Huntingdon tops the "Most Well-Read Towns and Cities in the UK" list for the third year running
Luxembourg-May 9, 2013-To celebrate the start of the summer holiday reading season, Amazon.co.uk has revealed its third annual list of the Top 10 Most Well-Read Towns and Cities in the UK. The ranking was determined by compiling sales of all books, magazines and newspapers in both print and Kindle format since June 1, 2012, on a per capita basis in cities with more than 20,000 residents. The Top 10 Most Well-Read Cities are:
- HUNTINGDON
- DONCASTER
- ROCHESTER
- SEVENOAKS
- CAMBRIDGE
- TRURO
- SALISBURY
- SPALDING
- CHICHESTER
- NEWTON ABBOT
In taking a closer look at the data, Amazon also found that:
- Doncaster is the Romance Capital of the UK: Love is in the air up north—residents have the most romantic taste and read more romance novels than anywhere else in the United Kingdom – South Yorkshire neighbours Barnsley also make the Top 10.
- Yorkshire tops the reading charts in the North: For the second year running, Doncaster is the only town in the North of England to make the Top 10 Most Well-Read list.
- Huntingdon - the reigning reading Capital of the UK: For the third year running, not only are residents of Huntingdon the Most Well-Read, they also read the widest variety of books—Cambridgeshire residents devour everything from travel books to non-fiction.
- Southwest Chefs: Residents in Cornwall and Devon love to cook with Newton Abbot and Truro both featuring in the Top 5 of cook book sales.
- Bookish Oxbridge scholars: For a second year running, Cambridge, home to the prestigious Cambridge University, tops the list for purchasing the most books in the Business, Law and Finance category. In comparison, rival University City, Oxford, is fifth in this category—behind the University City Durham, in third place.
- Sci-Fi fans: Welsh town Bridgend and Dunfermline in Scotland both make it into the Top 5 for sales of Science Fiction Books.
- Have I Got News for You: Residents of Spalding in Lincolnshire top the list for the most newspaper subscriptions per capita, while page turners in Whitley Bay in North Tyneside read more magazines that any other town or city in the UK per capita.
- Big City Readers: Of the UK's top 10 largest cities, residents of Bristol are the most avid readers, followed by Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
- Movers and Shakers - newcomers for to the Top 20: Climbing the charts for the first time is the Suffolk market town of Sudbury, which powers into position number 16. Challenging Doncaster's leading northern position—Cheshire fights back with Warrington in at number 19, a newcomer to the Top 20 for 2013.
"The results of our annual Most Well-Read Cities list have revealed once again that residents of Huntingdon are passionate about reading because they have made the top spot for the third year running," said Jorrit Van der Meulen, Vice President, EU Kindle. "Kindle devices are the best-selling eReaders by far and millions of customers in the UK choose from a vast selection of 1.5 million books every day — from best-selling titles, to hidden gems which are self-published on Kindle Direct Publishing — all this is available to download in less than 60 seconds."
To help contribute to their city's well-read status and find their next great read, customers can visit www.amazon.co.uk/books and www.amazon.co.uk/kindlebooks.
For further information please contact the Amazon.co.uk Ltd Press Office
T: 0208 636 7180
Notes to editors:
- Most Well-Read Towns and Cities in UK was determined by compiling sales of all books, magazines and newspapers in both print and Kindle format since June 1, 2012 on a per capita basis in UK towns and cities with more than 20,000 residents.
Top 20 Most Well-Read Towns and Cities
- HUNTINGDON
- DONCASTER
- ROCHESTER
- SEVENOAKS
- CAMBRIDGE
- TRURO
- SALISBURY
- SPALDING
- CHICHESTER
- NEWTON ABBOT
- BURY ST EDMUNDS
- DUNFERMLINE
- CHORLEY
- WARWICK
- DURHAM
- SUDBURY*
- CANTERBURY
- WITNEY
- WARRINGTON*
- WINCHESTER
*New to the top 20 for 2013
Amazon.co.uk Ltd Press Office:
For more information please contact the Amazon.co.uk Ltd Press Office on 0208 636 9280 or email pressoffice@amazon.co.uk.
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