In February, social media chatter was dominated by films inspired by books—six of the top 10 most-discussed books have movie adaptations either in theaters or in the works. The lead title, Divergent, continues to generate conversation in the run-up to the March release of the film based on the book, which is the first title in Veronica Roth’s trilogy of the same name. “Conversations about [Divergent] have been very steady and show no signs of slowing down anytime soon,” said Jeff Costello, v-p of CoverCake, which measures how books are faring on social media. Divergent was also the top-selling title in the outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan for the week ended February 23.
Following the February 7 release of the film adaptation of Vampire Academy, Richelle Mead’s 2007 novel of the same name landed in the #2 slot on CoverCake’s list. Mead was followed by the closer in Roth’s trilogy, Allegiant, published in October.
The movie based on Lone Survivor, Marcus Luttrell’s account of a Navy SEAL mission, ruled the box office in January, and talk on social media of the book carried on right through February. The Monuments Men, which is enjoying a resurgence thanks to a recent film adaptation starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, and Cate Blanchett, was the fifth-most-buzzed-about book. Lean In has consistently appeared on CoverCake’s chart, and news in January of film rights to Sheryl Sandberg’s bestseller being optioned no doubt drove online conversation last month.
Moving Targets, by J.A. Jance, and The Book of Jonah, by Joshua Max Feldman, were the only new releases in February that ranked in the top 10. Both books received “heavy promotion,” said Costello, which prompted discussion around the titles.
As is typical, women, for the most part, generated the majority of the digital discussion in February. The Monuments Men and Lone Survivor proved exceptions to the trend, with 52% and 55% of the discussions being led by men, respectively.
CoverCake’s Top 10 Books in Social Media, February 2014
| Rank | Title | Author | BookScan* | Scale** | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Divergent | Veronica Roth | 1 | 10 | 43% | 57% |
| 2 | Vampire Academy | Richelle Mead | – | 7 | 41 | 59 |
| 3 | Allegiant | Veronica Roth | 9 | 6 | 42 | 58 |
| 4 | The Monuments Men | Robert Edsel | 42 | 6 | 52 | 48 |
| 5 | Lone Survivor | Marcus Luttrell | 67 | 5 | 55 | 45 |
| 6 | Moving Target | J.A. Jance | – | 3 | 39 | 61 |
| 7 | Lean In | Sheryl Sandberg | – | 2 | 40 | 60 |
| 8 | Endless Love | Scott Spencer | – | 2 | 28 | 72 |
| 9 | Winter’s Tale | Mark Helprin | 58 | 1 | 33 | 67 |
| 10 | The Book of Jonah | Joshua Max Feldman | – | 1 | 49 | 51 |
* For the week ended feb. 23. A dash (–) indicates that the book did not appear in the nielsen bookscan top 100 bestselling titles.
** Number of comments about the book in question for every 10 comments about the #1 title.
