The New York Times is probably the most well known when it comes to a bestseller book list, with the figures being obtained from bookstores reporting their weekly sales. Amazon, being the most popular online site to purchase books, also plays a key role through its sales ranking with books that reach the top 100 in sales on the site being considered as best sellers. 

However, since these figures are not based on the lifetime sales of a book, but rather within a shorter specific period of time, other books even though they may never make one of these bestseller lists can still reach bestseller status by selling enough copies over a longer period of time.

Some bestseller lists are sorted by categories such as fiction, nonfiction, cookbooks, and children's books. Some bestseller books are purchased but never even read and are kept just for display in a bookcase or as a collector's item.

Bestseller books can be a great idea when it comes to gift giving. Whether you are buying books for yourself or as gifts for friends and relatives, a bestseller book list can be a great resource.