Biographies, Home & Garden Hot Categories in 2015

The biography/autobiography/memoir and house & home/gardening categories were the two hottest book segments in the first half of 2015, based on unit sales of print books. The 36% increase (over the same period in 2014) in the house & home segment was due almost entirely to one title: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidy Up by Marie Kondo, which sold more than 466,000 units at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan, a figure that represented almost 31% of all units sold in the category in the first six months of the year. The growth in the biography segment was not quite as dependent on one title as house & home was, but the segment benefitted from Chris Kyle’s American Sniper, which sold more than 1.1 million copies in its regular and movie tie-in editions (combined) in the first half of the year. Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken also sold in big numbers in both its regular and movie tie-in editions. Computer books, which had a 12% decline in unit sales in 2014 compared to the previous year, had a 13% drop in sales in the first half of 2015.

The adult fiction segment managed to post a 1% unit gain in the first six months of 2015, with the 18% increase in the graphic novels genre leading the way. Units rose 7% in general fiction led by All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, which sold more than 543,000 units. Another major genre, suspense/thrillers, had an 11% unit increase in the first half of 2015, relative to the previous year, led by The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, which was the top-selling title in the first half of 2015, selling more than 845,000 units.

The occult/psychological/horror segment, which had a big drop in 2014, saw units tumble 32% in the first half of 2015. Within adult fiction, most of the genres that had declines in the January–June period were those that have been negatively affected by e-books—fantasy, mystery/detective, and romance.

The first half of 2015 was a good period for juvenile nonfiction, and several genres within it had double-digit unit gains, including biographies/autobiographies, which had a 16% increase. The children’s edition of Unbroken led the way in that category, selling more than 78,000 copies. The games/activities/hobbies segment was home to some of the industry’s hottest titles in the first part of 2015, including Johanna Bradford’s adult coloring books and a raft of Minecraft titles.

Units fell 5% in juvenile fiction in the first half of 2015 compared to the same period last year, due to weakness in its two largest genres—science fiction/fantasy and general, where units were down 7% and 6%, respectively. The categories include the Divergent trilogy and the Frozen franchise, two very hot sellers in the first half of 2014. Bright spots in January–June 2015 were the holidays/festivals/religion segment, which had a 12% increase, led by My First Read and Learn Bible; and the animals category, where units rose 10%, helped by the board book Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle, which sold more than 157,000 copies in the first half of 2015.

Units Sales by Category January–June 2015

(Units in Thousands)