What do young readers have on their bookshelves?

Ahead of World Book and Copyright Day (April 23), instituted in 1995 by UNESCO, Metrolife spoke to bookstore owners to understand what is trending among the young, aged 13 to 30.

Dark fantasies, thrillers

For two years, crime thrillers and dark fantasies have been a top pick among teenage customers at the Blossom Book House on Church Street. “Series like Lauren Robert’s ‘Fearless’, ‘Powerless’, ‘Reckless’ and ‘Powerful’, and ‘Iron Flame’, ‘Fourth Wing’ and ‘Onyx Storm’ by Rebecca Yarros are popular,” says Mayi Gowda, owner of the store.

Among 20- to 30-year-olds, Sarah J Maas’s series ‘Throne of Glass’, ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ and ‘Crescent City’, and Cassandra Clare’s ‘The Mortal Instruments’ series are a hit. “These genres have been contributing to around 25% of the total sales at the bookhouse,” he adds.

The increasing number of book events, information shared online about these titles and genres, and many of these books being adapted for the screen are bringing attention to them, Mayi adds.

Japanese books like ‘I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki’ by Baek Se-hee and ‘A Little Life’ by Hanya Yanagihara, are other popular choices.

Krishna Gowda, founder of The Bookworm on Church Street, agrees that works by fantasy authors such as Lauren Robert and Rebecca Yarros, are popular among young adults. Romance-comedies are also selling briskly.

Titles like ‘The Inheritance Games’ series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, ‘Legacy of God’ series by Rina Kent, Colleen Hoover’s ‘It Ends with Us’ and ‘It Starts with Us’, ‘Better Than the Movies’ by Lynn Painter, are books teenagers are reading now, he adds.

“These titles are often picked up as they are recommended on social media and other online platforms like GoodReads,” he adds.

Classics stay

At Select Book Shop, off Brigade Road, in addition to sci-fi and fantasy books, “classics stay a favourite”. “Books by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Ivan Turgenev, Anton Chekhov, and Italo Calvino always sell well,” says K Sanjay, owner.

Books on philosophy by Western and Indian authors are also picked up.

In Kannada

In Kannada, books by Shivaram Karanth, S L Bhyrappa, D V Gundappa (DVG) and Kuvempu are being picked up by the young, Sanjay observes.

Works by Poornachandra Tejasvi like ‘Kaadina Kathegalu’ and ‘Annana Nenapu’ are a hit among the 20- to 30-year-olds at Beetle Book Shop, Vijayanagar. “Every day around 15 to 20 copies of Tejasvi’s ‘Karvalo’ are sold,” says N Dhananjaya, owner.

At the online bookstore and publishing house Bahuroopi, traditional bestsellers by literary icons like Tejasvi, Karanth and DVG, pique interest among youngsters, as “these are recommended by other readers”, says cofounder-director Sreeja V N. “Other top sellers include works by Gajanana Sharma, Vivek Shanbhag, Sudha Murthy, Nemi Chandra, M R Kamala, KN Ganeshaiah and Jogi,” she adds. Books by younger authors like Ranjani Raghavan, Sadashiva Sorattur, Shivaprakash Mavali, and Jaya Ramachari, are picked often, “as these writers have a good social media presence and engage with their audience on these platforms,” she adds.

Mayi Gowda has noticed Vasudhendra’s latest book ‘Reshme Batte’ is selling well. “Epic novels by Bhyrappa like ‘Vamshavruksha’, ‘Parva’, and ‘Saarrtha’, and historical books like ‘Immadi Pulakeshi’ by Prakash Hemavathi are also being picked up by 20-year-olds,” he notes.

Self-help

In the last six months, self-help books and books on finance and share markets have caught on, says Dhananjaya. “Youngsters watch videos on YouTube and Instagram, which is making them more inquisitive about these subjects,” he adds.

Travelogues and biographies are also regularly bought, adds Sreeja.

Free book, rose, and bookmark on Church Street

In celebration of World Book Day today, Blossom Book House will offer an extra 10% off on top of its existing 20% discount at all three Church Street outlets. In the same lane, The Bookworm will give away 250 gift-wrapped books from top publishers to the day’s first 250 visitors for free. Customers buying books from a select publisher at The Bookworm or Gangarams Book Bureau, also on Church Street, will receive a complimentary rose and bookmark.