The top 20 best-selling books of all time on Amazon — from epic trilogies to ‘The Great Gatsby’

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you’ll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

Before it became an ubiquitous one-stop shop, Amazon was an online book store — and it’s often still the best deal for buying new books.
Below, you’ll find the top 20 best-selling books of all time on Amazon. Given its scale and global audience, it also serves as an interesting peek at the books people, in general, are really reading the most.
Also find the 10 best books of 2018, according to Amazon, here.

Before it became a retail Goliath offering everything from bulk packs of toilet paper to wedding registries, Amazon started by peddling paperbacks online.

And despite the massive expansion in its offerings (according to a 2018 press release there are roughly 100 million Prime-eligible items alone), it’s still one of the best spots to pick up a new book. You won’t get to wander through the dust motes of your favorite local library or have an excuse to spend Saturday morning wedged in between smells-like-old-paper Barnes & Noble stacks, but you’ll save yourself time and money by ordering from the living room couch.

The selection is admittedly huge, but you can shop leaner curations by heading to its award winners, best books of the month (or year), and 100 books to read in a lifetime. Or, you can just skip straight to the top 20 titles the online giant has sold the most of to its global audience since it first began. Given the online behemoth’s scale, the list also serves as an interesting — albeit unofficial — peek at what books people, in general, are really reading most.

Below are the 20 best-selling books of all-time on Amazon:

Captions are provided by Amazon and edited for length.

"Fifty Shades of Grey" by E L James

Amazon

Buy it here >>

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.

"The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

Amazon

Buy it here >>

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before — and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

"Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins

Amazon

Buy it here >>

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Mara Leighton)