Community / Library unveils most borrowed books lists
SHETLAND Library has released its ‘most borrowed’ lists for 2024, with Richard Osman the leading adult fiction author.
Meanwhile local author John Goodlad topped the eAudio list with The Salt Roads.
Across all formats, The Salt Roads was the most popular Shetland book in 2024.
When it comes to adult fiction, Richard Osman’s The Last Devil to Die was the most popular with 119 loans across all formats.
Bonnie Garmus’ Lessons in Chemistry – which was read in the library’s book group – was close behind with 100 loans in all formats.
Meanwhile there was a definite Northern Isles theme in adult non-fiction.
Christian Lewis’ Finding Hildasay was most the most popular with 67 loans across all formats.
Other popular non-fiction reads included The Outrun by Amp Liptrot, which was based in Orkney and was made into a film starring Saoirse Ronan.
Local writer Jen Stout’s Night Train to Odesa was third on the adult non-fiction list when it came to physical loans.
Outside of John Goodlad’s The Salt Roads, Sally Huband’s Sea Bean was the most loaned physical Shetland book in 2024.
Other popular local titles included the 2023 Shetland Wool Week annual, Catherine W Williamson’s Around Whalefirth and the Herra and Marsali Taylor’s Death at a Shetland Festival.
When it comes to book for bairns, JK Rowling’s Harry Potter reigned supreme in junior fiction.
Other popular junior fiction writers included Jeff Kinney, Dav Pilkey and Roald Dahl.
For junior non-fiction, there were strong themes rather than particular books – for instance, there were 500 loans for Minecraft books, 377 for Pokemon and 151 for the Titanic disaster.
When it comes to picture books for children, Julia Donaldson dominated the list – with Tabby McTat, Snail and the Whale and A Squash and a Squeeze proving the most popular.
Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games was the most popular book when it came to the young adult section.
The full lists, which covers the public and schools libraries, can be found here.
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