'Steve Jobs' and 'The Help' dominate reading lists in many American cities
Data gathered by Nielsen BookScan for showed that while cities in America may be divided by politics or geography, many of their residents are enjoying the same books 鈥� namely 鈥�Steve Jobs鈥� by Walter Isaacson and 鈥�The Help鈥� by Kathryn Stockett.
The data was compiled using information from various bookstores in 10 of America鈥檚 largest cities, including New York, Chicago, Boston, and Dallas, and examined which nonfiction and fiction titles were the most popular.
鈥淪teve Jobs鈥� topped the nonfiction list in every city listed except Dallas and Houston, where the book 鈥�Heaven Is For Real鈥� by Todd Burpo took the top spot. Stockett鈥檚 novel about maids in 1960s Mississippi took the top fiction spot in every city, in many securing the top two with 鈥淭he Help (Movie Tie-In Edition)鈥� coming in at the second spot.
In non-fiction, books that often showed up in the top five of the list were Burpo鈥檚 book, 鈥淯nbroken鈥� by Laura Hillenbrand, and 鈥淜illing Lincoln鈥� by Bill O鈥橰eilly and Martin Dugard. 鈥淏ossypants鈥� by Tina Fey showed up in spots No. 3 and 4 in several cities, including New York and Los Angeles, but were much further down in cities such as Dallas, Detroit and Houston.
While 鈥淭he Help鈥� swept the fiction list, another popular novel was 鈥�Water for Elephants鈥� by Sara Gruen, which came in at No. 3 in many cities. Also often coming in the top five were 鈥�The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo鈥� by Stieg Larssen and 鈥�11/22/63鈥� by Stephen King. In Dallas, Detroit, and Houston, the novel 鈥�To Kill a Mockingbird鈥� by Harper Lee made the fiction list of most popular novels, although it did not appear on the list at all in any other city. The same went for F. Scott Fitzgerald鈥檚 novel 鈥�The Great Gatsby,鈥� which made the list in Los Angeles and Houston, but didn鈥檛 rank in any other city. (Maybe residents are re-reading to get ready for Baz Luhrmann鈥檚 big-screen adaptation due in December.)
Molly Driscoll is a Monitor contributor.
