Someone sent me an interesting graphic today, which relates the top ten books sold around the world since 1960.

Initially, I was horrified at the sheer scale of readership that books like The Da Vinci Code and Twilight have attracted in a very short time, relative to classics like The Lord of the Rings and Gone with the Wind. Not to mention Sacred Scripture!!

I’ve read a few of Dan Brown’s novels. They are exciting (less so if you have a good grasp of history), but it’s pretty awful writing. I get the impression that Meyer’s writing isn’t much better.

I felt a bit better when I took a closer look at the graph and realised what it was really saying. It’s all relative:

The more accurate graph demonstrates just how phenomenal the Harry Potter series was. A Google search quickly uncovered some interesting statistics about Rowling’s series:

The third volume in the series is by far the biggest-selling book. If my memory serves me well, Prisoner of Azkaban is also far and away the best read. (I don’t think I bothered even reading the last two, so I can’t comment on their popularity.)