.@BookNet_Canada shares insights on buying and borrowing of Thrillers titles during the fourth quarter of 2021.
CLICK TO TWEET

There are few better ways to start off the new year than with another Subject spotlight and more quarterly data-driven insights into a specific corner of the Canadian book market.

Looking for your next page-turner? No genre will hold you in suspense more than Thrillers — and Canadians can’t seem to get enough of them.

In our annual Canadian Book Consumer Study, we track the popularity of book subjects purchased by Canadian book buyers throughout the year. So far in collecting data for our forthcoming 2021 edition, Thrillers are the second most popular Fiction category purchased by Canadians after Fantasy, accounting for 14% of all purchases.

Just how many Thrillers titles are Canadians really reading?

Below, we explore the Canadian sales and library circulation of Thrillers during the fourth quarter of 2021 with the help of our SalesData and LibraryData services.

Enough sitting on the edge of our seat — onto the data!

Buying Thrillers

Compared to 2020, Thrillers were a less popular choice for Canadian book buyers in the last months of 2021. Between 2020 and 2021, the sales of Thrillers during the fourth quarter dropped 20%, shown in the graph below.

That being said, the sales of Thrillers trended up during the fourth quarter for both years. From October to December 2021, sales of Thrillers titles increased 55% over the entire quarter. During the same quarter in 2020, sales for this subject category only increased 20%.

Line graph comparing book sales between October, November, and December 2020 and 2021 in the Fiction / Thrillers BISAC category.

Even though Thrillers titles had fewer sales in the fourth quarter of 2021 than in 2020, some of Fiction / Thrillers' 14 BISAC subcategories saw big increases year-over-year, especially:

Fiction / Thrillers / Political — up 549%;
Fiction / Thrillers / General — up 226%; and
Fiction / Thrillers / Legal — up 181%.

From October to December 2021, the most purchased Thrillers subcategories were:

Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense — 47% of all Thrillers sales;
Fiction / Thrillers / Political — 13% of all Thrillers sales; and
Fiction / Thrillers / Psychological — 11% of all Thrillers sales.

Borrowing Thrillers

Trends were reversed in the library. Over the fourth quarter of 2021, the library loan and renewal of Thrillers titles was up 18% and 15% from 2020.

Yet, the library circulation of Thrillers titles trended down for the most part during the fourth quarter, shown in the graph below. From October to December 2021, the loan of Thrillers titles steadily decreased 6%, while renewals saw a decrease of 4%. During 2020, library loans decreased 10% but saw a 30% increase in renewals over the fourth quarter.

Line graph comparing loans and renewals between October, November, and December 2020 and 2021 in the Fiction / Thrillers BISAC category.

Which BISAC Thrillers subcategories held Canadian library borrowers in suspense? From October to December 2021, these subcategories saw the greatest increases in library circulation compared to 2020:

Fiction / Thrillers / Historical — loans up 115% and renewals up 88%;
Fiction / Thrillers / Political — loans up 57% and renewals up 16%; and
Fiction / Thrillers / Legal — loans up 52% and renewals up 25%.

During the fourth quarter of 2021, the most circulated Thrillers subcategories were:

Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense — 48% of all Thrillers loans and 49% of all Thrillers renewals;
Fiction / Thrillers / Psychological — 12% of all Thrillers loans and 12% of all Thrillers renewals; and
Fiction / Thrillers / Crime — 11% of all Thrillers loans and 11% of all Thrillers renewals.