Thursday, January 6, 2011

Nielsen's Top 15 books of 2010

I rarely choose books by what's the hottest, latest bestseller. Lately, my reading priority is the month's book club pick, followed by whatever book my sister has sent me or friends have recommended, followed by whatever new business book I just received at work.

But sometimes the bestsellers pique my interest, as was the case with Stieg Larsson's "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." I gave in to all the publicity surrounding Larsson's thriller trilogy and read that "hot" book last summer. I also read Kathryn Stockett's "The Help," also a bestseller, at the suggestion of a friend.

Well, Nielsen BookScan has kept up with the hot sellers of the year, which include the Larsson's trilogy. On Wednesday updated their bestseller lists to cover all of 2010.

Below are two lists I copied from Publisher's Weekly of the top 15 print books as tracked by Nielsen BookScan for adult nonfiction and fiction.

Publisher's Weekly says, "As expected, Stieg Larsson dominates the fiction list, with the closest competition coming from Kathryn Stockett's 2009 hit THE HELP, which sold even more copies in 2010 than it did in its first year of publication."

2010's Top 15: Adult Nonfiction

1 DECISION POINTS, by George W. Bush (Crown, hardcover)

2 EAT, PRAY, LOVE*, by Elizabeth Gilbert (Penguin, trade paperback)

3 WOMEN, FOOD, AND GOD, by Geneen Roth (Scribner, hardcover)

4 EAT, PRAY, LOVE, by Elizabeth Gilbert (Penguin, movie tie-in trade paperback)

5 EARTH: The Book, by Jon Stewart & The Daily Show (Grand Central, hardcover)

6 CHELSEA CHELSEA BANG BANG*, by Chelsea Handler (Grand Central, hardcover)

7 SH*T MY DAD SAYS, by Justin Halpern (It Books, hardcover)

8 ARE YOU THERE, VODKA? IT'S ME, CHELSEA, by Chelsea Handler (SSE, paperback)

9 LIFE, by Keith Richards (Little, Brown, hardcover)

10 THE BIG SHORT, by Michael Lewis (Norton, hardcover)

11 STRENGTHS FINDER 2.0*, by Tom Rath (Gallup Press, hardcover)

12 THREE CUPS OF TEA*, by Greg Mortenson (Penguin, trade paperback)

13 SPOKEN FROM THE HEART, by Laura Bush (Scribner, hardcover)

14 GAME CHANGE, by John Heilemann and Mark Halpern (Harper, hardcover)

15 UNBROKEN, by Laura Hillenbrand (Random House, hardcover)


2010's Top 15: Adult Fiction

1 THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO*, by Stieg Larsson (Vintage, trade paper

2 THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE, by Stieg Larsson (Vintage, trade paper)

3 THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET, by Stieg Larsson (Knopf, hardcover)

4 THE HELP*, by Kathryn Stockett (Amy Einhorn Books, hardcover)

5 THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO*, by Stieg Larsson (Vintage, mass market)

6 THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE, by Stieg Larsson (Vintage, mass market)

7 LITTLE BEE, by Chris Cleave (Simon & Schuster, trade paperback)

8 THE CONFESSION, by John Grisham (Doubleday, hardcover)

9 A RELIABLE WIFE, by Robert Goolrich (Algonquin, trade paperback)

10 THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN*, by Garth Stein (Harper, trade paperback)

11 CUTTING FOR STONE, by Abraham Verghese (Vintage, trade paperback)

12 SAFE HAVEN, by Nicholas Sparks (Grand Central, hardcover)

13 DEAD IN THE FAMILY, by Charlaine Harris (Ace, hardcover)

14 THE LAST SONG, by Nicholas Sparks (Grand Central, mass market)

15 SAVOR THE MOMENT, by Nora Roberts (Berkely, trade paperback)

*These editions were first published prior to 2010

And, if that wasn't enough book ranking for you, check out this list from The Guardian of the biggest sellers between 1998 and 2010: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jan/01/top-100-books-of-all-time#data

1 comment:

Canada said...

THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN is an engaging inspirational tale that encourages people to go after your dreams. The story line is filled with metaphors especially comparing life to race car driving on an oval track. Although the in-laws' shenanigans seem unreal particularly compared with a dog thinking like a human, fans will enjoy this fine uplifting anthropomorphic saga of life as seen through the personification of a thinking person's dog.