Bestsellers lists are a handy tool, not necessarily because we want to read what everyone else is reading, but because sometimes we have no idea what to read next! Since Gallowglass Books is primarily a ‘used books’ store, our inventory can be unpredictable. But that being said, there’s usually a fair number of recent bestsellers around, so drop by or give us a call if you’re looking for something in particular.

As for what to read? Here are some links to bestseller lists which might inspire you:

• The Globe & Mail bestsellers via Amazon.ca has a list of its top books. (The list is always discounted at 50% off, too, so if you can’t get a used copy with us, that’s a very affordable option.)
• Amazon also conveniently allows you to sort bestsellers into various categories, but in broad terms  here are the best of current fiction and non-fiction
• Other periodicals with formidable bestseller lists include the NY Times, The Guardian, Maclean’s and the LA Times.

Have you ever wondered what some of the best selling books of all time are? Fans of literature have updated the Wikipedia to include a range of some of the top sellers through history, to make for an interesting list.

For instance:

• The Bible is said to have sold at least 2.5 billion or as many as 6 billion copies.
• Some books said to have sold a minimum of 100 million copies, are: The Book of Mormon, A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens), Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien), The Koran, etc.
• In the 50-100 million copies category, we find: The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown), Le Petit Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry), Anne of Green Gables (Lucy Maud Montgomery), Black Beauty (Anna Sewell), and many others.

Religious tomes, thrillers, fantasies, world respected children’s classics… there’s certainly something for everyone on a bestsellers list.

Note: For readers in the Cowichan Valley, you can contact us by phone if you like, to find out if we have a book in stock that you’re looking for. And if we don’t have it, there’s always Ten Old Books, another fine used book store in Duncan, and Volume One Books which sells new editions.

And if none of us have what you’re looking for, there’s always Amazon and other online options.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 1:30 pm and is filed under arts & books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.