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The best-selling books of all time are difficult to determine, but most agree that The Bible and Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse Tung are the top two. The Harry Potter series is third, but there is debate over whether a series counts as a book. Other books on the list include The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Da Vinci Code. Some notable absences include publications by Jehovah’s Witnesses and The Three Musketeers. The list is imperfect and debatable, and it may be impossible to verify actual book counts.
Listing the best-selling books of all time is a bit difficult. For example, some might list the best-selling novels of all time or include all types of writing as a book. Several reputable directory makers, including Amazon, say the two best-selling books are The Bible and Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse Tung.
Most agree that both books make the best seller list. Neither book has data that can be accurately verified. The Bible is estimated to have sold about six billion copies and Chairman Mao’s book about one billion copies.
The American Spelling Book is listed as a best-selling book in some directories. While it is still possible to purchase this book, it is currently not purchased very frequently. Some tie this book to JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings series and CS Lewis’ Narnia series. Other listings include these as children’s books. What can be said is that they have each sold over 100 million copies.
Other lists show the Harry Potter series as the third best-selling book with 400 million copies. The debate over whether a series constitutes a book in terms of price is still raging.
Bestseller lists include the following books:
The Bible
Quotes from Chairman Mao Tse Tung
The Harry Potter series
The Lord of the Rings
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Guinness Book of Records
The World Almanac
The Da Vinci Code
McGuffey readers
American spelling book
A message to Garcia
Common sense book for babies and toddlers
Valley of the Dolls
In his steps: what would Jesus do?
Some of the best-selling books are noticeably absent. For example, two publications by Jehovah’s Witnesses have sold over 100 million copies, suggesting they should be somewhere in the top ten. Also, many believe The Three Musketeers may belong on the list, but counting copies sold may be impossible. Gone with the Wind ranks around 15th or 20th, depending on the list. The Little Prince may be a bestseller, but it’s also hard to get an accurate count of how many copies he’s sold.
The Quran may also need to be included in the best-selling book tally, and it may have sold hundreds of millions of copies. It has been in print since about AD 1000, so many copies obviously cannot be counted. The list is therefore imperfect and debatable. Without a time machine, it may be impossible to verify actual book counts.
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