What Do We Share When We Read Ebooks?

Amazon has revealed the passages readers highlight most on Kindle. Lifted from their books, these lines are like secret passwords: readers who mark the same sentence share a curious encounter in a sea of bits.

Reading is a strange, private pleasure. Book lovers are often reluctant to lend out their books. Many treasured volumes have gone astray that way, never to return. And when a passage gives you something to think about, you may scribble a line or two in the margins at the top or bottom of a page. However rough, that response is yours alone; you might rather keep it to yourself than send it off with the book.

Ebooks, of course, have changed all that. Kindle has changed how people “own” a book and how they share one. With a tap, you can highlight a passage, file it instantly in a digital notebook, or share it on a social network and find “sentence friends” who were struck by the same words.

The data also tells you how many people have highlighted a passage. You may never know how many people read the same book as you, but on this one sentence, you made the same choice.

That is also what publishers most want to know: what kinds of reading will people pay for, and what do they actually like to read?

Every so often, Amazon publishes the most highlighted sentences in its bestselling ebooks. The list changes, but the books below keep turning up. Curiously, the more often a passage is highlighted, the more later readers seem to highlight it too.

The Atlantic obtained the latest figures on Kindle sharing. Let’s see whether any of these lines are in your collection too.

Pride and Prejudice

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

It is a universally acknowledged truth that a wealthy bachelor must want a wife.

The first sentence of Pride and Prejudice is also one of fiction’s most famous openings. Written between 1796 and 1797, it is the best-known novel by the English writer Jane Austen.

The Lord of the Rings

The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for ever fence it out.

The wide world has everything to do with you. The world is in turmoil and times are changing. You can shut yourselves inside a little circle, but you cannot keep them out forever.

This comes from the third section of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume of The Lord of the Rings. The hobbits are told that the Shire is no refuge from the world: the world around them is vast, and though they can fence themselves in, they cannot fence it out.

The Bible

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Be anxious about nothing. In everything, make your requests known to God through prayer and petition, with thanksgiving. And the peace of God, beyond all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6–7)

The bestselling edition of the Bible on Amazon is the New International Version. This passage comes from Philippians.

Little Women

There are many Beths in the world, shy and quiet, sitting in corners till needed, and living for others so cheerfully that no one sees the sacrifices till the little cricket on the hearth stops chirping, and the sweet, sunshiny presence vanishes, leaving silence and shadow behind.

There are many Beths in the world: shy and quiet, sitting unobtrusively in a corner until they are needed, cheerfully giving themselves to others. People see their smiles but fail to notice their sacrifices until the little cricket by the hearth falls silent and that sweet, sunny presence disappears, leaving silence and darkness behind.

Little Women, by the American writer Louisa May Alcott, was written between 1868 and 1869. It tells the story of the four March sisters: Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy.

A Wrinkle in Time

But of course we can’t take any credit for our talents. It’s how we use them that counts.

Of course, we cannot take credit for our talents. What matters is how we use them.

A Wrinkle in Time is by Madeleine L’Engle. The story in this small, colorful book is for children and for adults who have left childhood behind.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

when Aslan comes in sight,

wrong will be right,

At the sound of his roar,

sorrows will be no more,

When he bares his teeth,

winter meets its death,

And when he shakes his mane,

we shall have spring again.

When Aslan appears before us, what is wrong will be set right;

At the sound of his roar, every sorrow will vanish;

When Aslan bares his teeth, the long winter will end;

When he gives his mane a shake, we will see spring again.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the first book in The Chronicles of Narnia. Aslan is the legendary king of the forest, a son of the land beyond the sea, a lion. As the old verse suggests, you will understand who Aslan is when you see him.

The Hunger Games

The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death. The last tribute standing wins.

The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. As punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must send one teenage girl and one teenage boy, known as tributes, to compete. The twenty-four contestants are confined to a vast outdoor arena whose terrain and climate might range from a scorching desert to a frozen wasteland. Over several weeks, the tributes must fight to the death. The last survivor wins.

The Hunger Games trilogy, by the American novelist Suzanne Collins, is a young-adult science-fiction adventure series. Its three books are The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay.

Next, the Harry Potter series.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that. Now, why don’t you put that admirable Cloak back on and get off to bed?”

“There is no good in losing yourself in dreams and forgetting to live. Remember that. Now put on that marvelous invisibility cloak and go back to bed.”

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

"Because that’s what Hermione does," said Ron, shrugging. "When in doubt, go to the library."

“That’s exactly what Hermione would do,” Ron said with a shrug. “If there’s any doubt, go to the library.”

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

‘Then you should have died!’ roared Black. ‘Died rather than betray your friends, as we would have done for you!’"

“Then you should have died!” Sirius Black roared. “Better to die than betray your friends, as we would have done for you!”

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

“Just because you’ve got the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn’t mean we all have.”

“You may be able to control those feelings, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us can.” (Hermione Granger, Chapter 21, “The Eye of the Snake”)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

“Voldemort himself created his worst enemy, just as tyrants everywhere do! Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress? All of them realize that, one day, amongst their many victims, there is sure to be one who rises against them and strikes back!”

“Voldemort created his own worst enemy, as tyrants everywhere do. Do you know how much tyrants fear the people they oppress? They know that one day, among their many victims, someone is bound to rise up and strike back!”

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

“Of course these things are happening in your head, Harry. But how does that mean they aren’t real?”

Hidden in Dumbledore’s innermost words, this is almost the author’s own summing-up of the entire story.

Cover image from Jane Austen