April 2020 bestselling books: What were people reading during the Coronavirus lockdown?
Reading habits reveal a lot: from individual personalities to social trends. Let us have a look at some of the bestselling books in April 2020. It was the month of worldwide lockdown because of Covid-19. Which books have people been reading the most during the quarantine or lockdown period?
Books do for the mind what mirrors do for the body: they reflect. Reading habits tend to reveal a lot of things. On the individual and subjective level, it shows the nature and depth of your character. On a larger scale, it shows socio-cultural trends and mass behavioral patterns. An excellent way to know what the world has been thinking in a given week or month or year is, therefore, to find out the people have been reading.
April 2020, all over the world, has seen a spike of reading books, in both print and e-book formats. This was mainly due to the worldwide lockdown following the Covid-19 outbreak. Offices, businesses, educational institutions, transport – everything has been shut since the middle of March. Quarantined in their homes, people have been doing things which they could not do earlier because of time constraints – old books are coming out of the bookshelves, musical instruments that have not been touched for ages are being played again, and people otherwise busy in mad Monday rushes and eating junk foods are cooking healthier recipes at the luxury of their kitchens. Although procuring hardcopy books have been a little difficult because of the lockdown, several digital libraries have waived off their registration or membership fees as a part of their contribution towards the fight against Covid-19, and you can use their digital contents to enrich yourself. Top 10 most-read and bestselling books in April 2020, during Covid-19 lockdown
I was wondering which books people were reading during the lockdown period. In this article, I have tried to make a list of bestselling books in April 2020. While researching for the most-read books of April 2020, I particularly consulted three lists: the New York Times bestsellers, highest-selling books on Amazon in April 2020, and Flipkart's most sold books for the on-going month. If you have read any of them, congratulations! If you have not, go ahead and read – here are some of the most wonderful books you can read during the Coronavirus lockdown! Please note that this list has been arbitrarily compiled - there is neither any specific order of merit nor any other chronology. This is just a random list of top 10 books of April 2020, collected from various sources.1. Educated: A Memoir, by Tara Westover
How many of us at the age of 33 can even dream of having written a bestseller, let alone debuting in the #1 position in the NY Times Bestsellers List and remaining there for a whopping two years? It has been a reality for the American historian and author Tara Westover, whose memoir in three parts was first published in 2018 and since then stayed a peoples' favorite. It was also featured in Bill Gates' Book Blog and was liked by the former President of the United States of America Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle. 2. Where the Crawdad Sings, by Delia Owens
While writing this article, this book has managed to stay in NY Times Bestsellers List for eighty-five weeks, and that is truly exceptional. It is also featured as the third highest-selling book for the month of April 2020 by Amazon.com. The story of this literary fiction has two parts called "The Marsh" and "The Swamp" that slowly intertwine. 'Crawdad' is a regional name for what is otherwise known as 'crayfish': and as the sales of this book went up, there was a rise on the internet for search queries related to 'crawdad' as well! This book deals with ethology, which means the study of animal behavior, as one of the key themes. 3. Little Fires Everywhere, by Celeste Ng
This is another favorite of the people, enjoying its sixty-third week on the NY Times Bestsellers List at present. It is also the seventh highest-selling book at Amazon.com in April 2020. Celeste's first novel, Everything I Never Told You, was published in 2014 and won several awards including the Amazon Book of the Year, and her short story Girls at Play won a Pushcart Prize in 2012. Published in 2017, Little Fires Everywhere has done justice to her writing caliber. Set in a small American town in Ohio called Shaker Heights in the 1990s, this novel is about two families, brought together through their kids. Shaker Heights was the place where Celeste grew up; her novel about her hometown is therefore very authentic and detailed, something that is sure to touch your heart. Due to a recent television series, there has been a notable spike in the public interest regarding this book, and the sales figures also went higher up.4. The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, by Joseph Murphy
Alongside memoirs and non-fictions, people have also been reading some serious nonfiction during the quarantine period. A Jesuit priest, Joseph Murphy was by birth an Irish who later immigrated to the United States of America. He also traveled to India and spent quite some time learning Hindu philosophy. He was a leading minister of the New Thought Movement in America. Originally published in 1963, The Power of Your Subconscious Mind has remained a timeless self-help classic, and one of the bestselling books over the last few decades.5. Relationship Goals, by Michael Todd
Michael Todd is a charismatic lead pastor of the Transformation Church in Oklahoma, and is the author of several books including Resurrection of the Damned, No Quarter, Nobody Drinks That Much, and Dim Glows the Horizon. Todd believes that relationships are the pivot of human existence, and since the world has thrived because of humans, relationships can also be said to be the epicenter of the universe. In a world mostly devoid of love, no wonder this book has been one of the bestsellers, including April 2020. If you ever wanted to read something honest and heartfelt about the affairs of the heart, this is it.6. Becoming, by Michelle Obama
A prolific lawyer and author and also a former First Lady of the United States of America, Michelle Obama needs no separate introduction. Her book Becoming: A Guided Journal for Discovering Your Voice is another memoir, alongside the one by Tara Westover, which has been taking the world by a storm for quite some time. Michelle's refreshingly candid retelling of her life has always been a favorite among the readers, and recently The New York Times announced that this book is scheduled to be a Netflix documentary. Once that materializes, we might see a further increase in both the popularity and the sales of Michelle Obama's Becoming, which has definitely remained one of the best books to read during the lockdown period as suggested by various figures.7. The Woman in the Window, by A. J. Finn
After some nonfictions, we have another fiction listed in our most loved books of April 2020. The Woman in the Window is a psychological thriller by Daniel Mallory, writing under the pen name A. J. Finn. The story revolves around the life of an agoraphobic psychologist, Dr. Anna Fox, who would become friends with a neighbor across the street, and eventually, her life will go upside down. The book debuted at number one on The New York Times Bestseller list. It has also been adapted into a feature film by the same title, directed by Joseph Wright. The film stars Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, and Anthony Mackie, among others. The film was scheduled to be released in March 2020 but has been indefinitely delayed because of the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic.8. The Great Influenza, by John M. Barry
John M. Barry's influential book The Great Influenza has been featured in the list of bestselling books of April 2020 by Amazon.com, and for good reasons. Barry's in-depth analysis of the Great Influenza of 1918-1920, one of the most severe pandemics in the history of human civilization resulting in the death of almost a hundred million people worldwide, has much for the people to relate to a world battling the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus. I wrote earlier this month that Barry's book is one of the top 5 books on pandemics that you can read while staying quarantined at home, and we the bibliophiles all over the world seem to confirm that. 9. Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill
This one comes among the bestselling books listed by Amazon.in in April 2020. In other words, this book emerges victorious among the ones specifically Indians have been reading during the lockdown. An idle brain is the devil's workshop, they say. This book shows that we Indians have not been just sitting idle during the nationwide lockdown because of the Coronavirus outbreak. We have been sharpening our minds better to create wealth. I wish all of those reading this book a great financial success ahead. Even if you do not succeed, you already have gained another wealth – which is knowledge! This is arguably one of the best books on personal finance ever written, and if you want to create wealth, you should definitely give it a read.10. Several textbooks
This is not any one particular book but a special genre of books. Having looked up for the bestselling books on Flipkart.com, I was pleasantly surprised that students have not been disheartened by the Coronavirus outbreak and are continuing to study vigorously. Some of the most popular books on that leading e-commerce website are as given below:
Have you read any of these books? Do you want to tell us about a book you have read? We are eager to hear from you. Leave a comment about your favorite among the bestselling books of April 2020, or write a review at this website!