Sales of Religion titles jumped following Pope Francis’s death on Easter Monday


Bear Grylls bears the burden of second place in the Religion titles charts


wider category, with only Christian Theology experiencing a contrac- tion, falling 5.4% – a small drop in the font of just £36,704. By far the biggest category is


Christianity: Bibles & Liturgy, which has counted £4.3m so far in 2025, an increase of 13.9% compared with the previous year – a benefit led by the ESV Church Bible from Crossway Books. This edition, first published in 2018, has sold 12,741 copies so far in 2025 – more than half of its lifetime sales and 398.3% more than in 2024, adding an extra £93,179 to the collection plate. It surpasses Collins’ more expen-


In the Spotlight


sive Holy Bible: King James Version – a £22 hardback compared to Crossway’s £9.99 paperback – as the most popular bible in the UK. The Collins has moved from the top of the chart to ninth place in the latest ranking, a fall from grace of 54.5% year on year. There is some “good news” for


HarperCollins in general, though, as sales for the publisher have risen 7.1% to £2.2m, helping them keep their crown as the biggest indi- vidual publisher in the parish. HarperCollins is nearly £1.5m


CS Lewis


Mere Christianity William Collins, £9.99, 9780007461219


Perhaps better known for his Chronicles of Narnia, CS Lewis is the biggest individual author in the Religion category, retaining the title from 2024 – though by a much slimmer margin of just 25 copies ahead of Bear Grylls. Lewis has shifted 12,056 books across all his titles, up 11.4% compared with the same period in 2024 and led by Mere Christianity (number one in both years), which has risen 19.7% so far in 2025.


3,530 TCM copies sold


ahead of nearest rival SPCK Publishing. The biggest rise, however, goes to the aforemen- tioned Crossway, as the Illinois- headquartered non-profit’s sales have jumped £399,358 year on year, a rise of 82.9%. It has also been a good year so


far for John Murray Publising (JMP), whose sales have climbed 41.7% compared to the same period in 2024, putting it just £20,000 behind SPCK on the publisher chart. Much of the extra £220,644


earned by JMP this year has come in the last two weeks, thanks to Bear Grylls’ The Greatest Story Ever Told, which has already sold 10,563 copies since it was published on the 19th June, putting it in second place on the volume rankings and first on the value chart at £127,019. It is not all about Christianity,


as 16.8% of the overall category’s revenue comes from Non-Christian Religions and Alternative Belief Systems – though, both sub- categories’ sales combined have dropped 5.5% so far this year. The biggest non-Christian title is OUP’s edition of The Qur’an, which has sold 3,121 copes since January, taking 10th position in the rankings – a fall of six places following a decline in sales of 27.7%.


REPORTING Alex Call 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50


Reading Genesis Marilynne Robinson Virago Press, 9780349018751


Mythology Edith Hamilton Black Dog & Leventhal, 9780316438520


Sunday Missal John Murray, 9781399822831


Healing Wounds Fr Erik Varden Bloomsbury, 9781399410403


Buddhism Plain and Simple Steve Hagen Penguin, 9780140195965


The Greek Myths Robert Graves Penguin, 9780241982358


The Righteous Mind Jonathan Haidt Penguin, 9780141039169


The Israel Decree Amir Tsarfati Harvest House, 9780736991582


Black ESV Vest Pocket New Testament Crossway, 9781433548208


KJV Pew Bible Thomas Nelson, 9780718096793


NKJV Gift and Award Bible Thomas Nelson, 9780718075071


1,633 1,606


Prayer Journal for Women Shannon Roberts et al PCG, 9781941325827


Why Jesus? Nicky Gumbel Alpha International, 9781912263660


1,511 1,493 43 1,850 1,821 1,801 1,778 1,768 1,763 1,762 1,711 1,650


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


KJV: Holy Bible Thomas Nelson, 9780785218005


Brown ESV Vest Pocket New Testament Crossway, 9781433548215


Wild Bright Hope SPCK, 9780281091003


2,229 2,218 2,211


Forgiving What You Can’t Forget Lysa TerKeurst Thomas Nelson, 9781400225194


Practicing the Way Course… John Mark Comer Form, 9780281091157


NIV Pocket Pastel Pink Soft-tone Bible Hodder, 9781444701814


NKJV, Gift and Award Bible Thomas Nelson, 9780718075163


2,200 2,140 2,137 2,112


NIV Bible for Journalling and Verse-Mapping Hodder, 9781473680548


Jesus Calling Sarah Young Thomas Nelson, 9781591451884


Holy Bible Collins, 9780007166350


The Tears of Things Richard Rohr SPCK, 9780281090952


A Grief Observed CS Lewis et al Faber, 9780571310876


KJV Holy Bible Thomas Nelson, 9780718097929 1,907


When Things Don’t Go Your Way Haemin Sunim Penguin, 9780241989951


The Screwtape Letters CS Lewis William Collins, 9780007461240


1,895 1,890


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


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


1,887 1,856 2,083 2,059 2,023 1,933 1,932


SHUTTERSTOCK


Charts Market Spotlight


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