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There are several book genres in the realm of literature. The various genres are geared towards different audiences in order to suit a variety of demands. Some readers are drawn to poetry, while others are drawn to mystery or romance. But which book genres are the most popular and what do people read around the world? The answer depends and differs from country to country.
While focusing on this analysis of genre in book reading around the world, I thought of verifying it with the most read book from country to country. TBH, the data provided here is almost accurate and the most read book in a country reflects similarities with the genre of reading.
I'm from India, so let's take it first. The most read book in India is the Rmayana which is a poetical work depicting the story of Lord Rama. If you ever come to India, you can easily listen some speaker singing these melodious songs or shlokas almost everywhere.

Let's talk about US

  • Classics are the most searched book genre, followed by historical fiction and dystopian.
  • “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand and “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov are the biggest “red flag” favorite books.
Based on total search volume, the top three most searched books across the U.S. in the past year were “The Hunger Games,” “Lessons in Chemistry,” and “The Outsiders.” Each novel offers a window into the themes that resonate with readers today. From the dystopian challenges of Panem to 1960s historical romantic fiction and young adult (YA) coming-of-age stories, these books have clearly sparked widespread interest.
So, What do you say?
Do you agree with the statistics about the most famous genre of book reading for your Country?
Do you believe that the type of genre in reading books has a lot to say in deciding the overall intellectual and cultural values of a country?
Great fantasy seem to be made in russia. I dont know if it is because they have more creative minds, but they always seem to hit it out of the park.
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11 sats \ 1 reply \ @mtb 2 Jun
I'm from Venezuela and in my case I'm not the average reader according to the info showed in the picture.
I write and read thrillers and history most of the time.
I've been posting some short stories that I wrote many years ago here on Stacker News in Spanish, no feed back yet.
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May be write them in English or translations to get feedback here.
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I believe crime books are the best compared to romance.
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11 sats \ 0 replies \ @Hamstr 2 Jun
Looking at just the US, alone. It's no surprise that Hawaii no.1 search results is atomic habits. These islands are minority-majority of asians and pacific islands. :)
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Not surprised at the Nordic love of crime -- it long ago joined Japan and France as one of the main providers of non-English crime fiction.
Do you agree with the statistics about the most famous genre of book reading for your Country?
I definitely have trouble buying that the US's top reads are classics. Romance, YA, or popular fiction (like Lessons in Chemistry). Searching doesn't imply reading, and I'd bet a lot of searches are by teens searching for book summaries and essay help.
Do you believe that the type of genre in reading books has a lot to say in deciding the overall intellectual and cultural values of a country?
Probably not, because genres themselves have so many layers, and genres differ by countries as well (Nordic Noir is different from the Japanese locked-room or organized crime works, etc). And the bigger issues are things like how many people are reading, period, and how varied their reading is, and other things that are probably a lot harder to measure.
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Amazing insights!
Agree 100%
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11 sats \ 3 replies \ @Hamstr 1 Jun
Lol @ Norway. You know they have an agency that's anti-government. As a means to self check for corruption.
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Yes, Norwegian people are reading more crime because in real world they can't see it happening.
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11 sats \ 1 reply \ @Hamstr 2 Jun
You have to admit, that's kinda insane.
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Great Ask!
It may be the sources are reliable or not but they certainly tell us a realistic image about reading trends of countries.
Foe France, which is a country as a symbol of, people are definitely reading romances there.
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