Amazon Announces Best-Selling Books of 2016
SEATTLE, WA — Amazon today announced its best-selling books of 2016, best-selling Kids & Teens books of 2016, as well as the Most Gifted and Most Wished For books of the year—just in time for holiday gifting. The best-selling book of the year is Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts 1 & 2, Special Rehearsal Edition Script by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany followed by When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is also the best-selling book in the Kids & Teens category and Diary of a Wimpy Kid # 11: Double Down by Jeff Kinney is number two. Rowling’s bestseller also tops the lists for both the Most Gifted and Most Wished For book of the year, confirming that Harry Potter continues to be a favorite for readers across genres. The best-selling book lists are first editions published in 2016 comprising both print and Kindle purchases. To see the full top 100 list of Amazon’s best-selling print and Kindle books of 2016, visit www.amazon.com/bestsellingbooks2016.
“This year’s best-selling list showcases the variety of Amazon readers’ tastes, from literary fiction to thrillers to memoirs,” said Chris Schluep, Amazon Senior Book Editor. “The power of Potter is still strong, and readers of all ages can’t get enough of Hogwarts. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was the most anticipated book of the year, breaking pre-order records months before its release.”
The top 20 best-selling books of 2016 overall are:
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts 1 & 2, Special Rehearsal Edition Script by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany
- When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
- The Whistler by John Grisham
- The Last Mile (Amos Decker series) by David Baldacci
- Killing the Rising Sun: How America Vanquished World War II Japan by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard
- Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance
- Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty
- Night School: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child
- The Black Widow: Book 16 of Gabriel Allon Series by Daniel Silva
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid # 11: Double Down by Jeff Kinney
- 15th Affair (Women’s Murder Club) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
- Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
- Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben
- Crisis of Character: A White House Secret Service Officer Discloses His Firsthand Experience with Hillary, Bill, and How They Operate by Gary J. Byrne
- The Wrong Side of Goodbye: A Harry Bosch Novel by Michael Connelly
- The Magnolia Story by Chip Gaines and Joanna Gaines
- The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
- One with You: Book 5 of A Crossfire Series by Sylvia Day
- The Obsession by Nora Roberts
- Everything We Keep by Kerry Lonsdale
More about Amazon’s best-selling books of 2016:
- A lot of adults are kids at heart. The number one best-selling book is the same in both the overall and kids categories: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is actually a script; this is the first time a play has made the top 20 best-sellers list
- When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalathini and Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, both debut memoirs, are serious, eye-opening and a sign of our times
- The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney is the best-selling debut novel of 2016
- Mysteries and thrillers reign supreme in 2016; nine of the of the top 20 are from that category (ten, if you count romantic suspense)
The top 20 best-selling Kids & Teens books of 2016 overall are:
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts 1 & 2, Special Rehearsal Edition Script by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid # 11: Double Down by Jeff Kinney
- The Trials of Apollo, Book 1: The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay by J.K. Rowling
- Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, Book 2: The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan
- The Last Star: The Final Book of The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: The Illustrated Edition (Harry Potter, Book 2) by J.K. Rowling and Jim Kay
- The Crown (The Selection) by Kiera Cass
- Empire of Storms: Book 5 of Throne Of Glass Series by Sarah J. Maas
- Lady Midnight: Book 1 of The Dark Artifices by Cassandra Clare
- Take Heart, My Child: A Mother’s Dream by Ainsley Earhardt and Kathryn Cristaldi
- Glass Sword (Red Queen) by Victoria Aveyard
- Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier
- A Court of Mist and Fury: Book 2 of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
- Gravity Falls: Journal 3 by Alex Hirsch and Rob Renzetti
- Calamity (The Reckoners) by Brandon Sanderson
- Give Please a Chance by Bill O’Reilly and James Patterson
- Pax by Sara Pennypacker and Jon Klassen
- The Thank You Book (An Elephant and Piggie Book) by Mo Willems
- Broken Prince: Book 2 of The Royals Series by Erin Watt
Fun Facts about Amazon’s best-selling Kids & Teen Books of 2016:
- Authors Jeff Kinney and Rick Riordan have made the 20 best-selling Kids & Teens list four years in a row
- Over half of the top 20 best-sellers are part of a series
- Three books based in the world of Harry Potter are featured on this list, 9 years since the final book in the series was released by J.K. Rowling
- There are only two picture books in the top 20 and both are written by FOX news anchors
To learn more about the best-selling books of the year, visit www.amazon.com/bestsellingbooks2016.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about.
