The Most Uniquely Popular Books in Libraries, October–December 2019

Panorama Picks is a project that aims to highlight the most popular books in libraries every quarter. The goal is to bring awareness to titles that fall outside the “bestsellers” label, with the idea that bookstores can take advantage of regional title interest and curate their stock to reach potential unmet reader needs.

During the first and second quarter of the project, the team explored titles which had been published in the last 12–24 months. During the third quarter, as reported previously, the metrics tightened. Books were limited to titles published within the last 6–12 months. Guy LeCharles Gonzalez, Project Lead for Panorama Picks, said the decision to look at more recently published titles was in part to reach indie bookstores—the closer to initial publication date books are, the more likely they can be acquired and stocked. It’s also an opportunity to highlight books that may already be available in those bookstores.

Panorama Picks selects 25 titles in each of the nine regions used by independent bookstores, using aggregated and anonymous ebook borrower data. This limits the pool of titles, but this niche provides the opportunity: indie bookstores, as well as libraries, can highlight the titles available in print that readers might be waiting for long periods to borrow via ebook and/or those indie bookstores can promote purchasing those titles through them. These top picks indicate that there is a lack of ebook availability relative to interest from borrowers and that readers within those regions have an unmet need.

The project’s methodology is as follows:

Panorama divides their most popular books in libraries data into three different sets: adult fiction, adult nonfiction, and young adult.

This round of data is especially illuminating, as it’s the last to explore demand in the wake of Macmillan’s library ebook policy. Libraries still purchasing Macmillan titles in digital form are limited to a single edition for a period of eight weeks following the book’s publication. In the Q1 lists for 2020 which will come later this spring, the impact of this policy might become a little clearer (or muddier).

“Panorama Picks focuses on identifying recent frontlist titles that may have faded from the national conversation but are still in-demand in different regions of the country, so these lists don’t include any of the titles published after Macmillan’s embargo started in November,” said LeCharles Gonzalez. “The circulation period measured includes November and December, though, so it’s possible some of the Picks were alternatives for readers unable to borrow a new Macmillan title because libraries were only allowed to buy a single copy.”

He added, “We’re still figuring out how to measure the impact as embargoed titles become fully available to libraries after their 8-week window expires, but with some boycotting Macmillan outright and others attempting to meet some of the demand by acquiring more print copies, it’s a complicated wrinkle that’d require Macmillan’s participation to fully iron out. When the time comes, Panorama Picks will exclude those affected titles since the embargo would disproportionately skew their hold ratios and not reflect the organic unmet demand that booksellers can take advantage of.”

It’s work like that being done by Panorama Picks that indie bookstores and libraries can use to both meet demand and show publishers like Macmillan that ebook use by library patrons doesn’t harm the income of authors. Indeed, lists like these show just how important library ebooks are for discoverability and popularity of mid-list authors who might otherwise not see huge budgets or marketing from their publishers. 

A total of 190 unique titles appeared across all three categories surveyed, with 76 appearing on only one region’s lists.

The Most Popular Adult Fiction Titles in Libraries, October–December 2019

For the last quarter of 2019, there were a total of 49 unique titles, with 14 appearing only on one regional list—7 of those in Hawaii. Sixteen of the titles appeared on 8 or more lists.

The Top 10 Most Popular Adult Fiction Books in Libraries Overall

The top 10 is ultimately a top 8, as all of these titles appeared on each of the 9 regional lists.

• Conviction by Denise Mina
• Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
• Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
• Exhalation by Ted Chiang
• On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
• American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson
• Recursion by Blake Crouch
• The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez
• The Huntress by Kate Quinn
• The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

 

The Top 10 Most Popular Adult Fiction Books in Libraries by Region: California

• The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
• Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
• Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
• The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
• The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez
• Conviction by Denise Mina
• Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
• Exhalation by Ted Chiang
• A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum
• American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson

 

The Top 10 Most Popular Adult Fiction Books in Libraries by Region: Hawaii

• Conviction by Denise Mina
• The Peacock Emporium by Jojo Moyes
• Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
• Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
• A Contract Engagement by Maya Banks
• Exhalation by Ted Chiang
• American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson
• The Tale Teller by Anne Hillerman
• Cleaning The Gold by Karin Slaughter
• On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

 

The Top 10 Most Popular Adult Fiction Books in Libraries by Region: Great Lakes (Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan)

• Parental Guidance (A Hot Hockey Romantic Comedy) by Avery Flynn
• Conviction by Denise Mina
• Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
• Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
• Exhalation by Ted Chiang
• Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
• The Book Women of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
• Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
• On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
• The Other Americans by Laila Lalami

 

The Top 10 Most Popular Adult Fiction Books in Libraries by Region: Midwest (Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin)

• Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
• Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
• Conviction by Denise Mina
• Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
• Exhalation by Ted Chiang
• Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
• The Book Women of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
• American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson
• Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
• On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

 

The Top 10 Most Popular Adult Fiction Books in Libraries by Region: Mountain Plains (Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wyoming)

• The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
• Conviction by Denise Mina
• The Book Women of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
• Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
• Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
• Recursion by Blake Crouch
• Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
• The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary
• The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez
• Exhalation by Ted Chiang

 

The Top 10 Most Popular Adult Fiction Books in Libraries by Region: New Atlantic (Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia)

• Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
• Strangers and Cousins by Leah Hager Cohen
• Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
• Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
• Conviction by Denise Mina
• Exhalation by Ted Chiang
• The Book Women of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
• The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
• On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
• The Other Americans by Laila Lalami

The Top 10 Most Popular Adult Fiction Books in Libraries by Region: New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont)

• Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
• Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
• Conviction by Denise Mina
• Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
• Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
• The Other Americans by Laila Lalami
• Exhalation by Ted Chiang
• The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
• On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
• The Body in Question by Jill Ciment

The Top 10 Most Popular Adult Fiction Books in Libraries by Region: Pacific Northwest (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington)

• The Handmaid’s Tale graphic novel by Margaret Atwood
• Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
• Exhalation by Ted Chiang
• Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
• Conviction by Denise Mina
• On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
• Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
• Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
• American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson
• When All Is Said by Anne Griffin

The Top 10 Most Popular Adult Fiction Books in Libraries by Region: Southeast (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia)

• Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
• Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
• Conviction by Denise Mina
• Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
• The Book Women of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
• Exhalation by Ted Chiang
• The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
• On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
• American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson
• Recursion by Blake Crouch

 

The Most Popular Adult Nonfiction Titles In Libraries, October–December 2019

Adult nonfiction is a fascinating category because of how wide-ranging it is and how much the regional lists can hint to regionally specific interests and trends. Nonfiction saw 67 unique nonfiction titles. Thirty-one of those titles appeared on only one list, and 13 of those came from Hawaii. Eleven titles appear on eight or more regional lists.

The Top 10 Most Popular Adult Nonfiction Books in Libraries Overall

• I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi (9 lists)
• The Montessori Toddler by Simone Davies (9 lists)
• Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport (9 lists)
• Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez (9 lists)
• The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff (8 lists)
• Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski (8 lists)
• No Visible Bruises by Rachel Louise Snyder (8 lists)
• The Five by Hallie Rubenhold (8 lists)
• Underland by Robert Macfarlane (8 lists)
• Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want To Come by Jessica Pan (8 lists)
• Everything is F*cked by Mark Manson (8 lists)

 

The Top 10 Most Popular Adult Nonfiction Books in Libraries by Region: California

• The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook by Nisha Vora
• How To Hide An Empire by Daniel Immerwahr
• Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
• Stop Doing That Sh*t by Gary John Bishop
• The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff
• No Visible Bruises by Rachel Louise Snyder
• Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
• Underland by Robert Macfarlane
• Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want To Come by Jessica Pan
• 10% Happier by Dan Harris

 

The Top 10 Most Popular Adult Nonfiction Books in Libraries by Region: Hawaii

• The New Pie by Chris Taylor
• Autumn Light by Pico Iyer
• The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook by Nisha Vora
• Aloha Rodeo by David Wolman
• Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up by Tom Phillips
• Instant Pot Fast and Easy by Urvashi Pitre
• Sea People by Christina Thompson
• The Hormone Fix by Anna Cabeca, DO, OGBYN, FACOG
• Medical Medium Celery Juice by Anthony William
• Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia

 

The Top 10 Most Popular Adult Nonfiction Books in Libraries by Region: Great Lakes (Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan)

• The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff
• Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
• Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
• Signs by Laura Lynne Jackson
• The Montessori Toddler by Simone Davies
• I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
• The Five by Hallie Rubenhold
• High Achiever by Tiffany Jenkins
• Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want To Come by Jessica Pan
• The Universal Christ by Richard Rohr

 

The Top 10 Most Popular Adult Nonfiction Books in Libraries by Region: Midwest (Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin)

• The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff
• Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
• The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee by David Treuer
• I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
• High Achiever by Tiffany Jenkins
• No Visible Bruises by Rachel Louise Snyder
• Underland by Robert Macfarlane
• The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang
• The Montessori Toddler by Simone Davies
• Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want To Come by Jessica Pan

 

The Top 10 Most Popular Adult Nonfiction Books in Libraries by Region: Mountain Plains (Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wyoming)

• Insights From a Prophet’s Mind: Russell M. Nelson by Sheri Dew
• Silent Souls Weeping: Depression by Jane Clayson Johnson
• Medical Medium Celery Juice by Anthony William
• The Five by Hallie Rubenhold
• Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
• Keto Diet by Dr. Josh Axe
• Eight Dates by John Gottman
• The Montessori Toddler by Simone Davies
• Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
• The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff

 

The Top 10 Most Popular Adult Nonfiction Books in Libraries by Region: New Atlantic (Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia)

• The Club by Leo Damrosch
• Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
• No Visible Bruises by Rachel Louise Snyder
• The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff
• Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown
• The Impeachers by Brenda Wineapple
• Solitary by Albert Woodfox
• Signs by Laura Lynne Jackson
• I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
• The Five by Hallie Rubenhold

 

The Top 10 Most Popular Adult Nonfiction Books in Libraries by Region: New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont)

• The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff
• How To Hide an Empire by Daniel Immerwahr
• The Club by Leo Damrosch
• Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
• No Visible Bruises by Rachel Louise Snyder
• I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
• Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown
• Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
• The Montessori Toddler by Simone Davies
• High Achiever by Tiffany Jenkins

 

The Top 10 Most Popular Adult Nonfiction Books in Libraries by Region: Pacific Northwest (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington)

• The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook by Nisha Vora
• The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff
• The Club by Leo Damrosch
• Horizon by Barry Lopez
• Pleasure Activism by Adrienne Maree brown
• Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
• Eight Dates by John Gottman
• The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee by David Treuer
• How To Hide an Empire by Daniel Immerwahr
• The Montessori Toddler by Simone Davies

 

The Top 10 Most Popular Adult Nonfiction Books in Libraries by Region: Southeast (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia)

• Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
• Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
• I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
• Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want To Come by Jessica Pan
• Signs by Laura Lynne Jackson
• The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff
• The Five by Hallie Rubenhold
• The Montessori Toddler by Simone Davies
• The Universal Christ by Richard Rohr
• Digital Minimalism by Cal Newportt

 

The Most Popular Young Adult Books Titles in Libraries, October–December 2019

The YA category within Panorama Picks includes both fiction and nonfiction, as will be seen in the following lists. There were a total of 74 unique titles, with 27 appearing only on one list. Again, Hawaii led that ranking, with 10 of those titles only appearing in that region. Eight titles appeared on 8 or more lists.

The Top 10 Most Popular YA Books in Libraries Overall

This top ten list, like the adult fiction list above, is under 10 titles. There are eight here, with the number of total lists they appeared on beside the title.

• The Lovely War by Julie Berry (9 lists)
• Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly (9 lists)
• Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki (8 lists)
• The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab (8 lists)*
• Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufmann and Jay Kristoff (8 lists)
• The Evil Queen by Gina Showalter
• Broken Throne by Victoria Aveyard
• Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins

*Note that The Near Witch is not a 2019 new release and falls outside Panorama’s typical parameters. The title was rereleased in 2019 with a new look and subsequently made more widely available digitally for libraries.

 

The Top 10 Most Popular YA Books in Libraries by Region: California

• Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki
• Kiss Number 8 by Colleen AF Venable
• I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver
• It’s Trevor Noah by Trevor Noah
• Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay
• Bloom by Kevin Panetta
• The Modern Faerie Tales by Holly Black
• Prince Charming by Rachel Hawkins
• Broken Throne by Victoria Aveyard
• The Lovely War by Julie Berry

 

The Top 10 Most Popular YA Books in Libraries by Region: Hawaii

• Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly
• Again, But Better by Christina Riccio
• One Punch Man, Volume 16
• Wicked Fox by Kat Cho
• Soul of the Sword by Julie Kagawa
• The Everlasting Rose by Dhonielle Clayton
• Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte
• Defy Me by Tahereh Mafi
• Broken Throne by Victoria Aveyard
• I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver

 

The Top 10 Most Popular YA Books in Libraries by Region: Great Lakes (Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan)

• Stranger Things by Jody Houser
• Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki
• Bloom by Kevin Panetta
• You’d Be Mine by Erin Hahn
• Lovely War by Julie Berry
• It’s Trevor Noah by Trevor Noah
• If I’m Being Honest by Austin Siegemund-Broka and Emily Wibberley
• The Evil Queen by Gena Showalter
• Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
• Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly

 

The Top 10 Most Popular YA Books in Libraries by Region: Midwest (Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin)

• Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki
• My Hero Academy, Volume 17 by Kohei Horikoshi
• My Hero Academy, Volume 16 by Kohei Horikoshi
• Bloom by Kevin Panetta
• Stranger Things by Jody Houser
• Lovely War by Julie Berry
• It’s Trevor Noah by Trevor Noah
• These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling
• The Deceiver’s Heart by Jennifer A. Nielsen
• The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

 

The Top 10 Most Popular YA Books in Libraries by Region: Mountain Plains (Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wyoming)

• Stranger Things by Jody Houser
• My Hero Academy, Volume 17 by Kohei Horikoshi
• Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki
• My Hero Academy, Volume 18 by Kohei Horikoshi
• The Deceiver’s Heart by Jennifer A. Nielsen
• The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab
• The Evil Queen by Gena Showalter
• Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• Lovely War by Julie Berry
• Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

 

The Top 10 Most Popular YA Books in Libraries by Region: New Atlantic (Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia)

• I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver
• It’s Trevor Noah by Trevor Noah
• The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab
• Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki
• These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling
• Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay
• Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly
• Lovely War by Julie Berry
• Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins
• The Queen’s Shadow by EK Johnston

 

The Top 10 Most Popular YA Books in Libraries by Region: New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont)

• Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki
• The Modern Faerie Tales by Holly Black
• I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver
• These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling
• It’s Trevor Noah by Trevor Noah
• The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab
• The Missing of Clairedelune by Christelle Dabos
• The Candle and The Flame by Nafiza Azad
• The Lovely War by Julie Berry
• Birthday by Meredith Russo

 

The Top 10 Most Popular YA Books in Libraries by Region: Pacific Northwest (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington)

• I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver
• It’s Trevor Noah by Trevor Noah
• Bloom by Kevin Panetta
• Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki
• Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
• Nyxia Uprising by Scott Reintgen
• The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson
• Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins
• Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay
• Lovely War by Julie Berry

 

The Top 10 Most Popular YA Books in Libraries by Region: Southeast (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia)

• The Modern Faerie Tales by Holly Black
• Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki
• Lovely War by Julie Berry
• Bloom by Kevin Panetta
• It’s Trevor Noah by Trevor Noah
• The Evil Queen by Gena Showalter
• The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab
• Broken Throne by Victoria Aveyard
• Prince Charming by Rachel Hawkins
• Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout

 

What to Do With This Information

Seeing these lists monthly is interesting. But more than that, it’s information that’s actionable.

If you work in a library or in an independent bookstore, use these lists for developing reader’s advisory tools. Book displays would be especially powerful, encouraging readers to pick up the print book and borrow or purchase it, noting that it’s a title in high demand locally.

Where possible for libraries, purchase additional copies of ebooks in demand. The lists are determined by a high holds to available copies ratio, meaning there’s an especially unique opportunity to serve patron demand.

Bookstores should check stock and ensure ample copies of in-demand titles are plentiful. Likewise, if your website permits, create lists with links to purchase those titles.

Panorama Picks offers up a deeper look at popularity—and it can be a real boon for discovering highly regional titles. The possibilities for using this information both for your patrons and for your stakeholders are immense.