Nielson's list of 2011 bestsellers

Nielsen Ranks 2011's Top Bestsellers

Nielsen Bookscan published top ten bestseller lists across a number of disciplines, including print fiction, print non-fiction, and print children's/YA (Bookscan, of course, still does not measure ebook sales, and accounts for somewhere in the vicinity of 75 percent of print sales, excluding Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, and other outlets.) Please note the lists do not include sales figures, and that they track data from January 3 through December 11. (A Nielsen spokesperson told us that complete year-end sales data will be available after January 4.) These lists also reflect Nielsen BookScan's practice of listing bestsellers by individual editions/ISBNs, rather than combining sales across multiple versions of the same work.

Adult Nonfiction

1. HEAVEN IS FOR REAL, by Todd Burpo (Thomas Nelson, trade paper)*
2. STEVE JOBS, by Walter Isaacson (S&S, hardcover)
3. UNBROKEN, by Laura Hillenbrand (Random House, hardcover)*
4. KILLING LINCOLN, by Bill O'Reilly (Holt, hardcover)
5. STRENGTHS FINDER 2.0, by Tom Rath (Gallup Press, hardcover)*
6. A STOLEN LIFE, by Jaycee Dugard (S&S, hardcover)
7. BOSSYPANTS, by Tina Fey (Reagan Arthur Books, hardcover)
8. THE 17 DAY DIET, by Mike Moreno (Free Press, hardcover)
9. THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS, by Rebecca Skloot (Broadway, trade paperback)*
10. IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS, by Erik Larson (Crown, hardcover)

Adult Fiction

1. THE HELP, by Kathryn Stockett (Berkley, trade paperback)
2. THE HELP, by Kathryn Stockett (Berkley, trade paperback movie tie-in edition)
3. WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, by Sara Gruen (Algonquin, trade paperback)*
4. CUTTING FOR STONE, by Abraham Verghese (Vintage, trade paperback)*
5. A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, by George R.R. Martin (Bantam, hardcover)
6. THE CONFESSION, by John Grisham (Dell, mass market paperback)
7. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, by Stieg Larsson (Vintage, trade paperback)*
8. THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST, by Stieg Larsson (Knopf, hardcover)*
9. THE LITIGATORS, by John Grisham (Doubleday, hardcover)
10. ROOM, by Emma Donoghue (Back Bay Books, trade paperback)

Children's/YA

1. THE HUNGER GAMES, by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, trade paperback)*
2. CABIN FEVER, by Jeff Kinney (Amulet, hardcover)
3. CATCHING FIRE, by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, hardcover)*
4. INHERITANCE, by Christopher Paolini (Knopf Children's, hardcover)
5. MOCKINGJAY, by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, hardcover)*
6. THE SUN OF NEPTUNE, by Rick Riordan (Hyperion, hardcover)
7. THE THRONE OF FIRE, by Rick Riordan (Hyperion, hardcover)
8. THE UGLY TRUTH, by Jeff Kinney (Amulet, hardcover)*
9. THE WIMPY KID DO-IT-YOURSELF BOOK, by Jeff Kinney (Amulet, hardcover)
10. ELF ON THE SHELF, by Carol Aebersold (Cca & B, hardcover)*

*These editions were first published prior to 2010