Read all about it! Book sales set for new record

THANKS to the internet and streaming services, we have plenty of ways to fill our leisure time.

But Britain is still a nation of bookworms – almost £1billion has been spent already this year on paperbacks and hardbacks.

Reading surged in popularity during the pandemic when people were stuck at home, and the trend is showing little sign of wearing off. Sales are up slightly on the record-breaking 2021 and there are hopes that the spree will continue.

We had shelled out £945 million on 113million books by August 13, according to the industry tracker Nielsen. Non-fiction sales are lagging behind last year – dropping nine per cent – as Britons seize paperbacks to take on what for many will be their first summer holiday since Covid struck.

Current bestsellers including the romance It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover and Richard Osman’s second book, The Man Who Died Twice. The TV presenter’s first book, The Thursday Murder Club, is also still flying off the shelves.

Sales of Where The Crawdads Sing by first-time author Delia Owens are rocketing thanks to a film adaptation of the thriller.

While an estimated two-thirds of people in the UK read in their spare time, industry insiders worried that the introduction of e-readers such as Kindles a decade ago would kill off the print industry.

But book sales soared in the UK during the pandemic to their highest levels since 2012. Last year people forked out a record £1.82billion as they sought comfort in reading. The Publishers Association said the UK industry’s total income hit a record high of £6.7billion.

Meanwhile, figures from Audible also show that a new-found love for audiobooks has outlasted the pandemic. Profits at the UK arm of the Amazon-owned firm rose by 60 per cent to £19million in 2021.

The cost-of-living crisis has forced many customers to cancel their subscription services. But Audible Limited’s accounts showed revenues rose 14 per cent to £214million last year.

As well as offering books to customers and subscribers, Audible also makes its own podcast and original series.

Its presenters include TV presenter and author Graham Norton and comic actors Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.