Thirty-five years after the opening of the Șt. O. Iosif bookstore in Brașov, the starting point of Libris, the company is publishing an analysis of the bestselling books of the past decades. From previously banned authors avidly read immediately after 1989 to books about trauma, meaning and healing dominating today’s charts, Libris data reveals how Romania’s social, economic and political transformations have been reflected in people’s reading choices.

The analysis is based on 15 years of Libris online sales data, complemented by institutional memory and observations gathered by the team at the Șt. O. Iosif bookstore in Brașov, founded in 1991.

1991–1999: Recovering Fifty Years of Censorship in a Single Decade

Romania emerged from communism with a population that had long been denied access to many of the books it wanted to read. Among the first titles purchased at the Șt. O. Iosif bookstore in Brașov, the foundation of what would later become Libris — were works by previously banned authors: Mircea Eliade, Emil Cioran, Constantin Noica, Nicolae Steinhardt, Paul Goma, George Orwell, alongside memoirs and prison writings from Romania’s communist era.

“People wanted to discover what had been hidden from them, what they had never been told. We would drive to Bucharest overnight, wait in line outside printing houses before sunrise, then return with car trunks full of books. By the time we arrived back in Brașov, people were already lining up outside the bookstore. Books sold almost instantly,” says Ana Oniță, founder of Libris.

Toward the end of the decade, the first business and personal development books began appearing on shelves. Romania was learning that reinvention would be necessary and people were searching for tools to navigate it.

2000–2010: Books followed the Romanian diaspora

The 2000s brought a massive wave of migration to Italy, Spain and the UK. Millions of Romanians left the country and wanted access to Romanian books they could no longer easily find abroad. At the same time, people living in smaller Romanian towns had access to very limited bookstore inventories, often restricted to school-related titles.

In 2009, amid austerity measures, a 25% cut in public sector wages, VAT increases and bookstores shutting down, Laura Țeposu launched the online division of Libris.ro.

“We started with three employees, 19,000 titles and parcels carried to the post office in a backpack. The timing seemed far from ideal, but online was the only way to make culture more accessible. The platform brought books to places where physical bookstores had never truly reached, smaller towns, the diaspora, and the homes of people who either lacked time or simply didn’t have a bookstore nearby,” says Laura Țeposu, CEO of Libris.

2011–2015: Romanian fiction and books as tools for reinvention

The platform’s early bestseller charts reveal a Romania rediscovering, with enthusiasm, fiction written by Romanian authors. Fluturi (Butterflies) by Irina Binder, initially published on a blog, became a bestseller between 2011 and 2015, while the book written by Romania’s president elected in 2014 sold 6,347 copies.

During the same period, two books entered the charts and would remain there for the next 15 years: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne. Both books, centered on the Holocaust and on literature’s power to survive barbarity, found a lasting place in Romanian households amid a sustained public interest in themes of memory, guilt and humanism.

Top 10 Bestselling Books (2011–2015)

1. Fluturi Vol. 1 & 2 — Irina Binder
2. Fifty Shades of Grey — E.L. James
3. The Book Thief — Markus Zusak
4. Life Is a Scam: A Short Treatise on Avoiding Failure — Alan H. Cohen
5. Step by Step — Klaus Iohannis
6. Love Is a Scam: A Short Guide to Success in Romance — Alan H. Cohen
7. Fifty Shades Darker — E.L. James
8. Adultery — Paulo Coelho
9. Inferno — Dan Brown
10. What we tell ourselves when we don’t speak — Chris Simion

2016–2020: A book published in 1963 becomes a bestseller in Romania. A romanian neurologist sells 20,000 copies

Years marked by social protests, collective uncertainty and, eventually, the pandemic produced one of the most revealing bestseller charts in Libris history. Readers increasingly turned toward books about meaning, self-discovery, psychology and spirituality.

Originally published in 1963, The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy became a bestseller in Romania, while books by Romanian neurologist Dumitru Constantin Dulcan —The Intelligence of Matter and The Mind Beyond — gained strong traction among readers.

At the same time, fiction gained momentum through psychological thrillers such as The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, while interest in books exploring human, historical and social themes was reflected in titles such as The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Sapiens and Becoming by Michelle Obama.

The pandemic in 2020 did not slow reading down. On the contrary, during the first weeks of lockdown, demand among readers aged 18–24 increased by 85%, while authors such as Albert Camus and Gabriel García Márquez reached sales volumes the bookstore had never previously seen.

Top 10 Bestselling Books (2016–2020)

1. Fluturi, Volume 3 — Irina Binder
2. The Power of Your Subconscious Mind — Joseph Murphy
3. Insomnia — Irina Binder
4. The Intelligence of Matter — Dumitru Constantin Dulcan
5. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas — John Boyne
6. The Mind Beyond — Dumitru Constantin Dulcan
7. The Silent Patient — Alex Michaelides
8. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind — Yuval Noah Harari
9. The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark — Jill Tomlinson
10. Becoming — Michelle Obama

2021–2025: The Bestselling Author Explains Trauma. A Holocaust Novel Remains in the Top Rankings for Over a Decade

Libris’ most recent bestseller chart is also its most psychologically revealing. The top spot belongs to When the Body Says No by Gabor Maté, a book exploring how unresolved trauma can manifest as physical illness.

Joining it are The Complete Dictionary of Ailments and Diseases, The Art of Manipulation by Kevin Dutton, Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl, Healing the Child Within by Stefanie Stahl and The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga.

Viewed together, these books tell the story of a shift in priorities: from success and personal reinvention toward emotional balance, meaning and a deeper understanding of personal vulnerability.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas climbs once again, nearing the top overall position. Across 15 years of measurement, the book has shown uninterrupted growth: from 2,522 copies to 10,264, then to 18,945. A novel about the Holocaust has become one of the fastest-rising long-term titles in Libris rankings, reflecting growing public concern with historical memory, extremism and the lessons of the past.

Top 10 Bestselling Books (2021–2025)

When the Body Says No — Gabor Maté

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas — John Boyne

The Complete Dictionary of Ailments and Diseases — Jacques Martel

The Power of Your Subconscious Mind — Joseph Murphy

The Art of Manipulation — Kevin Dutton

Man’s Search for Meaning — Viktor E. Frankl

Healing the Child Within — Stefanie Stahl

The Five Wounds That Prevent Us from Being Ourselves — Lise Bourbeau

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow — Zoulfa Katouh

Three Apples Fell from the Sky — Narine Abgarian

Beyond generational shifts, social context and publishing trends, certain themes have consistently resurfaced in Libris rankings over the past three decades: freedom, trauma, personal meaning, love and survival during difficult times. Language changes, authors change and history moves forward, but the questions people search for answers to often remain remarkably similar.

From Eliade to Maté: A Barometer of Romania

From Eliade and Cioran — rediscovered after decades of censorship — to Gabor Maté and Viktor Frankl, widely read in a Romania processing collective trauma, Libris bestseller charts unintentionally trace an emotional map of the country’s evolution.

“Viewed over time, these rankings show that Romanians have turned to books in search of answers to questions society itself often struggled to articulate: identity, fear, freedom, meaning, trauma and healing. After 35 years, we understand more clearly that a bookstore does not simply sell books. It sells answers,” adds Laura Țeposu, CEO of Libris.

Today, at 35 years, Libris operates a 5,000-square-meter warehouse, maintains one million books in permanent stock and ships up to 10,000 parcels per day. Its original physical bookstore in Brașov remains open at 14 Mureșenilor Street. Through CarteTeca, a project developed in partnership with Save the Children Romania, the company has donated more than RON 1.3 million worth of books to over 300 schools. Libris remains a 100% Romanian-owned company, still held by the founding family.

*This is a press release.