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These were the top checkouts at NYC's libraries this year

Books by Laura Dave, Matt Haig and Lucy Foley took top spots in NYC!

Shaye Weaver
Written by
Shaye Weaver
Editor, Time Out New York
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Photograph: Shutterstock
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What were New Yorkers reading in 2022?

It turns out—books by Laura Dave, Matt Haig and Lucy Foley!

All three library systems in NYC—the New York Public Library, the Brooklyn Public Library and the Queens Public Library—have released their respective top 10 most checked-out books for 2022.

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At the Brooklyn Public Library, The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave, a mystery about a woman searching for the truth about her husband’s disappearance, was the most read, while The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, a novel about a woman looking for her best possible life through enchanted books, was checked out the most at The New York Public Library and The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley, a tension-filled mystery told from different points of view, was the favorite of patrons at Queens Public Library.

Across the city’s systems, Taylor Jenkins Reid’s historical fiction novel The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, and People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry were top check-outs.

Many of the books on these top lists were part of the NYPL and WNYC virtual book club, which led to 150,000 checkouts in the past two years, the system says. These were The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub and The Candy House by Jennifer Egan.

“New Yorkers have character and it’s no surprise that this year’s top checkouts show they love good books with great characters,” said Brian Bannon, The New York Public Library’s Merryl and James Tisch Director of Branch Libraries and Education. “The titles checked out at The New York Public Library this year are wonderful stories that invite readers to take a break from the hustle of everyday life and visit new places (and time periods) with interesting people doing fascinating things. We’re delighted to share these books with our patrons and welcome all New Yorkers to use their library card and choose their next adventure.”

Below, see the top 10 most checked-out books in NYC.

Brooklyn Public Library

  1. ​The Last Thing He Told Me: A Novel by Laura Dave
  2. The Midnight Library: A Novel by Matt Haig
  3. Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
  4. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
  5. People We Meet on Vacation: A Novel by Emily Henry
  6. Malibu Rising: A Novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  7. Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
  8. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: A Novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  9. The Vanishing Half: A Novel by Brit Bennett
  10. Klara and the Sun: A Novel by Kazuo Ishiguro

The New York Public Library (which includes the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island)

Systemwide:

  1. The Midnight Library: A Novel by Matt Haig
  2. Lessons in Chemistry: A Novel by Bonnie Garmus
  3. The Lincoln Highway: A Novel by Amor Towles
  4. Malibu Rising: A Novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  5. People We Meet on Vacation: A Novel by Emily Henry
  6. This Time Tomorrow: A Novel by Emma Straub
  7. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: A Novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  8. Book Lovers by Emily Henry
  9. Verity by Colleen Hoover
  10. It Ends with Us: A Novel by Colleen Hoover

Bronx:

  1. The Last Thing He Told Me: A Novel by Laura Dave
  2. The Midnight Library: A Novel by Matt Haig
  3. It Ends With Us: A Novel by Colleen Hoover
  4. Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner
  5. Dream Town by David Baldacci
  6. Wish You Were Here: A Novel by Jodi Picoult
  7. Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel by Anthony Doerr
  8. The Lincoln Highway: A Novel by Amor Towles
  9. Run, Rose, Run: A Novel by Dolly Parton and James Patterson
  10. The Match: A Novel by Harlan Coben

Manhattan:

  1. Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner
  2. Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
  3. Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel by Anthony Doerr
  4. The Lincoln Highway: A Novel by Amor Towles
  5. Malibu Rising: A Novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  6. The Midnight Library: A Novel by Matt Haig
  7. The Last Thing He Told Me: A Novel by Laura Dave
  8. Harlem Shuffle: A Novel by Colson Whitehead
  9. The Candy House: A Novel by Jennifer Egan
  10. People We Meet on Vacation: A Novel by Emily Henry

Staten Island

  1. The Last Thing He Told Me: A Novel by Laura Dave
  2. Run, Rose, Run: A Novel by Dolly Parton and James Patterson
  3. It Ends With Us: A Novel by Colleen Hoover
  4. What Happened to the Bennetts: A Novel by Lisa Scottoline
  5. Dream Town by David Baldacci
  6. Invisible: A Novel by Danielle Steel
  7. High Stakes: A Novel by Danielle Steel
  8. People We Meet on Vacation: A Novel by Emily Henry
  9. Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
  10. The Four Winds: A Novel by Kristin Hannah

Queens Public Library

  1. The Paris Apartment: A Novel by Lucy Foley
  2. It Ends With Us: A Novel by Colleen Hoover
  3. The Judge’s List: A Novel by John Grisham
  4. Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
  5. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: A Novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  6. The Last Thing He Told Me: A Novel by Laura Dave
  7. Verity by Colleen Hoover
  8. Wish You Were Here: A Novel by Jodi Picoult
  9. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
  10. What Happened to the Bennetts: A Novel by Lisa Scottoline

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