According to Amazon’s Kindle and Audible data, the most read book of 2017 was The Handmaid’s Tale. After the incredible success of the new Hulu adaptation, Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel regained popularity this year, with many comparing the dystopian novel to contemporary threats to reproductive rights. The list continued with “It” by Stephen King, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling, and “A Game of Thrones” by George R.R. Martin, showing that current adaptations of novels lead to a dramatic increase in their readership. Atwood’s novel, however, took the top spot, dominating Kindle sales in every state except for Utah and Ohio.

Merriam-Webster also released their Word of the Year for 2017. And what word took the top spot? Feminism. “The word was a top lookup throughout the year, with several spikes that corresponded to various news reports and events,” Merriam-Webster’s website stated. “The general rise in lookups tells us that many people are interested in this word; specific spikes give us insight into some of the reasons why.” It then went on to show when lookups of the word spiked, including following news coverage of the Women’s March on Washington, DC in January, and after Kellyanne Conway said during an interview that she didn’t consider herself a feminist. But it wasn’t just political events that encouraged this large jump in lookups of the word “feminism”. “Interest in the dictionary definition of feminism was also driven by entertainment this year: we saw increased lookups after the release of both Hulu’s series The Handmaid’s Tale and the film Wonder Woman.”

So what does this say about our society? Perhaps it shows the profound effect that media can have on consciousness. When “The Handmaid’s Tale” debuted on Hulu, it not only piqued people’s interest, but motivated them to further their knowledge of the underlying issues by both reading the novel and researching the concept of feminism more. At the very least, the success of “The Handmaid’s Tale” along with the increase in lookups of the word “feminism” illustrate the increase in curiosity regarding women’s rights and the overall societal view of women today.