Jessica Green is a book addict and library card holder since the age of 3. She’s a librarian at the Ottawa Public Library and currently the Apartment613 Librarian-in-Residence, sharing a compendium of literary thoughts and tips.
I thought it would be fun to take a look at the most popular books taken out in 2016 that we have in the collection here at OPL. Statistics are kept about all the checkouts over time, so I pulled out the top ten in the categories of Fiction, and the top five in Graphic Novels, Mystery, Non Fiction and Teen Fiction.
Fiction
| Title | Author | Total Check-Outs | Number of Copies |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Girl on the Train | Paula Hawkins | 739 | 113 |
| All the Light We Cannot See | Anthony Doerr | 539 | 89 |
| Gray Mountain | John Grisham | 534 | 84 |
| The Illegal: A Novel | Laurence Hill | 519 | 99 |
| The Orenda | Joseph Boyden | 465 | 97 |
| The Rosie Project | Graeme C. Simpson | 457 | 78 |
| Life After Life | Kate Atkinson | 433 | 77 |
| The Nightingale | Kristin Hannah | 414 | 63 |
| Go Set A Watchman | Harper Lee | 410 | 63 |
| Orphan Train | Christina Baker Kline | 394 | 58 |
| All My Puny Sorrows | Miriam Toews | 393 | 69 |
Titles like The Girl on the Train, All the Light We Cannot See, The Illegal, and The Nightingale are not really a surprise to see on this listing, as they have been hot picks for much of the year. I was pleased to see Life after Life, The Orenda, and The Rosie Project still here as they’re a few years old now but still popular reads.
Graphic Novels
| Title | Author | Total Check-Outs | Number of Copies |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Complete Calvin and Hobbes | Bill Watterson | 288 | 47 |
| Step Aside, Pops! A Hark: A Vagrant Collection | Kate Beaton | 186 | 27 |
| Saga Volume Five | Brian K. Vaughn | 112 | 13 |
| Hawkeye Vs. Deadpool | Gerry Duggan | 89 | 11 |
| The Outside Circle | Patti LaBoucane-Benson | 87 | 15 |
This too was a delightful collection of titles. If you are of a certain age, you got to see Calvin and Hobbes in the newspaper comics, but now you can see every single one! Step Aside Pops was one of my favourites from this year, and Saga is still one of the most compelling ongoing storylines in comics right now. I also enjoyed Hawkeye vs Deadpool which does not take itself too seriously. I can offer a high recommendation for The Outside Circle, which I only just discovered, and is a tale of redemption when the cards are all stacked against you.
Mystery
| Title | Author | Total Check-Outs | Number of Copies |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Girl in the Spider’s Web | David Lagercrantz | 516 | 76 |
| The Nature of the Beast | Louise Penny | 499 | 64 |
| The Burning Room | Michael Connelly | 445 | 66 |
| The Crossing | Michael Connelly | 426 | 54 |
| Speaking in Bones | Kathy Reichs | 420 | 60 |
Mystery is probably the most popular genre at any public library, which is why they are often treated as a separate category. There are no real surprises here in term of authors, with mystery stalwarts Kathy Reichs, Louise Penny and Michael Connelly covering most of the top five. The sequel to the Millennium Trilogy is the top pick here which is quite a divisive read, according to reviews spotted on our website.
Nonfiction
| Title | Author | Total Check-Outs | Number of Copies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking | Susan Cain | 431 | 71 |
| The Life-Changing Magic of Cleaning Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing | Marie Kondo | 391 | 64 |
| The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload | Daniel J. Levitin | 372 | 58 |
| The Brain’s Way of Healing: Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries from the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity | Norman Doidge | 349 | 54 |
| The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native Peoples in North America | Thomas King | 324 | 54 |
This was a great treat to see as the top Nonfiction read in Ottawa was the Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue. Who knew Ottawa loved philately so much?? If you remove that, plus the Driver’s Handbook and the Prep guide for the Public Service Exams, you end up with a neat list of books. I was amazed to see that Susan Cain’s book from 2012 is still hugely popular, and has still a large list waiting to read it (it’s great). It was no surprise to see Marie Kondo’s organising book as well since it was perhaps the most hyped read of the year. It’s also interesting to see two books about the mind, as well as Thomas King’s lauded book, also from 2012.
Teen
| Title | Author | Total Check-Outs | Number of Copies |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Fault in Our Stars | John Green | 360 | 63 |
| The Maze Runner | James Dashner | 315 | 56 |
| Allegiant | Veronica Roth | 309 | 55 |
| Divergent | Veronica Roth | 309 | 51 |
| Eleanor and Park | Rainbow Rowell | 277 | 52 |
This was a real surprise for me as all of these books are all a few years old! The top four titles are likely still popular due to movies being made in the past few years as studios (and publishers) try to recapture the popularity of The Hunger Games. The Fault in Our Stars is the only non post-apocalyptic title of the four, but it remains the most popular book about star-crossed lovers. My personal fave of the five is Eleanor and Park which is very much a different read from the rest, but so well written.
.gif)
