Chinese reading novels, sci-fi stories and classics
Hot issues have a considerable influence on Chinese reading choices, according to the newly released lists of bestsellers by Amazon China.
The lists, based on Amazon’s reading and sales data, include best-sellers both in paperbacks and e-books on Kindle.
Japanese writer Keigo Higashino’s Miracles of the Namiya General Store tops the list of best-sellers in paperbacks and is second on the paid e-books list. This is the fourth year in a row that the book is in Amazon China’s top 10.
Chinese writer Liu Cixin’s science fiction work, The Three-Body trilogy, tops the list of paid e-books this year.
In 2015, the first volume won the Hugo Award.
Thanks to the portability of e-books, books like Liu’s trilogy, Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Complete Canon of Sherlock Holmes, Ken Follett’s trilogy Fall of Giants, as well as Chinese classics like Dream of the Red Chamber and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, have reached more readers.
Jia Pingwa was recognized by Amazon China as “the most influential Chinese writer overseas” at an annual reading ceremony held in Beijing on Dec 15.
The English version of Jia’s recent novel Happy Dream was published simultaneously online and offline by Amazon in August.
Separately, Israeli Yuval Noah Harari, the author of two best-sellers Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, was recognized as “the most influential foreign author in China”.
Popular films and TV series have also greatly driven the sales of books. In the Name of People, the anti-corruption novel by Chinese author Zhou Meisen, performed very well after its TV adaptation hit the screen in March.
Within one week, the sales of the digital version of the novel increased by 191 times, while for printed copies, the increase was 21 times, according to Amazon China.
In a related development, Chinese are increasingly willing to pay for knowledge, taking online courses, which, in turn, has prompted the sales of books ranging from business and skill training information to literature and history.
Also, Huang Zhizhong, the author of Speaking Well: Fresh and Interesting Skills for the Art of Speaking, has gained many fans via paid online courses and social network platforms, which has given a boost to the sale of his book.
In another development, a report on China’s e-reading habit suggests the number of digital readers in the country exceeded 300 million in 2016.
The report, titled 2016 Chinese Digital Reading White Paper, was released by the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association at the Digital Reading Conference China 2017 in April, in Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang province.
According to Amazon China, the new reading boom is being fueled as the number of simultaneous published — online and print — works is up nearly 60 percent compared with the previous year.
Consequently, the sales of these titles are up three times over the ones that are not simultaneously released.