Libraries

The Most Popular Books in U.S. Libraries in 2021

Community

Contributor

Book Riot Editorial is made up of passionate readers, writers, and book lovers dedicated to delivering insightful book recommendations, literary analysis, and the latest in book culture. With expertise spanning multiple genres and a deep understanding of the publishing industry, we offer thoughtful commentary, book deals, and news that matters to readers. Whether it’s uncovering hidden gems, analyzing literary trends, or championing diverse voices, Book Riot’s editorial team is here to keep you informed and inspired.

View All posts by Community

Dec 22, 2021

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

A Quartz survey reached out to U.S. public libraries for their most checked out titles of the year. 14 responded from across the country, including Seattle, Portland, Denver, San Antonio, Nashville, New York, and Baltimore.

Unsurprisingly, ebooks saw a surge in popularity this year, but that continues a trend of increasing ebook checkouts. The most common ebook checkout of the libraries surveyed was The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, followed by The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. The most popular nonfiction title was Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson, and the most popular kids’ book was Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Deep End by Jeff Kinney.

Here are the 7 most popular books checked out from these libraries:

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Deep End by Jeff Kinney
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
A Promised Land by Barack Obama

You can see the other top books at Quartz.

Check Your Shelf

Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.

More breaking news here

You Might Also Like