Literature reflects larger trends in society and vice versa: war, politics, television, technology and more play a role in shaping how and what people read, and what people read influences how they think about these issues.
Data from The Folio Society identifies genre trends over the past few years that can teach us about shifts in reading habits, the role of world events in shaping genre interests, and what the future holds in the world of reading.
Most notably, the Fantasy genre has skyrocketed. In 2019, Fantasy was the fifth most popular genre, trailing behind Children’s books, World History, Crime & Thrillers, and Classic Fiction. However, starting in 2020, the Fantasy genre ballooned. Folio observed a massive spike in sales in this category, a considerable margin of 60% more than the next most popular genre, Crime and Thrillers. What can account for these ebbs and spikes when it comes to genre popularity and reader interests?
Firstly, world events play a role. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found U.S. consumers spent more time on recreational reading during the COVID-19 pandemic than before. They weren’t just reading to deal with the listlessness. Many took the opportunity to escape reality through literature. It’s no surprise then that Folio saw a massive spike in the Fantasy genre starting in 2020. Great books are always more than escapism though: they help us to understand our real world even when transporting us to unfamiliar ones.
Science Fiction also jumped significantly in 2020 as apocalyptic beliefs swirled, sparking an increased interest in sci-fi stories, and in authors who had imagined dystopian futures which felt similar to the one we all lived through.
Our relationship with the internet and social media has played a critical role in shaping trends in genre popularity as well. The most obvious example is BookTok, a subsection of TikTok, whose rise is consistent with the data surrounding the spike in Fantasy and other iterations of the genre such as “Romantasy” (a hybrid of Romance and Fantasy). Books such as Madeline Miller’s Song of Achilles (part Historical Fiction, part Fantasy, part Romance) really found a new life, and huge audiences, through BookTok.
BookTok is behind the rise of some of the most popular books in Fantasy, from A Court of Thorns and Roses, to Fourth Wing. What many of these readers have in common is an almost obsessive fandom that other genres don’t experience, making these customers even more influential to publishers, authors and even producers looking for their next movie adaptation. BookTok also enables a strong sense of community. This isn’t necessarily a new phenomenon – online book clubs have existed for years – but TikTok is unique in its scale and accessibility.
We will continue to see social media play a role, especially as those platforms continue to invest in the “community” aspect. It might not always be BookTok – social media is constantly evolving – but we should expect to see readers continue to cluster together in online communities dedicated to their interests and preferred genres. The same is true for world events. We live in a highly charged political and social environment and the quest to understand our reality – through fiction or non-fiction – will continue to shape how and why we read.
