These have been Multnomah County Library’s most-borrowed books in 2024

Nothing screams “Glad New Yr” like an inventory — 12 months of information neatly compiled and mirrored again at you, for higher or for worse, within the type of an easy-to-read, numbered catalog.

Music lovers have Spotify Wrapped, the characteristic that allows you to confront simply what number of occasions you listened to that one Taylor Swift track. The Oregonian/OregonLive reporters spend December parsing by means of engagement information for the most-read tales of the 12 months.

And for those who’re a librarian, the tip of the 12 months could also be synonymous with spreadsheets, tallying up the most-borrowed books of 2024.

So, what have been Multnomah County Library patrons studying (or, on the very least, testing and leaving on their bedside tables for 3 weeks) in 2024? The library’s information workforce crunched the numbers on the most-borrowed bodily books and ebooks for adults, teenagers and kids between Jan. 1, 2024, and Dec. 30.

Grownup books checked out final 12 months aligned intently with widespread titles reported by different public libraries throughout the nation, together with the Seattle Public Library — and it was a giant 12 months for historic fiction.

“The Heaven & Earth Grocery Retailer” by James McBride, a 2023 bestseller that tells the story of Black and Jewish residents in a Twenties Pennsylvania city, racked up probably the most borrows final 12 months, adopted by Kristin Hannah’s Vietnam Battle novel “The Ladies.” “James” by Percival Everett, the “Huckleberry Finn” reimagining that gained 2024’s Nationwide Ebook Award for fiction, additionally made the print listing.

A couple of most-borrowed came about on the West Coast: “Remarkably Shiny Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt is ready in a fictional Washington city, and “All Fours” by Miranda July takes place in and round Los Angeles (July will go to Portland for a sold-out occasion March 14.)

The most well-liked grownup book was Gabrielle Zevin’s “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow,” which was Literary Arts’ Everyone Reads decide for 2024. The listing additionally included one nonfiction ebook, “Perhaps You Ought to Speak to Somebody” by Lori Gottlieb.

Teen books have been dominated by Sarah J. Maas’ fantasy romance sequence “A Courtroom of Thorns and Roses” and excessive fantasy sequence “Throne of Glass” (Maas titles made up half of the highest 10 most-borrowed print books). The ebooks listing included “A Wizard of Earthsea” by Ursula Le Guin, the speculative fiction pioneer who died in Portland in 2018.

High kids’s print books and ebooks included titles from Jeff Kinney’s widespread “Diary of a Wimpy Child” sequence and graphic novel diversifications of Ann M. Martin’s “The Child-sitter’s Membership” sequence.

If you wish to learn extra in 2025 and are in want of ebook suggestions, listed below are the total lists of Multnomah County Library’s most-borrowed books of 2024:

Grownup bodily books

1. “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Retailer” by James McBride
2. “The Ladies” by Kristin Hannah
3. “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver
4. “James” by Percival Everett
5. “The Hunter” by Tana French
6. “The Covenant of Water” by Abraham Verghese
7. “All Fours” by Miranda July
8. “North Woods” by Daniel Mason
9. “Remarkably Shiny Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt
10. “The Bee Sting” by Paul Murray

Teen bodily books

1. “Heartstopper” by Alice Oseman
2. “A Courtroom of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas
3. “A Courtroom of Mist and Fury” by Sarah J. Maas
4. “A Good Woman’s Information to Homicide” by Holly Jackson
5. “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” by Suzanne Collins
6. “The Woman From the Sea” by Molly Knox Ostertag
7. “A Courtroom of Frost and Starlight” by Sarah J. Maas
8. “Crown of Midnight: A Throne of Glass Novel” by Sarah J. Maas
9. “Powerless” by Lauren Roberts
10. “The Murderer’s Blade: The Throne of Glass Novellas” by Sarah J. Maas

Youngsters’s bodily books

1. “Mary Anne’s Unhealthy Luck Thriller” by Cynthia Yuan Cheng and Ann M. Martin
2. “Frizzy” by Claribel A. Ortega
3. “Canine Man: The Scarlet Shedder” by Dav Pilkey
4. “No Brainer” by Jeff Kinney
5. “Grime and Punishment” by Dav Pilkey
6. “Waverider” by Kazu Kibuishi
7. “A Story of Two Kitties” by Dav Pilkey
8. “Marshmallow & Jordan” by Alina Chau
9. “The Wild Robotic” by Peter Brown
10. “Fifty-four Issues Flawed with Gwendolyn Rogers” by Caela Carter

Grownup ebooks

1. “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow: A Novel” by Gabrielle Zevin
2. “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver
3. “The Covenant of Water” by Abraham Verghese
4. “Tom Lake” by Ann Patchett
5. “Remarkably Shiny Creatures: A Novel” by Shelby Van Pelt
6. “Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros
7. “Perhaps You Ought to Speak to Somebody: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed” by Lori Gottlieb
8. “Iron Flame” by Rebecca Yarros
9. “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Retailer: A Novel” by James McBride
10. “Don’t Consider It” by Charlie Donlea

Teen ebooks

1. “A Courtroom of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas
2. “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” by Suzanne Collins
3. “Heartstopper, Quantity 5” by Alice Oseman
4. “Throne of Glass” by Sarah J. Maas
5. “Verify & Mate” by Ali Hazelwood
6. “Divine Rivals: A Novel” by Rebecca Ross
7. “Ruthless Vows” by Rebecca Ross
8. “The Ebook Thief” by Markus Zusak
9. “The Giver” by Lois Lowry
10. “A Wizard of Earthsea” by Ursula Le Guin

Youngsters’s ebooks

1. “No Brainer” by Jeff Kinney
2. “Claudia and the Unhealthy Joke” by Arley Nopra and Ann M. Martin
3. “Stacey’s Mistake” by Ellen T. Crenshaw and Ann M. Martin
4. “Karen’s Haircut” by Katy Farina and Ann M. Martin
5. “Winter Turning” by Tui T. Sutherland
6. “The Deep Finish” by Jeff Kinney
7. “Twenty Thousand Fleas Beneath the Sea” by Dav Pilkey
8. “Diper Överlöde” by Jeff Kinney
9. “Influencers” by Dav Pilkey
10. “Mary Anne’s Unhealthy Luck Thriller” by Cynthia Yuan Cheng and Ann M. Martin

— Veronica Nocera covers life and tradition. You possibly can attain her at vnocera@oregonian.com, 503-221-8111 or @vernocera