OUR LOVE OF BOOKS CLIMBS (ESPECIALLY ONES WITH A TOUCH OF ROMANCE!)

Australians have dived back into books in a big way, with romance being the highest selling genre in 2023, a new report found.

The 2023 Kobo Book Report revealed we are a nation of night owls, with 11pm the most popular time for reading. Last year, Australians read for the equivalent of nearly 1430 years, increasing by 119 years from 2022.

The report found Australia’s bestselling eBooks of 2023 included Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, Yellowface by Rebecca F Kuang and Tomorrow, Tomorrow, Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.

Spare, by Prince Harry, was in the top ten for both eBooks and audiobooks.

Overall the top performing and highest selling genres was Romance, followed by Biography and Autobiography, and then Mystery.

With more people out and about, Australians were reading on the go more than ever spending a total of 66.8 years listening to their favourite stories.

This was a significant increase of 27%. Australians also gravitated towards travel-related books, with a more than 81% rise in sales YoY for this genre.

While books about Barbie rose an impressive 13%, it was Oppenheimer that fans were more interested in reading, with a 638% increase in sales on books related to Robert Oppenheimer; or the Atomic bomb.

Surprisingly, Aussie’s were also feeling thrifty in 2023, with purchases for books on Antiques and Collectables increasing by 16% compared to last year.

Books related to health and fitness and mind & spirit saw decreases of 34% and 19% respectively.