Books

What's Your Country's Favorite Book?

by Tori Telfer

Remember when Scribd, the "Netflix for books," compiled information on each state's favorite book and the results made us all look a little bit crazy? They've released a new set of reading data, but this time, they're tackling the entire world…and the results are typically odd, because deep down, we're all just weirdos.

Along with each country's favorite book, Scribd calculated reading speed and favorite genres, with the top 5 fastest-reading countries being Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Malaysia (the US screeched in at 14). Genre preferences by country were totally unpredictable: the US was the most likely to read books in the Arts and Music genre, while Spain preferred Business, and Nigeria loved Body, Mind, and Spirit. Canada liked Humor and Mystery, Nepal liked Kids and YA, Mexico like Religion, Uruguay liked Romance, Austria liked Sci Fi, Singapore liked Biography and History, and the good old Czech Republic was the most likely to read straight-up fiction.

Oh, and the countries most likely to finish a book? Canada, Finland, Jamaica, South Africa, and the United States. The US may be slow readers, but we do like to know how things end.

Remember, these figures were compiled using Scribd's data, so they don't include people reading via other means (the library, Amazon, books they refuse to return to ex-girlfriends). But it's an interesting look at the world nonetheless. How does your motherland match up?

1. Most cliché: India, The Complete Illustrated Kama Sutra

2. Most unexpected: Suriname, Macbeth.

3. Most historically studious: Turkey, Writing History at the Ottoman Court

4. Most religious: Argentina, Historia de la iglesia cristiana (History of the Christian Church)

5. Artsiest: Italy, The Beethoven Sonatas and the Creative Experience

6. Most multicultural: United Kingdom, The Story of Sushi

7. Most sleep-inducing: Netherlands, The One-Minute Organizer

8. Potentially creepiest: Russia, Slaughterhouse-Five

9. Most oh-that's-why-they-hang-out-in-bikinis-so-much: Brazil, Superfoods: Nutrient-Dense Foods to Superfuel Your Body

10. Historically saddest: Croatia, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

11. Most apocalyptic: Switzerland, State of Fear