The Lord of the Rings, Author: J. R. R. Tolkien

 

# of sold copies: 150 million

 

First edition: 1954

 

Although this series has become even more famous after being filmed, it's fair to say that the tale of Middle Earth is an ingenious work of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. It reaches deep inside of us and plays on our imagination, wishes and inspiration.

 

The story of one little hobbit named Frodo Baggins succeeding where immortal¹ elves or noble kings have failed gives us a very truthful² message that literally³ nothing is impossible. Tolkien did a wonderful job in creating a living world and it will take a long time before his legacy⁴ is forgotten - if it will ever come to that.

 

Dream of the Red Chamber⁵, Author: Cao Xueqin

 

# of sold copies: 100 million

 

First edition: 1759

 

Let's not forget that China is indeed a big country and consequently, so being successful on the Chinese market has its charms. Although I personally never heard about this book in particular before, the numbers do not lie and over one hundred million sold copies seized the second place in our list.

 

Dream of the Red Chamber is one of the Four Great Classical Novels, as they call them in China. It depicts⁶ traditional Chinese cuisine⁷, mythology⁸, proverbs etc. It is based on the author's own experience with the Chinese aristocracy in the 18th century.

 

And Then There Were None, Author: Agatha Christie

 

# of sold copies: 100 million

 

First edition: 1939

 

It's hardly a surprise that Agatha Christie as one of the best authors of detective novels out there made it to our top ten books list. She is well known for her excellent plots and surprising endings. She created a bit of a fuss by originally calling this book "Ten Little Niggers" - the name was changed to the current And Then There Were None so that it is not offensive towards Afro-Americans.

 

And what's going on in this book? Simply put, ten people of different social classes are invited to an island where they are accused of murders and they start dying, one by one - but you'll have to read it yourself, we all know it's a bad idea to talk about plots too much when it comes to detective stories.

 

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Author: C. S. Lewis

 

# of sold copies: 85 million

 

First edition: 1950

 

C.S.Lewis has provided us with another grand tale of unusual heroes. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe is but one part of a gigantic masterpiece describing a strange world full of magic and strange creatures somehow co-existing with our own.

 

4 siblings⁹ named Peter, Edmund, Susan and Lucy enter the world of Narnia through a wardrobe, only to find out that they are both persona non grata and expected saviors. In case you were thinking that Chronicles of Narnia and LOTR are a bit similar at times, keep in mind that Lewis and Tolkien were very close friends, in fact Lewis helped Tolkien with a few passages in LOTR.

 

The Da Vinci Code, Author: Dan Brown

 

# of sold copies: 80 million

 

First edition: 2003

 

Having a successful book release in the 21st century no longer depends simply on writing a good book, but also on the marketing¹⁰ and distributing channels. Dan Brown and his team obviously managed that, because selling 80 million copies over 7 years is simply remarkable¹¹.

 

The Da Vinci Code is a mysterious story depicting¹² a cohesion¹³ between Catholic religious beliefs and the modern world. You should fasten your seat belts before you start reading it, because the pace is quick and you could easily get off track!

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