19 August 2020

What books did your ancestors read?

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

These are the top five best books published during the 1900's decade (1900 - 1909) according to Goodreads Listopia. There's a good chance your ancestor of the era purchased, received or borrowed and read one of those.  

Even if only an occasional reader, your literate ancestor likely read, and maybe savoured one of those books. In writing their biography speculating on what your ancestor read can help bring them to life. By the way, present stats are that the typical person reads four books a year, the average number of books read per year (12) is biased by a minority of voracious readers,

Here are two other internet sources for popular books through history.

In 2018 Literary Hub published a year-by-year list of the Biggest Fiction Bestsellers of the Last 100 Years (And What Everyone Read Instead).

Wikipedia has a list of best-selling books. Below is the list sorted by publication date.

BookAuthor(s)Original languageFirst publishedSales (million)
BecomingMichelle ObamaEnglish201811.5
The Girl on the TrainPaula HawkinsEnglish201520
The Fault in Our StarsJohn GreenEnglish201223
Gone GirlGillian FlynnEnglish201220
Me Before YouJojo MoyesEnglish201212
Fifty Shades DarkerE. L. JamesEnglish201210.4
Fifty Shades of GreyE. L. JamesEnglish201115.2
MockingjaySuzanne CollinsEnglish201020
The Lost SymbolDan BrownEnglish200930
Catching FireSuzanne CollinsEnglish200921
The HelpKathryn StockettEnglish200910
The Hunger GamesSuzanne CollinsEnglish200829
Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsJ. K. RowlingEnglish200765
The ShackWilliam P. YoungEnglish200722
The SecretRhonda ByrneEnglish200620
Confucius from the Heart (于丹《论语》心得)Yu DanChinese200610
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood PrinceJ. K. RowlingEnglish200565
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Män som hatar kvinnor)Stieg LarssonSwedish200530
The Book ThiefMarkus ZusakEnglish200516
Wolf Totem (狼图腾)Jiang RongChinese200420
The Da Vinci CodeDan BrownEnglish200380
Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixJ. K. RowlingEnglish200365
The Kite RunnerKhaled HosseiniEnglish200331.5
The Purpose Driven LifeRick WarrenEnglish200233
The Lovely BonesAlice SeboldEnglish200210
The Shadow of the Wind (La sombra del viento)Carlos Ruiz ZafónSpanish200115
Life of PiYann MartelEnglish200110
Harry Potter and the Goblet of FireJ. K. RowlingEnglish200065
Angels & DemonsDan BrownEnglish200039
Interpreter of MaladiesJhumpa LahiriEnglish200015
The Dukan DietPierre DukanFrench200010
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of AzkabanJ. K. RowlingEnglish199965
The GruffaloJulia DonaldsonEnglish199910.5
Harry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsJ. K. RowlingEnglish199877
Who Moved My Cheese?Spencer JohnsonEnglish199826
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's StoneJ. K. RowlingEnglish1997120
Tuesdays with MorrieMitch AlbomEnglish199714
Angela's AshesFrank McCourtEnglish199610
The Horse WhispererNicholas EvansEnglish199516
Santa EvitaTomás Eloy MartínezSpanish199510
Guess How Much I Love YouSam McBratneyEnglish199415
Follow Your Heart (Va' dove ti porta il cuore)Susanna TamaroItalian199414
Long Walk to FreedomNelson MandelaEnglish199414
The Celestine ProphecyJames RedfieldEnglish199323
The GiverLois LowryEnglish199310
The Bridges of Madison CountyRobert James WallerEnglish199260
Diana: Her True StoryAndrew MortonEnglish199210
Wild SwansJung ChangEnglish199210
Sophie's World (Sofies verden)Jostein GaarderNorwegian199140
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective PeopleStephen R. CoveyEnglish198925
The Pillars of the EarthKen FollettEnglish198915
The Alchemist (O Alquimista)Paulo CoelhoPortuguese198865
A Brief History of TimeStephen HawkingEnglish198825
KitchenBanana YoshimotoJapanese198820
MatildaRoald DahlEnglish198817
Norwegian Wood (ノルウェイの森)Haruki MurakamiJapanese198712
Love You ForeverRobert MunschEnglish198620
Perfume (Das Parfum)Patrick SüskindGerman198515
Knowledge-value Revolution (知価革命)Taichi SakaiyaJapanese198510
You Can Heal Your LifeLouise HayEnglish198450
What to Expect When You're ExpectingArlene Eisenberg and Heidi MurkoffEnglish198420
The GoalEliyahu M. GoldrattEnglish198410
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾Sue TownsendEnglish198220
Totto-chan, the Little Girl at the Window (窓ぎわのトットちゃん)Tetsuko KuroyanagiJapanese198118
Ronia, the Robber's DaughterAstrid LindgrenSwedish198110
The Name of the Rose (Il Nome della Rosa)Umberto EcoItalian198050
CosmosCarl SaganEnglish198040
Flowers in the AtticV. C. AndrewsEnglish197940
Kane and AbelJeffrey ArcherEnglish197937
The Neverending Story (Die unendliche Geschichte)Michael EndeGerman197916
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyDouglas AdamsEnglish197914
Problems in China's Socialist Economy (中国社会主义经济问题研究)Xue MuqiaoChinese197910
Eye of the NeedleKen FollettEnglish197810
The Thorn BirdsColleen McCulloughEnglish197733
The Women's RoomMarilyn FrenchEnglish197720
The Hite ReportShere HiteEnglish197650
Your Erroneous ZonesWayne DyerEnglish197635
The Eagle Has LandedJack HigginsEnglish197550
ShōgunJames ClavellEnglish197515
Life After LifeRaymond MoodyEnglish197513
The Bermuda TriangleCharles BerlitzEnglish197420
JawsPeter BenchleyEnglish197420
The Total WomanMarabel MorganEnglish197410
The Front RunnerPatricia Nell WarrenEnglish197410
Fear of FlyingErica JongEnglish197320
Watership DownRichard AdamsEnglish197250
The Joy of SexAlex ComfortEnglish197210
The Happy Hooker: My Own StoryXaviera HollanderEnglish197120
The ExorcistWilliam Peter BlattyEnglish197111
Jonathan Livingston SeagullRichard BachEnglish197044
Love StoryErich SegalEnglish197021
What Color Is Your Parachute?Richard Nelson BollesEnglish197010
The Very Hungry CaterpillarEric CarleEnglish196943
The GodfatherMario PuzoEnglish196921
The Naked ApeDesmond MorrisEnglish196820
One Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien años de soledad)Gabriel García MárquezSpanish196750
The OutsidersS. E. HintonEnglish196715
Valley of the DollsJacqueline SusannEnglish196631
DuneFrank HerbertEnglish196520
The Gospel According to PeanutsRobert L. ShortEnglish196510
Charlie and the Chocolate FactoryRoald DahlEnglish196420
Where the Wild Things AreMaurice SendakEnglish196320
A Wrinkle in TimeMadeleine L'EngleEnglish196214
Catch-22Joseph HellerEnglish196110
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper LeeEnglish196040
Things Fall ApartChinua AchebeEnglish195820
Night (Un di Velt Hot Geshvign)Elie WieselYiddish195810
Andromeda NebulaIvan YefremovRussian195720
The Cat in the HatDr. SeussEnglish195710.5
Peyton PlaceGrace MetaliousEnglish195612.1
LolitaVladimir NabokovEnglish195550
The Ginger ManJ. P. DonleavyEnglish195550
Fahrenheit 451Ray BradburyEnglish195310
Charlotte's WebE.B. White; illustrated by Garth WilliamsEnglish195250
The Power of Positive ThinkingNorman Vincent PealeEnglish195220
The Old Man and the SeaErnest HemingwayEnglish195213
The Catcher in the RyeJ. D. SalingerEnglish195165
The Revolt of Mamie StoverWilliam Bradford HuieEnglish195130
The Lion, the Witch and the WardrobeC. S. LewisEnglish195085
Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft (Kon-Tiki ekspedisjonen)Thor HeyerdahlNorwegian195020
Nineteen Eighty-FourGeorge OrwellEnglish194930
No Longer Human (人間失格)Osamu DazaiJapanese194812
The Diary of Anne Frank (Het Achterhuis)Anne FrankDutch194735
Goodnight MoonMargaret Wise BrownEnglish194716
The Plague (La Peste)Albert CamusFrench194712
The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child CareDr. Benjamin SpockEnglish194650
Autobiography of a YogiParamahansa YoganandaHindi194620
Man's Search for Meaning (Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager)Viktor FranklGerman194612
The Young Guard (Молодая гвардия)Alexander Alexandrovich FadeyevRussian194526
Animal FarmGeorge OrwellEnglish194520
The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince)Antoine de Saint-ExupéryFrench1943150
The Poky Little PuppyJanette Sebring LowreyEnglish194215
The Stranger (L'Étranger)Albert CamusFrench194210
And Then There Were NoneAgatha ChristieEnglish1939100
The Grapes of WrathJohn SteinbeckEnglish193915
RebeccaDaphne du MaurierEnglish193830
The HobbitJ. R. R. TolkienEnglish1937100+
Gone with the WindMargaret MitchellEnglish193630
Uncle Styopa (Дядя Степа)Sergey MikhalkovRussian193621
How to Win Friends and Influence PeopleDale CarnegieEnglish193615
Virgin Soil Upturned (Поднятая целина)Mikhail SholokhovRussian193524
Lust for LifeIrving StoneEnglish193425
God's Little AcreErskine CaldwellEnglish193314
How the Steel Was Tempered (Как закалялась сталь)Nikolai OstrovskyRussian193236.4
All Quiet on the Western Front (Im Westen nichts Neues)Erich Maria RemarqueGerman192920
The Story of My Experiments with Truth (સત્યના પ્રયોગો અથવા આત્મકથા)Mohandas Karamchand GandhiGujarati1925-192910
The Great GatsbyF. Scott FitzgeraldEnglish192530
The Good Soldier Švejk (Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka za světové války)Jaroslav HašekCzech192320
The ProphetKahlil GibranEnglish192311
Anne of Green GablesLucy Maud MontgomeryEnglish190850
The Wind in the WillowsKenneth GrahameEnglish190825
The Tale of Peter RabbitBeatrix PotterEnglish190245
A Message to GarciaElbert HubbardEnglish189940
She: A History of AdventureH. Rider HaggardEnglish188783
Adventures of Huckleberry FinnMark TwainEnglish188520
The Adventures of Pinocchio (Le avventure di Pinocchio)Carlo CollodiItalian1881>80
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the ChristLew WallaceEnglish188050
HeidiJohanna SpyriSwiss German188050
Black BeautyAnna SewellEnglish187750
War and Peace (Война и мир)Leo TolstoyRussian186936
A Tale of Two CitiesCharles DickensEnglish1859200
Pride and PrejudiceJane AustenEnglish181320
Dream of the Red Chamber (紅樓夢)Cao XueqinChinese1791100
Paul et VirginieJacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-PierreFrench178825
The Divine Comedy (La Divina Commedia)Dante AlighieriItalian130411-12

Remember, they likely read the Bible too.

5 comments:

  1. I'm embarrassed to say I've read few of these.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow. Looking through that list sure takes me back. Thanks John. Cheers, BT

    ReplyDelete
  3. Both lists are truly interesting. I am pleased to see some NF among the titles. Have read many, and am astonished at some of the fiction titles: it shows what good popular marketing can do. I will forward to friends. Thanks, John.

    Gail B

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've read at least 33 of the books listed in the Wikipedia. It will take me a bit of time to go through the other list.

    Btyclk

    ReplyDelete
  5. My grandmother read a LOT...the family didn't have a lot of money, but what money my great-grandmother did manage to set aside was spent on books and music lessons for the children.

    As for the Wikipedia list - it certainly has a wide range! I've read about 37 of them...though none of Rowling, and only managed one Dan Brown...

    ReplyDelete