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The Most Borrowed Books from New York Public Library in 2022

Here are the ten adult books that were checked out the most from the New York Public Library system this year.

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New York City is the literary capital of the country, from the abundance of publishing houses based there to the vibrant writing culture. It also has some of the largest public libraries in the United States.

We’ve seen a lot of discussion in the past few months of the best books of the year as well as the bestselling books of the year. But what about the most borrowed books of the year? New York City’s libraries have released their lists of the most borrowed books for adults, teens, and children in all three systems: Queens, the Bronx, and New York City.

Here are the most-borrowed adult books from New York Public Library, including the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig book cover

1. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

2. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

3. The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

4. Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

5. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

6. This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

7. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

8. Book Lovers by Emily Henry

9. Verity by Colleen Hoover

10. It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

This list is overwhelmingly (entirely?) by white authors, though less than half of New York City’s population is white.

Cover of Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

Some books worth mentioning on their other lists include Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner, which is on the specific Bronx and Manhattan lists, and The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, on Brooklyn Public Library’s list. The #1 most checked out YA book from Brooklyn Public Library and Queens Public Library was Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo, while NYPL’s was ​The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han.

Notably, all ten top checkouts for children at NYPL were books from Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.

To see the lists for all three library systems in all three age categories, check out the New York Public Library website.

Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.

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