Court Square Library (Photo: Friends of Court Square Library)
Dec. 23, 2019 By Allie Griffin
Queens Public Library released its list Friday of the top books checked out to readers in 2019.
The Library released lists for the most popular adult books, most popular children books and most popular eBooks for both adults and children. The results were calculated based on the number of checkouts per title from the borough’s 63 libraries.
Nine Perfect Strangers, by New York Times bestselling author Liane Moriarty, topped the 2019 adult books list, followed by former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Becoming memoir. The remaining spots on the top 10 list included crime novels and thrillers by popular authors like James Patterson.
Meanwhile, the bestselling Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney swept the competition, taking all 10 spots on the most popular children’s book list.
The 10 most checked-out eBooks included a combination of old and new classics and bestsellers, with Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng taking the number one spot.
“Our diverse collection has something for everyone. While our print book readers followed many big name authors, our children stuck to their favorite series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” said Hong Yao, QPL’s Technical Services Director. “On the other hand, our eBook users showed a taste for literature from more diverse authors, such as Celeste Ng, Kevin Kwan and Angie Thomas.”
With more than 5 million items in its collection, Queens Public Library has about 12 million checkouts per year.
The 2019 top lists in full are:
Most Popular Books of the Year: Adult
- Nine Perfect Strangersby Liane Moriarty
- Becomingby Michelle Obama
- The Chefby James Patterson with Max DiLallo
- Redemptionby David Baldacci
- The Wedding Guestby Jonathan Kellerman
- Turning Pointby Danielle Steel
- The House Next DoorJames Patterson
- Someone Knowsby Lisa Scottoline
- Liar Liarby James Patterson & Candice Fox
- The First Ladyby James Patterson & Brendan DuBois
Most Popular Books of the Year: Children’s (all by Jeff Kinney)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley’s Journal
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Getaway
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel
Most Popular Books of the Year: eBooks
- Little Fires Everywhereby Celeste Ng
- The Handmaid’s Taleby Margaret Atwood
- Crazy Rich Asiansby Kevin Kwan
- The Helpby Kathryn Stockett
- The Alchemistby Paulo Coelho
- Big Little Liesby Liane Moriarty
- Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fineby Gail Honeyman
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ckby Mark Manson
- Devil’s Daughter: The Ravenels meet The Wallflowersby Lisa Kleypas
- The Hate U Giveby Angie Thomas
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One Comment
I saw no art books on our library shelves in Forest Hills.
So I brought in 5 of my best, from contemporary to classic.
I came in 4 weeks later. The art shelves were still empty.
The library had sold off the books that I’d donated.
I wonder if employees there make themselves $$$ on donated books.
There doesn’t seem to be accountability.