Dear Readers,

Usually in October, thousands of visitors would descend upon Frankfurt to share their love of books and literature at the annual Frankfurt Book Fair. This year, however, the world's largest book fair is all virtual - and it's free! Author talks, interviews, award ceremonies and other events are being streamed online, making this year's fair accessible to anyone with an internet connection.

As colder temperatures settle in and the leaves begin to fall, it's the perfect time to create your reading list. After all, few things in life are as magical as reading a good book next to your fireplace on a cold winter day. 

And although the number of bookworms has been slightly declining for years, there are still 21 million Germans who read every day or several times per week.

Most book lovers prefer to read a printed book, but in 2019, 3.6 million people purchased ebooks, accounting for 5 percent of total sales. However, Deutschland.de reports that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a 43.5 percent increase of ebooks while bookshops and libraries were closed. This trend was not only seen in Germany, but throughout the United States as well. 

Although the data on 2020 reading habits is still limited, some surveys have found that the pandemic has actually caused many people to read more books than they used to. Are you among them?

To shed further insight on German reading habits, here is a graphic (courtesy of Deutschland.de) highlighting German literature at home and abroad. Happy reading!