Books
This Is America's Most Well-Read City
There must be something in the coffee in Seattle, because for the second year in a row it is listed as America's most well-read city, according to Amazon.com. Of course Amazon surely loves crowning Seattle its winner, as it's the home base of the retail mega-giant's corporate headquarters, but no shade, because the ranking was determined by sales data on purchases of books, magazines, and newspapers across Amazon, both digital and hard-copy. And you thought Seattle was all grunge music in the rain.
Seattle won most well-read city in 2015, as well, moving up from its slot in fourth place in 2014, the year Alexandria, Virginia took the crown. Amazon compiled data from April 2015 until April 2016, so where does your city stack up for 2016?
- Seattle, Washington
- Portland, Oregon
- Washington, D.C.
- San Francisco, California
- Austin, Texas
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Tucson, Arizona
- Denver, Colorado
- Albuquerque, New Mexico
- San Diego, California
- Baltimore, Maryland
- Charlotte, North Carolina
- Louisville, Kentucky
- San Jose, California
- Houston, Texas
- Nashville, Tennessee
- Chicago, Illinois
- Indianapolis, Indiana
- Dallas, Texas
- San Antonio, Texas
The top two from last year remained in their places, with Portland taking the silver behind Seattle's gold. Meanwhile I'm still sad about my home of Boston, Massachusetts not showing up in the top 20, but I'm going to attribute it to our love of indie booksellers because it'll help me sleep better at night.
No surprises here: Girl on the Train was the top-selling title in both Kindle and print in five out of the top 10 cities, Portland, Austin, Tucson, Albuquerque, and San Diego. It carries the torch from the former bestseller, Gone Girl . Following closely was The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up , which topped the book list in four of the top 10 cities, including Seattle. Meanwhile, one of the best sellers in Austin was Franklin Barbecue: A Meat-Smoking Manifesto . I don't make this up, I just report it.
The adult coloring book trend also drove major sales this year, with readers in Denver, Las Vegas, San Diego, and Albuquerque making coloring books some of the top-selling titles in print. And in reinforcing Sin City stereotype news, Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian was the top-selling e-book title in Las Vegas. Again, I can't make this stuff up.
So raise your coffee to Seattle for holding its place as the most well-read city in America.
Image: sarahlostbutfound/Instagram
