What books captivated, enthralled and riveted local readers’ attention last year?
According to Mary Mulrenen, spokesperson for the Fairfax County Public Library, Fairfax County readers selected many of the same fiction and non-fiction favorites that caught the attention of book-lovers nationwide. Dr. Seuss, science-fiction and, once again, lawyers (John Grisham’s 25th legal thriller) topped the charts.
Mulrenen compiled the following “Top Five” lists based on the top 100 checkouts from Fairfax County Public Library in the adult, teen and children’s section. The Hunger Games Trilogy leads with a combined 10,330 checkouts on all three titles. Dr. Seuss has staying power with 9,822 checkouts and John Grisham’s The Litigators has 4,868, making it the most popular title in the system. The same titles were best sellers on The New York Times list, which tracks national and independent book store sales, as well as Internet retail sellers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
The Fairfax County Public Library system includes eight regional libraries, 14 community libraries, with more than 2.4 million items available for checkout. According to the FCPS website--www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/--in 2012, there were: 495,831 registered customers; 5,246,854 visits to library branches; 13,034,816 items loaned; 4,162,599 visits to the library's Internet website and 172,630 people attended 8,934 events.
Adult
Top Five Fiction
The Litigators by John Grisham
V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton
The Drop by Michael Connelly
Zero Day by David Baldacci
Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich
Top Five Nonfiction
Unbroken: a World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Top Five eBooks
The Litigators by John Grisham
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich
A Game of Thrones by George Martin
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson
Teen
Top Five Titles
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Divergent by Veronica Roth
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
Top Five Series
Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini
Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer
Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfeld
Children
Top Five Series
Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney
Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan
Fly Guy early readers by Tedd Arnold
Top Five Titles
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
The Invention of Hugo Cabret: a Novel in Words and Pictures by Brian Selznick
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss