In a series of activities celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Kindle, Amazon has shared a list of 10 Kindle books that were most sold for each year since the launch of the first Kindle and the opening of Kindle Store.
[ef-archive number=2 tag=”lists” ]
The list was revealed in an article on This Week in Books, a weekly feature covering book news and opinions, which is now a part of Amazon website.
Every Kindle book on the list is No. 1 most sold title for each year between 2007 and 2017. So, until a more detailed ranking shows up, we are looking at the list of Kindle bestsellers of all time.
What was the first big Kindle bestseller? It’s surely Ken Follett’s novel The Pillars of the Earth, an opening story of the medieval saga from a Kingsbridge series.
An interesting thing is (and we discovered it when working on the timeline of the Kindle) that three days after the launch of the Kindle Store in 2007, Follett’s novel was the most popular fiction book on the bestseller list – and it took “only” position No. 6. Higher places were occupied by… newspapers and magazines.
You will see on the list two books by Dan Brown, both starring Robert Langdon – The Lost Symbol and Inferno. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins was the most sold Kindle book for two consecutive years: 2015 and 2016.
The biggest Kindle bestseller of 2017? No doubt, this is Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
Saying “Amazon reveals” would surely bring more traffic to this post, but the fact is these books are constantly available in the archive of Top 100 Kindle bestsellers – a good destination if you want to find out what are 99 other books for each year.
Which of these books have you read and when? Do you still own the Kindle you used to enjoy them?
[ef-reco id=”128596″ title=”Read also” info=”Top article”]
Amazon Kindle bestsellers 2007-2017
2007
The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge Book 1)
Ken Follett
The Pillars of the Earth, a first book of the Kingsbridge series, prior of Kingsbridge, a devout and resourceful monk driven to build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has known… of Tom, the mason who becomes his architect — a man divided in his soul… of the beautiful, elusive Lady Aliena, haunted by a secret shame… and of a struggle between good and evil that will turn church against state and brother against brother.
A spellbinding epic tale of ambition, anarchy, and absolute power set against the sprawling medieval canvas of twelfth-century England, this is Ken Follett’s historical masterpiece.
2008
The Complete User’s Guide To the Amazing Amazon Kindle
Stephen Windwalker
Windwalker’s guide was the first full-length book about the Kindle for Kindle users, and it remains the gold standard with all the tips included in the other, shorter, more expensive books that have followed it.
Join 30,000 other Kindle owners who have unlocked all the pleasures to Kindle ownership by downloading Stephen Windwalker’s premier guide for Kindle owners.
2009
The Lost Symbol
Dan Brown
Dan Brown’s eagerly awaited follow-up to his international phenomenon, The Da Vinci Code.
Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned unexpectedly to deliver an evening lecture in the U.S. Capitol Building. Within minutes of his arrival, however, the night takes a bizarre turn. A disturbing object – artfully encoded with five symbols – is discovered in the Capitol Building.
Langdon is instantly plunged into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and never-before-seen locations – all of which seem to be dragging him toward a single, inconceivable truth.
2010
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium Series Book 1)
Stieg Larsson
Murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue combine into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.
Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander.
Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.
2011
The Help
Kathryn Stockett
Aibileen is a black maid in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi. Her friend Minny has never held her tongue but now must somehow keep secrets about her employer that leave her speechless. White socialite Skeeter just graduated college.
She’s full of ambition, but without a husband, she’s considered a failure. Together, these seemingly different women join together to write a tell-all book about work as a black maid in the South, that could forever alter their destinies.
2012
Fifty Shades of Grey
E L James
When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating.
The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him.
Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.
2013
Inferno
Dan Brown
In the heart of Italy, Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon is drawn into a harrowing world centered on one of the most enduring literary masterpieces, Dante’s Inferno.
Against this backdrop, Langdon battles a chilling adversary and grapples with an ingenious riddle that pulls him into a landscape of classic art, secret passageways, and futuristic science. Drawing from Dante’s dark epic poem, Langdon races to find answers and decide whom to trust.
2014
The Fault in Our Stars
John Green
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.
Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars brilliantly explores the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.
2015 and 2016
The Girl on the Train
Paula Hawkins
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck.
She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life — as she sees it — is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next.
2017
The Handmaid’s Tale
Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid’s Tale is a novel of such power that the reader will be unable to forget its images and its forecast.
Set in the near future, the novel describes life in what was once the United States and is now called the Republic of Gilead.
The story is told through the eyes of Offred, one of the unfortunate Handmaids under the new social order. In condensed but eloquent prose, by turns cool-eyed, tender, despairing, passionate, and wry, she reveals to us the dark corners behind the establishment’s calm facade, as certain tendencies now in existence are carried to their logical conclusions.
• • •
To get more posts like this, please subscribe by RSS or email. Let’s also connect on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Keep reading. Here are other lists to explore:
[ef-archive number=5 tag=”lists”]
Leave a Reply