According to an analysis of the book sales in 2020 conducted by the Bucharest Bookstores Company (CLB), the only books that reported increases during the pandemic were those about medicine, pharmacy and health. In the preferences ranking, the genres that remained constant or registered the lowest decreases are religion and spirituality, followed by the books for children and teenagers.
The top of the most sough-after book genres in 2020 is completed by titles from human sciences/literature.
The best selling book from the Romanian literature in the CLB network was “Recviem vesel pentru tata/Merry requiem for my father” by Radu Paraschivescu, published by Humanitas.
As for translations from the universal literature, “The Travelling Cat Chronicles” by Hiro Arikawa, published at Humanitas Fiction, ranks first.
The international bestseller “Sapiens. A brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari, published by Polirom in 2017, remains the most wanted foreign non-fiction book in the year of pandemic.
In terms of non-fiction books written by Romanian authors, the leader of the ranking is “Creierul și mintea Universului / The Brain and the Mind of Universe” by Dumitru Constantin Dulcan, published by Școala Ardeleană Printing House.
On books for children, the most sought-after one signed by a Romanian writer is “A doua carte cu Apolodor / The Second Book with Apolodor” by Gellu Naum, Arthur Publishing house, 2020), while the most “hunted” translation is “Aventurile lui Habarnam şi ale prietenilor săi /The Adventures of Dunno and his Friends” by Nikolay Nosov (Humanitas, 2017).
The most stolen books in the CLB network last year were only foreign books: “With Friends Like These–: The Soviet Bloc’s Clandestine War Against Romania” by Larry Watts ranks first as most stolen book (RAO Publishing House, 2011), followed by “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince“, vol. 6 by J.K. Rowling (Arthur, 2020) and “500 de adevăruri incredibile și trăsnite/ 500 Incredible and Crazy Facts” by Mugur Butuza, Paralela 45, 2020).