Grylls’ retelling of the gospel


Bear Grylls summits another mountain: the Top 50 religious sales chart


A hike in Bible sales in 2025 was linked to the election of Pope Leo XIV


contributor to that – at least in cash terms – adding an extra £1.3m to the collection plate, a 15.9% increase. The £9.4m it brought in is a little more than a third of the category’s total haul for the year and is also a record high. Things are looking even better


for 2026. Across the first half of the year, the Religion category is up 7.6%, putting it on course to deliver £30m if this increase can be sustained. That would make it another record year, once again driven by Bibles & Liturgy, which is up 13.8% so far this year. All of this comes against a backdrop that shows total Non-Fiction values slipping backwards 3.8% in the first six months of 2026. The first temptation is to


In the Spotlight


suggest that it might just be down to increased prices – but volume is also up 6.4% so far in 2026, suggesting that most of the uplift is down to renewed interest, and not just inflation. The category’s biggest book of


2026 so far is The Greatest Story Ever Told: An Eyewitness Account by Bear Grylls. It has sold 16,540 copies, worth £174,142, since the beginning of January, easily covering the 1.2% increase that Christianity: General has realised.


Lamorna Ash Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever Bloomsbury, £10.99, 9781526663122


The Religion category is one that does not see a huge churn of new releases – as such, there are just four 2026 titles in the overall Top 50 of the year so far. They are led by Ash’s Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever, which – as a book that explores the growing trend of younger people turning to religion – perhaps supports Stone’s suggestion that TikTok influencers are leading the charge on the category’s growth.


4,951 TCM copies sold


just about featured in the rankings when we looked at it this time last year, but most of its £750,123 sales figure for 2025 came during July to December, meaning the full category is about to face some tough year-on-year numbers – so, it could struggle to fully realise that £30m goal for 2026 that we predicted a few paragraphs ago. At this point in 2025, the 2018


edition of the ESV Church Bible from Crossway Books was the bestselling book of the year, having shifted 12,741 copies in the first six months. A new edition was released in July 2025 and is the second bestselling book of the first half of this year – yet the new edition’s sales of 7,553 copies is down 40.7% from its equivalent. Still, Crossway Books probably


does not mind – its overall sales are up 27% to £1.1m so far in 2026, keeping them in second place on the publisher ranking. HarperCollins keeps the first- place spot, having increased its sales to £2.5m, up 12.8% from the equivalent six months last year. John Murray and Society for


Promoting Christian Knowledge Group (SPCK) keep hold of third and fourth place, though they do swap around, with SPCK’s sales falling backwards a slight 0.4% and John Murray’s sales climbing 4% – with thanks to Grylls.


REPORTING Alex Call 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50


21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39


Orthodox Study Bible Nelson Bibles, 9780718003593


The Qur’an OUP, 9780199535958


NKJV, Value Thinline Bible, Large Print Thomas Nelson, 9780718075583


NKJV, The Woman’s Study Bible Thomas Nelson, 9780718086749


World Mythology in… Mark Daniels Michael O’Mara, 9781782435754


God is an Englishman Bijan Omrani Forum, 9781800753082


Confessions Saint Augustine Penguin, 9780140441147


Living with the Qur’an Aliyah Umm Raiyaan Rider & Co, 9781846048197


ESV Study Bible Crossway, 9781433502415


Meeting God in John David F Ford SPCK, 9780281089635


2,788 2,778 2,497 2,337 2,311 2,211 2,146 1,903 1,883 1,870


God, the Science… M Bollore, O Bonnassies Abrams, 9789998782402


ESV Vest Pocket New Testament with… Crossway, 9781433548215


A Simple Rosary Book Catholic Truth Society, 9781860829253


A Very Happy Easter Tim Thornborough The Good Book Company, 9781784983666


Practicing the Way John Mark Comer Form, 9780281086672


God Is Not Great Christopher Hitchens Atlantic, 9781838952273


The Power of Du’a Aliyah Umm Raiyaan Rider & Co, 9781846048180


Why Jesus? Nicky Gumbel Alpha International, 9781912263660


Jesus Calling Sarah Young Thomas Nelson, 9781591451884


NIV Gospel of John Hodder, 9781444702880


A Grief Observed CS Lewis et al Faber, 9780571310876


The Bhagavad Gita Eknath Easwaran Nilgiri Press, 9781586380199


1,850 1,846 1,846 1,834 1,832 1,802 1,764 1,759 1,744 1,733 1,677 1,674


Doing Life with Your Adult Children Jim Burns Zondervan, 9780310353775


ESV Outreach New Testament, Large Print - Crossway, 9781433555992


The Bible in 52 Weeks Kimberly Moore Callisto Media, 9781641528153


1,631 1,601 1,587


The Greek and Roman Myths Philip Matyszak Thames & Hudson, 9780500251737


Dancing to the Heartbeat of God SPCK, 9780281092314


Holy Bible HarperCollins, 9780007103072


Buddhism Plain and Simple Steve Hagen Penguin, 9780140195965


Autobiography of a Yogi P Yogananda US Self-Realization Fellowship, 9780876120798


1,586 1,580 1,570 1,568 1,566 39


SHUTTERSTOCK


Charts Market Spotlight


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