So I have a theory about what book is read the most number of times (cover to cover, not picked up and read from a bit). I’m curious what other folks think, or if anyone has a verifiable answer.
Anyway, my guess:
Good Night, Moon
Take a look at this list of best-selling books of all time, according to Wikipedia:
The books that I see that are the sort of thing that get read to children over and over are the following:
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Love You Forever by Robert Munsch
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowery
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Suess
There are other children’s books on the list, but I believe that they are too long to read in one sitting.
Huh. I had never heard of that book until just right now. Granted, I only recognize three of the titles in Wendell Wagner’s list.
… really? I thought that the Bible would win, hands down.
Nobody actually reads the damn thing cover to cover silly. It’s there just as a fancy paper weight or coaster that happens to provide some hilarious reading material in case you’re ultra bored.
I don’t think ANYONE reads the Bible cover to cover. Many people only read the parts which support the cause they are protesting/supporting while ignoring the rest of it. Hell, I don’t think I’ve even read the whole thing during my lifetime (and I have little desire to, except MAYBE to further educate myself on certain issues while getting the big picture, but I really don’t care THAT much).
Now I can’t stop think about Christopher Walken reading goodnight moon.
I’m assuming you’re being at least somewhat facetious…while I’d wager that the vast majority of Bible-owners do not read it cover-to-cover (or even read a bit of it very often), I do know people who have read it all the way through. I attempted to do so, in college, using a booklet series that contained background on each day’s section of the Bible for the entire year; I got about a third of the way through the Old Testament before I threw in the towel – I’m a fast reader, but it still requires a lot of dedication on a daily basis, and I was trying to do it at the same time I had a lot of other reading for classes.
Oh I don’t doubt that people do read it all the way through, I just don’t think it’s anywhere near a majority of bible owners.
I tried to phrase the question specifically to avoid your question, Clockwork: while I’m almost certain that the Bible is read most frequently when “read” is defined as “read any part of,” I’m wondering about what book is read through completely most often. In our family, the title in the OP has been read about 500 times since December 31, 2008, and I’m guessing that there are millions of other people who read the book every single day for months or even years at a time. I doubt that there’s any other book that is read more times in a year.
All right, cool. Missed that specification in the OP.
I was simply responding to your statement that:
I don’t disagree that it’s likely a very small minority of bible owners that do so…but it’s not “nobody”.
What about the Qu’ran? Most (I’m tempted to say all) Muslims are required to memorize portions of it and I expect the proportion of Muslims who’ve read the entire text would be greater than the number of contemporary Christians who’ve read the Bible cover to cover. There are some 1.57 billion Muslims today according to wikipedia.
-DF
I’m the only Catholic school educated person I know who’s read the bible cover to cover, which is why I’m devout about atheism. 
I would have guessed Hitchhiker’s Guide or some Poe would be on the list of most read cover to cover.
My guess would be the Bible, followed by Catcher in the Rye. Do you want the most read of all time, or the most read by people currently alive?
Others says:
The Bible followed by Quotations from the Works of Mao Tse-tung and American Spelling Book and The Guinness Book of Records
The Bible 3.9 Billion Copies followed by Harry Potter – 400 Million Copies followed by Lord of the Rings – 103 Million Copies … The Da Vinci Code – 57 Million Copies … Twilight – The Saga – 43 Million Copies … Gone With the Wind – 33 Million Copies … Think and Grow Rich – 30 Million Copies … Diary of Anne Frank – 27 Million Copies … Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy – 17 Million Copies
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella (Twilight Saga)… The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Vintage) … Dead in the Family: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood)
The Bible … (Quotations from Chairman Mao) (the Little Red Book) … (The Qur’ān) (Koran) … (Xinhua Zidian) (Xinhua Dictionary) … (Chairman Mao’s Poems) … (Selected Articles of Mao Zedong) … A Tale of Two Cities … Scouting for Boys: A Handbook for Instruction in Good Citizenship … The Lord of the Rings … Book of Mormon … The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life Jehovah’s Witnesses
(Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York)
Doctor Who: the Forgotten … The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo … WHO Classification of Tumours of Haematopoietic and Lymphoid Tissues … Osvaldo Borsani: Frammenti E Ricordi Di Un Percorso Progettuale … The Phantom Tollbooth
Children’s books are obviously going to win this particular contest since you can read them cover to cover in about 5-10 minutes, generally.
Those numbers represent the number of books sold, Jack. I seriously doubt that every person who’s bought a Bible has read it cover to cover. I think they’re in the overwhelming majority, actually.
Again, folks, I’m not asking about the book read by the greatest number of people, or the book sold the most. Those are interesting questions, but not the one in the OP.
The question is, what book has been read cover-to-cover the most number of times?
I’d be surprised to find that there are more than a couple dozen people on the planet who have read the Q’uran as many times as I’ve read Good Night, Moon, for example. But I’d be surprised if there are fewer than ten million people who’ve read GNM as many times as I have.
Worldwide? I wouldn’t have a clue but in New Zealand Hairy Maclary can be quoted by almost everyone under the age of 20 and their parents and grandparents.
As well as a lot of the rest of us. This is the Hairy Mclary from Donovan’s Dairy we’re talking about, right?
Close. Donaldson’s Dairy.
I always wondered how well they translated overseas. Glad to know they have fans!
For my money Lynley Dodd 's books are some of the best ‘read to’ books since Dr Seuss. Her illustrations are gorgeous and her rhyme is clever and very memorable.