Best Selling Books

By lgbull

It seems we're always being told that books  are in grave danger, that the days of the best seller are numbered.  While Kindle  may have eliminated the paper, the writing is still hanging tough.   Best selling books  are abound, and though it might appear otherwise, J.K. Rowling  hasn't written all of them.  Whether your interest is in an epic vampire novel , a health  manual promising a grapefruit-sized waist (if you eat only grapefruit), or one of those classic novels  that still sells, the options are vast and often surprising.  (Just going by the numbers?  Look no further than the Bible, which has blown away the competition in sales.)  Book snobs would be quick to note that what's popular and what's great won't always match, but the numbers don't lie.  There will forever be debates about what the "best" is, but it's hard to argue with best selling.

Best Selling Fiction

For all of literature's one hit wonders, there is occasionally a Stephen King  or a James Patterson  -- best seller machines.  Below are some of the best selling fiction books  of the decade and the writers who have permanently altered the literary landscape.

If the decade in fiction had a running theme, it was repeat success.  The authors who reigned built empires with their writing, their tales generating top-grossing films and endless merchandise .  Legions of Dan Brown  fans fiercely devoted to Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code  made his latest novel The Lost Symbol  a hit, crowning Brown the unofficial king of the mystery thriller.  Stephenie Meyer  awakened a culture of vampire fiends with the Twilight Saga  (which, proving the power of words, also led directly to the meteoric rise of Robert Pattinson's film career).  Khaled Hosseinis  also struck literary gold with two novels, The Kite Runner  and A Thousand Splendid Suns .  And yes, the unstoppable force that is J.K. Rowling remained the darling of the book industry with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince .

Additional works of fiction that  have been sitting pretty on best seller lists include: The Time Traveler's Wife  by Audrey Niffenegger  The Shack  by William P. Young  The Lovely Bones  by Alice Sebold  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo  by Stieg Larsson  Dear John  by Nicholas Sparks

Best Selling Nonfiction

While nonfiction might be simplified as stuff that's not made up, the more accurate description might be that it encompasses a broad range of topics not involving Harry Potter, a few of which include health and wellness, politics and how-to guides. Recent best selling nonfiction books  have followed these trends, proving our fascination with weight, the economy and the trick to fixing both have become increasingly central to our lives.  Author Michael Pollan  alone has three current best-selling books (The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals , In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto  and Food Rules: An Eater's Manual ) focused on what we eat, why we eat it and how to eat better.  Another mainstay on nonfiction bestseller lists is the self-help book.  From Rhonda Byrne's The Secret  to Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project , readers are clearly hoping that major life issues will be resolved in just a few chapters.  And if it's not yourself you're concerned with, why not dive into a scandalous memoir  or inspiring biography?  Great characters aren't only found in fiction.

Below are some non-fiction works that have recently made a splash: Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia  by Elizabeth Gilbert  Outliers: The Story of Success  by Malcolm Gladwell  Freakonomics  by Stephen D. Levitt  and Steven J. Dubner  Open  by Andre Agassi  Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System - and Themselves  by Andrew Ross Sorkin

Current Top Sellers

Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime  John Heilmann and Mark Halperin  reveal behind-the-scenes details of the 2008 presidential race.	Food Rules: An Eater's Manual  Michael Pollan 's concise guide to the food universe. His motto? "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."	The Help  Kathryn Stockett 's novel about racial tensions in 1962 Mississippi.	The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet  Actress turned vegan advocate Alicia Silverstone  writes about the benefits of saying farewell to meat and dairy.	On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System  Former Secretary of the Treasury Henry M. Paulson  writes from the front lines of the current economic crisis - how we got here, and how we might get out.

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