Oprah’s Book Club—with picks ranging from older classics to lesser known works to Pulitzer Prize-winners—became a coveted and exclusive fraternity founded in 1996, with branded special editions selling more than 22 million copies in the past 10 years.

The Nielsen Company released a list of the most popular media and consumer spending trends in the U.S. for 2010, covering everything from the most popular television shows, to the most liked commercials, book sales, purchasing trends, top mobile apps and more.

Harry Potter films have worked magic on book sales in the past, though the jump in sales has decreased substantially with each subsequent movie release.

The August 13 release of the film version of Elizabeth Gilbert’s 2006 novel Eat, Pray, Love is the latest example of a popular book title moving to the big screen. While these books see success before their silver screen debuts, the buzz leading up to a film version can drive impressive sales.

Based on the books My Life in France by Julia Child and Julie and Julia by Julie Powell, the film version Julie & Julia has helped boost book sales of all three titles from year-over-year.

With millions of copies sold, the Harry Potter book series does more than magically fly off the shelves, it has also been a force at the box office, on television, on the web, and even at the record stores. Similarly, a recent book series and film franchise, Twilight, has shown an ability to not only sell books, but also have an impact on the big screen and iPods as its brooding soundtrack has outsold the movie scores of the young wizard head to head. And while web buzz on Harry …

With less money to spend, consumers will undoubtedly be spending more time at home in 2009.
Already this year, Nielsen witnessed significant year-over-year (ending September 2008) growth in online activities with increases in time spent daily on videos (+46%), blogs (+20%), and e-commerce sites (+17%).
Expect this trend to continue, as well as increases in newer in-home entertainment options such as video vending.
But don’t expect more time spent at home to trigger increased book sales.
Technology-driven gadgets, gizmos, and games will dominate spare-time activities, while U.S. book sales will remain essentially flat, with …

American consumers will continue to shift their gift buying online this holiday season, citing convenience, time saving, and price according to Nielsen Online. Amid the current economic downturn, 53% of consumers cite price as a reason to buy online, compared with 46% last year. However, convenience continues to trump price as 76% of consumers cite the ability to shop 24 hours a day and 74% cite time saving as key factors for choosing online shopping.
The results are based on a Nielsen Online survey, conducted November 6-11, intended to gauge online …

If book sales were electoral votes, the U.S. presidential election would hardly be a close contest.
So far in 2008, four books published by Sen. Barack Obama between 2004 and fall 2008 have sold a combined 912,000 copies, according to Nielsen BookScan. 
In comparison, Sen. John McCain’s five titles, published between 1999 and summer 2008, have sold a total of 116,000 copies — almost 800,000 copies less than Obama.
Between January and September 21, 2008, McCain’s top selling book, “Faith of My Fathers,” sold 73,000 copies in hardcover, paperback, and audio editions. 
Obama’s top …