Reading Tastes

 

London Public Library
   I received on Dec.16, from the LPL a list of the "25 most-borrowed Books of 2025". It came under the heading, "Best Books of 2025" and the sub-heading, "This Year's Hottest Books" and I will add that apparently these are "The Most Popular Books" requested by borrowers this year. (I discussed the issue of "good books" and "popular books" in: A Branch Library For Good Books. )
   What I noticed was the large number of readers waiting for books and the large number of books that have to be ordered. It appears that around 500 copies of these 25 books were purchased and that was really not enough to satisfy the demand. (These would include books in a various formats - print, large print, e-books and audio ones.) All of this translates into a considerable work that has to be done by librarians, and the people delivering your "Hold" to the library of your choice. 
  I admit that I don't follow popular reading trends or authors (who are excluded here from my cut & paste job), but I did notice that a few of the books were featured on Oprah and Reese's Book Clubs, which probably accounts for some of the popularity. Fiction (F) appears to be more popular than non-fiction (N) and there are more women authors than men. (I had to check and learned that both Taylor Jenkins Reid and Mel Robbins are female.) When checking, I learned that Mel, the author of ,The Let Them Theory is also the author of The 5 Second Rule and The High 5 Habit, while Taylor also has produced some titles with numbers, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & the Six. What this all means, I am not sure, but if you aspire to be a popular author, perhaps you should include a number in the title. As for titles, I think that, The Book Club for Troublesome Women..." is a clever one, which is likely to be chosen by many book clubs.

   Two of the non-fiction titles are about food and another is by our Prime Minister. I was surprised by the "Tuberculosis" title, but learned that the author is also a popular Y.A. novelist.
    One of the fictional works is by an author who lives in London, but has an international following. 

   Below this list, you will find another, indicating what they are reading, or waiting to read in Toronto. 

                                                                                   HOLDS COPIES Alchemised (F) 80      10 All the Way to the River Love, Loss, and…(N)   75        12 Atmosphere a love story (F)    148         26 A truce that is not peace (N)    35        13 Careless people a cautionary tale of power…(N)    28         13 Don't let him in (F) 80 39 Every salad ever : from grains to greens…(N)…. 81 18 Everything is tuberculosis the history and (N) 51 7 Great big beautiful life (F) 70 30 Hello, Juliet (F) 2 15 Katabasis a novel (F) 28 13 Mother Mary comes to me (N) 88 12 My friends a novel (F) 162 25 Nightshade a novel (F) 26 25 One day, everyone will have always been against (N) 35 10 One golden summer (F) 57 27 She didn't see it coming (F) 116 25 The book club for troublesome women a novel(F) 51 11 The essential cottage cookbook simply delicious…(N) 11 8 The let them theory a life-changing tool that …(N) 126 40 The Paris Express a novel (F) 122 31 The river is waiting a novel (F) 176 25 The tenant (F) 17 23 Value(s) building a better world for all (N) 53 13 Whistle a novel (F) 0 22   

Toronto Public Libraries
   The TPL list is under the title, "What Toronto Read in 2025." It includes only the Top 10, and shows that almost 3000 copies of just those 10 books were ordered. Fiction is again more popular and it is noted that: "Torontonians went genre hopping: fantasy (Onyx Storm), romance (Great Big Beautiful Life), thriller (The God of the Woods), dark humour (The Wedding People), historical fiction (The Women) and literary fiction (Intermezzo). Nonfiction hits (The Let Them Theory, Atomic Habits, The Anxious Generation) show a desire for self-improvement and calm amid modern life’s stresses. Together, these titles were borrowed over 195,000 times.

 

                                                                               Holds      Copies

1. Onyx Storm (F) 84 191

2. The Let Them Theory (N) 851 333

3. The Women (F) 197         221
4. The Wedding People (F) 247 189

5. The God of the Woods (F) 310 146
6. Great Big Beautiful Life (F) 127 286
7. Funny Story (F) 100 192
8. Atomic Habits (N) 476    210

9. Intermezzo (F) 167 369

10. The Anxious Generation (N) 209 193

New York Public Libraries Here are the most checked out books in New York City and Mel is again the author of one of them.

1.James by Percival Everett

2.The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

3.Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

4.Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

5.All Fours by Miranda July

6.The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can't Stop Talking About by Mel Robbins

7.Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

8.The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

9.Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

10. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver The Bonus

I had never heard of Ms. Yarros, but learned this: "She is best known for the Empyrean fantasy book series, which will be adapted into a television series with Amazon; Yarros will serve as a non-writing executive producer. In July 2023, Waterstones indicated that it became the "fastest selling pre-order title in a single day on [the] website with [the] special edition selling out in just seven hours".The third book, Onyx Storm, was released in 2025. Yarros has indicated that the series will ultimately include five books." Don't begrudge her popularity. I also learned this: "Rebecca Yarros is disabled. She has hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), which causes chronic pain, joint instability, and other connective tissue-related challenges."

U.S Bestsellers - 100 Years Ago

1925

Source:

Making the List: A Cultural History of the American Bestseller, 1900-1999. Michael Korda, p.49.