Brandon Public Library presents the most requested books of 2022 – DiscoverWestman.com
Membership and book lending are back at the Brandon Public Library after more than two years of Covid closures and restrictions, says Erika Martin, director of library services for the Western Manitoba Regional Library (WMRL).
“We’ve had a lot of people coming for our programs, which has been fantastic, and we’ve had a lot of successful programs in a lot of our libraries,” shares Martin. “The public library in the city center has a regular reading hour on Thursdays and is always very full! There are always a lot of children, parents and grandparents there and it’s wonderful to hear the children laughing here again! It was a really good year!”
Sharing the top 10 books in each of the reading genres (adult, teen, and children) with the public through a press release is new to the WMRL.
“A lot of other organizations are doing this, so we were keen to try something similar, and we will continue to do so in the future,” she explains. “I think it’s really great to take a look at what we’ve all read and there are some great ideas for those who haven’t read any of these books. It’s also nice to see how many you’ve read from this list yourself!”
Annual lists for adults, youth and children are compiled based on the number of loans in our WMRL libraries between January 1st and December 31st, 2022.
The lists include some new releases as well as some returning favorites.
Adult (English)
1. It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover 2. Verity by Colleen Hoover 3. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens 4. Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover 5. The Maid by Nita Prose 6 The Four Winds, by: Kristin Hannah 7. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by: Taylor Jenkins Reid 8. The Last He Told Me, by: Laura Dave 9. The Match, by: Harlan Coban 10. Dream Town by David Baldacci
“The popularity of #BookTok on social media has seen physical book sales hit record highs in 2022. and was the best-selling book in Canada last year. Book club favorites and romance, mystery and drama novels dominated the top unsubscribed books last year. WMRL continues to bring the latest major releases to our shelves and online through our audio book collections.
Teenage (English)
1. Guts, by: Raina Telgemeier 2. Sisters, by: Raina Telgemeier 3. Smile, by: Raina Telgemeier 4. Drama, by: Raina Telgemeier 5. Mouse: A Survivor’s Tale, by: Art Spiegelman 6. Heartstopper 1, by : Alice Oseman 7. Heartstopper 2, by: Alice Oseman 8. Attack on Titan 1, by: Hajime Isayama 9. It’s Not Summer Without You, by: Jenny Han 10. Heartstopper 3, by: Alice Oseman
“It doesn’t surprise us that Raina Telgemeier made the top 4 on the teen list! Her books have been acclaimed for their thoughtful, charming, and funny true stories about growing up, developing courage, and the issue of mental health among their teenage audiences. Guts by Raina Telgemeier was checked out 36 times in 2022, making it the most read youth book in our collection last year. Graphic novels are expanding both outwards and upwards and have been incredibly popular lately. WMRL plans to expand its collections in 2023 and usher in lots of great new content.”
Children’s Literature (English)
1. My new boyfriend is so much fun!, By: Mo Willems 2. Dog Man: Grime and Punishment, By: Dav Pilkey 3. The Babysitters Club 11: Goodbye Stacey Goodbye, By: Ann M Martin 4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, By: Jeff Kinney 5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down, By: Jeff Kinney 6. Dog Man and Cat Kid, By: Dav Pilkey 7. Babysitters Little Sister.1, Karen’s Witch, By: Ann M. Martin 8. Dog Man. Fetch-22, By: Dav Pilkey 9. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw, By: Jeff Kinney 10. Dog Man: Brawl of the Wild, By: Dav Pilkey
Children’s author Mo Willems slams again with My New Friend is So Fun!, a sensitive and instructive story about friendship and sharing. This hit ranks first with 53 checkouts in 2022. With the release of the movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid in 2021 and the highly anticipated release of the DreamWorks Dog Man film adaptation, readers are lining up to get their hands on the latest releases in this series. The Dog Man and Diary of a Wimpy Kid collections continue their popularity on this year’s list!’
E-books are very popular; However, Martin says there are many who still enjoy the feel of a book in their hands and the pages turning!
“Physical books are still incredibly popular,” shares Martin. “I think around 10-12 years ago everyone thought e-books would completely eclipse them, but we just haven’t seen that. You are very popular! There’s a lot of people who love e-books, there’s a lot of people who love audio books (including Martin himself), but the physical book is here to stay in my opinion, and given the trends we’re seeing here at Westman , I think there is room for all formats in our library and in our community.”
All of the top 30 books are in the WMRL catalog and many are available in multiple formats, including e-books, audiobooks, and accessible editions. “The lists above offer some future reading ideas as we ring in 2023 – share and experience the joy of reading now and in the new year,” he adds. Martin.
Please listen to Erika Martin’s explanation of some of the best books floating around below.
