Top 40 Bestsellers

The following are the bestselling books of the most recent full calendar year. Don't forget to visit our archive of previous bestseller lists.

2012

  1. Where'd You Go, Bernadette, by Maria Semple
  2. Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn
  3. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E.L. James
  4. State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett
  5. The Tiger's Wife, by Tea Obreht
  6. Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, by Tim Egan
  7. Truth Like the Sun, by Jim Lynch
  8. Wild, by Cheryl Strayed
  9. In the Garden of Beasts, by Erik Larson
  10. The Hare with Amber Eyes, by Edmund De Waal
  11. The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes
  12. The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick DeWitt
  13. Barefoot Contessa Foolproof, by Ina Garten
  14. Fifty Shades Darker, by E.L. James
  15. Rules of Civility, by Amor Towles
  16. The Art of Fielding, by Chad Harbach
  17. The Orchardist, by Amanda Coplin
  18. The American Heiress, by Daisy Goodwin
  19. Before I Go to Sleep, by S.J. Watson
  20. The Weird Sisters, by Eleanor Brown
  21. The Cat's Table, by Michael Ondaatje
  22. Mr. Churchill's Secretary, by Susan Elia MacNeal
  23. Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand
  24. Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel
  25. Destiny of the Republic, by Candice Millard
  26. Turn Right at Machu Picchu, by Mark Adams
  27. Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin
  28. Fifty Shades Freed, by E.L. James
  29. The Buddha in the Attic, by Julie Otsuka
  30. The Submission, by Amy Waldman
  31. Bossypants, by Tina Fey
  32. Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, by John Meacham
  33. Doc, by Mary Doria Russell
  34. The Language of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
  35. Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell
  36. The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern
  37. Behind the Beautiful Forevers, by Katherine Boo
  38. Joy for Beginners, by Erica Bauermeister
  39. The Dovekeepers, by Alice Hoffman
  40. Seattle Stairway Walks, by Jake Jaramillo
  41. More from Macrina, by Leslie Mackie