This Is the Most Popular Fiction Book in Every State, According to Google

Do you know what your neighbors are reading? Although the rise of eBooks and digital libraries has expanded bookworms’ horizons, there’s something nice about bonding over your latest reads with members of your own community. To help readers get an idea of what books are captivating their state, Grand Canyon University (GCU) set out to find the most popular 2022 fiction titles in every U.S. state.

In terms of methodology, GCU analyzed the top five fiction books from The New York Times Best Sellers list every week from Jan. 2, 2022 to June 5, 2022. Because books are often repeated on the list from week to week, that gave GCU an initial list of 38 fiction titles. Then they ran each title through Google Trends and recorded search volume data from the past year to identify the most-searched fiction book in every state.

So which fictional stories are Americans obsessing over? BookTok-famous romance author Colleen Hoover is clearly taking readers by storm, having authored the two most popular fiction books overall: “Ugly Love” (the top book in seven states) and “It Ends With Us” (the top book in six states). Her romantic thriller “Verity” also took fourth place as the most popular fiction book in five states.

Following closely behind is Delia Owens’ mystery drama “Where the Crawdads Sing,” which is the top book in six states. The novel follows a girl named Kya, who grew up in the North Carolina wilderness and eventually finds herself at the center of a murder trial. The book was recently turned into a film starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, which undoubtedly gave the hit book a boost in popularity. The “Crawdads” movie was filmed in New Orleans, Louisiana, where it also happens to be the most popular fiction title.

You can read more about GCU’s findings here. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even find your next read.