Top 10 Summer Holiday Reads

SAM | 22nd August 2017

It seems that Mancunians prefer to get stuck into a paperback than read a digital download or content online, according to a new study.

Researchers polled more than 3,000 people in a Travel Book Survey and found that three in four Brits (78%) favour the format of paperbacks when it comes to their holiday-reading, over any other reading material such as magazines (7%), newspapers (4%), digital downloads or reading content online (4%).

The study conducted by Opodo.co.uk suggests a resurgence in the reading behaviour among ‘book-loving Mancs’, despite the abolition of EU data roaming charges, which now makes it cheaper to download e-books as well as consuming digital content for less through electronic devices while travelling abroad.

Of those polled in the survey, more than two thirds of Mancs (66%) will read up to two books on holiday while more than one in five (21%) avid readers will get through as many as four books in the sun.

Unsurprisingly, just over a half (51%) said they spend more time reading on holiday than they would do at home and the reading habits of one in twenty (17%) will see them getting through just as many words as they would do at home.

The research reveals that reading is one of the top three preferred activities that one in four (25%) Mancs look forward to once they’ve reached their destination, after relaxing on a beach (44%) and trying the local cuisine (30%).

It seems that Mancs like the escapism that a good novel provides, with literary works helping them either to digitally detox, or switch off from the real world during their well-earned break.

Fiction (45%) is the preferred genre, while romance (10%), adventure (8%) and famous autobiographies (8%) all top the approved list of holiday-reading material.

Although the majority of Mancs want to lose themselves in a good book and forget about their life back home for a little while, it’s understandable that some might want to keep up with the headlines while travelling.

Top 10 Summer Holiday Reads

1. Small Great Things, Jodi Picoult
2. I See You, Clare Mackintosh
3. Conclave, Robert Harris
4. The Essex Serpent, Sarah Parry
5. This Must Be The Place, Maggie O’Farrell
6. The Gypsy Moth, Julia Fierro
7. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, Arundhati Roy
8. Hunger, Roxanne Gay
9. H (a) ppy, Nicola Barker
10. Sour Heart, Jenny Zhang.