It’s no secret that Seattle loves to read. That’s why it’s fun to take a peek at the Seattle Public Library’s most popular books of 2021. By popular we’re referring to the books that were checked out the most as people fell in love with reading again during the pandemic.

According to The Seattle Times, the most checked-out fiction and nonfiction books were as follows.

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Fiction

    1. “The Vanishing Half” by Brit Bennett
    2. “The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig
    3. “The Four Winds” by Kristin Hannah
    4. “Klara and the Sun” by Kazuo Ishiguro
    5. “Anxious People” by Frederik Backman
    6. “Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir
    7. “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” by V.E. Schwab
    8. “The Searcher” by Tana French
    9. “The Guest List” by Lucy Foley
    10. “Malibu Rising” by Taylor Jenkins-Reid

Nonfiction

  1. “Nomadland: Surviving America in the 21st Century” by Jessica Bruder
  2. “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson
  3. “A Promised Land” by Barack Obama
  4. “Crying in H Mart” by Michelle Zauner
  5. “Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know” by Adam Grant
  6. “Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed” by Lori Gottlieb
  7. “Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age” by Sanjay Gupta
  8. “The Premonition: A Pandemic Story” by Michael Lewis
  9. “Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America” by Ijeoma Oluo
  10. “Educated: A Memoir” by Tara Westover

The stats were calculated using “combined circulation for e-books and physical books” but these stats do “not include audiobooks, e-audiobooks, or renewals.” Coincidentally the most popular title, “The Vanishing Half” was a 2021 selection for the library’s citywide book club, Seattle Reads. It was checked out physically and digitally 11,400 times.

Have any bets for 2022’s most popular books? Might as well start reading and remember that you can also check out museum passes and a Discover Pass from Seattle Public Library.

Curiocity Staff

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