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Tops of 2015: Entertainment

2 minute read | December 2015

While books are one of our oldest forms of entertainment, reading remains a top spare-time activity for all ages around the globe. But what books are today’s consumers enjoying?

It turns out it depends on whether consumers are buying in person or electronically. While four of the top print and e-books overlapped (Grey, The Girl on The Train, All the Light We Cannot See and American Sniper), consumers favored print books that connected to movies—two of which premiered this year (The Martian and Fifty Shades of Grey).

Whether consumers purchase print or e-books often depends on the genre. Children’s books saw print sales increase from 2013 to 2015. Meanwhile, the e-book share of romance has consistently been above that of adult fiction as a whole. So it’s no surprise that three of the top e-books for 2015 came from E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey romance series.

When it comes to movie discs, franchises dominated sales this year. Seven of the top 10 DVDs and Blu-ray discs were from popular movie franchises. In 2015, the majority of the discs on the list were Action/Adventure and Family films.

TOP 10 PRINT BOOKS OF 2015

Rank Title Author Format Publisher Pub Date
1 Go Set a Watchman Harper Lee Hardcover Harper Collins 7/1/2015
2 Grey E.L. James Trade Paperback Random House 6/1/2015
3 The Girl on the Train Paula Hawkins Hardcover Penguin 1/1/2015
4 The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up Marie Kondo Hardcover Random House 10/1/2014
5 All the Light We Cannot See Anthony Doerr Hardcover Simon & Schuster 5/1/2014
6 Paper Towns John Green Trade Paperback Penguin 9/1/2009
7 American Sniper: The Autobiography Chris Kyle Trade Paperback Harper Collins 11/1/2014
8 Diary of a Wimpy Kid #10: Old School Jeff Kinney Hardcover Abrams 11/1/2015
9 The Martian Andy Weir Trade Paperback Random House 10/1/2014
10 To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee Mass Market Paperback Hachette 10/1/1988
Source: Nielsen BookScan through Nov. 22, 2015.

TOP 10 E-BOOKS OF 2015

Rank Title Author Publisher Pub Date
1 The Girl on the Train Hawkins, Paula Penguin Group 1/1/2015
2 Grey James, E L Random House 6/18/2015
3 All the Light we Cannot See Doerr, Anthony Simon & Schuster 5/6/2014
4 Fifty Shades of Grey James, E L Random House 5/25/2011
5 The Nightingale Hannah, Kristin Macmillan Publishers 2/3/2015
6 American Sniper Kyle, Chris HarperCollins 1/3/2012
7 Memory Man Baldacci, David Hachette Book Group 4/21/2015
8 Fifty Shades Darker James, E L Random House 5/10/2014
9 Big Little Lies Moriarty, Liane Penguin Group 7/29/2014
10 Gone Girl Flynn, Gillian Random House 6/5/2012
Source: Nielsen PubTrackTM Digital through July 2015.

TOP 10 DISC TITLES OF 2015

Rank Title Distributor Release Date
1 Jurassic World UNIVERSAL HOME ENTERTAINMENT 2015
2 American Sniper WARNER HOME VIDEO 2014
3 Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 LIONSGATE 2014
4 Furious 7 UNIVERSAL HOME ENTERTAINMENT 2015
5 Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies WARNER HOME VIDEO 2014
6 Avengers: Age of Ultron DISNEY/BUENA VISTA HOME VIDEO 2015
7 Inside Out DISNEY/BUENA VISTA HOME VIDEO 2015
8 Fifty Shades of Grey UNIVERSAL HOME ENTERTAINMENT 2015
9 Home TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT 2015
10 Pitch Perfect 2 UNIVERSAL HOME ENTERTAINMENT 2015
Source: Nielsen VideoScan Week Ending Nov. 29, 2015.

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