You can slice and dice book data to produce a host of different book charts covering all formats, all genres. There are book charts to cover nearly every possible combination of a book’s popularity. But do book charts matter?
Let’s look at Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge, a title that is currently reigning supreme in the book charts. On the surface, this could be a direct consequence of world events coming to a head with the killing of George Floyd in May 2020. Whilst that is true, I would argue there is more to this book returning to the charts three years after its original publication. Books re-entering the charts tend to be linked to television or film adaptations being announced such as Sally Rooney’s Normal People following the recent BBC adaption or an author publishing another title, giving their backlist a much loved bump up the list, such as Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments, putting her previously written Handmaid’s Tale back on our radar.
This is different.
Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race soared into, and stayed at, number one spot in Amazon’s The Top 20 Most Sold & Most Read Books of the Week being the most sold book for the last four weeks, and most read book for the last three weeks. It’s been number one for the past three weeks on Audible’s weekly bestseller list, and is in its second week at the top of the UK Official Top 50 Chart. This triangulation sends a strong message of public interest.
Eddo-Lodge’s book not just resurfacing into charts, but claiming top spots, is more than a passive reflection of the devastating events, sparking the recent Black Lives Matter protests. It seems to me this behaviour of book consumption is a signal that we as a society are keen to learn and fix our misconceptions, assumptions, and unawareness of racism. Buying Eddo-Lodge’s book is more than sharing a social media post (which of course can have some merit), rather it is that person putting value on and genuinely engaging with racism as a real issue faced. It is a willingness to actively spend money and time on developing a wider insight.
Social media posts can work to raise awareness and whet our appetites, but is it really possible to begin to convey anything with complexity in 280 characters on Twitter for instance? Real understanding comes from a much deeper, and perhaps private, learning. Research suggests that reading a book can have the potential to impact on attitudes, although it can be tricky to capture a full picture of a reader’s perception to a book. Rating systems like Goodreads or Amazon and the like do this part, but in any case there is hope reading will contribute to a more informed dialogue.
Right now, in the midst of this important anti-racism movement, understanding our society’s reading purchases is essential. The figures are telling and the fact that Eddo-Lodge has now also become the first black British author to secure Nielsen BookScan’s top spot (since they started recording data) solidifies this book as an important tool that can help influence societal change. It paints a suggestive picture of hope that there is a longer term desire for substantial change along with the social media posts, talks, and protests we have seen in recent weeks. That our society wants to see change, and is working to be re-educated on these changes.
Words do have power.
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