Amazon Kindle Unlimited reveals most-read books of the past decade

Amazon has revealed that in the 10 years since the launch of Kindle Unlimited, more than 3 billion books have been read by its members, with Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) authors making a total of £2.66 billion ($3.5 billion) from the scheme.

Kindle Unlimited was designed to give readers access to unlimited ebooks, audiobooks and magazine subscriptions. Since 2014, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J K Rowling was the most-read book globally on Kindle Unlimited, with Rowling the most popular author overall. 

Self-published authors featured prominently over the past decade, with mystery author L J Ross the most popular KDP author on Kindle Unlimited, with six of her DCI Ryan Mysteries novels featuring in the top 20 most-read titles. Ross is also the UK’s second-most popular author on Kindle Unlimited after Rowling; other notable KDP authors who featured in the top 10 include J D Kirk, J M Dalgliesh and Rachel McLean.  

Romance was the most popular genre on Kindle Unlimited over the past decade, with Colleen Hoover the most popular romance author, and Reminders of Him: A Novel ranked 15th in the most-read books of the decade. Thrillers were the next most popular genre, making up almost half of the top 20 most-read titles in the UK.

Amy Tipper, head of EU books subscriptions at Amazon, said: “The magical world of Hogwarts has undeniably stood the test of time, with all seven books featuring in the global and UK top 10 most-read lists.”  

She added: “Interestingly, the books that feature alongside the witchcraft and wizardry series in the global top 10 are authors who have gone viral on BookTok. Freida McFadden, Lucy Score, Colleen Hoover and H D Carlton have all shared huge success on the social channel in recent years—a clear demonstration of the influence of BookTok on the industry and author success."

The top 10 most read books on Kindle Unlimited in the UK over the past 10 years:  

• The Harry Potter series by J K Rowling 
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins 
• Holy Island: A DCI Ryan Mystery by L J Ross 
• The Housemaid by Freida McFadden 
• Sycamore Gap: A DCI Ryan Mystery by L J Ross 
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins 
• Heavenfield: A DCI Ryan Mystery by L J Ross 
• The Stopover (The Miles High Club) by T L Swan 
• Reminders of Him: A Novel by Colleen Hoover 
• Angel: A DCI Ryan Mystery by L J Ross 

The top 10 most read authors on Kindle Unlimited in the UK over the past 10 years:  

• J K Rowling 
• L J Ross 
• Joy Ellis 
• Faith Martin 
• Michael Anderle 
• J D Kirk 
• T L Swan 
• J M Dalgliesh 
• Rachel McLean 
• J S Scott