Does Buying These Books Make Us Romantic or Indicate a Lack of Romance?

Data from Amazon which is subject to interpretation...

Love Is in the Air as Amazon.com Announces the Top 20 Most Romantic Cities in America

Sales data of romance novels, relationship and sex books reveals Alexandria, Va. as the most romantic city

SEATTLE, Jan 28, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- With Valentine's Day just around the corner, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced its list of the Top 20 Most Romantic Cities in America. After compiling sales data of romance novels, relationship and sex books since Jan. 1, 2008, on a per capita basis in cities with over 100,000 residents, the top 20 most romantic cities in the United States are:

1. Alexandria, Va.         11. Washington, D.C.
2. Cambridge, Mass.        12. Pasadena, Calif.
3. Miami, Fla.             13. Bellevue, Wash.
4. Irvine, Calif.          14. Seattle, Wash
5. Ann Arbor, Mich.        15. San Francisco, Calif.
6. Orlando, Fla.           16. Columbia, S.C.
7. Berkeley, Calif.        17. Tallahassee, Fla.
8. Scottsdale, Ariz.       18. Austin, Texas
9. Arlington, Va.          19. Richmond, Va.
10. Atlanta, Ga.           20. Knoxville, Tenn.

In taking a closer look at Amazon.com's "romantic" data, the company also unveiled that:

-- Virginia really is for lovers, with three cities -- Alexandria, Arlington and Richmond -- ranked amongst the top 20 Most Romantic Cities.

Well, regardless of interpretation, at least we're working on it. ;)

The Harry-est Town in America

From Wikipedia, Amazon, and other sources:

In April 2007, Amazon.com, the online bookseller, announced a contest honoring the U.S. city which pre-orders the most copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows from Amazon.com on a per capita basis. The promotion will use the most recent U.S. Census data and include all U.S. towns and cities with a population of more than 5,000 people. When the contest closes, Amazon will donate a $5000 Amazon gift certificate to a charity which it feels best serves the winning town. At the time of the contest's announcement, Falls Church, Virginia was the top town. More than 450,000 orders of the book have already been placed on Amazon.

The top 10 [of the top 100] from the Amazon website:
1.
Falls Church, Virginia
Last Week's Rank: 1
2.
Gig Harbor, Washington
Last Week's Rank: 2
3.
Fairfax, Virginia
Last Week's Rank: 4
4.
Vienna, Virginia
Last Week's Rank: 3
5.
Katy, Texas
Last Week's Rank: 5
6.
Media, Pennsylvania
Last Week's Rank: 6
7.
Issaquah, Washington
Last Week's Rank: 7
8.
Snohomish, Washington
Last Week's Rank: 8
9.
Doylestown, Pennsylvania
Last Week's Rank: 9
10.
Woodinville, Washington
Last Week's Rank: 10

Two things I find of interest here:

First, gracing the ranks at #1, #3, & #4 are northern Virginia towns. It doesn't surprise me that there are a lot of readers here. And a lot of disposable income. And a lot of bandwagon jumpers.

Second, Amazon is giving $5K to the town that tops the list. Wouldn't it make more sense to give to the city at the bottom of the list of 100? After all, do we need to reinforce "thems that haves, gets"? How about giving to a town that doesn't have the resources that create a lot of readers or a lot of disposable income but would love to jump on the bandwagon?

Well, at least Amazon is giving something to somebody. Kudos to them!