The provided charts compare the proportion of each of the five book genres that were sold by a bookshop between 1972 and 2012.
Overall, it is evident that in 1972, the sales of different book genres were relatively balanced. However, from 1992, adult and children’s fiction experienced an upward trend, with adult fiction becoming the best-selling genre through that period. In contrast, biography, travel and other types saw a decline in sales
In 1972, adult fiction accounted for 20%, the similar figure happened in children and biography type. Travel books closely followed behind and made up 15% of the sales, while the remaining 25% distributed equally for the other types.
From 1992, adult fiction witnessed a substantial increase, with the sales soaring to 45% over a 40 year period, making it the most popular genre. Similar changes can be seen in children’s fiction, but to a lesser extent, whose sales grew modestly to 25%, as the second most popular genre. Meanwhile, travel books rose gradually to 18% then decreased by 8% at the end of the period. Biography and other genres reduced by 5% after 20 years, later their proportion respectively was 8% and 12%.