The three pie charts illustrate the distribution of book sales by one bookseller in 1972, 1992, and 2012 across five categories: adults’ fiction, children’s fiction, biography, travel, and others.
In 1972, adults’ fiction, children’s fiction, and biography books each accounted for 20% of sales. Travel books represented a smaller share of 15%, while other types of books formed the largest group at 25%.
By 1992, both adults’ and children’s fiction increased slightly to 25% each. In contrast, biographies fell to 15%. Travel books experienced a modest rise to 18%, whereas the share of other books declined to 20%.
In 2012, adults’ fiction became the dominant category, making up nearly half of all sales at 45%. Children’s fiction remained stable at 25%. However, biography and travel books both dropped, to 8% and 10% respectively. The proportion of other books also fell considerably, reaching only 12%.
Overall, the data show that adults’ fiction grew steadily to become the most popular category over the 40-year period, while biography, travel, and other books lost ground. Children’s fiction, on the other hand, maintained a consistent share.