Why We Read What We Read: A Delightfully Opinionated Journey Through Bestselling Books

by John Heath, Lisa Adams, Lisa Adams

What do weight loss, evil emperors and tales of redemption have in common? We readers have many dirty little secrets-and our bestselling books are spilling them all. We can't resist conspiratorial crooks or the number 7. We have bought millions of books about cheese. And over a million of us read more than 50 nearly identical books every single year. In Why We Read What We Read, Lisa Adams and John Heath take an insightful and often hilarious tour...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 140221054X
• ISBN13: 9781402210549
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Sourcebooks
• Length: 340 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

On America's Reading Habits

Finding the answer to, "Why and What We Read?" is not the reason to read this entertaining journey thru the lists of contemporary bestsellers - that answer is easy, we like stories that simplify things which confusion us and/or reading that uplifts thru an infusion of hope and/or certainty. Rather, you will want to read this book for Adam's and Heath's humorous perspectives and Cliff Notes like reviews that simplify and uplift as they dissect various tomes we have made bestsellers. More than knowing what made the bestseller's list with in each of the categories the authors segregated the lists into, what I found most enjoyable was the authors' take (their simplifications for me, I guess) on the various books. I thought the authors were good when providing their "opinions" as in, why the various diet books did well; but they were at their best when their "opinions" were used to review a book such as Spencer Johnson's, "Who Moved My Cheese?" It was these 'Cliff Notes' versions of several bestselling books, sprinkled with ample opinions, which were most enjoyable and down right entertaining. Quite frankly, I would rush to buy a book devoted entirely to the authors' satirical reviews of current bestsellers. Dennis DeWilde, author of "The Performance Connection"

Exploration of how public issues are reflected in the best-selling book world.

What are the social trends reflected by bestseller lists? Any interested in books, reading, and popular trends will find WHY WE READ WHAT WE READ: A DELIGHTFULLY OPINIONATED JOURNEY THROUGH CONTEMPORARY BESTSELLERS to be an involving survey, considering how successful best-sellers provide insights into social change. Both public lending libraries and schools specializing in modern social science analysis will find involving this exploration of how public issues are reflected in the best-selling book world.

An Interesting question

Have you ever wondered why people read what they read? And what makes a book sell a ton of copies? Most of us probably don't spend much time looking at best seller lists and analyzing why those books are there. Aside from books that we all know can't help but be bestsellers, like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, what makes certain books popular? Fortunately for us, John Heath and Lisa Adams have attempted to answer these questions in their book Why We Read What We Read: A Delightfully Opinionated Journey Through Bestselling Books. Heath and Adams read nearly 200 books in order to answer why we read what we read. Their purpose, as stated in the introduction, was to "provide a glimpse into the current state of the national psyche by looking closely at the books Americans buy---specifically, those books they have bought in the greatest numbers since 1990," because "these books resonate with broad segments of the reading public" (5). This was quite an undertaking and there is so much in this book that I had some difficulty writing a review that covered it all! In the introduction, Heath and Adams laid out their plan of attack: which books were considered bestsellers, how they decided on categories, which books they excluded from their list (old books made popular again by being made into movies, memoirs & biographies, reference books, and cookbooks), and which years to research. Heath and Adams sorted the rest of the books into 4 categories: hardcover fiction, hardcover non-fiction, trade paperback (fiction & non-fiction), and mass market paperback (fiction). Why We Read What We Read is laid out in six chapters, not including the introduction and the appendix: *Chapter One is titled "The Obvious: Diet, Wealth, and Inspiration." This chapter focused on books about, obviously, diets, how to become focused and wealthy, and become inspired. As Heath and Adams noted, "of course everyone wants to be slim, rich, and motivated, and always has" (23). Lately, the craze has been for "low-carb" diets. *Chapter Two is "Black and White and Read All Over: Good and Evil in Bestselling Adventure Novels and Political Nonfiction." Heath and Adams discussed authors such as John Grisham, Stephen King, and J.K. Rowling, and how the concepts of good and evil were treated in such popular novels. There was a large section about Harry Potter (one of my favorites!). The second half of the chapter detailed various political books that have made the top sales lists in recent years. *Chapter Three is called "Hopefully Ever After: Love, Romance, and Relationships." As you could guess, this chapter was all about relationships and romance, especially romance novels. Americans have been very interested in receiving advice from people such as John Gray, Dr. Laura, and Dr. Phil. We also buy tons and tons and tons of romance fiction (guilty!)---romance novels "comprised over half (54.9%) of all popular paperback fiction sold in North America---and almost forty percent of

Outstanding Review of What Bestsellers Are Doing to Us

"Why We Read What We Read" (WWRWWR) is a fun-spirited, charming, witty look at bestsellers of the last sixteen years, as tallied by Publishers Weekly (PW). The book even provides a handy, comprehensive Appendix for each year from 2006 back through 1991, listing PW's top 15 Bestsellers for each year in four categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Trade Paperbacks, and Mass-Market Paperbacks. Further, WWRWWR tacks on USA Today's list of Top 100 Books, 1993-2003. Authors Lisa Adams and John Heath give, at times, hilarious insight into the specific bestselling books they discuss, such as when they passingly mention The Da Vinci Code in their first chapter: "It's speedy, simple, full of secrets. It drop-kicks its characters into a hair-raising search for truth of worldwide, if not otherworldly, significance. It's not only about sex and religion, but about sex IN religion. And, come on, it has a killer albino." And that's just the appetizer, because they provide a funny, fascinating, full dissection of "Da Code" in their final chapter---where, on a more general level, they also provide heavier insights about American reading habits: "But we seem to need a guru, an expert, to steer us ahead. . . . Now we seem to turn to popular books for the same easy resolution of life's tensions and ambiguities. . . .So many of them [bestsellers] are written not to explore issues, as our timeless texts were, but to encourage readers to look to them [bestselling books]for--and expect nothing more than--straightforward answers and reassurance. Our reading [of bestsellers] too often simplifies, rather than enriches; . . . answers, rather than questions; . . . accuses, rather than seeks to understand." Lisa and John also discuss "our diminishing ability to read well" in a thoughtful, easy-going way that E. D. Hirsch, Jr., (author of bestselling Cultural Literacy [2002] and The Knowledge Deficit [2006], and the founder of Core Knowledge Foundation) would cheer. WWRWWR is full of insight and entertainment, a veritable cornucopia of "instruction and delight," as the NeoClassicists would say. Best book I've ever read on bestsellers. It ought to become a bestseller itself--and for all the right reasons!

Are Top Selling Books Merely Flukes?

In Why We Read What We Read: A Delightfully Opinionated Journey Through Bestselling Books, Lisa Adams and John Heath set out to explore the current state of the American psyche by closely examining the bestselling books since 1990. As the authors mention in their introduction, "Bestsellers, we must note, do make up only a very small percentage of all books sold-but still, their success is determined solely by audience demand." In order to make some sense of it all, Adams and Heath have used the annual list of bestselling books published by Publishers Weekly supplemented with USA TODAY's list of the 100 best-selling books between 1993-2003. As mentioned, what the authors discovered was quite surprising, as there were many mediocre titles they never heard about that for years sold millions of copies right under their noses. Generally, the bestsellers reflect a reading public that were not only interested in escapist fantasies, but also in life's most complex issues: politics, religion, the law and emotional connection. There was also an eternal quest for self-improvement where we find books written by all kinds of experts in such disciplines as fitness, finance, spirituality, and health. Succinctly, Adams and Heath assert that readers are seduced by books that are simple, which reinforce their gut feelings rather than the complex that perhaps challenge to search for real answers. In order to substantiate their findings, Adams and Heath explore the reasons (some of them fairly obvious, others more subtle) why readers prefer to be told answers they already know or intuit rather than to engage in discussing different ideas or participate in debates. The categories of books that are analyzed and dissected are wide and varied beginning with diet books as Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution and South Beach Diet, and books dealing with wealth and inspiration. These bestsellers for the most part offer the reader good feelings but very seldom lasting change and as mentioned, the reading experience in actuality perpetuates the very need for new self-help and inspirational books. From here the authors delve into the concepts of good and evil in fiction and non-fiction where there seems to be a diversity of opinion as to what actually constitutes good and evil in the realm of fiction and non-fiction. Reference is made to Reading Lolita in Tehran and Harry Potter. As for non-fiction literature, Adams and Heath note that there is a tendency for authors such as Ann Coulter, Michael Moore, and others to describe anyone who disagrees with them as liars: "one could only conclude after reading these books that virtually every major political leader, insider journalist, and commentator of the past decade is a liar. Not just a liar, but a really big liar, with his (or more rarely her) pants on fire." In other words, the Left maintains that to stay in power, the Right lies and the Right complains that the Left consistently lies due to the fact that it rejects the v