And The Seattle Public Library's Most Popular Book in 2023 Was …

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Jan 10

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Now that we've turned the page on another year, it's intriguing to look back and see which titles captured the interest of Seattle's readers in 2023. Below are The Seattle Public Library's top 10 checkouts in adult fiction and nonfiction (both print and e-books) and e-audiobooks for the year. How do these titles stack up against your favorites?

Here are a few observations from the list:

Seattle loves its local authors! Former Seattle resident Bonnie Garmus' bestselling "Lessons in Chemistry" was the most popular adult fiction e-book and print book in 2023, and Seattle author Timothy Egan's "A Fever in the Heartland," was the Library's most checked-out print nonfiction book. Three other print nonfiction titles with a local connection were also in the top 10: Michelle Tartaglia's Pasta for All Seasons; Pacific Northwest Native Plant Primer, by Kristin Currin and Andrew Merritt; and Megan Asaka's Seattle from the Margins.

Patrons pick Peak Picks: All of the top 10 most popular adult fiction and nonfiction physical books were part of the Library's very popular Peak Picks program, a hand-curated, rotating collection of high-interest print titles that patrons can check out right away from any Library location, for two weeks with no holds and no wait. (Look for the Peak Picks display!)

The city that reads together: It was fun to see that the third most popular nonfiction e-book was Julie Otsuka's "The Swimmers," the 25^th anniversary selection for our annual Seattle Reads program.

Always available means often read: The Library's Always Available collection of e-books and e-audiobooks – digital books that an unlimited number of patrons can check out through OverDrive – also played a role in the popularity of certain titles. For example, the most popular e-audiobooks in 2023 -- "Braiding Sweetgrass" and "101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think" -- have been Always Available for the past couple of years.

10 most popular adult fiction print books

Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin
Foster, by Claire Keegan
Hello Beautiful, by Ann Napolitano
Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt
Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
Yellowface, by R. F. Kuang
Romantic Comedy, by Curtis Sittenfeld
I Have Some Questions For You, by Rebecca Makkai
"The Guest," by Emma Cline

10 most popular adult fiction e-books

Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin
The Swimmers, by Julie Otsuka
Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr
Happy Place, by Emily Henry
Verity, by Colleen Hoover
Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros
Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt
Our Missing Hearts, by Celeste Ng

Curious what the kids are reading? We'll post a recap of most popular checkouts for kids and teens soon.

Note that these lists were compiled from anonymous checkout data and covered the period from Jan. 1, 2023 through Dec. 31, 2023, which is why it varies slightly from the Seattle Times' list of most popular checkouts for 2023, which covered Jan. 1, 2023 through Dec. 12, 2023.