Classics dominate book lists

Chris Baskett admits she is a bookworm.

The Tauranga woman says one of the perks of her job is being able to read books. She is the owner of Books A Plenty in Grey St and says it's great to be able to recommend good books to other readers.

Mrs Baskett said Tauranga readers, like her, often liked books which were both entertaining and educational.

Her view comes as Whitcoulls released its list of Top 100 books, voted for by members of the public.

This year Whitcoulls got more than 27,000 votes for the top books, with the top three unchanged from last year.

The most popular book this year is part of The Millennium trilogy with Game of Thrones taking out second place and The Lord of the Rings in third.

Whitcoulls book manager Joan Mackenzie said classic titles and well-loved authors dominated the list.

Mrs Baskett said Game of Thrones and the Millennium trilogy were popular with Tauranga readers but her customers were also after something different.

"Our customers seem to like a lot of intelligent crime books and also books which are entertaining and educational," she said. Mrs Baskett said she was lucky that she could read several books before they hit the shelves.

"I read a couple of books every 10 days," she said.

"We get to recommend books to people which is great."

Poppies Mount Maunganui owner Lin Poulsen said her store had noticed a drop in the popularity of fiction books with customers opting for "inspirational, coffee table type books".

However, she said children's books were always popular and the recent 30th birthday of Hairy Maclary meant she sold out of Hairy Maclary books twice.

"At the moment we are selling a lot more books on rearranging your home and improving yourself."

Whitcoulls top 10

• 
  The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
• 
  A Game of Thrones by George R R Martin
• 
  The Lord of the Rings By J R R Tolkien
• 
  Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
• 
  The Hobbit by J R R Tolkein
• 
  Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen
• 
  The Fault in our Stars by John Green
• 
  The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• 
  Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon
• 
  The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons

Top 10 books at Tauranga Library between January and June 2013. (Adult fiction only)

• 
  Wanted Man by Lee Child
• 
  Stolen By Lesley Pearse
• 
  The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
• 
  Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy
• 
  Sing You Home by Jodie Picoult
• 
  Brightest Star by Marian Keyes
• 
  Casual Vacancy by J K Rowling
• 
  The Confession by John Grisham
• 
  Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James
• 
  Fall of Giants by Ken Follett