Reading is a passion for many. Usually, we stick to specific genres, but there are so many options out there to explore. Publishers are always looking to find out what people are reading and what demographics they are missing. These surveys are an opportunity for us to see if those similar to us are enjoying something we haven’t tried yet. Maybe we need to jump out of our comfort zone and try a genre that is the opposite of the trend. Reading should be a way to broaden our horizons and explore our world.
Women
One Author To Another posted a survey on Facebook. They did not mean to only poll women, but 98% of that that responded were female. It probably does not surprise many that the top genre that was preferred was romance. If you are a woman and have not read a romance novel, you may want to give it a try! The next top genre was suspense and thriller books. Another interesting point was that 65% of the women said they looked for new authors, which was promising information for those fresh writers.
Men
History, Sci-Fi, and Mystery/Thriller are the favorites of men reported Myths Of The Mirror. Their results showed that 45% of the men surveyed read History, and 35% enjoyed Sci-Fi. Mystery/Thriller was just ahead of Sci-Fi at 37%. It looked like men almost equally prefer fiction and nonfiction genres. With such an even split, if you are only reading one, you should try the other. There is a lot to be found on the other side.
Children
The youth of today are our future. What they are reading will influence the way they think and act. I’m not sure if it will be a good thing or bad that the highest read genre is Science Fiction and Fantasy. The next highest reported by Statista was Comics and Graphic Novels. The third place was a tie between the Classics and Myths and Legends. The imagination of our youth will hopefully be encouraged by their choice of reading.
Adults
Statista found that adults have more interests than their children. All the years of experience have taught them to try new things. For this survey, they could choose as many options as they wanted. Crime and Thriller books were favorite with 59%. There were a lot of genres that landed in the 40%-50% range. Adventure books were the highest. Classics, Fantasy, Historical, Romance, and Science Fiction, were all within two percentage points. The taste of adults spans almost all the options equally. This must mean the older generation is exceptionally well rounded.
Get out of your comfort zone. All these surveys show us that one demographic or another loves every genre. With no type getting zero votes, we know that all have something good in them. We should also be encouraging the younger generation to branch out. Experience and learn as much as you can.