While books are one of our oldest forms of entertainment, reading remains a top spare-time activity for all ages around the globe. But what books are today’s consumers enjoying?
It turns out it depends on whether consumers are buying in person or electronically. While four of the top print and e-books overlapped (Grey, The Girl on The Train, All the Light We Cannot See and American Sniper), consumers favored print books that connected to movies—two of which premiered this year (The Martian and Fifty Shades of Grey).
Whether consumers purchase print or e-books often depends on the genre. Children’s books saw print sales increase from 2013 to 2015. Meanwhile, the e-book share of romance has consistently been above that of adult fiction as a whole. So it’s no surprise that three of the top e-books for 2015 came from E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey romance series.
When it comes to movie discs, franchises dominated sales this year. Seven of the top 10 DVDs and Blu-ray discs were from popular movie franchises. In 2015, the majority of the discs on the list were Action/Adventure and Family films.
TOP 10 PRINT BOOKS OF 2015
| Rank | Title | Author | Format | Publisher | Pub Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Go Set a Watchman | Harper Lee | Hardcover | Harper Collins | 7/1/2015 |
| 2 | Grey | E.L. James | Trade Paperback | Random House | 6/1/2015 |
| 3 | The Girl on the Train | Paula Hawkins | Hardcover | Penguin | 1/1/2015 |
| 4 | The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up | Marie Kondo | Hardcover | Random House | 10/1/2014 |
| 5 | All the Light We Cannot See | Anthony Doerr | Hardcover | Simon & Schuster | 5/1/2014 |
| 6 | Paper Towns | John Green | Trade Paperback | Penguin | 9/1/2009 |
| 7 | American Sniper: The Autobiography | Chris Kyle | Trade Paperback | Harper Collins | 11/1/2014 |
| 8 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid #10: Old School | Jeff Kinney | Hardcover | Abrams | 11/1/2015 |
| 9 | The Martian | Andy Weir | Trade Paperback | Random House | 10/1/2014 |
| 10 | To Kill a Mockingbird | Harper Lee | Mass Market Paperback | Hachette | 10/1/1988 |
| Source: Nielsen BookScan through Nov. 22, 2015. |
TOP 10 E-BOOKS OF 2015
| Rank | Title | Author | Publisher | Pub Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Girl on the Train | Hawkins, Paula | Penguin Group | 1/1/2015 |
| 2 | Grey | James, E L | Random House | 6/18/2015 |
| 3 | All the Light we Cannot See | Doerr, Anthony | Simon & Schuster | 5/6/2014 |
| 4 | Fifty Shades of Grey | James, E L | Random House | 5/25/2011 |
| 5 | The Nightingale | Hannah, Kristin | Macmillan Publishers | 2/3/2015 |
| 6 | American Sniper | Kyle, Chris | HarperCollins | 1/3/2012 |
| 7 | Memory Man | Baldacci, David | Hachette Book Group | 4/21/2015 |
| 8 | Fifty Shades Darker | James, E L | Random House | 5/10/2014 |
| 9 | Big Little Lies | Moriarty, Liane | Penguin Group | 7/29/2014 |
| 10 | Gone Girl | Flynn, Gillian | Random House | 6/5/2012 |
| Source: Nielsen PubTrackTM Digital through July 2015. |
TOP 10 DISC TITLES OF 2015
| Rank | Title | Distributor | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jurassic World | UNIVERSAL HOME ENTERTAINMENT | 2015 |
| 2 | American Sniper | WARNER HOME VIDEO | 2014 |
| 3 | Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 | LIONSGATE | 2014 |
| 4 | Furious 7 | UNIVERSAL HOME ENTERTAINMENT | 2015 |
| 5 | Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies | WARNER HOME VIDEO | 2014 |
| 6 | Avengers: Age of Ultron | DISNEY/BUENA VISTA HOME VIDEO | 2015 |
| 7 | Inside Out | DISNEY/BUENA VISTA HOME VIDEO | 2015 |
| 8 | Fifty Shades of Grey | UNIVERSAL HOME ENTERTAINMENT | 2015 |
| 9 | Home | TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT | 2015 |
| 10 | Pitch Perfect 2 | UNIVERSAL HOME ENTERTAINMENT | 2015 |
| Source: Nielsen VideoScan Week Ending Nov. 29, 2015. |
