Why We Read What We Read : A Delightfully Opinionated Journey Through Contemporary Bestsellers

What do weight loss, evil emperors and tales of redemption have in common? We readers have many dirty little secrets#8212;and our bestselling books are spilling them all. We can't resist conspiratorial crooks or the number 7. We have bought millions of books about cheese. And over a million of us read more than 50 nearly identical books every single year. In Why We Read What We Read, Lisa Adams and John Heath take an insightful and often hilarious tour through nearly 200 bestselling books, ferreting out their persistent themes and determining what those say about what we believe and how we relate to one another. Some of our favorite (and revealing) topics include: #8212;Repeating the Obvious: Diet, Wealth, and Inspiration #8212;Black and White and Read All Over: Good and Evil in Bestselling Adventure Novels and Political Nonfiction #8212;Soul Train: Religion and Spirituality #8212;Hopefully Ever After: Love, Romance and Relationships #8212;Reading for Redemption: Trials and Triumphs in Literary Fiction and Nonfiction #8212;Controversy and Conspiracy in The Da Vinci Code Explore the nature of what and how we read#8212;and what it means for our psyches, our society and our future What we've done and why we've done it The obvious : diet, wealth, and inspiration Black and white and read all over : good and evil in bestselling adventure novels and political nonfiction Hopefully ever after : love, romance, and relationships Soul train : religion and spirituality Reading for redemption : trials and triumphs in literary fiction and nonfiction Deciphering da code : conclusions Appendix : bestseller lists. Looks at what it means when readers choose certain books, examining nearly two hundred contemporary bestsellers to determine the values and desires of the American public. The Authors Examine The Best-selling Books Of The Past 16 Years, Exploring Common Thematic Threads That Resonate With American Readers.