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NYC libraries reveal their most popular books of 2024

By

Hannah Frishberg

Published Dec 18, 2024

Modified Dec 19, 2024

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A poster of 10 books arranged in a grid.

 

Courtesy NYPL

By

Hannah Frishberg

Published Dec 18, 2024

Modified Dec 19, 2024

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New York City’s libraries have released their most popular books of the year.

It's the first time that the separate systems — New York Public Library (which has 92 locations in the Bronx, Staten Island and Manhattan), Brooklyn Public Library and Queens Public Library — have combined their data and jointly announced their top checkouts as a single list.

Gabrielle Zevin’s “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow,” a novel about love, friendship and video games, took the gold for the most in-demand library book in New York City, across all formats, including e-books, audiobooks and physical books.

It was followed by Emily Henry’s novel “Happy Place,” Rebecca Yarros’ fantasy “Fourth Wing” taking third.

"Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" by Gabrielle Zevin was the most popular book at NYC libraries this year.

Courtesy of Penguin Random House

When broken down borough by borough, however, “Tomorrow” was only number one citywide — in Manhattan and the Bronx, first place went to James McBride’s “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store.” In Queens, the winner was “Fourth Wing,” and on Staten Island, it was Kristin Hannah’s “The Women.” And in Brooklyn, the top checkout was "Happy Place" by Emily Henry.

Brian Bannon, the Chief Librarian, Merryl and James Tisch Director of The New York Public Library, said he noticed a number of differences in genre preference by borough while scanning NYPL's list.

“The Bronx is more like thriller, memoir, historical fiction. Manhattan — literary fiction, social contemporary, relationship driven. Queens, I saw fantasy, thriller, diverse voices, and then Staten Island — thriller, family drama, comfort reads.”

Also notable is the citywide list’s lack of self-help and memoir titles, despite the genres being generally “among the top sold books nationally,” Bannon said, adding “New York City has its own unique taste.”

"Demon Copperhead" was among the most popular books in the library system for the second year in a row.

Courtesy Harper Collins

“The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store” by James McBride was a selection from the book club Get Lit, a partnership between the NYPL and WNYC's "All of It with Alison Stewart." (Gothamist, like WNYC, is owned by New York Public Radio.)

Here’s the full list of this year’s top checkouts:

Citywide

  1. “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin
  2. “Happy Place” by Emily Henry
  3. “Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros
  4. “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store” by James McBride
  5. “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver
  6. “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus
  7. “Hello Beautiful” by Ann Napolitano
  8. “Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt
  9. “Yellowface” by R.F. Kuang
  10. “The Covenant of Water” by Abraham Verghese

Manhattan

  1. “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store” by James McBride
  2. “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin
  3. “The Women” by Kristin Hannah
  4. “Yellowface” by R.F. Kuang
  5. “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus
  6. “The Bee Sting” by Paul Murray
  7. “Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros
  8. “Tom Lake” by Ann Patchett
  9. “James” by Percival Everett
  10. “Good Material” by Dolly Alderton

Brooklyn

  1. "Happy Place" by Emily Henry
  2. "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" by Gabrielle Zevin
  3. "Fourth Wing" by Rebecca Yarros
  4. "The Woman in Me" by Britney Spears
  5. "I'm Glad My Mom Died" by Jennette McCurdy
  6. "Lessons in Chemistry" by Bonnie Garmus
  7. "Yellowface" by R. F. Kuang
  8. "Tom Lake" by Ann Patchett
  9. "Pineapple Street" by Jenny Jackson
  10. "The Guest" by Emma Cline

Queens

  1. "Fourth Wing" by Rebecca Yarros
  2. "Iron Flame" by Rebecca Yarros
  3. "Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver
  4. "Remarkably Bright Creatures" by Shelby Van Pelt
  5. "Babel: An Arcane History" by R. F. Kuang
  6. "The Teacher" by Freida McFadden
  7. "Home Is Where the Bodies Are" by Jeneva Rose
  8. "Yellowface" by R. F. Kuang
  9. "I'm Glad My Mom Died" by Jennette McCurdy
  10. "It Starts With Us" by Colleen Hoover

The Bronx

  1. “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store” by James McBride
  2. “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus
  3. “The Women” by Kristin Hannah
  4. “Happy Place” by Emily Henry
  5. “Hello Beautiful” by Ann Napolitano
  6. “Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros
  7. “The Housemaid” by Freida McFadden
  8. “The Exchange: After the Firm” by John Grisham
  9. “Crosshairs” by James Patterson and James O. Born
  10. “I'm Glad My Mom Died” by Jennette McCurdy

Staten Island

  1. “The Women” by Kristin Hannah
  2. “The Housemaid” by Freida McFadden
  3. “Upside Down” by Danielle Steel
  4. “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store” by James McBride
  5. TIE “Happy Place” by Emily Henry
  6. TIE “The Exchange: After The Firm” by John Grisham
  7. “Never Too Late” by Danielle Steel
  8. “The Teacher” by Freida McFadden
  9. TIE “The Coworker” by Freida McFadden
  10. TIE “Never Lie” by Freida McFadden

Check out the most popular NYC library checkouts in 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020.

You can also find lists of top children and teen titles, at the websites for the Queens, Brooklyn and New York public libraries.

Correction: After publication, the Brooklyn Public Library sent an updated list of its top checkouts for adults. That list has been updated.  We have also updated the piece to include Brian Bannon’s full title.

Tagged

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books

Hannah Frishberg

Hannah Frishberg covers New York City arts and culture. Got a tip? Email Hannah at [email protected].

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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