Yesterday, I posted about the 10 Most Read Books in the World over the last 50 years. Today, I am curious as to how that compares to the Most Read Books in the United States in 2011. While poking around Nielsen listings I found that USA Today already did all of the math back in January 2012, so that’s the source here. I also did some combining. So if Suzanne Collins’ series took up three spots, I only gave it it’s top slot and brought the #11 and #12 best-sellers into the list.)

So, here’s the may-or-may not-be-statistically valid merged and arranged 2011 list of Best Sellers in the United States:

1. The Help – Kathryn Stockett

2. The Hunger Games (Series) – Suzanne Collins

3. Heaven is for Real – Todd Burpo

4. Water for Elephants – Sara Gruen

5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever – Jeff Kinney

6. Steve Jobs: A Biography – Walter Isaacson

7. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Series) – Stieg Larsson

8. Unbroken – Laura Hillenbrand

9. Inheritance – Christopher Paolini

10. The Son of Neptune: Heroes of Olympus – Rick Riordan

The books really seem to stack up evenly when compared to the last 50 years’ global numbers. Almost the same number of fiction vs. non-fiction, subject matter, etc. What is interesting is the overall consistency of the Young Adult books, between the two lists. The books aimed at younger readers do seem to be gaining steam. I wonder what the global list will look like in 50 years. . .