Delineated in the given pie graphs are the sales figures of a bookseller at twenty-year intervals, spanning from 1972 to 2012.
Looking from an overall perspective, it is readily apparent that adult and children’s fiction were gaining more traction during the surveyed period. In contrast, there was a shift in public preference away from biographies, travel, and unspecified books.
As for books that gained prevalence, starting at a relatively comparable share to others (20%), adult fiction’s sales slightly increased to 25% in 1992, overtaking “other” types of books (20%). Gathering momentum, the sales figure for adult fiction skyrocketed to nearly half in the end, outperforming its counterparts. Similarly, but to a lesser extent, children’s fiction also constituted a modest one-fifth in the beginning, then climbed to 22% by 1992, and finished at one-quarter by the end.
Turning to the remaining categories, a downturn was documented in the sales of “other” kinds of books, which were halved, declining from 25% in 1972 to a minor 12% by 2012. Likewise, biographies’ sales were also on a downward trajectory, sharply falling from 20% in 1972 to 8% by 2012, making it the least popular kind. Meanwhile, although travel books saw an increase in their sales from 15% to 18% in 1992, they still receded to 10% by 2012.