Just like that, 2024 is upon us, so let’s take some time to reflect on the literary whirlwind that was 2023, and revisit your favourite books of the last twelve months.

Is your favourite on the list? 

 

Adult non-fiction titlesThe covers of five non fiction titles are displayed in front of a plain background with an open book. The books are Landlines, The light we carry, Atomic habits, Food for life, and Spare.

5 Raynor Winn’s latest offering Landlines has had a great year, although The Salt Path remains popular and lags only nine issues behind despite being published in 2018. Her three books combined have been borrowed 264 times in the last year.

4 Michelle Obama continues to be a popular figure in the borough; The light we carry; overcoming in uncertain times has been issued 114 times in 2023. 

3 Atomic Habits by James Clear was published in 2018 but has remained at the top of your reservation lists. 

2 Healthy eating is clearly important to Richmond upon Thames’ residents as Professor Tim Spector’s Food for Life was the second most issued non-fiction title.

1 Non-fiction was given a real boost by a particular biography in January; Prince Harry’s Spare was borrowed 272 times by our members. This is 101 times more than the next adult non-fiction title. 

 

Adult fiction titlesThe covers of five adult fiction titles are displayed in front of a plain background with an open book. The books are Act of Oblivion, The Marriage Portrait, Shrines of Gaiety, The Bullet that Missed, and Lessons in Chemistry.

5 Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris: 308 issues.

4 Maggie O’Farrell The Marriage Portrait: 366 issues.

3 Kate Atkinson – Shrines of Gaiety: 433 issues.

2  The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman continues to share the exploits of the Thursday Murder Club. We fully expect to see more from Elizabeth and the gang in our lists of 2024. This was the most issued of his four books, and went out 551 times.

1 Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus – One of our more popular book group selections as well as a a recent television series, this tale of Elizabeth Zott and her challenges has continued to appear on our reservation shelves throughout the year, racking up 677 loans.

 

 

Adult fiction authorsThe covers of five non fiction titles are displayed in front of a plain background with an open book. The books are Landlines, The light we carry, Atomic habits, Food for life, and Spare.

You may be surprised to know that Bonnie Garmus does not feature in your top five authors of 2023, and Richard Osman can only scrape in at number five. Maybe he will climb higher when he has written as many books as your other most issued authors: 

5 Richard Osman 1,366

4 Ian Rankin 1,450 

3 Elly Griffiths 1,562 

2 James Patterson 2,113 

1 Agatha Christie 2,828 

Crime and thrillers seem to reign supreme in our borough!

 

GThe covers of five graphic novel titles are displayed in front of a plain background with an open book. The titles are The Amazing Spider-Man, Heimat, Uzumaki, Maus, and To Kill a Mockingbird.raphic novels 

Graphic novels may not always have been taken seriously by some readers. The depth and range of genres of your favourite titles shows how versatile this format can actually be.

5 The amazing Spider-man. Volume 1 by Stan Lee 

4 Heimat: a German family album by Nora Krug

3 Junji Itō Uzumaki 

2 Art Spiegelman Maus: a survivor’s tale 

1 Fred Fordham To Kill a Mockingbird 

 

 

 

Most Popular Teen TitlesThe covers of five teen titles are displayed in front of a plain background with an open book. The books are: Tag You're Dead, A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Nothing More to Tell, Holes, and Hearbreaker.

Such a wide range of ages and interests always leads to an open field with a teenage audience. The Heartstopper series has absolutely dominated our teen reading, with the first four books being issued over  a total of 700 times, each appearing in the top four as individual items.

The uplifting tale of Stanley Yelnats endures though, despite being published over twenty years ago, Holes notched up a respectable 137 issues.

5 Kathryn Foxfield: Tag, you’re dead 94

4 Suzanne Collins The ballad of songbirds and snakes 134

=2 Karen M McManus Nothing more to tell 137

=2 Louis Sachar Holes 137

1 Alice Oseman Heartstopper volumes 1-4: 196, 174. 164, 170 respectively.

 

Most popThe covers of five children's' titles are displayed in front of a plain background with an open book. The titles are Spaceboy, Five Star Stories, Dog Man, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Pixie Magic.ular children’s writers 

However, in the words of the late, great Whitney Houston “the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way,” and in terms of borrowing books, they do just that in the borough of Richmond upon Thames. Whether they are enticed by the Summer Reading Challenge or the Cover Story competition, the young people of the borough are doing brilliantly, and putting the adults to shame in terms of issues! 

5 David Walliams 3,985 

4 Liz Pichon 4,860 

3 Dav Pilkey 5,478 

2 Jeff Kinney 8,305 

1 Daisy Meadows 9,322 

 

 

We appreciate there was still some time to go at time of writing, so the following data are based on issues of physical books from December 1, 2022 – November 30, 2023.

Did your favourite read make the list? Do you have any insight into what might be on the list next year? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to follow us on social media and sign up for our newsletter to keep up with the latest trends.