A woman looks at books at the 18th annual International Book Exhibition of Algiers (SILA) in Algiers November 5, 2013. About 1,000 publishers from 44 countries are participating in the exhibition which takes place from October 30 to November 9, according to local media. REUTERS/Louafi Larbi

Have you ever wondered what are the top 10 most read books in the world? James Chapman, a writer of "A Passion For Writing, Resources To Help Writers Succeed" at Squidoo has compiled a list of the books that are frequently read by people around the world. Here are the top 10 most read books in the world for the past 50 years. See if your faves made the list.

Top 10 Most Read Books In the World (For the Past 50 Years):


1. The Bible - 3.9 billion copies read

The Bible is a collection of 66 books containing God's messages, including the Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

2. Quotations from the Works of Mao Tse-tung (author: Mao Tse-tung) - 820 million copies read

Also called Mao Tse-tung's "Little Red Book." This book explained the Chinese Communist Party ideology to the Chinese.

3. Harry Potter (author: J. K. Rowling) - 400 million copies read

J.K. Rowling's beloved seven-part series about the life of Harry Potter, a boy wizard and his friends and their battle with He-who-must-not-be-named a.k.a. Voldemort. This book has cast a spell on both children and adults alike. It has even made into seven movies starring Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley and Emma Watson as Hermione Granger.

4. Lord of the Rings (author: J. R. R. Tolkien) - 103 million copies read

A fantasy story written about Middle Earth, good and evil, dwarves, humans, elves, hobbits, orcs, goblins, wizards and balrogs, not to mention the rings made by Sauron, including the "One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them in the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie." Like Harry Potter, this book has also been made into three films by Director Peter Jackson.

5. The Alchemist (author: Paulo Coelho) - 65 million copies read

A novel originally written in Portuguese, it has been translated as of September 2012 into 56 languages. Paulo Coelho, the book's author even tweeted about his book being the top 5 on the list of the top 10 most read books in the world for the past 50 years.

Top most read books in the past 50 years: #TheAlchemist is number 5 http://t.co/LxvWpCl00t

— Paulo Coelho (@paulocoelho) November 16, 2013

6. The Da Vinci Code (author: Dan Brown) - 57 million copies read

It is a fictional novel that tells the controversial story about the possibility of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene's marriage, which involves having a child. It has also been made into a film starring Tom Hanks as protagonist Robert Langdon.

7. Twilight - The Saga (author: Stephenie Meyer) - 43 million copies read

A love story between Bella Swan, a young woman, and Edward Cullen, a centuries old immortal vampire. Like the other books in the list, it has been turned into a multimillion dollar franchise, including films starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson and merchandise such as dolls, makeup and clothes.

8. Gone With the Wind (author: Margaret Mitchell) - 33 million copies read

Another book that has been turned into a successful film, it tells the story of Scarlett O'Hara, the daughter of an Irish immigrant plantation owner in Georgia during the American Civil War. This novel has won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize and the film adaptation won an Oscar at the Academy Awards.

9. Think and Grow Rich (author: Napoleon Hill) - 30 million copies read

A motivational book about self-improvement and personality development inspired by a suggestion that author Napoleon Hill received from Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish-American billionaire.

10. Diary of Anne Frank (author: Anne Frank) - 27 million copies read

This novel was written by Anne Frank based on a diary that she kept while she was in hiding with her family for 2 years during the occupation of the Netherlands by the Nazi.

These are the Top 10 most read books in the world for the past 50 years. Did your faves make the list? Read them all or give them as gifts this holiday season. Friends and loved-ones will thank you for these.

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