As my to-be-read (TBR) list slowly shrinks after a self-declared book-buying ban, I recently decided to browse The New York Times Best Sellers list in search of my next read. I noticed an interesting difference between the bestselling fiction and nonfiction books. While the fiction genre was dominated by works of fantasy, romance or mystery, the nonfiction genre had much more to do with serious examinations of issues plaguing our country today: impeachment, trauma, race and identity. It would be one thing if both genres saw a vast array of content, but why such stark concentrations among the two?
It’s fairly easy to see why fantastical books are trending in the fiction genre. With all that’s going on recently, people want the escape of a good book more than ever. Young adult fiction in particular had grown an alleged 68 percent from 2020 to 2021. Book sales in the United Kingdom reflect that of the United States, with crime, science fiction and romance novels driving fiction sales to the highest point of the decade.
This surge in reading is a result of another pandemic-related trend: BookTok. A niche community of avid young readers on TikTok, BookTok has launched several young adult novels into bestseller lists. Nellie Kurtzman, vice president of marketing and publicity at HarperCollins, says “BookTok comes along at a time when the pandemic has closed off many of the traditional ways of reaching readers, such as book signings.” In fact, four of the top-five fiction bestsellers trended on BookTok before seeing newfound popularity. Of the top five on the Jan. 23 list, two are romance novels by Colleen Hoover, two describe popular movie stars and the last is a retelling of the myth of the Greek hero Achilles.
However, among this rise in fantasy novels is a simultaneous desire to indulge in those serious investigative works of nonfiction. In utter opposition to the far-fetched worlds of fiction, the top-five nonfiction works dive deep into important problems facing our nation today. On the Jan. 23 list, U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin’s (D-MD) “Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth and the Trials of American Democracy.” A leader of the impeachment process against former President Donald Trump, Raskin writes of his struggle with both personal and political trauma after the loss of his only son to suicide only one week before the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol is at number one.
Up next is Bessel van der Kolk’s “The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma,” which discusses the physical transformations of the body following traumatic events. Third in nonfiction is Nikole Hannah-Jones’ groundbreaking expansion of The New York Times Magazine’s “The 1619 Project,” placing slavery at the center of our nation’s very origin.
Although these books are absolutely and undeniably deserving of such accolades, they all share a unique and binding desire to break open some of the deepest, darkest matters of today’s nation. Still, nonfiction need not deal with such serious matters in order to achieve greatness. There are indeed happier nonfiction works to be found much further down the bestseller list. Why, then, such emphasis on tragedy?
Perhaps it is simply a reflection of the times. As much as I hate to be repetitive, these past few years have certainly earned the title of “unprecedented.” Maybe these nonfiction works can help people find their footing at a time when it seems like every coming day shakes the very ground we stand on. When our nation’s very understanding of democracy and history is threatened, the works of Hannah-Jones and Raskin are there to offer information where all previous education has failed.
In fact, perhaps I should have expected such intense changes in reading habits to mirror intense social change. This is not to say I did not sense a greater change in literature consumption earlier, but instead that I suspected it to come in the short-lived fame of anti-racist reading lists — a trend whose faults I wrote about in a previous article from 2020. For me, these lists, although faulty, were the start of my adventure into nonfiction. In the midst of movements like Black Lives Matter and Stop AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) Hate, I wanted to diversify my bookshelves like many other readers at the time.
Yet, I do not wish to imply that bestselling fiction cannot offer just as powerful an account of real-world issues as nonfiction. Though whimsical, even the Jan. 23 top-five fiction bestsellers I described earlier are absolutely capable of offering social commentary. Madeline Miller’s “The Song of Achilles” is wonderful as not just an artistic retelling of Greek mythology, but also one that centers around the same-sex romance between Achilles and his partner Patroclus. Third in fiction, “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” features a bisexual protagonist who prominently declares her sexuality with much-appreciated nuance.
At the same time, diverse authors like those topping the nonfiction genre can also compose the feel-good fantasies audiences desire. As I’ve written before, nonwhite authors deserve recognition for works outside of those which solely center racial trauma. There are seemingly no nonwhite authors in the week of Jan. 23’s top-15 fiction bestsellers, and a concentration in genre does not excuse the lack of representation. This is especially true when there are entire BookTok accounts within the same community that seek to promote diverse romance or fantasy novels written by authors like Morgan Rogers, Mary H.K. Choi or Casey McQuiston.
So, to set out on my initial question: why the huge difference in topic for fiction and nonfiction bestsellers? Author Noah Hawley, like many others, believes that the greatest thing about fiction is that it serves as an “empathy delivery device” for readers to begin understanding characters unlike themselves. Yet, some of the top nonfiction works surely set out to create bridges of understanding as well. Still, only 17 percent of readers read both genres equally. Fiction may provide the fantastical escape that readers long for, but it is just as important for readers to give credence to the years of research and first-person accounts that nonfiction provides.
Maybe this interest will come with age as young adult readers grow and continue exploring their love of literature in new genres. If so, they will find that there is much more crossover between the two genres than they may have expected. If readers wish to learn more about politics and organization, they can reach not only for nonfiction authors like Raskin, but also the fiction novels of someone like Richard Powers, who seems to write one bestseller after another. Similarly, if readers seek out a diverse character with dry humor and a passion for change, they can read the nonfiction of authors like Cathy Park Hong instead of reaching for a fictional protagonist.
Above all, while it is important to seek out release and keep reading enjoyable during hard times, we must also be sure to support as many different authors as we can. Because topics like grief, romance, race or mystery are not confined to one type of author. And they are most definitely not confined to one genre.
Kaitlyn Liu is a senior majoring in English and is Opinions Editor.