What Washingtonians Read in 2023

In 2023, more than 7 million items were borrowed, streamed or downloaded from the DC Public Library.

This year, Washingtonians were interested in graphic novels and memoirs. Dav Pilkey's “Dog Man” and “Cat Kid Comic Club” occupied eight of the top ten fiction spots. Adults favored memoirs like Prince Harry's “Spare” and Jennette McCurdy's “I'm Glad My Mom Died." eBooks and eAudiobooks covered a range of genres, and streaming services like Kanopy attracted viewers to international films and children’s shows. Technology skill courses on LinkedIn Learning also saw significant engagement.

The top 10 titles in 2023 by format are as follows:

Top 10 Fiction Books

1. "Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea" by Dav Pilkey
2. "Lessons in Chemistry" by Bonnie Garmus
3. "Dog Man: Fetch-22" by Dav Pilkey
4. "Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver
5. "Cat Kid Comic Club: Perspectives" by Dav Pilkey
6. "Dog Man: Mothering Heights" by Dav Pilkey
7. "Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls" by Dav Pilkey
8. "Dog Man: Grime and Punishment" by Dav Pilkey
9. "Cat Kid Comic Club: Collaborations" by Dav Pilkey
10. "Cat Kid Comic Club: On Purpose" by Dav Pilkey

Top 10 Nonfiction Books

1. "Crying in H Mart" by Michelle Zauner
2. "Spare" by Prince Harry
3. "I'm Glad My Mom Died" by Jennette McCurdy
4. "Stay True" by Hua Hsu
5. "The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times" by Michelle Obama
6. "The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma" by Bessel van der Kolk
7. "All About Love: New Visions" by bell hooks
8. "Cold War Correspondent" by Nathan Hale
9. "An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us" by Ed Yong
10. "Blades of Freedom" by Nathan Hale

Top 10 Adult Fiction Books

1. "Lessons in Chemistry" by Bonnie Garmus
2. "Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver
3. "Happy Place" by Emily Henry
4. "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" by Gabrielle Zevin
5. "Pineapple Street" by Jenny Jackson
6. "Romantic Comedy" by Curtis Sittenfeld
7. "I Have Some Questions for You" by Rebecca Makkai
8. "Book Lovers" by Emily Henry
9. "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo" by Taylor Jenkins Reid
10. "Carrie Soto Is Back" by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Top 10 Adult Nonfiction Books

1. "Crying in H Mart" by Michelle Zauner
2. "Spare" by Prince Harry
3. "I'm Glad My Mom Died" by Jennette McCurdy
4. "Stay True" by Hua Hsu
5. "The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times" by Michelle Obama
6. "The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma" by Bessel van der Kolk
7. "All About Love: New Visions" by bell hooks
8. "An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us" by Ed Yong
9. "Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty" by Patrick Radden Keefe
10. "Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants" by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Top 10 Youth Fiction Books

1. "Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea" by Dav Pilkey
2. "Dog Man: Fetch-22" by Dav Pilkey
3. "Cat Kid Comic Club: Perspectives" by Dav Pilkey
4. "Dog Man: Mothering Heights" by Dav Pilkey
5. "Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls" by Dav Pilkey
6. "Dog Man: Grime and Punishment" by Dav Pilkey
7. "Cat Kid Comic Club: Collaborations" by Dav Pilkey
8. "Cat Kid Comic Club: On Purpose" by Dav Pilkey
9. "Cat Kid Comic Club" by Dav Pilkey
10. "How Fast Is the Flash?" by Victoria Armstrong

Top 10 Youth Nonfiction Books

1. "Cold War Correspondent" by Nathan Hale
2. "Blades of Freedom" by Nathan Hale
3. "Raid of No Return" by Nathan Hale
4. "Lafayette!: A Revolutionary War Tale" by Nathan Hale
5. "One Dead Spy: The Life, Times, and Last Words of Nathan Hale, America's Most Famous Spy" by Nathan Hale
6. "Whales: Diving into the Unknown" by Casey Zakroff
7. "Ablaze with Color: A Story of Painter Alma Thomas" by Jeanne Walker Harvey
8. "Sharks and Other Sea Monsters: Encyclopedia Prehistorica" by Robert Sabuda
9. "Birds of Prey: Terrifying Talons" by Joe Flood
10. "The Little Mermaid: A Pop-Up Adaptation of the Classic Fairy Tale" by Robert Sabuda

Top 10 Fiction eBooks

1. "Verity" by Colleen Hoover
2. "Lessons in Chemistry" by Bonnie Garmus
3. "The Last Thing He Told Me" by Laura Dave
4. "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" by Gabrielle Zevin
5. "It Starts with Us" by Colleen Hoover
6. "Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver
7. "Romantic Comedy" by Curtis Sittenfeld
8. "Pineapple Street" by Jenny Jackson
9. "Remarkably Bright Creatures" by Shelby Van Pelt
10. "One Italian Summer" by Rebecca Serle

Top 10 Fiction eAudiobooks

• "Fourth Wing" by Rebecca Yarros
• "The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle" by Stuart Turton
• "The Covenant of Water" by Abraham Verghese
• "You Shouldn't Have Come Here" by Jeneva Rose
• "A Court of Thorns and Roses" by Sarah J. Maas
• "Lessons in Chemistry" by Bonnie Garmus
• "The Guest List" by Lucy Foley
• "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" by Gabrielle Zevin
• "The Paris Apartment" by Lucy Foley
• "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen

Top 10 Nonfiction eBooks

1. "I'm Glad My Mom Died" by Jennette McCurdy
2. "Spare" by Prince Harry
3. "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone" by Lori Gottlieb
4. "Crying in H Mart" by Michelle Zauner
5. "Educated" by Tara Westover
6. "Born a Crime" by Trevor Noah
7. "Tastes Like War" by Grace M. Cho
8. "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
9. "How to Do Nothing" by Jenny Odell
10. "Atomic Habits" by James Clear

Top 10 Nonfiction eAudiobooks

1. "101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think" by Brianna Wiest
2. "Braiding Sweetgrass" by Robin Wall Kimmerer
3. "I'm Glad My Mom Died" by Jennette McCurdy
4. "American Prometheus" by Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin
5. "Spare" by Prince Harry
6. "The Light We Carry" by Michelle Obama
7. "Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents" by Lindsay C. Gibson
8. "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
9. "Educated" by Tara Westover
10. "Atomic Habits" by James Clear

Top 10 Magazines/Newspapers

1. The New Yorker
2. The Economist
3. New Scientist
4. Us Weekly
5. Bon Appetit
6. Cook's Illustrated
7. The New York Review of Books
8. New York
9. National Geographic
10. The Week

Top 10 Videos Streamed on Kanopy

1. Everything Everywhere All at Once
2. Pleasure
3. Manhattan: Season 1
4. Father Brown: Season 3
5. Venus
6. Father Brown: Season 1
7. Triangle of Sadness
8. SS-GB: Season 1
9. Father Brown: Season 5
10. A Perfect Spy

Top 10 Videos Streamed on Kanopy Kids

1. Blippi
2. Strawberry Shortcake Berry in the Big City
3. Go Buster
4. Kit and Pup
5. Gecko's Garage
6. Don't Let The Pigeon Stay Up Late
7. Supertato
8. Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs
9. Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus
10. Creepy Carrots

Top 10 Linkedin Learning Courses

1. iCloud Essential Training (2022)
2. Rust Tips and Tricks
3. Level Up: SQL
4. The Good Life: Lessons from the Longest Study on Happiness (Book Bite)
5. Excel Essential Training (Microsoft 365)
6. Information Literacy
7. Project Management Foundations
8. Making Your Next Career Move Your Best Move
9. Organizing with Lightroom
10. Python Essential Training