Top Ten of the Past Ten: Best Selling Books of the 2010s

Welcome to the 2010s in America. Marijuana use gained more popularity as Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize cannabis for recreational use in 2012. Millennials born in the 70s and 80s entered the labor force. The Black Lives Matter movement began in 2013 with the unjustified acquittal of Trayvon Martin's murderer. In 2015, same-sex couples were finally able to officially tie the knot after the US Supreme Court declined an all-state ban on same-sex marriage, legalizing it in all 50 states. Donald Trump, a celebrity and businessman, was elected as President in 2017. Without further adieu, here are the top ten best selling books of the 2010s.

1) Fifty Shades Trilogy

According to The New York Times, the Fifty Shades Trilogy by E L James, published between 2011 and 2012, hit record numbers, spending 100 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list. NPD BookScan Fifty Shades of Grey, the trilogy's first installment, sold an estimated 15.2 million copies between 2010 and 2019. The second book Fifty Shades Darker sold an estimated 10.4 million copies. The third book, Fifty Shades Free, sold an estimated 9.3 million copies, bringing James's trilogy to an impressive estimated 35 million copies sold. Fifty Shades of Gray was adapted into a feature film in 2015, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, starring Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey and Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele. The feature film was a huge box office success bringing in $569.7 million. The second book was adapted in 2017 with a box office of $381 million, and the third in 2018 with a box office of $372 million, bringing the box office value of the Fifty Shades film franchise to $1,323 billion.

The Fifty Shades trilogy is a provocative fiction romance series that centers around two lovers, literature student Anastasia Steele and entrepreneur Christian Grey, who embark on exploring Grey's erotic tastes of BDSM, involving bondage and sadomasochism. Fifty Shades of Gray was written during Jame's "midlife crisis" after she read Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Saga. Having never written fiction before, inspired by the Twilight Saga, James became active in Fanfiction.net, writing Twilight fan fiction which eventually turned into a story of her own: Fifty Shades of Gray. Critics have complained that James's trilogy lacks writing talent and suffers from a dull plot.

"Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever."

Eljamesauthor.com

2) Unbroken: A World War Two Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, published in 2010, remained on the New York Times Bestseller list for 160 weeks in a row, with weeks as number one, and is the 5th longest-running non-fiction best seller of all time; selling over 4 million copies. Unbroken was adapted into a feature film, Unbroken, in 2014, directed by Angelina Jolie and starring Jack O'Connell as Louis Zamperini. A film sequel was produced in 2018 entitled Unbroken: Path to Redemption. Combined, both movies brought in a total box office of $157.2 million.

Unbroken is a biography of World War Two veteran Louis Zamperini, a former Olympic track star who crashed in the Pacific Theater and survived over two years as a Japanese prisoner of war. Hillenbrand also wrote Seabiscuit: An American Legend, published in 2001, also on the New York Times Bestseller list. During research for Seabiscuit, she read a 1938 newspaper article about Louis Zamperini and his story; Hillenbrand was inspired to tell Zamperini's story. Unbroken was rewarded the non-fiction book of the year by Time magazine, won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for biography, and received the Indies Choice Adult Nonfiction Book of the Year award.

"Unbroken is an unforgettable testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit..."

Random House Books

3) The Girl on the Train

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, published in 2015, spent 15 weeks, in the number one spot, on the New York Times Bestsellers List. The Girl on the Train sold more than six million in the United States and an estimated 23 million copies worldwide. The audiobook edition, released by Books on Tape, narrated by Clare Corbett, Louise Brealey, and India Fisher, won the Audie Award for "Audiobook of the Year" in 2016. The Girl on the Train was adapted into a feature film in 2016, directed by Tate Taylor, starring Emily Blunt as Rachel Watson, with a gross estimate of $75.4 million in the United States.

The Girl on the Train is a psychological thriller; featuring an unreliable alcoholic narration. The story is told from three different first-person views of Rachel Watson, Anna Boyd/Watson, and Megan Hipwell, as they tell their stories of their troubled relationships with controlling partners. Hawkins reported to CBC that her inspiration for The Girl on the Train came from her interest in everyday domestic violence around us and the idea of memory loss from drinking. Reviews compared The Girl on the Train as "the next Gone Girl," a popular 2012 psychological mystery by Gillian Flynn, which also shared similar themes with unreliable narrations.

"The Girl on the Train was so thrilling and tense and wildly unpredictable, it sucked up my entire afternoon. I simply could not put it down. Not to be missed!"

Tess Gerritsen

Penguin Random House

4) Becoming

Becoming by former first lady Michelle Obama, published in 2018, became the best selling book in the US for the year 2018, spending 52 weeks on the New York Times hardcover non-fiction bestseller list; with more than 8 million copies sold in the US and Canada; selling 1.4 million copies in the first week making it the second best selling debut for any book in 2018. Becoming's book tour was created into a documentary streaming on Netflix documentary in 2020, directed by Nadia Hallgren.

Becoming is Michelle Obama's memoir, describing how Obama grew into herself as a person, woman, mother, and first lady. One million copies were donated to First Book, an American nonprofit organization that provides free books to children. Obama told NPR that writing Becoming was a response to her frustrations of being misunderstood as an angry black woman and describes how powerful it is to tell one's own story on one's terms.

"Becoming is refined and forthright, gracefully written and at times laugh-out-loud funny, with a humbler tone and less name-dropping that might be expected of one who is on chatter terms with the queen of England."

Isabel Wilkerson

The New York Times

5) Where the Crawdads Sing

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, published in 2018, spent a total of 150 weeks on the New York Times bestsellers list, selling over 4.5 million copies by 2019. Where the Crawdads Sing also sold more print copies than any other adult title in 2019. In 2022, Where the Crawdads Sing was adapted into a movie, directed by Olivia Newman, produced by Reese Witherspoon, and starring Daisy Edgar-Jones as Kya.

Where the Crawdads Sing is a coming-of-age story that follows two timelines: one of a young girl named Kya, as she grows up between 1952 to 1969 in the marsh, separated from the towns of North Carolina, and the second follows a current investigation into the murder of Chase Andrews from Barkley Cove, also in North Carolina. Owens told NorthernVirginia magazine Where the Crawdads Sings was inspired by her entire life; her mother encouraging her to explore nature; Owens's wildlife studies in Africa, where she saw wild animals behaving much as humans do. Owens's told NorthernVirginia magazine that she wanted to write a novel that would explore how much one can learn about human nature from nature itself. Where the Crawdads Sing was selected for Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine Book Club in 2018, Barnes & Noble's Best Books of 2018, and held the number one spot on Amazon.com's list of Most Sold Books in fiction in 2019.

"A compelling mystery with prose so luminous it can cut through the murkiest of pluff mud."

Augusta Chronicle

6) American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in US Military History

American Sniper by Chris Kyle, Scott McEwen, and Jim DeFelice, published in 2012, spent 37 weeks on the New York Times bestselling list, selling 1.2 million copies, including 700,000 copies in 2015, making it one of the bestselling books of 2015. In 2014, American Sniper was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film, directed by Clint Eastwood, starring Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle and Sienna Miller as Taya. The movie grossed $547.4 million worldwide.

American Sniper is a biographical war drama that follows United States Navy SEAL Chris Kyle as he completes four tours in Iraq from 1999 to 2009. Kyle was credited with 160 kills, more than any sniper in American history.

"[American Sniper] is jaw-droppingly detailed and undeniably riveting." 

Richard Roeper

Chicago Sun-Times

7) The Help

The Help by Kathryn Stockett, published in 2009, spent 100 weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers list, and by 2011, sold over seven million copies in print and audiobook editions. The Help, in 2011, was adapted into a feature film, directed by Tate Taylor; starring an ensemble cast featuring Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis, Cicely Tyson, Bryce Dallas Howard, Allison Janney, Octavia Spencer, and Emma Stone. The film grossed over $216 million worldwide. The feature film was awarded the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Octavia Spencer's performance and won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

The Help is a historical fiction novel about aspiring journalist Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan and her published interviews she has with African American housemaids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi, during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. According to Fictionophile.com, Stockett's inspiration for The Help came from Stockett's childhood African American housekeeper, Demetrie. According to USA Today, The Help has been accused of playing into the white savior narrative. The Help was awarded the Indies Choice Book Award in 2010, the Townsend Prize for Fiction in 2010, the Exclusive Books Boeke Prize in 2009, the SIBA Book Award for fiction in 2010, the Christian Science Monitor Best Book for fiction in 2009, and the Goodreads Choice Award for best fiction in 2009.

"A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope; The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by and the ones we don't."

The Help (Jacket Flap)

8) Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot

Killing Kennedy by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard, published in 2012, spent 34 weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers list for hardcover non-fiction and sold more than one million copies. Killing Kennedy was adapted into a TV film in 2013, directed by Nelson McCormick and starring Rob Lowe as former president John F. Kennedy and Ginnifer Goodwin as Jacqueline Kennedy. The TV film was premiered on the National Geographic Channel and received over 3,354,000 views.

Killing Kennedy is a part of the Killing series, including, Killing the Killers, Killing the Mob, Killing Crazy Horse, Killing the Rising Sun, Killing Patton, Killing the SS, Killing Jesus, Killing England, Killing Lincoln, and Killing Reagan. The entire series has sold over 8 million copies. Killing Kennedy is a non-fiction book detailing the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, events leading up to and after his assassination. At the same time, Kennedy struggled to navigate the Cold War, Communism, and organized crime. Killing Kennedy has been criticized for a lacking adiquate citaitons and occasional creative liberties.

"Impressively written . . . Mr. O'Reilly and Mr. Dugard succeed in investing a familiar national tragedy with fresh anguish . . . A powerful historical precis."

Janet Maslin

The New York Times

9) The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson, published in English in 2010, spent 32 weeks at the number one spot on the New York Times Best Sellers list, selling more than 800,000 copies. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is the third installment of Larson's and David Lagercrantz's Millennium 6-book series; which includes (1) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, (2) The Girl Who Played with Fire, (4) The Girl in the Spider's Web, (5) The Girl who Takes an Eye for an Eye, and (6) The Girl who Lived Twice. Worldwide, the Millennium series has sold over 100 million copies. The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest was adapted into a feature film in Sweden, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl in the Spider's Web were adapted into feature films in America in 2011 and 2018.

The Millennium series, the first three books written by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson, and then after Larsson's sudden death, the last three books written by David Lagercrantz, is a crime/mystery/thriller series centered in Sweden. The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest continues with the story from its previous two books, with characters Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist for Millennium magazine, and Lisbeth Salander, a computer expert. Blomkvist and Salander team up to help prove Salander's innocence in three murders that Salander is accused of. Critics have accused the book's plot of being implausible. The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest won Sweden's Glass Key award in 2008.

"Reading Steig Larsson produces a kind of rush--rather like a strong cup of coffee."

David Kamp

The New York Times

10) When Breath Becomes Air

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi, published in 2016, spent 68 weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers list for non-fiction, selling more than a million copies worldwide. When Breath Becomes Air is a memoir written by American neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi, and is about Kalanithi's battle with illness and stage four metastatic lung cancer. When Breath Becomes Air was a Goodreads Choice winner in 2016 and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2017.

"It's a story so remarkable, so stunning, and so affecting that I had to take dozens of breaks just to compose myself enough to get through it."

Matt McCarthy

USA Today