On Read Across America Day, These Are the Most Popular Books in Kentucky

Have you celebrated Read Across America Day? I've been reading all day long, but I don't think it's what they mean. But I do have an awesome Alfred Hitchcock anthology of short stories on the coffee table waiting for me when I get home.

While my finger isn't exactly on the pulse of what Kentuckians are loving right now (not Hitchcock in sight), we do have our favorites. In fact, Fusion Academy has done the legwork and come up with the favorite books of all 50 states.

Kentucky's Favorite YA Series

Before I consulted the map, I wondered if the titles would all be new, but that isn't the case. In the category of YA (Young Adult) literature, you'll find multiple iconic titles that have been around for years. We're talking about the Twilight Saga, the Harry Potter series, The Hunger Games, and Percy Jackson & the Olympians. Those are the big four, in my opinion...the ones I recognize. However, I am not familiar with the Lightlark Saga, which is tops in YA in Kentucky.

In case you were wondering about an adaptation, Universal Pictures secured the rights to the Lightlark series in 2022, but the project is still in the development stage.

Kentucky's Favorite Adult Novel

Legendary author Barbara Kingsolver has been winning literary awards dating back to 1993. Her 1998 bestseller, The Poisonwood Bible, about a Georgia missionary family that moves to a village in the Belgian Congo in 1959, made her a 1999 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. In 2023, she crossed that finish line and picked up the Pulitzer for what Fusion Academy tells us is Kentucky's favorite adult novel. Demon Copperhead re-imagines Charles Dickens' David Copperfield. Set in present-day Appalachia, the story follows a boy named Damon Fields (his nickname is "Demon") on his odyssey of poverty, addiction, and the navigation of the foster care system.

While I was familiar with the title, I was unaware of its connection to Copperfield. I need to find a copy of Kingsolver's award-winning tome and push Hitchcock to the side.