Reading makes you more attractive!

77%

of respondents read for entertainment. For 74% of them, they mainly do so to relax and inform themselves. A small group (27%) uses books primarily to help them fall asleep. 

84%

of respondents are attracted to people who read a lot. The vast majority also see bookworms as inquisitive and intellectual. By contrast, social media junkies are often considered superficial.

When do people read?

68%

of respondents feel relaxed after reading a book or e-book. Only a tiny minority (3%) find reading stressful or boring. Books are therefore rated significantly higher than social media: extensive surfing on platforms like Instagram and TikTok trigger positive feelings in only 18% of respondents, while 25% experience negative feelings.

The most popular genres

Guidebooks: mid-life reading

Women most prefer reading novels (84%), while men are more likely to opt for crime novels and thrillers (62%) or non-fiction (60%). The older respondents, the greater their interest in biographies. Guidebooks, crime novels and thrillers are the most popular genres among people in their middle years.

78%

mostly or always finish books they have started. This attitude is most clearly evident amongst men. The willingness to persevere with books also increases with age.

24%

sometimes skip pages to find out how a story ends. Women "cheat" significantly more often than men. Young adults are less likely to skip forward than the over-50s.

Book length matters

Women show a greater preference for long books (35% vs. 26%). Short books are more popular with men (27% vs. 13%). The 18-35 age group is undecided: 39% of them prefer long books, 34% short ones.

Well-stocked bookshelves

41% of respondents own more than 100 printed books. This applies to middle and older age groups in particular. Nevertheless, more than half of the young adults polled have at least 50 books at home.