From Asia One, excerpt

Fantasy novels rank as most-borrowed books at libraries in Taiwan


The China Post/Asia News Network
Feb 27, 2012

TAIPEI - Fantasy and adventure novels were the most popular genre for book borrowers in Taiwan's public libraries last year, accounting for 16 of the 20 most-borrowed titles, according to the results of a recent survey.

The survey, released by the National Central Library (NCL) last week, shows that book borrowers especially favored fantasy and adventure novels with a historical backdrop.

The "Fate Hunter" fantasy series by Taiwanese novelist Giddens Ko topped the list of the 20 most-borrowed books compiled by the NCL, with more than 21,000 borrowings.

Also on the list are three books by Chinese writer Yue Guan, about modern men who are reincarnated and return to China's past dynasties and ancient periods, where they undergo a string of adventures.

British author J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series and Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series also made it to the list, ranking fifth and sixth, respectively.

Huang Wen-ling, director of the National Taiwan Library, which participated in the survey, said the results show that "the public enjoy books that are recreational and entertaining."

In addition, close to 30 per cent of the authors on the list started their writing on the Internet, including Ko, who has written around 60 books since he published his first online in 2000.

His autobiographical film "You Are the Apple of My Eye," released last year, grossed over NT$410 million (S$17.42 million) at the box office in Taiwan and became the highest-grossing Chinese-language movie in Hong Kong's history.