World’s Biggest Books

World's Biggest Books Yes, newspapers are moving online to stop their own bleeding. And yes, e-reader books are blowing up. But you may be surprised to know that printed book sales are actually up too (+4% in 2009). E-books rose to 3% of total book trade market (and they'll continue growing), but the bottom line is: Though the world is going digital (140 characters at a time, even), books aren't going away. PACIFIC O PACIFIC Here's a look at some of the biggest books history has seen, based on size, length, popularity, and more: SOUTH ATLANTIC WORLD'S LARGEST BOOK According to the Guiness World Records, the largest published book in the world is Bhutan: A Visual Odyssey Across the Last Himalayan Kingom by Michael Hawley. It is over 5 by 7 feet and weighs 133 pounds. It's a book of photography about one of the world's smallest countries. While a more normal- sized version is avail- able for about $50, the original size cost $10,000. 15 people have reviewed it on Amazon, so Mr. Hawley must have sold at least a few of these monsters. WORLD'S LONGEST BOOKS While scholars debate the criteria for world's longest book, the number of words is the most common standard used. Here are some of the biggest novels/series that will take you literally a lifetime to read: Book/Series Author Words Language #1. Perry Rhodan # 2. Marienband My Love # 3. The Blah Story various 150 million German 17 million 11.3 million 11.2 million English English Urdu Mark Leach Nigel Tomm Mohiuddin Nawab # 4. Devta 9 million #5. The Story of the Vivian Girls Henry Darger Robert Jordan Cevn McGuire English English English French #6. Wheel of Time 3.4 million #7. Trial by Tenderness # 8. Artamene 2.15 million M. & G. de Scudery # 9. Les Hommes de Bonne Volonte Jules Romains #10. A la recherche đu temps perdu Marcel Proust 2.1 million 2.07 million 1.5 million French French #17. Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand 645,000 English ... #20. War and Peace Leo Tolstoy 560,000/English, 460,000/Russian ... # 23. Les Miserables Victor Hugo 513,000 French WORLD'S MoST POPULAR BOOKS Historical data on some of the oldest popular books is inconsistent (Don Quixote, for example, was left off this list for lack of reliable source data); however, many of the most widely circulated books were written in the past 100 years. The Harry Potter series, for example, is on track to outselling The Koran within the next decade. Here's a peek at some of the most sold* books ever: 6 billion copies 900 million 800 million 200 million 150 million 150 million 120 million The Bible Quotations from Chairman Mao The Koran Tale of Two Cities The Book of Mormon The Lord of the Rings Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone And Then There Were None The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 85 million The Da Vinci Code The Catcher in the Rye 100 million 80 million 65 million 65 million 50 million 45 million The Alchemist Anne of Green Gables Charlotte's Web *Includes selected books, but is not a comprehensive list. 21ST CENTURY BESTSELLERS One of the changes that technology and the digital age has brought is the rise of Amazon.com's bestseller list as an indicator of book fame and popularity. While the New York Times Bestseller List is still considered highly prestigious, Amazon's list is quickly becoming a standard. Haty Poter GosL Fig Moved Му 2000 Cheese? 2001 GREAT 2002 2003 4IH COLLINS Harky Potter DAVINCI CODE 2004 Harty Potter GOOD TO GREAT 2006 (again) 2007 2005 DAN BROWN JIN COLLES DAN BROWN ECKHART THE TOLLE GIRL WHO+ KICKEN 201O THE HOREET'S (so far) NEW EARTH 2008 2009 Awakening to Your Life's Purpose NESŤ STIEG LARSSON LOST SYMBOL It turns out that today's "biggest" books may be among the world's smallest books, taking up a few nanometers of space on a microchip or hard drive. Here are the most popular e-books since the Kindle debuted in 2007: MOST POPULAR E-BOOKS DAN BROWN THE GIRL W:TH 2010 (so far) THE DRAGON TATTO9 STIEG LARSCON 2009 2008 2007 LOST SYMBOL Sources: HuffingtonPost, MIT.edu, Boston.com, HowStuffWorks, Amazon, BusinessWeek www.PrintingChoice.com World's Biggest Books Yes, newspapers are moving online to stop their own bleeding. And yes, e-reader books are blowing up. But you may be surprised to know that printed book sales are actually up too (+4% in 2009). E-books rose to 3% of total book trade market (and they'll continue growing), but the bottom line is: Though the world is going digital (140 characters at a time, even), books aren't going away. PACIFIC O PACIFIC Here's a look at some of the biggest books history has seen, based on size, length, popularity, and more: SOUTH ATLANTIC WORLD'S LARGEST BOOK According to the Guiness World Records, the largest published book in the world is Bhutan: A Visual Odyssey Across the Last Himalayan Kingom by Michael Hawley. It is over 5 by 7 feet and weighs 133 pounds. It's a book of photography about one of the world's smallest countries. While a more normal- sized version is avail- able for about $50, the original size cost $10,000. 15 people have reviewed it on Amazon, so Mr. Hawley must have sold at least a few of these monsters. WORLD'S LONGEST BOOKS While scholars debate the criteria for world's longest book, the number of words is the most common standard used. Here are some of the biggest novels/series that will take you literally a lifetime to read: Book/Series Author Words Language #1. Perry Rhodan # 2. Marienband My Love # 3. The Blah Story various 150 million German 17 million 11.3 million 11.2 million English English Urdu Mark Leach Nigel Tomm Mohiuddin Nawab # 4. Devta 9 million #5. The Story of the Vivian Girls Henry Darger Robert Jordan Cevn McGuire English English English French #6. Wheel of Time 3.4 million #7. Trial by Tenderness # 8. Artamene 2.15 million M. & G. de Scudery # 9. Les Hommes de Bonne Volonte Jules Romains #10. A la recherche đu temps perdu Marcel Proust 2.1 million 2.07 million 1.5 million French French #17. Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand 645,000 English ... #20. War and Peace Leo Tolstoy 560,000/English, 460,000/Russian ... # 23. Les Miserables Victor Hugo 513,000 French WORLD'S MoST POPULAR BOOKS Historical data on some of the oldest popular books is inconsistent (Don Quixote, for example, was left off this list for lack of reliable source data); however, many of the most widely circulated books were written in the past 100 years. The Harry Potter series, for example, is on track to outselling The Koran within the next decade. Here's a peek at some of the most sold* books ever: 6 billion copies 900 million 800 million 200 million 150 million 150 million 120 million The Bible Quotations from Chairman Mao The Koran Tale of Two Cities The Book of Mormon The Lord of the Rings Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone And Then There Were None The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 85 million The Da Vinci Code The Catcher in the Rye 100 million 80 million 65 million 65 million 50 million 45 million The Alchemist Anne of Green Gables Charlotte's Web *Includes selected books, but is not a comprehensive list. 21ST CENTURY BESTSELLERS One of the changes that technology and the digital age has brought is the rise of Amazon.com's bestseller list as an indicator of book fame and popularity. While the New York Times Bestseller List is still considered highly prestigious, Amazon's list is quickly becoming a standard. Haty Poter GosL Fig Moved Му 2000 Cheese? 2001 GREAT 2002 2003 4IH COLLINS Harky Potter DAVINCI CODE 2004 Harty Potter GOOD TO GREAT 2006 (again) 2007 2005 DAN BROWN JIN COLLES DAN BROWN ECKHART THE TOLLE GIRL WHO+ KICKEN 201O THE HOREET'S (so far) NEW EARTH 2008 2009 Awakening to Your Life's Purpose NESŤ STIEG LARSSON LOST SYMBOL It turns out that today's "biggest" books may be among the world's smallest books, taking up a few nanometers of space on a microchip or hard drive. Here are the most popular e-books since the Kindle debuted in 2007: MOST POPULAR E-BOOKS DAN BROWN THE GIRL W:TH 2010 (so far) THE DRAGON TATTO9 STIEG LARSCON 2009 2008 2007 LOST SYMBOL Sources: HuffingtonPost, MIT.edu, Boston.com, HowStuffWorks, Amazon, BusinessWeek www.PrintingChoice.com World's Biggest Books Yes, newspapers are moving online to stop their own bleeding. And yes, e-reader books are blowing up. But you may be surprised to know that printed book sales are actually up too (+4% in 2009). E-books rose to 3% of total book trade market (and they'll continue growing), but the bottom line is: Though the world is going digital (140 characters at a time, even), books aren't going away. PACIFIC O PACIFIC Here's a look at some of the biggest books history has seen, based on size, length, popularity, and more: SOUTH ATLANTIC WORLD'S LARGEST BOOK According to the Guiness World Records, the largest published book in the world is Bhutan: A Visual Odyssey Across the Last Himalayan Kingom by Michael Hawley. It is over 5 by 7 feet and weighs 133 pounds. It's a book of photography about one of the world's smallest countries. While a more normal- sized version is avail- able for about $50, the original size cost $10,000. 15 people have reviewed it on Amazon, so Mr. Hawley must have sold at least a few of these monsters. WORLD'S LONGEST BOOKS While scholars debate the criteria for world's longest book, the number of words is the most common standard used. Here are some of the biggest novels/series that will take you literally a lifetime to read: Book/Series Author Words Language #1. Perry Rhodan # 2. Marienband My Love # 3. The Blah Story various 150 million German 17 million 11.3 million 11.2 million English English Urdu Mark Leach Nigel Tomm Mohiuddin Nawab # 4. Devta 9 million #5. The Story of the Vivian Girls Henry Darger Robert Jordan Cevn McGuire English English English French #6. Wheel of Time 3.4 million #7. Trial by Tenderness # 8. Artamene 2.15 million M. & G. de Scudery # 9. Les Hommes de Bonne Volonte Jules Romains #10. A la recherche đu temps perdu Marcel Proust 2.1 million 2.07 million 1.5 million French French #17. Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand 645,000 English ... #20. War and Peace Leo Tolstoy 560,000/English, 460,000/Russian ... # 23. Les Miserables Victor Hugo 513,000 French WORLD'S MoST POPULAR BOOKS Historical data on some of the oldest popular books is inconsistent (Don Quixote, for example, was left off this list for lack of reliable source data); however, many of the most widely circulated books were written in the past 100 years. The Harry Potter series, for example, is on track to outselling The Koran within the next decade. Here's a peek at some of the most sold* books ever: 6 billion copies 900 million 800 million 200 million 150 million 150 million 120 million The Bible Quotations from Chairman Mao The Koran Tale of Two Cities The Book of Mormon The Lord of the Rings Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone And Then There Were None The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 85 million The Da Vinci Code The Catcher in the Rye 100 million 80 million 65 million 65 million 50 million 45 million The Alchemist Anne of Green Gables Charlotte's Web *Includes selected books, but is not a comprehensive list. 21ST CENTURY BESTSELLERS One of the changes that technology and the digital age has brought is the rise of Amazon.com's bestseller list as an indicator of book fame and popularity. While the New York Times Bestseller List is still considered highly prestigious, Amazon's list is quickly becoming a standard. Haty Poter GosL Fig Moved Му 2000 Cheese? 2001 GREAT 2002 2003 4IH COLLINS Harky Potter DAVINCI CODE 2004 Harty Potter GOOD TO GREAT 2006 (again) 2007 2005 DAN BROWN JIN COLLES DAN BROWN ECKHART THE TOLLE GIRL WHO+ KICKEN 201O THE HOREET'S (so far) NEW EARTH 2008 2009 Awakening to Your Life's Purpose NESŤ STIEG LARSSON LOST SYMBOL It turns out that today's "biggest" books may be among the world's smallest books, taking up a few nanometers of space on a microchip or hard drive. Here are the most popular e-books since the Kindle debuted in 2007: MOST POPULAR E-BOOKS DAN BROWN THE GIRL W:TH 2010 (so far) THE DRAGON TATTO9 STIEG LARSCON 2009 2008 2007 LOST SYMBOL Sources: HuffingtonPost, MIT.edu, Boston.com, HowStuffWorks, Amazon, BusinessWeek www.PrintingChoice.com World's Biggest Books Yes, newspapers are moving online to stop their own bleeding. And yes, e-reader books are blowing up. But you may be surprised to know that printed book sales are actually up too (+4% in 2009). E-books rose to 3% of total book trade market (and they'll continue growing), but the bottom line is: Though the world is going digital (140 characters at a time, even), books aren't going away. PACIFIC O PACIFIC Here's a look at some of the biggest books history has seen, based on size, length, popularity, and more: SOUTH ATLANTIC WORLD'S LARGEST BOOK According to the Guiness World Records, the largest published book in the world is Bhutan: A Visual Odyssey Across the Last Himalayan Kingom by Michael Hawley. It is over 5 by 7 feet and weighs 133 pounds. It's a book of photography about one of the world's smallest countries. While a more normal- sized version is avail- able for about $50, the original size cost $10,000. 15 people have reviewed it on Amazon, so Mr. Hawley must have sold at least a few of these monsters. WORLD'S LONGEST BOOKS While scholars debate the criteria for world's longest book, the number of words is the most common standard used. Here are some of the biggest novels/series that will take you literally a lifetime to read: Book/Series Author Words Language #1. Perry Rhodan # 2. Marienband My Love # 3. The Blah Story various 150 million German 17 million 11.3 million 11.2 million English English Urdu Mark Leach Nigel Tomm Mohiuddin Nawab # 4. Devta 9 million #5. The Story of the Vivian Girls Henry Darger Robert Jordan Cevn McGuire English English English French #6. Wheel of Time 3.4 million #7. Trial by Tenderness # 8. Artamene 2.15 million M. & G. de Scudery # 9. Les Hommes de Bonne Volonte Jules Romains #10. A la recherche đu temps perdu Marcel Proust 2.1 million 2.07 million 1.5 million French French #17. Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand 645,000 English ... #20. War and Peace Leo Tolstoy 560,000/English, 460,000/Russian ... # 23. Les Miserables Victor Hugo 513,000 French WORLD'S MoST POPULAR BOOKS Historical data on some of the oldest popular books is inconsistent (Don Quixote, for example, was left off this list for lack of reliable source data); however, many of the most widely circulated books were written in the past 100 years. The Harry Potter series, for example, is on track to outselling The Koran within the next decade. Here's a peek at some of the most sold* books ever: 6 billion copies 900 million 800 million 200 million 150 million 150 million 120 million The Bible Quotations from Chairman Mao The Koran Tale of Two Cities The Book of Mormon The Lord of the Rings Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone And Then There Were None The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 85 million The Da Vinci Code The Catcher in the Rye 100 million 80 million 65 million 65 million 50 million 45 million The Alchemist Anne of Green Gables Charlotte's Web *Includes selected books, but is not a comprehensive list. 21ST CENTURY BESTSELLERS One of the changes that technology and the digital age has brought is the rise of Amazon.com's bestseller list as an indicator of book fame and popularity. While the New York Times Bestseller List is still considered highly prestigious, Amazon's list is quickly becoming a standard. Haty Poter GosL Fig Moved Му 2000 Cheese? 2001 GREAT 2002 2003 4IH COLLINS Harky Potter DAVINCI CODE 2004 Harty Potter GOOD TO GREAT 2006 (again) 2007 2005 DAN BROWN JIN COLLES DAN BROWN ECKHART THE TOLLE GIRL WHO+ KICKEN 201O THE HOREET'S (so far) NEW EARTH 2008 2009 Awakening to Your Life's Purpose NESŤ STIEG LARSSON LOST SYMBOL It turns out that today's "biggest" books may be among the world's smallest books, taking up a few nanometers of space on a microchip or hard drive. Here are the most popular e-books since the Kindle debuted in 2007: MOST POPULAR E-BOOKS DAN BROWN THE GIRL W:TH 2010 (so far) THE DRAGON TATTO9 STIEG LARSCON 2009 2008 2007 LOST SYMBOL Sources: HuffingtonPost, MIT.edu, Boston.com, HowStuffWorks, Amazon, BusinessWeek www.PrintingChoice.com World's Biggest Books Yes, newspapers are moving online to stop their own bleeding. And yes, e-reader books are blowing up. But you may be surprised to know that printed book sales are actually up too (+4% in 2009). E-books rose to 3% of total book trade market (and they'll continue growing), but the bottom line is: Though the world is going digital (140 characters at a time, even), books aren't going away. PACIFIC O PACIFIC Here's a look at some of the biggest books history has seen, based on size, length, popularity, and more: SOUTH ATLANTIC WORLD'S LARGEST BOOK According to the Guiness World Records, the largest published book in the world is Bhutan: A Visual Odyssey Across the Last Himalayan Kingom by Michael Hawley. It is over 5 by 7 feet and weighs 133 pounds. It's a book of photography about one of the world's smallest countries. While a more normal- sized version is avail- able for about $50, the original size cost $10,000. 15 people have reviewed it on Amazon, so Mr. Hawley must have sold at least a few of these monsters. WORLD'S LONGEST BOOKS While scholars debate the criteria for world's longest book, the number of words is the most common standard used. Here are some of the biggest novels/series that will take you literally a lifetime to read: Book/Series Author Words Language #1. Perry Rhodan # 2. Marienband My Love # 3. The Blah Story various 150 million German 17 million 11.3 million 11.2 million English English Urdu Mark Leach Nigel Tomm Mohiuddin Nawab # 4. Devta 9 million #5. The Story of the Vivian Girls Henry Darger Robert Jordan Cevn McGuire English English English French #6. Wheel of Time 3.4 million #7. Trial by Tenderness # 8. Artamene 2.15 million M. & G. de Scudery # 9. Les Hommes de Bonne Volonte Jules Romains #10. A la recherche đu temps perdu Marcel Proust 2.1 million 2.07 million 1.5 million French French #17. Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand 645,000 English ... #20. War and Peace Leo Tolstoy 560,000/English, 460,000/Russian ... # 23. Les Miserables Victor Hugo 513,000 French WORLD'S MoST POPULAR BOOKS Historical data on some of the oldest popular books is inconsistent (Don Quixote, for example, was left off this list for lack of reliable source data); however, many of the most widely circulated books were written in the past 100 years. The Harry Potter series, for example, is on track to outselling The Koran within the next decade. Here's a peek at some of the most sold* books ever: 6 billion copies 900 million 800 million 200 million 150 million 150 million 120 million The Bible Quotations from Chairman Mao The Koran Tale of Two Cities The Book of Mormon The Lord of the Rings Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone And Then There Were None The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 85 million The Da Vinci Code The Catcher in the Rye 100 million 80 million 65 million 65 million 50 million 45 million The Alchemist Anne of Green Gables Charlotte's Web *Includes selected books, but is not a comprehensive list. 21ST CENTURY BESTSELLERS One of the changes that technology and the digital age has brought is the rise of Amazon.com's bestseller list as an indicator of book fame and popularity. While the New York Times Bestseller List is still considered highly prestigious, Amazon's list is quickly becoming a standard. Haty Poter GosL Fig Moved Му 2000 Cheese? 2001 GREAT 2002 2003 4IH COLLINS Harky Potter DAVINCI CODE 2004 Harty Potter GOOD TO GREAT 2006 (again) 2007 2005 DAN BROWN JIN COLLES DAN BROWN ECKHART THE TOLLE GIRL WHO+ KICKEN 201O THE HOREET'S (so far) NEW EARTH 2008 2009 Awakening to Your Life's Purpose NESŤ STIEG LARSSON LOST SYMBOL It turns out that today's "biggest" books may be among the world's smallest books, taking up a few nanometers of space on a microchip or hard drive. Here are the most popular e-books since the Kindle debuted in 2007: MOST POPULAR E-BOOKS DAN BROWN THE GIRL W:TH 2010 (so far) THE DRAGON TATTO9 STIEG LARSCON 2009 2008 2007 LOST SYMBOL Sources: HuffingtonPost, MIT.edu, Boston.com, HowStuffWorks, Amazon, BusinessWeek www.PrintingChoice.com