The search for a book could have you wandering the aisles of your local store for hours. Instead of judging by the cover, use a bestseller list to see what others have found intriguing.
Major Lists
Bestseller lists are compiled based on the rate of sales at particular bookstores or online retailers. While The New York Times' list is regarded as the gold standard, the bestsellers presented by other media show the popular Midwestern book or most read poetry compilation.
The New York Times has split its list into seven categories, thus allowing more books to claim the title of "New York Times bestseller." The children's section is the only specified genre list. Otherwise, there are separate lists for hardcover and soft cover fiction, nonfiction and advice. Book Sense has similar categories, but takes into account only sales from independent booksellers across the nation.
Narrowed Down
The Los Angeles Times has a list of "SoCal Bestsellers," while the San Francisco Chronicle shows the "Bay Area Bestsellers" to give readers a taste of what the locals are reading.
Online retailers also post their own bestselling lists. Amazon's unique approach in "Movers and Shakers" ranks books by their gains in sales rank during the past 24 hours. Barnes and Noble records the hourly bestsellers.
For books in specific genres, Publisher's Weekly offers some of the most trusted lists from hardcover fiction and nonfiction to best selling audio, children's and religion titles. Amazon also breaks apart its lists into 38 different sections including travel, health and business.
More genres:
Visit our Bestsellers section for even more categories and lists. Remember, the bestseller list measures only how many books were sold. It says nothing directly about the quality of the book. Check out our Book Review section for help in that area.
--- A. Crawford
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