We are, literally, stereotypical

The British buy books by television personalities, Americans are obsessed with self-improvement, French choices are more highbrow, the Germans like holidays while the Japanese have more eclectic tastes. If it were not for Harry Potter, the survey by Amazon of global reading tastes would look like a very lazy exercise in national stereotyping.

The internet retailer has listed the bestselling books on its sites in Britain, the United States, France, Japan and Germany. There are tens of millions of titles to choose from, but Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows tops the charts in four of the countries.

In Japan it nestles in third place, behind two health-and-beauty titles: Yukuko Tanaka’s Face Massage and Inspiring Exercise. The list embraces the first Michelin guide to Tokyo restaurants, a scientific treatise on (human) viruses, a comedian’s autobiography and three volumes of Manga.

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