Today's Birthday

Today is Victor Fleming's birthday. 

Victor Fleming an American film director was born this day in 1889. He awarded us with one of the most popular films, Gone With the Wind, winning an Academy Award for Best Director in 1939, just ten years before his death in 1949. By the way, his other film that he received the award for was The Wizard of Oz. I love movies, especially movies from books that I’ve read. I do have my favorites books and movies. When I was teaching school in Atlanta, there was a special showing of Gone With the Wind at a theater. Remembering how much I enjoyed reading the book, I was thrilled to relive my favorite book on screen.

The poster I've had for years

I read Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell somewhere around 13 or 14 years of age. I really think that’s the time I became hooked on reading books that took me back in time. Mitchell wrote the novel in 1936, selling more than 28 million copies – can you imagine? So I was curious to know the authors listed for selling 100 million copies or more. Here’s what I found on surfing the internet, which means you might find a different list if you do a little searching yourself! After all, it’s the internet! 

Don Quixote: 500 million, fiction by Miquel de Cervantes 1605 (Spanish)

A Tale of Two Cities: 200 million, historical fiction by Charles Dickens, 1859 (English)

The Lord of the Rings: 150 million, fiction: fantasy by J.R.R. Tolkien 1954-1955 (English)

Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince): 140 million, fiction by Antoine de Saint-Exupery 1943 (French)

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: 120 million, fiction, fantasy by J.K. Rowling 1997 (English)

The Hobbit: 100 million, fiction, fantasy by J.R.R. Tolkien 1937 (English)

And Then There Were None: 100 million, fiction, mystery by Agatha Christie 1939 (English)

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland: 100 million, fiction, fantasy by Lewis Carroll 1865 (English)

Any of these surprise you? What about Don Quixote? Hmm, not a book for me, but obviously a book for many!  

Many more books have sold over 50 million plus copies. Here’s a short list:

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis 1950

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown 2003

Harry Potter: the Chamber of Secrets, the Prisoner of Azkaban, the Goblet of Fire, the Order of the Phoenix, the Half-Blood Prince, the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (sold over 65 million each!) 1998-2007

The Bridge of Madison County by Robert James Waller 1992

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne 1870

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery 1908

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell 1877

Watership Down by Richard Adams 1972

Charlotte’s Web by E.B.White 1952

I'll stop here, the list is long! I’ve read many of these, some not so recently, like The Hobbit (read it back in college). Do you have a favorite on this list?

As a writer, I'm thinking fiction/fantasy is a great selling genre! What do you think?