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Happy 2013!!! Today is the first day of Lucky 13. Are you excited? I can’t hardly wait!
I thought this would be a good time to start out the new year with a super fun infographic from Business Insider, The Top Ten Most Read Books in the World:
- The Bible
- Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung (aka The Little Red Book)
- Harry Potter
- The Lord of the Rings
- The Alchemist
- The DaVinci Code
- The Twilight Saga
- Gone with the Wind
- Think and Grow Rich
- The Diary of Anne Frank
Top 10 Most Read Books Infographic, via Business Insider
I’ve read at least part of every book on this list except for Mao’s little red book (and I think it’s fairly safe to assume I can continue on just fine without reading that little Communism handbook). 2 things struck me about this list:
1. These books are dramatically different. This is great as it means that there’s lots of room at the top! As a reading public, we aren’t stuck inside any one genre — we read lots of different things.
2. Some of these books are relatively recent, which means that this list is ever-changing. In a few years, your book could be on the list!
Have you read any of these “most read” books? Which were your favorites?
P.S. Speaking of the new year, there’s a great new year’s resolutions post over at bottledworder.
Novel Conclusions 
Interesting to see this; shared your post on Twitter. Just wondering why my book isn’t on the list… 😉
Thanks for sharing the post! Maybe The Seneca Scourge will pop up on the list sometime in the future…
In my delusional world, perhaps. 😉
I agree it is encouraging that all these books are so very different in genre. More encouragement for writers all over the world.
We need all the encouragement we can get! 🙂
Reblogged this on Olivia Ashe, Writer.
Thanks for reblogging, Olivia!
I’ve read the Bible, HP, and the Diary of Anne Frank 🙂
I’ve read LOTR (loved every bit of it!), DaVinci Code (sucked me right in!), a good portion of the Bible, and The Alchemist (kind of disappointed by that one).
I have read the Bible…several times. Lord of the Rings, Gone With The Wind, Think and Grow Rich, The Diary of Anne Frank. I used to read about 1000 pages per week but I have slacked off since I have been writing and drawin’ comics.
Sometimes it’s hard to find the balance between reading and writing — I swing back and forth between the two.
I find this list rather alarming, each entry for different reasons. In the WORLD?! These are the most-read books world-wide? This is truly depressing.
Which one do you think is most alarming? I can’t believe that many people have read the DaVinci Code.
The Bible because it is probably not being read very well (the difference between swallowing and digesting), Mao because of how many are forced to read it to avoid persecution, Harry Potter because the first ones were good, but come on, fantasy, really? Same for Tolkein (I’d say Twilight here too if it was worth mentioning at all). The Alchemist was a cute little fable, the DVC because it was just stupid and wtf are people thinking, GWTW was good for a romance, capitalism is the only way to excuse the second to last and Anne Frank is the only book on this list I’d recommend. (Please excuse me, I’d hoped to avoid being specific in my response because the full answer is dismissive and rude. This chart tells me who is reading books and what the audience looks like and all I can say is ugh.)
I love the infographic. I might reblog this sometime! Thanks for stopping by my blog and liking my post on book censorship! Hope you stop by again soon!
Reblogged this on Writing My Next Chapter and commented:
I absolutely love this infographic. Thanks to Christi from Novel Conclusions for sharing it!
(Thought I had responded to this a few weeks ago!) Thanks for reblogging! I love stopping by your blog. 🙂
Reblogged this on Escribo. luego existo .
Thanks for stopping by and reblogging!
wow, i remember when i was in middle school the Diary of Ann Frank was the second largest book sold across the globe and now its the tenth.
I don’t know if more people are reading these days or if it’s just that there are more books. Either way, the Diary of Ann Frank was a great read.
Oh wow. It is quite surprising that the newer books are on this list, but it’s good to know that people still read these days! 🙂
I’ve read the Bible, Harry Potter, Da Vinci Code, and sadly.. The Twilight Saga also. Lol. My excuse is: it’s good to read a multitude of books.
It’s definitely good to read a multitude of books — that’s my excuse, too!
I’ve never read Mao’s book or Think and Grow Rich…not much interested in capitalism or communism, I guess. I want to read the Grapes of Wrath.
I never did get around to the Grapes of Wrath, either — even when I was an English teacher…
I’ve read all of them but Think and Grow Rich and The Alchemist. My favorites from the shelf are HP and the Bible:-) Thanks for following me . . . I’m a new follower!
Thanks for stopping by and following! Those are my favorites on the list, too. 🙂 As a kid, I always loved reading the lesser known stories in the Old Testament. I would always do that during religion class in elementary school when my horrible 4th grade teacher was (inevitably) making everything in the Bible sound boring. It’s a wonder she didn’t scare all of us away from the Bible with her crazy hellfire and brimstone talks. lol.