“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.” The youth today seems to be following Mark Twain’s words quite seriously.

Chicken Soup and Mills and Boon may continue to be ever popular, but the youngsters are interested in a wide variety of books including biographies, literature as well as real life stories.

Motivational books and books on personality development also find many takers.

“The youth is very interested in Obama, and Dreams from my Father has a lot of takers. The Infosys books have also found a reader base among students pursuing management courses,” says Anil Sharma, manager, Browser Library and Book Store in Sector 8.

He adds, “Jeffrey Archer, Shobha De, Stephenie Meyer, Meg Cabot, Nicolas Sparks and Dan Brown are also among favourites, while some youngsters have taste for old authors like Austen, Hemingway, Dickens and Tolstoy.” He, however, adds that the demand for old authors is average.

Books are no longer the refuge of geeks. Gurprateek Singh, a student, loves the intensity of Julius Caesar and now plans to read more Shakespeare. Dean Koontz’s thrillers and personality development books too form a part of his reading canvas.

Nupur, a student of Government College for Girls says: “I read to gain. A book should be productive, selective and active. The last book I read was The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant.”

Saloni, a student of Class XII finds the Indian history fascinating. She has read books on Kargil war and loved reading Bhagat Singh’s biography.

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