Faith-based books found large audience, according to end-of-year figures from Nielsen BookScan

Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling (Thomas Nelson) dominated Christian-market charts for much of last year, but the New York Times best-seller has another claim to fame. It is one of the best-selling books of 2013 in sales overall. Two Howard Books’ titles by the Robertson clan of Duck Dynasty fame also appeared on the Nielsen BookScan list.

Jesus Calling ranked at No. 7 on the Nielsen BookScan Top 20 for 2013, while Happy, Happy, Happy by Phil Robertson and Si-Cology 1 by Si Robertson came in at No. 10 and No. 19, respectively.

On the Amazon Print Top 20 list for 2013, Jesus Calling came in at No. 5, ahead of Dan Brown’s Inferno. Gary Chapman’s perennial favorite, The 5 Love Languages (Northfield Publishing/Moody Publishers), also placed on this list at No. 17, while Rob Elliott’s Laugh-Out-Loud Jokes for Kids (Revell/Baker Publishing Group) rounded out the list at No. 20.

Although not published in the CBA market, other faith-based titles performed well. Killing Jesus by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard (Henry Holt) landed at No. 3 on BookScan and at No. 10 on Amazon Print, while Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander (Simon & Schuster) sits at No. 4 on BookScan and No. 11 on Amazon Print.