Alexandria Is Most Well-Read City in U.S.
Three Virginia municipalities place in Amazon's top 20 list.
Alexandria is the most well-read city in the country, according to rankings released Tuesday by Amazon.
The company compiled data of all book, magazine and newspaper sales in both print and Kindle format since June 1, 2011, to determine the top 20 most well-read U.S. cities.
The statistics are per capita and the rankings include only municipalities of more than 100,000 residents.
Alexandria ranked second in 2011, but moved ahead of Cambridge, Mass., this year. (How do you like them apples, Harvard?)
Before we start touting our penchant for devouring volumes of Dickens, Twain and Hemingway, the Amazon rankings also revealed that Alexandria residents read more romance titles than anyone else.
Alexandria was one of three Virginia jurisdictions to make the top 20; Arlington placed seventh and Richmond came in at No. 20.
Washington, D.C. moved up to No. 9 after placing No. 14 a year ago.
Outside of the Barnes and Noble at Potomac Yard, Alexandrians can peruse the Book Bank in Old Town. Families can also check out Hooray for Books on King Street for a selection of children’s material and young adult novels.
Where do you get your books? Tell us in the comments.
In This article
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Barnes & Noble
3657 Jefferson Davis Hwy, Alexandria, VA -
Book Bank
1510 King St, Alexandria, VA -
Hooray for Books
1555 King St, Alexandria, VA
Jessica Highland
8:54 am on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Reading is good for the brain, whether it is romance, sci fi, or non-fiction. Who cares what people are reading? It's the fact that they are reading that's important. Go Alexandria! A bit farther afield is a great book store called Daedalus in Columbia, MD.
Neal Learner
4:47 pm on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
The honor if great, but we still need more book stores! We are sorely lacking in this department, especially after the close of Olsson's and Books-a-Million. Even Fredricksburg, a much smaller town, has a half-dozen great independent book stores. I know Alexandria doesn't have a university, but certainly we can support a few more independents...takers?
Kate Yemelyanov
7:23 pm on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
I'm new here but I like the library, at least what I've seen of the central branch. @Jessica, just moved here from Columbia and agree about Daedalus.
Fabio
11:19 pm on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Alexandria -- future host city of the Romance Readers' Convention!
Martha-Helene
11:28 pm on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Go libraries! City Hall, if Alexandria is such a reading city, let's spend more than 2% of the budget on them.
Irma X. Johnson
10:59 am on Thursday, May 17, 2012
FYI-- One of Book Bank's occasional sales (each May, September, and January) begins this weekend for two weeks--25% off everything in a purchase of $25 or for smaller purchases in many categories. Check them out