The three pie charts illustrate the proportion of five different types of books – Adult fiction, Children’s fiction, Biography, Travel and others – sold by a bookseller over a 40-year period : from 1972 to 2012.
Overall, Adult fiction accounted for the highest proportions of books sold towards the end of the period, whereas biography was at the other end of the spectrum, and became the least popular book. The remaining categories showed mixed trends, most experienced a gradual decline over time.
In 1972, the percentage of Adult and Children’s fiction sold accounted for 20% similarly. After 20 years, the former figure increased by 5%, while the latter edged up to 22% in 1992. By contrast, the sales of Biography and other books witnessed a modest decrease, 16% and 20% respectively. Notably, interest towards the figure for travel books rose slightly to 18% over 20 years.
Different patterns could be observed by the end of the period. In 2012, Adult fiction consolidated its dominance over time and surged to 45%, whereas children’s fiction experienced a steady growth from 22% to 25%. Nevertheless, the categories shown at the other end of the spectrum, the sales of the Biography halved its proportions, from 16% to 8% in 2012. Travel and other books decreased by 8% in 2012, 10% and 12% respectively.