DC Public Library Releases Top 2019 Reads

In 2019, Washingtonians had diverse interests in books, ebooks, audiobooks and magazines offered by the DC Public Library. Of the nearly five million items borrowed or downloaded, these are the most popular titles by type and format.

Top 10 Fiction Books

1. "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
2. "Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens
3. "An American Marriage: A Novel" by Tayari Jones
4. "A Gentleman in Moscow" by Amor Towles
5. "There There" by Tommy Orange
6. "Circe" by Madeline Miller
7. "Pachinko" by Min Jin Lee
8. "Normal People" by Salley Rooney
9. "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" by Gail Honeyman
10. "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead 

Top 10 Nonfiction Books

1. "Educated: A Memoir" by Tara Westover
2. "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
3. "Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup" by John Carreyrou
4. "The Library Book" by Susan Orlean
5. "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
6. "Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland" by Patrick Radden Keefe
7. "The Fifth Risk" by Michael Lewis
8. "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
9. "Killers of the Flower Moon: the Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI" by David Grann
10. "Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance

Top 10 Fiction eBooks

1. "Little Fires Everywhere: A Novel" by Celeste Ng
2. "Crazy Rich Asians: Crazy Rich Asians Series, Book 1" by Kevin Kwan
3. "Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens
4. "Everything I Never Told You (Unabridged)" by Celeste Ng
5. "An American Marriage: A Novel" by Tayari Jones
6. "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
7. "The Power" by Naomi Alderman 
8. "The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle" by Stuart Turton
9. "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas
10. "Circe" by Madeline Miller

Top 10 Nonfiction eBooks

1. "Educated: A Memoir" by Tara Westover
2. "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
3. "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing" by  Marie Kondo
4. "You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life" by Jen Sincero
5. "Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup" by John Carreyrou
6. "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
7. "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life" by Mark Manson
8. "Astrophysics for People in a Hurry" by Neil deGrasse Tyson
9. "Yes Please" by Amy Poehler
10. "Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis" by J.D. Vance

Top 10 Fiction Audiobooks

1. "Everything I Never Told You" by Celeste Ng
2. "Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens
3. "Crazy Rich Asians: Crazy Rich Asians Series, Book 1" by Kevin Kwan
4. "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
5. "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates 
6. "All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel" by Anthony Doerr
7. "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel García Márquez 
8. "The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle" by Stuart Turton
9. "Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup" by John Carreyrou
10. "Bossypants" by Tina Fey

Top 10 Nonfiction Audiobooks

1. "You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life" by Jen Sincero
2. "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing" by  Marie Kondo
3. "Becoming" by Michelle Obama 
4. "Astrophysics for People in a Hurry" by Neil deGrasse Tyson 
5. "Educated: A Memoir" by Tara Westover 
6. "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life" by Mark Manson
7. "Yes Please" by Amy Poehler
8. "Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis" by J.D. Vance  
9. "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
10. "White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America" by Nancy Isenberg 

Top 10 Magazines Downloaded

1. The New Yorker
2. The Economist
3. Newsweek
4. Us Weekly
5. The Week Magazine
6. New York Review of Books
7. New York Magazine
8. Apple Magazine
9. National Geographic
10. Kiplinger's Personal Finance

In related news, 2019 was the first year that 1 million items were borrowed through our content partner OverDrive. The one millionth download was the audiobook "Possibilities" by Herbie Hancock. The 999,999 title was "Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language," and the 1,000,001 title was "Lands of Lost Borders: A Journey on the Silk Road." Generally,  digital items have accounted for nearly 25 percent of the library’s overall borrowing activity for several years.