Bestsellers are books whose ratings are compiled by various sources: online bookstores, websites, as well as newspapers and magazines. Of course, the basis of any rating is the readers' demand for a particular book.
Any top, however, is subjective enough, because there will always be someone who does not agree with the current rating or the position of a book in it.
2014 Best Sellers
A list of popular books from last year could be something like this:
- R. Galbraith Call of the Cuckoo: A detective story written by Harry Potter under a male pseudonym tells the story of an investigation into the suicide of a model that her brother does not believe in. Together with a private detective, they are trying to figure out what really happened.
- S. King "Country of Joy": another hit book from the master of horror and mysticism. Incredibly bright, colorful and juicy story, if I may say so about the book. The corpse of a young girl was found in an amusement park, but no one really wants to figure it out. This crime is of interest only to the student who got a job in the park. However, whether he really needs to know the truth or not. After all, this can negatively affect future life.
- G. Green "Blame the Stars": probably there is no one who has not heard about this book. A sad and sad story about seriously ill teenagers. It contains love, jealousy, and misunderstanding. They want to live like everyone else, and try to live like that.
- J. Dashner "The Maze Runner": It is impossible to say which is better - a book or a film made on it, because they are both good enough. The plot can be called apocalyptic, since everything revolves around the main character, falling into a mysterious labyrinth in which he is surrounded exclusively by guys who do not remember anything about their past, except, perhaps, the name. Around their place of residence is a huge and confusing labyrinth, in which they send messengers to find a way out. An important rule is that you cannot stay in it for the night. An exciting enough story for fans of this genre.
- Joe Hill “Country of Christmas”: King’s son decided not to use his father’s popular surname, apparently to prove that he did not become a writer. His third book was appreciated by readers. It is quite confusing, while reading, sleep is mixed with reality. At some point, it seems like you don’t understand anything. Perhaps this is the main advantage of history. It is recommended not to read the annotation, as it contains some spoilers.
So, the best-selling books of 2014, the list of which was given above, are mainly represented by the mystic-fiction genre.
2015 Best Sellers
Although 2015 has not yet ended, you can already try to consider the ranking of best-selling books in Russia for the first half of this year:
- A. Marinina "Angels on Ice Don't Survive": a great detective from the master of Russian crime novels. In the world of figure skating, a murder was committed, one of the famous mentors, the legendary coach, was shot dead. Witnesses talk about his quarrel with another famous coach, but whether this was a real motive and what really happened can be found out only by reading this exciting novel.
- J. Armentrout "Waiting for you": a good youth affair. In the center of the plot is a girl who is trying to hide from her past in a small village, where she meets a local handsome man who also has secrets from the past.
- E. Dorr "The Whole World Unseen for Us": a novel that the author wrote for about ten years. The main characters are a blind girl from France and a boy from Germany. Everyone is trying to survive. There is a war. Everyone has their own problems and their own character. I must say that despite the fact that the book took the top places in the ratings of prestigious foreign periodicals, we often evaluate it not so positively.
Genre rating
Which genres of books do readers prefer most? Consider the ranking of best-selling books by genre. The first place, as in previous years, is occupied by the fantastic genre of various directions: these are apocalyptic books, novels about fellow travelers, and just science fiction. In the past few years, a genre such as young edalt is also gaining popularity among readers, in which often unrealistic characters appear who are endowed with some inhuman characteristics.
In addition, in the wake of the popularity of “50 shades of gray,” books of a similar genre appear, which are difficult to determine unambiguously. However, they are not of high quality and rarely really deserve to spend time on them. Of course, good easy ladies' novels also occupy a worthy place in the ranking. Children's literature is also popular . By the way, it is worth noting that recently some publishers reprint old Soviet books without changing their design. They must be given attention, especially if you have children.
Popular romantic books
Who does not like to read about love? Unless men like such books. Therefore, it is undoubtedly important to pay attention to romantic bestsellers. Consider the best-selling love books, a list of which is presented below:
- D. Nichols "One Day": perhaps many watched the movie of the same name, so the plot may be familiar. The book also clearly deserves attention. The main characters were friends for a long time and could not figure out what kind of feelings they actually have for each other. A very bright and kind novel about love and friendship.
- R.N. Gyuntekin "Korolek, songbird": a very beautiful love story. Events unfold in a colorful Turkey. The main character is expected by life's trials and difficulties, which she can overcome by carrying the love for her cousin.
- E. Bronte "Wuthering Heights": an incredibly mysterious, one can say, Gothic novel in which inhuman passions rage between the sullen Heathcliff and the beautiful girl Catherine. Drama and love, betrayal, passions and vices - all mixed in this exciting book.
- S. McBratney: A short children's story in pictures, which tells about what she is, true love. One of the quotes is probably known to everyone: "I love you to the moon ... and back."
Best Sellers of All Time
The most popular books are usually known to everyone. True, not everyone can boast that he read absolutely all the works included in the rating of best-selling books of all time. A variety of magazines, authors, websites, bookstores compose such lists. Most often they contain the following best-selling books (this list probably contains books that you have already read):
- A. Conan Doyle "Notes on Sherlock Holmes".
- M. Mitchell "Gone with the Wind."
- S. King The Green Mile.
- E. Remarque "Three comrades."
- J. Tolkien "The Lord of the Rings."
- D. Keyes "Flowers for Algernon."
- M. Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita".
- H. Lee "To Kill a Mockingbird".
- A. Dumas "Count of Monte Cristo."
- B. Vasiliev "And the dawns here are quiet."
Popular science fiction books
In this section, we’ll look at another ranking of best-selling books. Fiction is loved by almost all men and an impressive number of women. We can say that this is a popular genre. So it would be wrong not to pay attention to him. Among the most popular science fiction works are:
- R. Bradbury "451 degrees Fahrenheit": a very terrible and intense dystopia that portrays what will happen if television completely swallows books: dissenters begin to undergo treatment and correction, books are burned, and around there is hopeless fear that will never end.
- The Strugatsky brothers “It is difficult to be a god”: a researcher from an advanced planet finds himself in more primitive creatures that can only be watched, but in no case interfere in their internal affairs, which are quite scary: there are some scandals around, extermination of the best and more smart people. Fiction lovers will definitely like this book because many consider it a classic of the genre.
- S. Lukyanenko “Draft”: what to do if everyone around you ceases to recognize you? This happens with the main character of the book, who seemed to have disappeared from the life of all his friends, relatives and friends. Together with their best friend, who nevertheless does not recognize him, they are looking for a solution to this problem.
- R. Heinlein "The Door to Summer": one of the first books that raised the theme of time travel, the possibility of applying something like a long sleep to yourself by freezing the human body in order to be well preserved in the distant future. An entertaining book that, so to speak, “smells” of a retro era.
- J. Connolly "The Book of Lost Things": this book can be called fabulous if it were not so realistic. It is written at the intersection of reality and science fiction: in the real world surrounding the protagonist, there is a war, in the world where he falls, there is also a struggle between different fantastic creatures for power. All this is interspersed with fairy tales, but rather gloomy, so the book is more likely for adults.
Children's books
Recently, more and more books for children have been published. Therefore, you can not ignore the rating of best-selling books (with reviews) for children:
- M. Parr "Waffle heart": a sweet and kind story from the life of two bosom and inseparable friends is very popular with young readers. It is filled with adventures and various events. She is both funny and sad. Definitely recommended for reading to children of different ages.
- R. Gossini "Baby Nicolas and his friends": a wonderful children's book, consisting of funny stories, adventures of little Nicolas. There is a sea of ​​fights, leprosy, disputes and quarrels. All this is presented in an entertaining way. According to reviews, the book can and should be re-read many times.
- N. Farmer “The Sea of ​​Trolls”: the boy and his sister are captured by the Vikings, they have a lot of adventures, interesting events take place. All this is mixed with Scandinavian mythology. Reviews recommend reading the book to children of secondary school age.
Best-selling bestsellers
Books, rating, description of non-fiction genre works will be presented in this section. I must say that over the past few years there has been an increase in interest in non-fiction books. Perhaps this is due to better texts or simplification of the language in which they are written. So, if you consider the rating of best-selling books of non-fiction genre, then it will include such works:
- A. Kazantseva "Who would have thought! How the brain makes us do stupid things": a fascinating book about how our brain and nervous system work, what genes are, what kind of activity they carry out. The author gives new experiments, talks about the achievements of modern scientists. The book is written in an accessible, popular scientific language, which, undoubtedly, is its big plus.
- S. Strogac "Pleasure from x. A fascinating tour into the world of mathematics ...": the book was based on notes that the author published in one American newspaper and which the readers liked so much that they demanded more and more. Therefore, this book appeared. It is definitely worth reading to high school students, as well as just interested in mathematics, she will tell a lot of new and interesting things, help to fall in love with this difficult subject.
- M. Kaku "Physics of the impossible": the author tells readers about what seemingly incredible things will become possible in the future, which will affect their implementation. Using an understandable language, an American scientist describes complex phenomena so that it is understandable even to those who are not very versed in physics.
Best Seller Cycles
Now let's look at a series of best-selling books. These works enthrall their readers for a long time. And among the most popular serial publications, there are also bestsellers. Books whose rating is kept at their best, even though they are combined in cycles, are:
- J. Martin and his cycle “Song of Ice and Fire”: an intriguing and exciting story about the struggle for the throne in an alternative reality, where magic works, and fantastic creatures live in the vicinity of people. The book is cruel and unpredictable and partially recalls M. Druon’s “Cursed Kings”. In this story, human life is worth nothing, and a hero can die at any moment.
- J. Rowling "Harry Potter": beginning as a moderately good and magic book, the story gradually darkens as the characters and their readers grow older, so we can say that its relevance remains unchanged. Some characters are not what they seem at first, so the intrigue persists until the very end of the seventh book.
Ratings
Of course, the rating of best-selling books on websites of online stores does not always really reflect the situation, since their creators often place not-so-well-selling literature in the top, as well as quite expensive works. In addition, sometimes pseudo-votes are arranged in which the book paid in advance wins. Sometimes this goes unnoticed, and the work is awarded the proud sign "Readers' Choice." Sometimes users notice injustice and protest against the vote wrapping, leaving the book with negative reviews. Approximately this situation happened with a book (or rather, one of a series of best-selling books) of the not very famous writer Elena Zvezdnaya on one of the book sites.
Therefore, we can conclude that often bestsellers are books whose rating does not fully reflect the readers' choice. Sometimes this is just an advertising move by marketers of a particular book publisher.