasy (novel) |
| Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | J. K. Rowling | English | 2003 | 65,000,000 | fiction: fantasy (novel) |
| Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | J. K. Rowling | English | 2005 | 65,000,000 | fiction: fantasy (novel) |
| Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | J. K. Rowling | English | 2007 | 65,000,000 | fiction: fantasy (novel) |
| The Alchemist | Paulo Coelho | Portuguese | 1988 | 65,000,000 | fiction: fantasy (novel) |
| The Catcher in the Rye | J. D. Salinger | English | 1951 | 65,000,000 | fiction: realistic fiction, coming-of-age fiction |
| Think and Grow Rich | Napoleon Hill | English | 1937 | 60,000,000 | non-fiction |
| The Bridges of Madison County | Robert James Waller | English | 1992 | 60,000,000 | fiction: romance (novel) |
| Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ | Lew Wallace | English | 1880 | 50,000,000 | historical fiction, Christian literature |
| You Can Heal Your Life | Louise Hay | English | 1984 | 50,000,000 | self-help, spirituality |
| Cien años de soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude) | Gabriel García Márquez | Spanish | 1967 | 50,000,000 | fiction: magic realism (novel) |
| Lolita | Vladimir Nabokov | English | 1955 | 50,000,000 | fiction: general fiction (novel) |
| Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre (Heidi's Years of Learning and Travel) | Johanna Spyri | German | 1880 | 50,000,000 | children's fiction (novel) |
| The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care | Dr. Benjamin Spock | English | 1946 | 50,000,000 | non-fiction |
| Anne of Green Gables | Lucy Maud Montgomery | English | 1908 | 50,000,000 | fiction: general fiction (novel) |
| Black Beauty | Anna Sewell | English | 1877 | 50,000,000 | children's fiction (novel) |
| Il Nome della Rosa (The Name of the Rose) | Umberto Eco | Italian | 1980 | 50,000,000 | historical novel, mystery |
| The Eagle Has Landed | Jack Higgins | English | 1975 | 50,000,000 | fiction: war, thriller (novel) |
| Watership Down | Richard Adams | English | 1972 | 50,000,000 | fiction: fantasy (novel) |
| The Hite Report | Shere Hite | English | 1976 | 50,000,000 | self-help |
| Charlotte's Web | E.B. White; illustrated by Garth Williams | English | 1952 | 50,000,000 | children's fiction (novel) |
| The Ginger Man | J. P. Donleavy | English | 1955 | 50,000,000 | fiction (novel) |
| The Tale of Peter Rabbit | Beatrix Potter | English | 1902 | 45,000,000 | children's fiction (novel) |
| Jonathan Livingston Seagull | Richard Bach | English | 1970 | 44,000,000 | fiction: parable (novella) |
| The Very Hungry Caterpillar | Eric Carle | English | 1969 | 43,000,000 | children's fiction (picture book) |
| A Message to Garcia | Elbert Hubbard | English | 1899 | 40,000,000 | self-help (essay) |
| Sofies verden (Sophie's World) | Jostein Gaarder | Norwegian | 1991 | 40,000,000 | philosophical fiction |
| Flowers in the Attic | V. C. Andrews | English | 1979 | 40,000,000 | horror fiction (novel) |
| To Kill a Mockingbird | Harper Lee | English | 1960 | 40,000,000 | fiction: thriller (novel) |
| Angels & Demons | Dan Brown | English | 2000 | 39,000,000 | crime fiction: thriller (novel) |
| Kane and Abel | Jeffrey Archer | English | 1979 | 37,000,000 | fiction (novel) |
| Как закалялась сталь (Kak zakalyalas' stal'; How the Steel Was Tempered) | Nikolai Ostrovsky | Russian | 1932 | 36,400,000 | fiction (novel) |
| Война и мир (Voyna i mir; War and Peace) | Leo Tolstoy | Russian | 1869 | 36,000,000 | historical fiction: romance (novel) |
| Het Achterhuis (The Diary of a Young Girl, The Diary of Anne Frank) | Anne Frank | Dutch | 1947 | 35,000,000 | biography, autobiography |
| Your Erroneous Zones | Wayne Dyer | English | 1976 | 35,000,000 | self-help |
| The Purpose Driven Life | Rick Warren | English | 2002 | 33,000,000 | non-fiction, Christian literature |
| The Thorn Birds | Colleen McCullough | English | 1977 | 33,000,000 | historical fiction: romance (novel) |
| The Kite Runner | Khaled Hosseini | English | 2003 | 31,500,000 | historical fiction: drama (novel) |
| Valley of the Dolls | Jacqueline Susann | English | 1966 | 31,000,000 | fiction: romance (novel) |
| The Lost Symbol | Dan Brown | English | 2009 | 30,000,000 | crime fiction: thriller (novel) |
| Gone with the Wind | Margaret Mitchell | English | 1936 | 30,000,000 | historical fiction (novel) |
| Nineteen Eighty-Four | George Orwell | English | 1949 | 30,000,000 | dystopian fiction: social and political science |
| The Revolt of Mamie Stover | William Bradford Huie | English | 1951 | 30,000,000 | fiction (novel) |
| Män som hatar kvinnor (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) | Stieg Larsson | Swedish | 2005 | 30,000,000 | crime fiction: thriller (novel) |
| The Great Gatsby | F. Scott Fitzgerald | English | 1925 | 30,000,000 | fiction (novel) |
| Rebecca | Daphne du Maurier | English | 1938 | 30,000,000 | crime fiction: romance (novel) |
| The Hunger Games | Suzanne Collins | English | 2008 | 29,000,000 | science fiction: thriller (novel) |
| Молодая гвардия (Molodaya Gvardiya; The Young Guard) | Alexander Alexandrovich Fadeyev | Russian | 1945 | 26,000,000 | fiction |
| Who Moved My Cheese? | Spencer Johnson | English | 1998 | 26,000,000 | self-help |
| The Wind in the Willows | Kenneth Grahame | English | 1908 | 25,000,000 | children's fiction (novel) |
| The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People | Stephen R. Covey | English | 1989 | 25,000,000 | self-help |
| Поднятая целина (Podnyataya Tselina; Virgin Soil Upturned) | Mikhail Sholokhov | Russian | 1935 | 24,000,000 | fiction (novel) |
| The Celestine Prophecy | James Redfield | English | 1993 | 23,000,000 | religious fiction: parable (novel) |
| The Fault in Our Stars | John Green | English | 2012 | 23,000,000 | fiction: romance (novel) |
| The Shack | William P. Young | English | 2007 | 22,000,000 | religious fiction: thriller (novel) |
| Дядя Степа (Dyadya Styopa; Uncle Styopa) | Sergey Mikhalkov | Russian | 1936 | 21,000,000 | poetry |
| The Godfather | Mario Puzo | English | 1969 | 21,000,000 | crime fiction: thriller (novel) |
| Love Story | Erich Segal | English | 1970 | 21,000,000 | fiction: romance (novel) |
| Catching Fire | Suzanne Collins | English | 2009 | 21,000,000 | science fiction: thriller (novel) |
| Mockingjay | Suzanne Collins | English | 2010 | 20,000,000 | science fiction: thriller (novel) |
| Gone Girl | Gillian Flynn | English | 2012 | 20,000,000 | fiction: thriller (novel) |
| The Girl on the Train | Paula Hawkins | English | 2015 | 20,000,000 | psychological fiction: thriller (novel) |
| Im Westen nichts Neues (All Quiet on the Western Front) | Erich Maria Remarque | German | 1929 | 20,000,000 | fiction (novel) |
| The Bermuda Triangle | Charles Berlitz | English | 1974 | 20,000,000 | mystery |
| Things Fall Apart | Chinua Achebe | English | 1958 | 20,000,000 | historical fiction (novel) |
| Animal Farm | George Orwell | English | 1945 | 20,000,000 | political fiction: satire (novel) |
| 狼图腾 (Wolf Totem) | Jiang Rong | Chinese | 2004 | 20,000,000 | historical fiction (novel) |
| The Happy Hooker: My Own Story | Xaviera Hollander | English | 1971 | 20,000,000 | memoir |
| Jaws | Peter Benchley | English | 1974 | 20,000,000 | horror fiction (novel) |
| Love You Forever | Robert Munsch | English | 1986 | 20,000,000 | fiction: picture book |
| The Women's Room | Marilyn French | English | 1977 | 20,000,000 | political fiction (novel) |
| What to Expect When You're Expecting | Arlene Eisenberg and Heidi Murkoff | English | 1984 | 20,000,000 | non-fiction |
| Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Mark Twain | English | 1885 | 20,000,000 | adventure fiction (novel) |
| The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ | Sue Townsend | English | 1982 | 20,000,000 | children's fiction (novel) |
| Pride and Prejudice | Jane Austen | English | 1813 | 20,000,000 | historical fiction (novel) |
| Kon-Tiki ekspedisjonen (Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft) | Thor Heyerdahl | Norwegian | 1950 | 20,000,000 | biography, travel |
| Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka za světové války (The Good Soldier Švejk) | Jaroslav Hašek | Czech | 1923 | 20,000,000 | fiction: satire (novel) |
| Where the Wild Things Are | Maurice Sendak | English | 1963 | 20,000,000 | children's fiction: picture book |
| The Power of Positive Thinking | Norman Vincent Peale | English | 1952 | 20,000,000 | self-help |
| The Secret | Rhonda Byrne | English | 2006 | 20,000,000 | self-help |
| Fear of Flying | Erica Jong | English | 1973 | 20,000,000 | psychological fiction:erotica (novel) |
| Dune | Frank Herbert | English | 1965 | 20,000,000 | fiction: fantasy (novel) |
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | Roald Dahl | English | 1964 | 20,000,000 | children's fiction (novel) |
| The Naked Ape | Desmond Morris | English | 1968 | 20,000,000 | anthropology, biology |
| 窓ぎわのトットちゃん (Totto-chan, the Little Girl at the Window) | Tetsuko Kuroyanagi | Japanese | 1981 | 18,000,000 | autobiography, children's literature |
| The Horse Whisperer | Nicholas Evans | English | 1995 | 16,000,000 | psychological fiction (novel) |
| Goodnight Moon | Margaret Wise Brown | English | 1947 | 16,000,000 | children's fiction |
| Die unendliche Geschichte (The Neverending Story) | Michael Ende | German | 1979 | 16,000,000 | children's fiction: fantasy (novel) |
| The Outsiders | S. E. Hinton | English | 1967 | 15,000,000 | fiction: drama (novel) |
| Guess How Much I Love You | Sam McBratney | English | 1994 | 15,000,000 | children's fiction |
| Shōgun | James Clavell | English | 1975 | 15,000,000 | fiction: action and adventure (novel) |
| The Poky Little Puppy | Janette Sebring Lowrey | English | 1942 | 15,000,000 | children's fiction: picture book |
| The Pillars of the Earth | Ken Follett | English | 1989 | 15,000,000 | historical fiction (novel) |
| How to Win Friends and Influence People | Dale Carnegie | English | 1936 | 15,000,000 | self-help |
| Das Parfum (Perfume) | Patrick Süskind | German | 1985 | 15,000,000 | horror fiction (novel) |
| The Grapes of Wrath | John Steinbeck | English | 1939 | 15,000,000 | historical fiction (novel) |
| La sombra del viento (The Shadow of the Wind) | Carlos Ruiz Zafón | Spanish | 2001 | 15,000,000 | fiction: thriller (novel) |
| Interpreter of Maladies | Jhumpa Lahiri | English | 2000 | 15,000,000 | fiction: short story |
| The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | Douglas Adams | English | 1979 | 14,000,000 | science fiction: humour (novel) |
| Tuesdays with Morrie | Mitch Albom | English | 1997 | 14,000,000 | memoir |
| God's Little Acre | Erskine Caldwell | English | 1933 | 14,000,000 | fiction (novel) |
| Va' dove ti porta il cuore (Follow Your Heart) | Susanna Tamaro | Italian | 1994 | 14,000,000 | fiction (novel) |
| A Wrinkle in Time | Madeleine L'Engle | English | 1962 | 14,000,000 | science fiction: fantasy (novel) |
| Long Walk to Freedom | Nelson Mandela | English | 1994 | 14,000,000 | autobiography |
| The Old Man and the Sea | Ernest Hemingway | English | 1952 | 13,000,000 | nautical fiction (novella) |
| Life After Life | Raymond Moody | English | 1975 | 13,000,000 | historical fiction (novel) |
| Peyton Place | Grace Metalious | English | 1956 | 12,100,000 | fiction (novel) |
| Me Before You | Jojo Moyes | English | 2012 | 12,000,000 | fiction: romance (novel) |
| ノルウェイの森 (Noruwei no Mori; Norwegian Wood) | Haruki Murakami | Japanese | 1987 | 12,000,000 | fiction: romance (novel) |
| La Peste (The Plague) | Albert Camus | French | 1947 | 12,000,000 | psychological and philosophical fiction (novel) |
| 人間失格 (Ningen Shikkaku; No Longer Human) | Osamu Dazai | Japanese | 1948 | 12,000,000 | fiction (novel) |
| Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager (Man's Search for Meaning) | Viktor Frankl | German | 1946 | 12,000,000 | autobiography, biography |
| La Divina Commedia (Divine Comedy) | Dante Alighieri | Italian | 1304 | 11-12,000,000 | epic poetry |
| The Prophet | Kahlil Gibran | English | 1923 | 11,000,000 | poetry |
| The Exorcist | William Peter Blatty | English | 1971 | 11,000,000 | horror fiction (novel) |
| The Gruffalo | Julia Donaldson | English | 1999 | 10,500,000 | children's fiction: picture book |
| The Cat in the Hat | Dr. Seuss | English | 1957 | 10,500,000 | children's fiction: picture book |
| Diana: Her True Story | Andrew Morton | English | 1992 | 10,000,000 | biography |
| The Help | Kathryn Stockett | English | 2009 | 10,000,000 | historical fiction (novel) |
| Catch-22 | Joseph Heller | English | 1961 | 10,000,000 | historical fiction (novel) |
| L'Étranger (The Stranger) | Albert Camus | French | 1942 | 10,000,000 | philosophical fiction: drama (novel) |
| Eye of the Needle | Ken Follett | English | 1978 | 10,000,000 | historical fiction: thriller (novel) |
| A Brief History of Time | Stephen Hawking | English | 1988 | 10,000,000 | popular science |
| The Lovely Bones | Alice Sebold | English | 2002 | 10,000,000 | psychological fiction (novel) |
| Wild Swans | Jung Chang | English | 1992 | 10,000,000 | biography |
| Santa Evita | Tomás Eloy Martínez | Spanish | 1995 | 10,000,000 | biography, fiction |
| Un di Velt Hot Geshvign (Night) | Elie Wiesel | Yiddish | 1958 | 10,000,000 | autobiography |
| 于丹《论语》心得 (Confucius from the Heart) | Yu Dan | Chinese | 2006 | 10,000,000 | self-help |
| The Total Woman | Marabel Morgan | English | 1974 | 10,000,000 | self-help |
| 知価革命 (Knowledge-value Revolution) | Taichi Sakaiya | Japanese | 1985 | 10,000,000 | social sciences |
| 中国社会主义经济问题研究 (Problems in China's Socialist Economy) | Xue Muqiao | Chinese | 1979 | 10,000,000 | social sciences, economy |
| What Color is Your Parachute? | Richard Nelson Bolles | English | 1970 | 10,000,000 | self-help |
| The Dukan Diet | Pierre Dukan | French | 2000 | 10,000,000 | diet |
| The Joy of Sex | Alex Comfort | English | 1972 | 10,000,000 | sexuality |
| The Gospel According to Peanuts | Robert L. Short | English | 1965 | 10,000,000 | Christian literature |
| Life of Pi | Yann Martel | English | 2001 | 10,000,000 | fiction: adventure (novel) |
| The Giver | Lois Lowry | English | 1993 | 10,000,000 | science fiction: dystopian (novel) |
| The Front Runner | Patricia Nell Warren | English | 1974 | 10,000,000 | fiction: romance (novel) |
| The Goal | Eliyahu M. Goldratt | English | 1984 | 10,000,000 | fiction: business (novel) |
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