The New York Public Library To Share Monthly Lists of its Most Popular Books

Dan Brown, David Sedaris, JK Rowling, and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor amongst authors featured on first lists 

OCTOBER 28 – The New York Public Library will be sharing monthly lists of the books most checked out at its 91 locations, beginning with the top adult fiction and non-fiction books in July, August, and September 2013.

The lists show which books were most popular amongst users of NYPL branches in the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island. The check-outs include both paper books and e-books.

Inferno by Dan Brown took the top spot for adult fiction over all three months, with And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini maintaining a steady second place. Authors such as JK Rowling, Sue Grafton, Lauren Weisberger and Danielle Steel also had books in the top 10.

Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg was the most popular adult non-fiction spot over all three months, with works by David Sedaris, Walter Isaacson and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor – who used the Library’s Hunt’s Point branch as a child – also featured. 

"Members of the public have long relied on the wisdom and expertise of NYPL's adept librarians to help them explore the literary landscape and find the specific books and stories that inspire in them a lifelong love of reading," said Mary Lee Kennedy, chief library officer at The New York Public Library. "Now, by sharing these lists of the most checked out books in our system, we are offering the public yet another tool to make the world of books more accessible -- the opinions of fellow bookworms, and insight into what they're currently reading. We are proud to make them available, and hope that they help point the public to new and interesting titles."

The Library will unveil each month’s top books during the second week of the following month, and the lists can be found at nypl.org.

While the Library is starting with adult fiction and non-fiction, other lists (such as children and teen lists, genre lists, etc) may also be shared in the future.

The first three lists are below:

September 2013

Top Adult Fiction

  1. Inferno by Dan Brown
  2. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
  3. Revenge Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
  4. The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling
  5. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
  6. The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman
  7. First Sight by Danielle Steel
  8. W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton
  9. Never Go Back by Lee Child
  10. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

Top Adult Nonfiction

  1. Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
  2. Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris
  3. My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
  4. VB6: Eat Vegan before 6:00 to Lose Weight and Restore your Health... for Good : the Flexible Diet You Can Really Stick To, with More than 60 Easy, Delicious Recipes by Mark Bittman
  5. Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss
  6. Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation by Michael Pollan
  7. Cracking the GED by Geoff Martz
  8. Dad Is Fat by Jim Gaffigan
  9. The Examined Life: How We Lose and Find Ourselves by Stephen Grosz
  10. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

August 2013

Top Adult Fiction

  1. Inferno by Dan Brown
  2. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
  3. Revenge Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
  4. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
  5. Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen
  6. Mistress by James Patterson
  7. The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman
  8. First Sight by Danielle Steel
  9. The Beast by Faye Kellerman
  10. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

Top Adult Non-Fiction

  1. Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
  2. Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris
  3. My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
  4. Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss
  5. VB6: Eat Vegan before 6:00 to Lose Weight and Restore your Health... for Good : the Flexible Diet You Can Really Stick To, with More than 60 Easy, Delicious Recipes by Mark Bittman
  6. The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 by Rick Atkinson
  7. The Buy Side: A Wall Street Trader's Tale of Spectacular Excess by Turney Duff
  8. The Examined Life: How We Lose and Find Ourselves by Stephen Grosz
  9. Cracking the GED by Geoff Martz
  10. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

July 2013

Top Adult Fiction

  1. Inferno by Dan Brown
  2. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
  3. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
  4. Revenge Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
  5. Second Honeymoon by James Patterson
  6. The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman
  7. The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling
  8. Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen
  9. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
  10. The Heist by Janet Evanovich

Top Adult Non-Fiction

  1. Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
  2. My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
  3. Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris
  4. Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss
  5. Cracking the GED by Geoff Martz
  6. Far from the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity by Andrew Solomon
  7. Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright
  8. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
  9. The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail--but Some Don't by Nate Silver
  10. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg