People Are Reading

In a year full of surprises, you can add another to the growing list: people are reading, and books are selling. You would think that with all the distractions and restrictions and uncertainties characterizing 2020, we would be focused on critical activities, you know, like surviving and maintaining our sanity.

As it turns out, books are very helpful in addressing both concerns. At the beginning of the pandemic, books about DIY home repair, first aid, prayer, and survivalism were big sellers. Then books about bread baking and anger management started to sell. When we figured out that the end of the world wasn’t in fact going to happen (at least not just yet), books about wellness and healthy eating rose to the top.

With the first nine months of 2020 in our rearview mirror, we can see the bigger picture of what kinds of books have sold the most. There are four categories that stand out:

Juvenile and Young Adult nonfiction – Apparently with the kids home all the time, parents need books to keep them occupied (and to maintain their own sanity). Sales have jumped more than 29 percent in juvenile nonfiction, led by the Big Preschool Workbook, which has sold 650,000 copies so far this year.

Books about racial justice – Two books have led the charge in this important category. Robin Diangelo’s White Fragility and How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi have sold nearly 1.5 million copies between them in 2020. Among Christian authors, Jemar Tisby’s The Color of Compromise has topped 100,000, with Be the Bridge by Latasha Morrison nearly as strong. I have read both of these fine books and highly recommend them.

Political books – In the most important election in American history (at least that’s what the candidates are telling us), political books, especially tell-alls, are massively popular. Mary Trump’s Too Much and Never Enough has sold more than a million copies since it was released in July, and The Room Where It Happened by John Bolton has sold more than 600,000 copies in the same period. Say what you will about President Trump, on this we can agree: he has been good for publishing and bookselling.

Fiction – Two massive releases this year in the Young Adult fiction category have each topped 1 million in sales, leading to a 10 percent increase in the category: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins, and Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer. The top selling fiction book by a Christian writer this year is The Harbinger II: The Return by Jonathan Cahn.

Overall in the Christian publishing world, books focused on relationships, finances, discipleship, and living without fear have been most popular. Gary Chapman’s The 5 Love Languages has topped the charts for five of the last nine months, pushed off its #1 position twice by Relationship Goals by Michael Todd, a book that has sold more than 400,000 copies. Jesus Calling by Sarah Young remains a devotional juggernaut (for good reason), and we’re seeing strong sales from perennial bestselling authors such as Max Lucado, Jennie Allen, and Joyce Meyer. Their newly released books—You Are Never Alone, Get Out of Your Head, and Do It Afraid—are in high demand.

So why are people reading more in this year of multiple crises? My theory is that we can only take so much gawking at our phones and the anxiety they bring to our lives. There comes a point each day when we need to settle into a chair, unplug from the frenzy of social media, and feed on the thoughtful, helpful, and often imaginative world that books create for us.

Experts tell us that creativity is the paradigm of our mental health. It’s not the constant feed of information (or mis-information) that brings us balance and beauty. Innovation, artistry, and expressiveness are what feed our souls, and those are the qualities books bring to our lives.

So read on. It’s good for you!