‘Spare’: Leading Amazon’s Bestselling Books This Year

Prince Harry’s autobiography Spare (Bantam) is the bestselling book on Amazon this year. 

The online retailer ranks the top 20 print and e-book titles sold and pre-ordered throughout the year.

It’s been a year of explosive revelations from our biggest names in popular culture and their books seem to have struck a winning chord with many readers.

Spare sold a record-breaking 1.4 million copies across the UK, US and Canada on its first day of publication on January 10, and more than 3.2 million after just one week. Crucially though, Spare only ranks sixth on Amazon’s Most Read list. The difference between the two is Most Sold ranks books according to the number of copies sold and pre-ordered (in print and eBook), while Most Read ranks titles by the average number of daily Kindle readers and Audible listeners. Spare was also the most traded-in book of 2023, however. We Buy Books accepted the memoir 459 times – more than once a day for the whole year – from hopeful sellers.

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears was the second memoir to make Amazon’s bestsellers list, at the ninth most sold book on the consumer platform.

The book saw the star admit she was almost cast in The Notebook, she had a brief relationship with Colin Farrell which felt like a ‘brawl’ and that she found out about the #FreeBritney movement through a rehab nurse.

The late Matthew Perry’s emotive and highly praised memoir about addiction – Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing – also took the last spot (20) on Amazon’s bestsellers list after his tragic passing in late October.

The book had been released in November 2022 but after the beloved Friends star passed away, interest in the book surged.

He shared a poignant message: ‘Someone else may be confused by the fact that they know they should stop drinking — like me, they have all the information, and they understand the consequences — but they still can’t stop drinking. You are not alone.’

While they didn’t make bestsellers lists, Pamela Anderson’s Love, Pamela and Paris Hilton’s Paris: The Memoir also released this year.

Jada Pinkett Smith’s memoir Worthy also released in October while Down The Drain, Julia Fox’s hotly anticipated book, hit the shelves that same month. Julia candidly opens up about her relationship with an unnamed artist, claiming she felt used in ‘some weird, twisted game’.

Prince Harry’s revelations about Prince William’s alleged assault, urging his father not to marry Camilla, taking cocaine and claims Meghan offended Kate over ‘baby brain’ comments continued to surface throughout the year. We still like our escapism though it seems, with Amazon’s Most Read list featuring every single Harry Potter book – five of which take up the top five spots – and The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien.

Bonnie Garmus’ Lessons in Chemistry with Amazon’s ninth Most Read, while Richard Osman had four titles make the cut.

The Last Devil To Die: The Thursday Murder Club 4 by Richard Osman and his The Bullet That Missed: The Thursday Murder Club 3, both also made the bestselling list at fifth and thirteenth respectively.

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover, a huge TikTok sensation is still going strong at bestseller number eight, despite being published way back in 2016 – her title Verity also made the cut. Charlie Mackese’s The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse is also still selling copies – placing at fourteenth on the bestsellers list at Amazon – despite being released in 2019, although the heartfelt BBC adaption of it last Christmas probably spurred on sales.

1. Spare by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex
2. Bored of Lunch: The Healthy Slow Cooker Book by Nathan Anthony
3. Bored of Lunch: The Healthy Air Fryer Book by Nathan Anthony
4. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
5. The Last Devil To Die: The Thursday Murder Club 4 by Richard Osman
6. Pinch of Nom Enjoy by Kate Allinson
7. Guinness World Records 2024 by Guinness World Records
8. It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
9. The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
10. Atomic Habits by James Clear
11. Verity by Colleen Hoover
12. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
13. The Bullet That Missed: The Thursday Murder Club 3 by Richard Osman
14. The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse by Charlie Mackesey
15. Where’s Spidey?; Marvel Entertainment International Ltd
16. Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken
17. Pinch of Nom Budget by Kate Allinson
18. The Glucose Goddess Method by Jessie Inchauspé
19. Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? by Julie Smith
20. Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry