Female authors, Canadian titles dominate Toronto Public Library's top 10 books of 2019

TheToronto Public Library (TPL) says local readers made twothings clear to librarians this year they wanted to read female authors and Canadian literature.

In alist released Monday, the library rankedthe 10most popular books of 2019.

The scores werecalculatedusing the number of times each books wasborrowedor heldas ofNov.28.

"It was an unusually high year for women," saidWendy Banks, a TPL librarian, who added that eight of 10 of the most read books were written by female authors.

That wasn't the only trend in readers' habits that made the list "very different" than previous years, Banks says.

Literary fiction proved to be the most popular kind of fiction, unlike last year when thrillers monopolized the top spots.

"This year is all about personal stories driven by character and voice," said the TPL in its websitepost of the list.

Here are the top 10 books of 2019:

• Becomingby Michelle Obama.
• Washington Blackby Esi Edugyan.
• Educatedby Tara Westover.
• Kingdom of the Blindby Louise Penny.
• The Reckoningby John Grisham.
• The Testamentsby Margaret Atwood.
• Women Talkingby Miriam Toews.
• Where the Crawdads Singby Delia Owens.
• Dark Sacred Nightby Michael Connelly.
• Normal Peopleby Sally Rooney.

6 millionth e-book borrowed

Electronic booksalso made a significant advance in popularity this year, Banks says.

Near the beginning of December, the library marked its six millionth e-book borrowed of 2019, meaning it already surpassedlast year's total of just over fivemilliondigital books borrowed.

"Itwas a big deal for me personally," Banks said."I thought it was really exciting."

Here are the top five e-books of 2019

• Educatedby Tara Westover.
• Washington Blackby Esi Edugyan.
• Becomingby Michelle Obama.
• The Clockmaker's Daughterby Kate Morton.
• Where the Crawdads Singby Delia Owens.

Jeff Kinney likely most popular author this year

Although Bankssays she can't be certain, asfinal calculations have yet to be done, Jeff Kinney appears to be the most popular author in Toronto this year.

Kinney, author of the top-ranked children's seriesDiary of a Wimpy Kid,had dozens of titles circulating in 2019, which were borrowed thousands of times each.

Children's fiction is dominated by a handful of popular series, which are ranked in order here:

• Diary of a Wimpy Kidby Jeff Kinney.
• Peppa Pigbased on the TV series by Neville Astley and Mark Baker.
• Elephant and Piggyby Mo Willems.
• Captain Underpantsby Dav Pilkey.
• Dog Manby Dav Pilkey.
• Geronimo Stiltonby "Geronimo Stilton."

Apart fromseries, the library says standalone books byDr. SeussandEric Carleare perennial favourites.