2009's Bestselling Genre Books

Publishers Weekly has issued their annual survey of the bestselling books -- in a number of categories and formats -- in the US last year. As I did for 2008 and 2007, I'll pull out the books with SFF elements, to see what the biggest books with SFnal and fantastic ideas were last year.

Hardcover Fiction
(The silent adjective here is "adult," since books for younger readers are tallied separately, though many of them sell at levels equaling or excelling the top end of this list.)
#1 was, unsurprisingly, Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, at 5,543,643, which is at least a second cousin of SFF via the Ruritanian novel.

Other hardcover titles with genre elements were:

• 8. The Host: A Novel. Stephenie Meyer. Little, Brown (912,165).
• 9. *Under the Dome. Stephen King. Scribner
• 24. Breathless: A Novel. Dean Koontz. Bantam (500,964).
• 25. Dead and Gone: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel. Charlaine Harris. Ace (500,135).
• 28. The Gathering Storm: Book 12 of the Wheel of Time. Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. Tor (437, 474).
• An Echo in the Bone: A Novel. Diana Gabaldon. Delacorte (347,081).
• Kindred in Death. J.D. Robb. Putnam (315,000).
• A Touch of Dead. Charlaine Harris. Ace (270,002).
• Bad Moon Rising. Sherrilyn Kenyon. St. Martin's (252,180).
• Relentless: A Novel. Dean Koontz. Bantam (250,278).
• The Doomsday Key. James Rollins. William Morrow (225,026).
• Altar of Eden. James Rollins. William Morrow (196,734).
• The Strain. Guillermo Del Toro. William Morrow (191,627).
• Divine Misdemeanors: A Novel. Laurell K. Hamilton. Ballantine (166,102).
• Angel Time. Anne Rice. Knopf (153,520).
• Skin Trade. Laurell K. Hamilton. Berkley (153,004).
• Cemetery Dance. Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. Grand Central. (148,804).
• Fool. Christopher Moore. William Morrow (146,098).
• Return to Sullivans Island. Christopher Moore. William Morrow. (139,020).
• White Witch, Black Curse. Kim Harrison. Eos. (135,659).
• Lover Avenged: A Novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. J.R. Ward. NAL (125,126).
• Dark Slayer. Christine Feehan. Berkley (121,082).
• The Year of the Flood: A Novel. Margaret Atwood. Doubleday (120,249).
• The Book of Genesis Illustrated. R. Crumb. Norton (119,914).
• Fried Up: Book One of the Dreamlight Trilogy. Jayne Ann Krentz. Putnam (118,775).
• Pygmy. Chuck Palahniuk. Doubleday (117,202).
• Turn Coat: A Novel of the Dresden Files. Jim Butcher. Roc (115,111).
• First Lord's Fury. Jim Butcher. Ace (108,105).
• To Try Men's Souls. Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen. St. Martin's/Dunne (100,099).

There may be more that I missed, and several of those above may be bereft of fantastic elements (James Rollins is included mostly due to that first title and because he also writes epic fantasy as James Clemens). But this should be a roughly accurate list, showing what the most popular books, series, and subgenres are.

Those who are praying for the death of urban fantasy will clearly be disappointed. (Though people who pray for the books that other people like to stop appearing shouldn't get what they want in the first place.)

I won't touch on Hardcover Nonfiction, except to note that the #1 book was Going Rogue by That Palin Woman, at 2,674,684. That's less than half of what Dan Brown sold; I'm strangely comforted that Americans generally prefer their silly geopolitical fantasies to be clearly fictional.

In Mass Market Paperback, the top title -- and the only book selling more than 2 million copies -- was John Grisham's The Associate, at 2,150,227. A decade ago, this list had sections for books selling at 5 million+, and tens of millions weren't unheard of. The mass market really isn't what it used to be.

But, of the books that were published in this format, and sold well, the genre-interest titles are:

• Your Heart Belong to Me: A Novel. Dean Koontz. Rep. Bantam (887,394).
• From Dead to Worse: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel. Charlaine Harris. Rep. Ace (877,000).
• Club Dead: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel. Charlaine Harris. Rep. Ace (802,469).
• The Last Oracle. James Rollins. Harper (800,000).
• The Da Vinci Code. Dan Brown. Rep. Vintage/Anchor (759,982).
• Dead to the World: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel. Charlaine Harris. Rep. Ace (750,388).
• Definitely Dead: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel. Charlaine Harris. Rep. Ace (730,013).
• Dead as a Doornail: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel. Charlaine Harris. Rep. Ace (728,144).
• *Angels & Demons. Dan Brown. Movie tie-in. Rep. Pocket.
• Dead Until Dark: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel. Charlaine Harris. TV tie-in. Rep. Ace (700,516).
• All Together Dead: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel. Charlaine Harris. Rep. Ace (655,046).
• Promises in Death. J.D. Robb. Rep. Berkley (635,372).
• Salvation in Death. J.D. Robb. Rep. Berkley (631,019).
• The Road. Cormac McCarthy. Rep. Vintage/Anchor (605,322).
• Odd Hours. Dean Koontz. Rep. Bantam (601,757).
• *Just After Sunset: Stories. Stephen King. Rep. Pocket.
• Dean Koontz's Frankenstein: Dead & Alive: A Novel. Dean Koontz. Orig. Bantam (582,809).
• Dream Warrior. Sherrilyn Kenyon. Orig. St. Martin's (575,000).
• Living Dead in Dallas: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel. Charlaine Harris. Rep. Ace (557,282).
• Born of Fire. Sherrilyn Kenyon. Orig. St. Martin's (525,000).
• Charmed & Enchanted. Nora Roberts. Silhouette (511,177).
• Born of Night. Sherrilyn Kenyon. Orig. St. Martin's (505,000).
• Terminal Freeze. Lincoln Child. Rep. Vintage/Anchor (501,607).
• Hidden Currents. Christine Feehan. Orig. Jove (500,044).
• Born of Ice. Sherrilyn Kenyon. Orig. St. Martin's (500,000).

I may easily have missed some paperback paranormal romances, since I don't keep track of that side of the business anymore. Congratulations to Charlaine Harris for a marvelous year, and, again, she's only one part of a general landslide of books about vampires, werewolves, and other things that go bump in the night. Anyone hoping to see fantasy return to all-castles-and-dragons, all-the-time mode had better invest in a time machine and set the dial for 1989.

In Trade Paperbacks, Publishers Weekly combines fiction and nonfiction, for no obvious reason. (They do for mass markets as well, but that's so overwhelmingly dominated by fiction that no one notices.) The top book there is the Christian weepie The Shack (which I can never remember if it presents itself as F or NF anyway) with 3,595,467 copies sold.

Other strong sellers were:

• The Time Traveler's Wife. Audrey Niffenegger. Rep. HMH (1,456,771).
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. Quirk (794,333).
• The Road. Cormac McCarthy. Rep. Vintage/Anchor (614,879).
• The Alchemist. Paulo Coehlo. HarperOne (450,000+).
• The Lovely Bones (movie tie-in ed.). Alice Sebold. Back Bay (437,397).
• The Lovely Bones. Alice Sebold. Back Bay (400,523).
• The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection for the Living Dead. Max Brooks. Orig. Crown (277,357)
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Junot Díaz. Rep. Riverhead (254,742).
• World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. Max Brooks. Rep. Crown (199,435).
• Atlas Shrugged. Ayn Rand. Rep. Plume (148,695).
• Halo: Essential Tales of the Halo Universe. Various authors. Orig. Tor (102,779).
• The Enchantress of Florence: A Novel. Salman Rushdie. Rep. Random (102,351).
• Snuff. Chuck Palahniuk. Vintage/Anchor (101,352).

As usual, the trade paper list has fewer SF/Fantasy books on it; the genre-fiction audience seems to prefer their books either now (in hardcover) or as cheap as possible. (We share those traits with romance, a genre we're closer to than many people would like to believe.)

And then, leaving the realms of adult books for the multifarious formats and styles of books for rugrats, I'll start off by quoting PW's round-up of children's sales:

The Stephenie Meyer juggernaut continues. Though the queen of the vampire novel didn't release any new books in 2009, demand was still enormous, fueled by the New Moon film and the DVD release of 2008's Twilight. Combining the various hardcover, paperback, and movie tie-in editions, Meyer sold just under 26.5 million copies of her Twilight saga in 2009.

That buys an awful lot of body glitter. Just saying.

PW divides the world of books for kids into not only paperback and hardcover, but also frontlist (new this year) and backlist (older than that), so we'll start with Children's Hardcover Frontlist, where the #1 title was the new "Wimpy Kid" book from Jeff Kinney, Dog Days, with 3,102,504 sold.

Also in this category:

3. Tempted (House of Night #6). PC and Kristin Cast. St. Martin's Griffin (1,108,400).
4. The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #5). Rick Riordan. Disney-Hyperion (1,059,566).
5. Breaking Dawn Special Edition. Stephenie Meyer. Little, Brown/Tingley (962,337).
6. Hunted (House of Night #5). PC and Kristin Cast. St. Martin's Griffin (853,411).
7. Twilight: Director's Notebook: The Story of How We Made the Movie Based on the Novel by Stephenie Meyer. Catherine Hardwicke. Little, Brown (800,320).
8. Witch & Wizard. James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet. Little, Brown (635,567).
9. Shadowland (The Immortals #3). Alyson Noël. St. Martin's Griffin (500,746).
10. Max (Maximum Ride). James Patterson. Little, Brown (465,401).
11. Catching Fire. Suzanne Collins. Scholastic Press (460,733).
12. Watch the Skies (Daniel X). James Patterson and Ned Rust. Little, Brown (386,365).
15. The Sword Thief (The 39 Clues #3). Peter Lerangis. Scholastic (355,745).
18. Blood Promise (Vampire Academy #4). Richelle Mead. Penguin/Razorbill (335,832).
19. *City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments). Cassandra Clare. S&S/McElderry.
20. Beyond the Grave (The 39 Clues #4). Jude Watson. Scholastic (329,333).
24. The Vampire Diaries: The Return: Nightfall. L.J. Smith. HarperTeen (285,699).
25. Percy Jackson: The Demigod Files. Rick Riordan. Disney-Hyperion (281,942).
27. In Too Deep (The 39 Clues #6). Jude Watson. Scholastic (255,042).
28. The Black Circle (The 39 Clues #5). Patrick Carman. Scholastic (252,473).
31. Moonlight on the Magic Flute (Magic Tree House #41). Mary Pope Osborne, illus. by Sal Murdocca. Random (226,199).
32. A Good Night for Ghosts (MTH #42). Mary Pope Osborne, illus. by Sal Murdocca. Random (224,255).
35. Crocodile Tears (Alex Rider #8). Anthony Horowitz. Philomel (176,157).
42. *Soldiers of Halla (Pendragon #10). D.J. MacHale. S&S/Aladdin.
44. Sunrise (Warriors: Power of Three #6). Erin Hunter. HarperCollins (147,856).
45. Eragon's Guide to Alagaësia. Christopher Paolini. Knopf (147,478).
46. The Princess and the Frog. Golden/Disney (147,012).
47. Marked (House of Night #1). PC and Kristin Cast. St. Martin's Griffin (146,781).
50. The Sorceress (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel). Michael Scott. Delacorte (143,192).
53. The Awakening. Kelly Armstrong. HarperCollins (142,263).
54. Return to the Hundred Acre Wood. David Benedictus, illus. by Mark Burgess. Dutton (140,243).
59. The Fourth Apprentice (Warriors: Omen of the Stars #1). Erin Hunter. HarperCollins (133,279).
60. New Moon (Collector's Edition). Stephenie Meyer. Little, Brown/Tingley (131,773).
61. Shiver. Maggie Stiefvater. Scholastic Press (130,996).
63. Smoke Mountain (Seekers #3). Erin Hunter. HarperCollins (128,354).
64. The Siege of Macindaw (Ranger's Apprentice #6). John Flanagan. Philomel (127,828).
68. Great Bear Lake (Seekers #2). Erin Hunter. HarperCollins (124,142).
70. Bluestar's Prophecy (Warriors Super Edition). Erin Hunter, illus. by Wayne McLoughlin. HarperCollins (121,819).
73. *Leviathan. Scott Westerfeld, illus. by Keith Thompson. Simon Pulse.
79. Lego Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary. Simon Beecroft. DK (116,393).
80. Betrayed (House of Night #2). PC and Kristin Cast. St. Martin's Griffin (115,525).
81. Chosen (House of Night #3). PC and Kristin Cast. St. Martin's Griffin (115,054).
84. Untamed (House of Night #4). PC and Kristin Cast. St. Martin's Griffin (113,561).
89. *The Wyrm King (Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles). Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, illus. by Tony DiTerlizzi. Simon & Schuster.
96. Syren (Septimus Heap #5). Angie Sage, illus. by Mark Zug. HarperCollins/Tegen (103,416).
97. The Maze Runner. James Dashner. Delacorte (102,934).
99. Odd and the Frost Giants. Neil Gaiman, illus. by Brett Helquist. HarperCollins (100,391).

I'm not at all confident that I caught all of the SFF books on this list; this category is full of fantasy of various kinds, and I could easily have deleted five or six books that I didn't know were fantasy. But, even with that caveat, this is still a long, deep list, full of books selling very well. Teens (and their younger siblings) really like fantasy these days.

And then we get into the Hardcover Backlist, where the perennials live. #1 is, of course, Breaking Dawn by Miz Stephenie, selling 4,686,713 copies. (Just to underline that -- this is a year-old book selling nearly five million copies in hardcover, even when other editions are available.)

The rest of the list:

2. Eclipse. Stephenie Meyer. Little, Brown/Tingley, 2007 (4,305,594).
3. New Moon. Stephenie Meyer. Little, Brown/Tingley, 2006 (1,371,686).
5. Twilight. Stephenie Meyer. Little, Brown/Tingley, 2006 (1,268,373).
11. Where the Wild Things Are. Maurice Sendak. HarperCollins, 1988 (514,282).
17. The Maze of Bones (The 39 Clues #1). Rick Riordan. Scholastic, 2008 (378,293).
18. The Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins. Scholastic Press, 2008 (374,199).
22. The Graveyard Book. Neil Gaiman, illus. by Dave McKean. HarperCollins, 2008 (339,042).
34. The Polar Express. Chris Van Allsburg. Houghton, 1985 (209,500).
52. Brisingr. Christopher Paolini. Knopf, 2008 (161,944).
98. The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #4). Rick Riordan. Disney-Hyperion, 2008 (111,216).

This list, as usual, is filled with board books and other editions of classic early readers and picture books. But there's still some fantasy there, though nearly all of it is in series.

Moving on to Paperback Frontlist, the top seller is (no surprise) Meyer's Eclipse, at 2,565,053. (Though look below, and be amazed that the same book of hers is number 2, 3, and 5 on this list, in its different editions.)

Also here are:

2. New Moon (mass market media tie-in). Stephenie Meyer. Little, Brown/Tingley (2,089,468).
3. New Moon (media tie-in). Stephenie Meyer. Little, Brown/Tingley (1,664,364).
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. J.K. Rowling, illus. by Mary Grandpré. Scholastic/Levine (1,085,698).
5. New Moon: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion. Mark Cotta Vaz. Little, Brown (845,961).
6. The Dangerous Days of Daniel X (mass market). James Patterson. Little, Brown (639,755).
7. The Final Warning (mass market). James Patterson. Little, Brown (622,795).
8. Evermore (The Immortals #1). Alyson Noël. St. Martin's Griffin (615,961).
9. The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #4). Rick Riordan. Disney-Hyperion (584,478).
10. Blue Moon (The Immortals #2). Alyson Noël. St. Martin's Griffin (471,143).
11. *Night World #3: Huntress, Black Dawn, Witchlight. L.J. Smith. Simon Pulse.
16. *City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments). Cassandra Clare. S&S/McElderry.
21. *Thirst No. 1: The Last Vampire, Black Blood, Red Dice. Christopher Pike. Simon Pulse.
22. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: I Am Optimus Prime. Jennifer Frantz, illus. by Guido Guidi. HarperCollins (240,903).
27. Monday with a Mad Genius (MTH #28). Mary Pope Osborne, illus. by Sal Murdocca. Random (204,828).
30. Star Wars: Yoda in Action. Heather Scott. DK (190,010).
36. Dark Day in the Deep Sea (MTH #39). Mary Pope Osborne, illus. by Sal Murdocca. Random (167,269).
37. Vampire Kisses: The Beginning. Ellen Schreiber. HarperCollins/Tegen, (165,736).
46. The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening. L.J. Smith. HarperTeen (146,842).
54. Max (Maximum Ride). James Patterson. Little, Brown (132,622).
56. Disney Fairies: Tink's Treasure Hunt. Random/Disney (127,578).
57. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: Rise of the Decepticons. Jennifer Frantz, illus. by Marcelo Matere. HarperCollins (124,367).
60. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: Operation Autobot. Susan Korman. HarperFestival (122,162).
67. Monsters vs. Aliens: Team Monster. Gail Herman. HarperCollins (114,991).
74. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: When Robots Attack! Ray Santos. HarperFestival (111,079).
80. Monsters vs. Aliens: The Junior Novel. Susan Korman. HarperFestival (107,076).
81. The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle. L.J. Smith. HarperTeen (106,758).
83. Disney Fairies: Rosetta's Daring Day. Lisa Papademetriou. Random/Disney (105,409).
84. The Twilight Companion: Completely Updated: The Unauthorized Guide to the Series. Lois H. Gresh. St. Martin's Griffin (105,000).
86. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: The Junior Novel. Dan Jolley. HarperFestival (104,400).
87. The Quest Begins (Seekers #1). Erin Hunter. HarperCollins (104,059).
88. Christmas in Camelot (MTH #29). Mary Pope Osborne, illus. by Sal Murdocca. Random (103,805).
89. *Grip of the Shadow Plague (Fablehaven #3). Brandon Mull. S&S/Aladdin.
92. Eve of the Emperor Penguin (MTH #40). Mary Pope Osborne, illus. by Sal Murdocca. Random (101,094).
95. Outcast (Warriors: Power of Three #3). Erin Hunter. HarperCollins (100,457).

I'm not sure I was entirely consistent in my treatment of movie tie-ins, so I may have left off a number of arguably fantasy books (such as a slew of Pixar "Cars" titles). Also, I may have deleted fantasy books from authors I'm not familiar with here as well. So this list can be taken as a minimum list of the fantasy selling strongly to young readers.

And last is Paperback Backlist, led by Meyer once again, with New Moon at 4,516,304. (So Meyer is on top of all three categories she's eligible for, with a different book each time. An impressive feat!)

Also here:

2. Twilight. Stephenie Meyer. Little, Brown/Tingley, 2006 (3,266,186).
3. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1). Rick Riordan. Disney-Hyperion, 2006 (1,395,152).
4. Twilight (mass market media tie-in). Stephenie Meyer. Little, Brown/Tingley, 2008 (1,252,937).
5. Where the Wild Things Are. Maurice Sendak. HarperCollins, 1988 (1,168,006).
6. Marked (House of Night #1). PC and Kristin Cast. St. Martin's Griffin, 2007 (955,601).
7. Twilight (media tie-in). Stephenie Meyer. Little, Brown/Tingley, 2008 (926,741).
8. Betrayed (House of Night #2). PC and Kristin Cast. St. Martin's Griffin, 2007 (800,190).
9. Chosen (House of Night #3). PC and Kristin Cast. St. Martin's Griffin, 2008 (750,752).
10. The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #2). Rick Riordan. Disney-Hyperion, 2007 (685,656).
11. Untamed (House of Night #4). PC and Kristin Cast. St. Martin's Griffin, 2008 (682,870).
12. The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #3). Rick Riordan. Disney-Hyperion, 2008 (614,237).
13. The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and the Struggle. L.J. Smith. HarperTeen, 2007 (582,978).
14. *Night World #1: Secret Vampire, Daughters of Darkness, Spellbinder. L.J. Smith. Simon Pulse, 2008.
16. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. J.K. Rowling, illus. by Mary Grandpré. Scholastic/Levine, 2006 (479,387).
17. The Vampire Diaries: The Fury and the Dark Reunion. L.J. Smith. HarperTeen, 2007 (465,437).
18. *City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments). Cassandra Clare. S&S/McElderry, 2008.
20. *Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Judy Barrett, illus. by Rob Barrett. S&S/Atheneum, 1982.
21. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. J.K. Rowling, illus. by Mary Grandpré. Scholastic/Levine, 1999 (407,000).
23. *Night World #2: Dark Angel, the Chosen, Soulmate. L.J. Smith. Simon Pulse, 2008.
25. Dinosaurs Before Dark (MTH #1). Mary Pope Osborne, illus. by Sal Murdocca. Random, 1992 (348,786).
26. Twilight: The Complete Illustrated Movie Companion. Mark Cotta Vaz. Little, Brown, 2008 (348,102).
28. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. J.K. Rowling, illus. by Mary Grandpré. Scholastic/Levine, 2000 (325,962).
29. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. J.K. Rowling, illus. by Mary Grandpré. Scholastic/Levine, 2004 (324,957).
30. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. J.K. Rowling, illus. by Mary Grandpré. Scholastic/Levine, 2001 (310,136).
32. Vampire Academy. Richelle Mead. Razorbill, 2007 (304,827).
33. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. J.K. Rowling, illus. by Mary Grandpré. Scholastic/Levine, 2002 (296,912).
38. Frostbite (Vampire Academy #2). Richelle Mead. Razorbill, 2008 (260,257).
40. Mummies in the Morning (MTH #3). Mary Pope Osborne, illus. by Sal Murdocca. Random, 1993 (251,633).
42. The Knight at Dawn (MTH #2). Mary Pope Osborne, illus. by Sal Murdocca. Random, 1993 (250,292).
43. Coraline. Neil Gaiman, illus. by Dave McKean. HarperFestival, 2008 (240,138).
46. Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3). Richelle Mead. Razorbill, 2008 (231,228).
49. A Wrinkle in Time. Madeleine L'Engle. Macmillan/Square Fish, 2007 (229,500).
51. Pirates Past Noon (MTH #4). Mary Pope Osborne, illus. by Sal Murdocca. Random, 1994 (221,698).
54. Inkheart. Cornelia Funke. Scholastic/Chicken House, 2005 (216,838).
58. The Tale of Despereaux. Kate DiCamillo, illus. by Timothy Basil Ering. Candlewick, 2006 (207,789).
59. Star Wars: Jabba the Hut. Simon Beecroft. DK, 2008 (195,328).
61. Star Wars: Anakin in Action. Simon Beecroft. DK, 2008 (190,429).
70. Night of the Ninjas (MTH #5). Mary Pope Osborne, illus. by Sal Murdocca. Random, 1995 (166,031).
73. Into the Wild (Warriors #1). Erin Hunter. HarperCollins, 2003 (165,271).
94. Afternoon on the Amazon (MTH #6). Mary Pope Osborne, illus. by Sal Murdocca. Random, 1995 (143,714).
96. The Angel Experiment (Maximum Ride). James Patterson. Little, Brown, 2007 (142,740).
97. Dolphins at Daybreak (MTH #9). Mary Pope Osborne, illus. by Sal Murdocca. Random, 1993 (142,170).
99. Transformers: Meet the Autobots. Jennifer Frantz, illus. by Guido Guidi. HarperCollins, 2007 (140,357).
103. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. C.S. Lewis, illus. by Pauline Baynes. HarperCollins, 2002 (138,982).
105. Midnight on the Moon (MTH #8). Mary Pope Osborne, illus. by Sal Murdocca. Random, 1996 (135,697).
106. *Uglies. Scott Westerfeld. Simon Pulse, 2005.
110. The Adventures of Captain Underpants. Dav Pilkey. Scholastic, 1997 (133,873).
112. Dragon of the Red Dawn (MTH #37). Mary Pope Osborne, illus. by Sal Murdocca. Random, 2008 (130,689).
115. Ghost Town at Sundown (MTH #10). Mary Pope Osborne, illus by Sal Murdocca. Random, 1997 (129,440).
116. Tuck Everlasting. Natalie Babbitt. Macmillan/Square Fish, 2007 (126,300).
117. The City of Ember. Jeanne Du Prau. Random/Yearling, 2004 (126,121).
121. Charlotte's Web. E.B. White, illus. by Garth Williams. HarperCollins, 1974 (124,984).
125. Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants. Dav Pilkey. Scholastic, 2000 (122,900).
130. Eragon (The Inheritance Cycle). Christopher Paolini. Random (various editions), 2006 (119,353).
135. Tonight on the Titanic (MTH #17). Mary Pope Osborne, illus. by Sal Murdocca. Random, 1999 (116,127).
137. Eldest (The Inheritance Cycle). Christopher Paolini. Random (various editions), 2007 (115,519).
139. Captain Underpants and the Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman. Dav Pilkey. Scholastic, 2001 (114,620).
142. Polar Bears Past Bedtime (MTH #12). Mary Pope Osborne, illus. by Sal Murdocca. Random, 1999 (113,879).
143. Transformers Animated: Robot Roll Call. Jennifer Frantz. HarperCollins, 2008 (113,622).
144. *Fablehaven. Brandon Mull. S&S/Aladdin, 2007.
147. The Cricket in Times Square. George Selden, illus. by Garth Williams. Macmillan/Square Fish, 2008 (112,500).
148. Sunset of the Sabertooth (MTH #7). Mary Pope Osborne, illus by Sal Murdocca. Random, 1996 (111,537).
151. Fire and Ice (Warriors #2). Erin Hunter. HarperCollins, 2004 (110,708).
153. Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space. Dav Pilkey. Scholastic, 1999 (110,042).
163. The Alchemyst (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel). Michael Scott. Delacorte, 2008 (106,329).
164. Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets. Dav Pilkey. Scholastic, 1999 (106,319).
165. The Magician (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel). Michael Scott. Delacorte, 2009 (106,126).
176. The Final Warning (Maximum Ride). James Patterson. Little, Brown, 2008 (103,107).
178. The Ruins of Gorlan (Ranger's Apprentice #1). John Flanagan. Puffin, 2006 (102,660).
182. The Phantom Tollbooth. Norton Juster, illus. by Jules Feiffer. Random/Yearling, 1988 (101,947).
185. School's Out Forever (Maximum Ride). James Patterson. Little, Brown, 2007 (101,637).
191. Forest of Secrets (Warriors #3). Erin Hunter. HarperCollins, 2004 (100,214).

If you asked me why I included some talking-animal stories (Cricket in Times Square, the "Warriors" books) on this list and left off others (Arnold Lobel's great "Frog and Toad" books), I'd mumble something about erring on the side of caution, and including more adventurous stories for older readers while deleting essentially moral tales for little kids. But I wouldn't have a really strong case.

Again, I certainly missed some fantasy on this list. Kids read a lot of fantasy: in series like "Magic Treehouse" and "Maximum Ride," from classics like Phantom Tollbooth and Charlotte's Web, and even in a few relatively new standalone books. They definitely read, and buy, more SFF books than adults do.

So all you adult slackers out there have some catching up to do!

Update: An anonymous reader, below, points out that Return to Sullivans Island is by Dorothea Benton Frank, not Christopher Moore. In my defense, I offer the following capture from that PW article:




This also almost certainly means it has no genre elements in it, so scratch that one from the list.