Huntingdon tops the “Most Well-Read Towns and Cities in the UK” list for the second year running
Luxembourg, 19th June, 2012: To celebrate the start of the summer holiday reading season, Amazon.co.uk has revealed its second annual list of the Top 10 Most Well-Read Towns and Cities in the UK. The ranking was determined by compiling sales of all books, magazines and newspapers in both print and Kindle format since June 1, 2011 on a per capita basis.
The Top 10 Most Well-Read Towns and Cities are:
1. Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire
2. Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
3. Sevenoaks, Kent
4. Doncaster, South Yorkshire
5. Rochester, Kent
6. Salisbury, Wiltshire
7. Truro, Cornwall
8. Chichester, West Sussex
9. Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
10. Spalding, Lincolnshire
The data also shows that:
- Doncaster is the Reading Capital of the North: Doncaster is the only town in the North of England to make the Top 10 Most Well-Read list with bookworms in the South of England dominating the chart. Doncaster residents have diverse tastes when it comes to their favourite reads with residents of the South Yorkshire town appearing high on the list for purchasing the most Romance books, Biographies and books in the Crime, Thriller and Mystery category.
- The Oxbridge Book Race: Cambridge, home to the prestigious Cambridge University, tops the list for purchasing the most books in the Business, Law and Finance category. In comparison, rival University City, Oxford, is fourth in this category.
- Romantic Fiction Fanatics: Huntington is home to the highest number of romantic fiction readers as it tops the list of people purchasing Romance books. It is also the town with the highest number of book downloads per capita on Kindle.
- Travel Junkies: Cambridgeshire is home to the travel jet set, with Huntingdon and Cambridge taking the first and second slots for towns purchasing the most travel books in print and on Kindle per capita.
- Have I Got News for You: Residents of Newbury in Berkshire top the list for the most newspaper subscriptions per capita on Kindle.
- Scots are into Suspense: Readers in Scotland have a passion for Crime, Thriller and Mystery books with three Scottish towns and cities making the top 10 list in this category – Dunfermline, Falkirk and Inverness.
- Big City Readers: Of the UK’s top 10 largest cities, residents of Bristol are the most avid readers, followed by Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
“As the summer reading season gets into full swing we’re excited to announce that bookworms in Huntingdon have topped our ‘Most Well-Read’ list for the second year running,” said Gordon Willoughby, Director, EU Kindle. “Reading has never been more accessible with a wealth of fantastic books available in print and on Kindle, including bestsellers across a range of categories and some great new titles from independent authors who are using Kindle Direct Publishing and CreateSpace to share their books with readers across the country.”
In addition to their annual Most Well-Read Towns and Cities list, Amazon.co.uk has released its official summer reading suggestions at www.amazon.co.uk/KindleSummerReading
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For further information please contact the Amazon.co.uk Ltd Press Office
T: 0208 636 9280
Notes to editors:
- Most Well-Read Towns and Cities in UK was determined by compiling sales of all books, magazines and newspapers in both print and Kindle format since June 1, 2011 on a per capita basis in UK towns and cities with more than 20,000 residents.
Top 20 Most Well-Read Cities
1. Huntington
2. Cambridge
3. Sevenoaks
4. Doncaster
5. Rochester
6. Salisbury
7. Truro
8. Chichester
9. Bury St Edmunds
10. Spalding
11. Canterbury
12. Newton Abbot
13. Winchester
14. Godalming
15. Witney
16. Warwick
17. Durham
18. Dunfermline
19. Newbury
20. Chorley
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