What Is The Most Popular Book In Illinois?

By John Dodge

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The most popular book in Illinois?

It's the award winning "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman, according to user data released by the online book-renting site Scribd and published by Parade.

Scribd is kind of like Netflix for books. Subscribers can read an unlimited number of e-books for a monthly subscription of $8.99.

"American Gods" tells the story of Shadow, who after being released from prison wants to live a trouble-free life with his wife.

However, his wife has died in an accident. Flying home for the funeral, a strange man in the seat next to him introduces himself. The man, Mr. Wednesday, knows way too much about Shadow's life.

"Mystery, satire, sex, horror, poetic prose "American Gods" uses all these to keep the reader turning the pages," critic Michael Dirda wrote in the The Washington Post.

The top books in neighboring states:

Wisconsin: "Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman. Richard Mayhew is an unassuming young businessman living in London, with a dull job and a pretty but demanding fiancee. Then one night he stumbles across a girl bleeding on the sidewalk. He stops to help her--and the life he knows vanishes like smoke -- neilgaiman.com.

Indiana: "The Strain" by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. "The Strain" is "Part The Andromeda Strain, part Night of the Living Dead." —Salon.com

Iowa: The Venging by Greg Bear. This is the first published collection of short stories by one of the foremost voices in science fiction today. -- Amazon

Michigan: "Serena" by Ron Rash. A chilling gothic tale of greed, corruption, and revenge set against the backdrop of the 1930s wilderness and America's burgeoning environmental movement. It was named a Best Book of the Year by more than a dozen national publications. --Amazon

To compile the list, Scribd determined how many times a book was read by readers registered in that state.

The most ironic selection? A Ben and Jerry's ice cream recipe book in Alaska.