I always enjoy “End of the Year” editions of magazines and newspapers, where they list the most popular celebrities, biggest news events, most popular songs, etc. for the year.  Even better is a year like this year where we are ending a decade and are getting the “Best of … “  for the decade.  In the December 28, 2009 special double issue of “People Magazine”, they have a section devoted to the “Best and Worst of 2009″ and they also have a section devoted to the “Best of the Decade”.

As a booklover, I was intrigued to read what the bestselling book of each year was on Amazon.com.   Authors J.K. Rowling and Dan Brown were definitely dominant on the list.

The bestselling books of each year on Amazon.com as listed in the “People Magazine” issue are:

2000     Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire     by J.K. Rowling

2001     Who Moved My Cheese                           by Spencer Johnson

2002     Good to Great                                            by Jim Collins

2003     Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix     by J.K. Rowling

2004     The Da Vinci Code     by Dan Brown

2005      Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince     by J.K. Rowling

2006     Good to Great     Jim Collins

2007      Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows     by J.K. Rowling

2008     Breaking Dawn     by Stephanie Meyer

2009     The Lost Symbol     by Dan Brown

As I reviewed the list, I was a little embarassed to realize that I had only definitely read two of the bestsellers.  I read “Who Moved My Cheese” and “The Da Vinci Code” and remember both of them as being good books.  I have plans to read “The Lost Symbol” but have not tackled it yet.  I read one of the Harry Potter books, but not being a big Potter fan, I have to admit that I don’t remember which book it was!  Something I found really interesting about the list was that Jim Collins’ book “Good to Great” was the bestseller in 2002 and then again in 2006.  I think I need to add it to my future reading list.  I have heard comments from people that it is a good read.

The decade we are wrapping up has been an interesting decade for bookselling.  It has not been a good decade for independent bookstores, as the big chains dominate brick and mortar store sales.  And Internet sales have grown tremendously.  I know I buy many more books on the Internet than I did in the 1990’s.  Another big change to bookselling is the introduction of the e-books.  Amazon.com’s “Kindle” was the first, and has been followed by others.  These electronic books will probably change bookselling forever.  My nephew received a Kindle as a Christmas gift and as our family has been together the last few days this week, he has had the Kindle in his hand almost constantly.  He really likes it!  I am a little old fashioned, but I think I still would prefer the feel of a real book in my hands.

It will be interesting to see what books and authors dominate sales in 2010 and beyond.  I am sure bookselling will continue to change.  I just hope we will continue to have quality books being released regularly. 

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