The Number One: World Book Day: Women authors dominate Amazon’s bestselling books of all time list

United States

These women have the write stuff. 

In honor of World Book Day on Friday, Amazon AMZN, +0.96% — which launched as an online bookseller way back in 1994, remember? — has released its list of the 50 bestselling books of all time in the U.S. And ladies dominate this literary chart, with nine of the 10 most sold books penned by women, including series and trilogies that have been adapted in blockbuster film franchises that have made billions of dollars. 

Suzanne Collins’s dystopian “Hunger Games” series, J.K. Rowling’s magical world of “Harry Potter” and E.L. James’s steamy “Fifty Shades” page-turners drew the most readers (and wallets.) The first “Hunger Games” book (“The Hunger Games”) takes the top spot on Amazon’s all-time bestseller list, followed by the first “Harry Potter” book (“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”) and the first “Fifty Shades” book (“Fifty Shades of Grey”) filling the top three slots. While Amazon declined to share its sales data, each book’s publisher offered some insight into the popularity of these titles. 

“The Hunger Games” series has sold more than 100 million copies in print worldwide, Scholastic SCHL, +3.37% reports. And the publisher, which also handles “Harry Potter,” says that more than 500 million copies of Rowlings’ whimsical books have sold worldwide, with 180 million copies of the coming-of-age adventures of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley selling in the U.S. alone. 

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More than 165 million copies of the “Fifty Shades” books have sold worldwide in 50 languages, as well. “They are certainly amongst the bestselling books of our lifetime. And she’s not done yet!” Dominique Raccah, CEO and publisher of Sourcebooks (which recently became James’s publisher of record) told MarketWatch. 

The top 10 list is rounded out by Tim Rath’s iconic business title “StrengthsFinder 2.0,” which has sold nearly 10 million copies around the world in eight languages, including roughly seven million in the U.S., according to Gallup Press.  And while “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” didn’t crack the top 10, it comes in at No. 17. 

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Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which has been adapted into a Hulu series, and Gillian Flynn’s “Gone Girl,” which was developed into a 2014 movie starring Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck, also make the top 10.

Check out the Top 50 Bestselling Books of All Time on Amazon in the US, according to Amazon Charts. 

1.      “The Hunger Games” (Hunger Games, Book 1), Suzanne Collins

2.      “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Harry Potter, Book 1),” J.K. Rowling

3.      “Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades, Book 1),” E.L. James

4.      “Mockingjay (Hunger Games, Book 3),” Suzanne Collins

5.      “Catching Fire (Hunger Games, Book 2),” Suzanne Collins

6.      “StrengthsFinder 2.0,” Tom Rath

7.      “Fifty Shades Darker (Fifty Shades, Book 2),” E.L. James

8.      “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Margaret Atwood

9.     “Gone Girl,” Gillian Flynn

10.   “Fifty Shades Freed (Fifty Shades, Book 3),” E.L. James

11.   “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, Book 2),” J.K. Rowling

12.   “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, Book 7),” J.K. Rowling

13.   “The Girl On The Train,” Paula Hawkins

14.   “Where the Crawdads Sing,” Delia Owens

15.   “Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption,” Laura Hillenbrand

16.   “1984,” George Orwell

17.   “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change,” Stephen R. Covey

18.   “The Help,” Kathryn Stockett

19.   “The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts,” Gary Chapman

20.   “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, Book 5),” J.K. Rowling

21.   “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, Book 6),” J.K. Rowling

22.   “Becoming,” Michelle Obama

23.   “The Fault in Our Stars,” John Green

24.   “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Harper Lee

25.   “How to Win Friends & Influence People,” Dale Carnegie

26.   “The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom (A Toltec Wisdom Book),” Don Miguel Ruiz

27.   “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, Book 4),” J.K. Rowling

28.   “Divergent (Divergent, Book 1),” Veronica Roth

29.   “All the Light We Cannot See,” Anthony Doerr

30.   “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium Series, Book 1),” Stieg Larsson

31.   “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!,” Dr. Seuss

32.   “Who Moved My Cheese?,” Spencer Johnson

33.   “The Book Thief,” Markus Zusak

34.   “The Great Gatsby,” F. Scott Fitzgerald

35.   “Beneath a Scarlet Sky: A Novel,” Mark Sullivan

36.   “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t,” Jim Collins

37.   “Wonder,” R. J. Palacio

38.   “Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence (with Scripture References),” Sarah Young

39.   “The Hobbit: Or There and Back Again (Lord of the Rings),” J.R.R. Tolkien

40.   “The Nightingale,” Kristin Hannah

41.   “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” Eric Carle

42.   “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (Millennium Series, Book 3),” Stieg Larsson

43.   “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, Book 3),” J.K. Rowling

44.   “Water for Elephants,” Sara Gruen

45.   “A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1),” George R.R. Martin

46.   “The Alchemist,” Paulo Coelho

47.   “First 100 Words,” Roger Priddy

48.   “The Shack,” William P. Young

49.   “Insurgent (Divergent, Book 2),” Veronica Roth

50.   “The Giver,” Lois Lowry